Earlier in the week, the Fantasy Football Today staff had several rankings debates like we typically do. One of them had to do with Jacoby Brissett, and I was on the side of starting Brissett at Pittsburgh. With T.Y. Hilton hurt that argument becomes tougher to make. 

Brissett was actually pretty successful in his only game without Hilton this season. He threw for 265 yards and three touchdowns, but there are several caveats. He was facing the Raiders at home, and threw 46 passes. This week he'll be on the road against a Steelers defense that has been outstanding since acquiring Minkah Fitzpatrick. Not one quarterback has topped 18 Fantasy points against the Steelers since Week 2.

As a general rule you should sit Brissett for anyone you've heard us talking about this week. Well, except Sam Darnold — I haven't bought into him. 

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Gardner Minshew and Derek Carr are the first two you should look for but unfortunately they're now rostered in more than 70% of leagues. There is one guy below 70% ownership I'd start over Brissett and he leads off the waiver wire section below.

Week 9 QB Preview

QB Preview
Numbers to know
  • 74.8 - Sam Darnold's passer rating since he entered the league. That's about 10 points worse than Case Keenum's since the start of last year.
  • 450 - Attempted air yards for Mason Rudolph in Week 8. That was second only to Jameis Winston. 
  • 10.8 - Intended average air yards for Winston. He leads the league in both intended and completed air yards per attempt. Even a small decrease in turnovers would make him a must-start quarterback. 
  • 2.4% - Touchdown rate for Kyler Murray. That's going to get better, I just wouldn't bet on it happening this week against San Francisco.
  • 1,262 - Passing yards for Matthew Stafford in his past four games. Detroit's dreams of being a run-heavy team have been vanquished and Stafford looks like a top-10 quarterback.
QB Preview
Matchups that matter
Matchups that Matter
Projections powered by Sportsline
Gardner Minshew QB
LV Las Vegas • #15
Age: 28 • Experience: 6 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs HOU HOU -2 O/U 47

OPP VS QB

30th

PROJ PTS

17

QB RNK

9th

YTD Stats

PAYDS

1976

RUYDS

201

TD

13

INT

2

FPTS/G

19.8
Sam Darnold QB
MIN Minnesota • #14
Age: 27 • Experience: 7 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

@ MIA NYJ -5.5 O/U 41

OPP VS QB

25th

PROJ PTS

15.6

QB RNK

NR

YTD Stats

PAYDS

817

RUYDS

-1

TD

5

INT

8

FPTS/G

11.8
Matthew Stafford QB
LAR L.A. Rams • #9
Age: 36 • Experience: 16 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

@ OAK OAK -2 O/U 50.5

OPP VS QB

29th

PROJ PTS

22

QB RNK

3rd

YTD Stats

PAYDS

2093

RUYDS

60

TD

16

INT

4

FPTS/G

24
Kyler Murray QB
ARI Arizona • #1
Age: 27 • Experience: 6 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs SF SF -9.5 O/U 43

OPP VS QB

2nd

PROJ PTS

15.2

QB RNK

12th

YTD Stats

PAYDS

1988

RUYDS

279

TD

9

INT

4

FPTS/G

18.6
QB Preview
Waiver Wire Targets
Top Streamers
Daniel Jones QB
NYG N.Y. Giants • #8
Age: 27 • Experience: 6 yrs.

Ownership

64%
Jones was the No. 1 quarterback in Week 8 and there will be a lot of teams scrambling to pick him back up after they dropped him. I still don't like him as much as Minshew, but he's shown us more than Darnold this season.
Matt Moore QB
KC Kansas City • #8
Age: 40 • Experience: 13 yrs.

Ownership

27%
Matt Moore has scored 30 Fantasy points in a little more than six quarters since he took over for Patrick Mahomes. He's at home and has one the most talented sets of weapons in the league. The Vikings are a good defense but they've allowed 24 or more Fantasy points to two of the past three quarterbacks they've faced.
One to Stash
Ryan Finley QB
HOU Houston • #5
Age: 29 • Experience: 3 yrs.

Ownership

0%
This is a two-QB only move but Finley will be the Bengals' starter after their bye and that will make him useful in the format. I don't have high expectations but the return of A.J. Green would make his job easier.
QB Preview
DFS Plays
Top Play
Matthew Stafford QB
LAR L.A. Rams • #9
Age: 36 • Experience: 16 yrs.

Week 9 Prices

FanDuel

$7,900

DraftKings

$6,800
The price difference between Stafford and Wilson is enough to push the cheaper guy over the top in Week 9 due to the tight pricing. The Lions don't have a run game any longer and they're facing a Raiders defense that is among the worst in the league. I want to to use both quarterbacks in that game in DFS.
Top Contrarian Play
Matt Moore QB
KC Kansas City • #8
Age: 40 • Experience: 13 yrs.

Week 9 Prices

FanDuel

$6,500

DraftKings

$4,800
Moore has been surprisingly good since taking over for Mahomes. This is a bad matchup against the Vikings, but he's at home and has a great price point. That's more important this week because the pricing seems particularly tight.
QB Preview
Heath's projections

Rank

QB

FPTs

1

Russell Wilson

29.32

2

Dak Prescott

28.75

3

DeShaun Watson

28.32

4

Lamar Jackson

28.14

5

Matthew Stafford

27.06

6

Aaron Rodgers

26.81

7

Gardner Minshew

26.20

8

Carson Wentz

23.61

9

Daniel Jones

23.14

10

Derek Carr

22.99

11

Josh Allen

22.93

12

Jameis Winston

22.77

13

Matt Moore

22.71

14

Tom Brady

22.68

15

Philip Rivers

22.32

16

Kirk Cousins

21.53

17

Jimmy Garoppolo

21.12

18

Jacoby Brissett

20.97

19

Sam Darnold

20.48

20

Kyler Murray

20.21

So which players can you count on in your Fantasy football league? Which running backs are poised for stunning breakouts? And which wide receivers are about to explode? Visit SportsLine right now to dominate your Fantasy football league with optimal rankings from 10,000 simulations, advice from proven experts, and winning DFS lineups, and find out.