Some weeks are easier than others for various reasons. It can be great schematic matchups or an injury-depleted offense, making the calls very simple for us. With four teams on BYE and frankly, a lot of ugliness on the schedule, this week isn’t a cakewalk. Looking up and down the list, I find a bevy of potential adds that are owned above our threshold. Remember, we like to give out plays owned in less than 50% of Yahoo leagues. I’ll always give my leans for squads owned in just a hair above that in our “higher-owned options” segment. But overall, there are so many awful defenses out there that we simply can’t recommend.
If you go by default site projections on places like Yahoo or ESPN, you’ll see teams like the Bengals as a potential great add. I can’t in good faith give that to my readers. The Bengals are playing the Bears, potentially without Trey Hendrickson. Where on Earth is Cincinnati getting a pass rush without last season's sack leader?
This leads us back to our tried-and-true principles: who are the Titans playing? And if someone is actually starting Tyler Shough in an NFL game, please get me that defense on the other side.
With those two caveats, let’s get to work.
TEAMS ON BYE IN WEEK 9: CLE, NYJ, PHI, TB
Based on D/STs owned in less than 50% of Yahoo leagues
Drake’s Top 5 D/ST Targets for Week 9
- Los Angeles Rams (LAR 39%) vs NO
- Detroit Lions (DET, 50%) @ MIN
- Jacksonville Jaguars (JAX, 7%) @ LV
- Baltimore Ravens (BAL,32%) @ MIA
- Chicago Bears (CHI, 27%) @ CIN
Higher-owned Options
Los Angeles Chargers (LAC,66%) @ TEN — We’ve finally hit a week where the Titans opponent is already widely owned. LA is coming off a great performance (11 points) against the Vikings, during which they recorded five sacks and an interception. This Sunday, what do you say we run it back? Tennessee is still the best possible matchups for opposing D/STs. The Titans are giving up an average of 13.29 fantasy points per week. That’s nearly 2.4 points clear of the second-worst team. We don’t need an encyclopedia of analytics here. If the Chargers are available, add them. There’s a great chance they land in the top-5 again.
Green Bay Packers (GB,67%) vs CAR — Another highly owned option in a great spot, so check your waiver wires. As great as we like to say the Packers defense is in real life, they aren’t anything special for fantasy. With only two takeaways in their last four games, they don’t produce the big plays needed to score points in our game. Carolina is a mess, though. Andy Dalton, as this column predicted last week, imploded, and the Panthers gave up 17 fantasy points to the Bills. Per NFL Insiders, Bryce Young could return this week, but the Packers are still a plus matchup no matter who the quarterback is for Carolina.
Top Targets
Los Angeles Rams (LAR 39%) vs NO — Two words: Tyler Shough. I watched this kid (well, he’s a 26-year-old rookie) in the preseason, and it was uglier than your bank account balance after a Bourbon Street bachelor party. This guy simply can’t play. I’m calling it right now: pick-six by the Rams. Maybe two. Shough is playing behind an offensive line without its stud center, and he was one of the worst quarterbacks against pressure in college football last season. The Rams currently rank second in the league in sacks. They might make up the ten they need to pass Denver in this week alone. I have zero doubt that the Rams will finish as a top-5 play.
Detroit Lions (DET, 50%) @ MIN — It’s time for J.J. McCarthy to get over the world’s worst ankle sprain and return to the lineup. In McCarthy’s two starts, he took nine sacks. He’ll see a Lions front that currently ranks tied for fifth in that category. They say a good running game can be a young quarterbacks best friend. Well, Detroit allows the fourth-fewest yards per game on the ground (87.7). When McCarthy drops back, he’ll face a unit that ranks top 10 in completion percentage (63%). Overall, it’s going to be a rough go for the second-year signal caller. I like Detroit a lot if I can’t get the Chargers or Rams off the wire.
Jacksonville Jaguars (JAX, 7%) @ LV — The Jags pass defense is actually pretty good. Their completion percentage allowed is the 6th lowest in the league (61.9%). The boys from Duval County do what so many others don’t: they force turnovers. Ten interceptions through seven games is second-best in the NFL. This week, they face the abysmal Geno Smith-led Las Vegas Raiders, who do everything we want from an opposing offense. They turn it over, they take sacks, or they just won’t score. This offense is a mess. The line is bad, and it’s helped stifle Ashton Jeanty to just 21 rushing yards in Week 7. Smith hasn’t finished as better than QB 24 since Week 3. In that four-game span, she’s thrown for over 200 yards just once. I love the Jags in Sin City this week.
Going Deeper
Baltimore Ravens (BAL, 32%) @ MIA — As the Ravens get healthier, their schedule also turns favorably. If you add Baltimore this week, you can keep them for consecutive matchups against Miami, Minnesota, Cleveland, New York Jets, and Cincinnati. To quote the great American philosopher George Costanza, “That’s like discovering Plutonium by accident.” I’m not confident in any D/ST against Miami. They are completely unpredictable. Two weeks ago, the Browns scored 25 points against the ‘Phins. Last week, Atlanta goose egged us. Go figure. But this schedule can’t be ignored. If you have an extra spot, maybe throw the Ravens on your bench and see how it shakes out. That said, the Ravens don’t sack the quarterback (31st), so we’re hoping their opponents make mistakes. Knowing Tua Tagovailoa, that might not be a huge reach.
Chicago Bears (CHI, 27%) @ CIN — Like I said, it’s not a great week to add D/STs when I’m giving out the Ravens and now Bears. Chicago just lost their second-round defensive lineman Shemar Turner for the season to a torn ACL, so the vibes aren’t great. The angle here is Bengals QB Joe Flacco is day-to-day with a shoulder issue. Monitor that: as the Bengals' backup, Jake Browning threw three picks and took a pair of sacks the last time we saw him. So if Flacco sits, the Bears D/ST becomes very live for Week 9.
Place Kickers
Higher-owned Options
Chris Boswell (Pit, 74%) — We are going well above the rostered percentage we want to use in our waiver wire choices. Yet, we have to point out Boswell’s kicking thus far in 2025. All eight of his field goals in his last three games combined have been from the bonus range. In fact, 13 of his 14 field goals this year have been bonus range variety. What is truly eye-popping with Boswell is that nearly 29% of his field goal conversions have been from 50 or more yards!
Top Targets
Tyler Loop (Bal, 44%) — The numbers for Baltimore place kicking are not outstanding, but they are serviceable, and Loop has a very good matchup on Thursday night. Miami has allowed just one field goal in each of its last two games, but it had allowed multiple field goal conversions in four of the first five games this year. Loop nailed three field goals last week, with one from the bonus range (42 yards).
Going Deeper
Cairo Santos (Chi, 2%) — In Week 8, Santos returned from a two-game absence due to a thigh injury and promptly converted on three of four field goal attempts. His only miss was short from 58 yards. The Bears have converted three or more field goals in four straight games. His opponent, Cincinnati, has allowed multiple field goals in four of their last seven games, including three last week.
Tom Simons contributed the PK writeups.
