Fantasy Football Roster Cloggers Week 9

It is hard to believe that we are already in Week 9 of the NFL season. After this week half of the teams in the NFL will have made it through their bye weeks. But there are still plenty more bye weeks to go, including Week 14 with six more teams. For most leagues, Week 14 will be the final week of the fantasy football regular season.

So as we continue to go through these tough bye weeks, it is important to plan ahead and try and get as many wins as you can. The worst situation that you can put yourself into, is knowing that you need a win in Week 14 and realizing too late that you have several players on bye. Luckily the teams on bye in Week 14 are the Falcons, Bears, Packers, Colts, Saints, and Commanders. So there are not a ton of super fantasy relevant players that will be missing.

Late Week Additions

This past Sunday, Taylor aggravated his ankle that he previously injured causing him to miss time. Taylor missed practice on Wednesday and Thursday and has been ruled out of Sunday’s game. If he is still available, it is time to go add Deon Jackson (18.5% Rostered) and even Zack Moss (1.8% Rostered).

Deon Jackson already showed flashes while serving as Taylor’s replacement. So I do expect him to be the first to get snaps if Taylor is on a snap count. But the Colts did just trade for Zack Moss so who knows if he will be given any snaps. I will be watching Moss this week no matter what to see if he has the chance to overtake Jackson as the primary backup.

Roster Cloggers

RB – Cam Akers, Los Angeles Rams, 54.6% Rostered

Due to his strained relationship with the Rams, Akers was featured last week on the Watchlist. He was only on the watchlist because there was a chance that he was traded. But the trade deadline has come and gone and Akers is still a Los Angeles Ram.

According to several reports, the Rams turned down multiple offers that included Akers. But in fact the opposite was true. The Rams were desperately trying to trade Akers.

I am sure that this did not do much to help mend whatever is going on. I do expect Akers to be active again at some point this season. But even when he was active he was not very productive. Even if Akers becomes active he should not be plugged into your fantasy football lineup until we see some consistent production. So we are at a minimum multiple weeks away from getting Akers into your lineup, and that is only if things go well.

WR – Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Kansas City Chiefs, 51% Rostered

This offseason, MVS signed a decent free agent contract with the Chiefs. Many, including myself, were somewhat optimistic. But so far this season, we have been mostly disappointed. 

Marquez Valdez-Scantling’s best game came following a game that he did not have a single reception. This led to fantasy football managers pulling the plug and not getting him into their starting lineups. Coming off his best performance of the season, now would be a great time to try and trade him away. You may not be able to trade MVS straight up for a better player. But you may be able to throw him in as a smaller component to a larger trade.

Prior to the trade deadline the Chiefs sent fairly high draft capital to the Giants, in exchange for Kadarius Toney. I am not sure how much involvement Toney will have. But I do think that it cuts into MVS’s workload, which already wasn’t viable to fantasy managers.

WR – Hunter Renfrow, Las Vegas Raiders, 58.4% Rostered

I have wanted to put Renfrow on here for a couple weeks. But he was coming back from an injury and then on bye week so I was giving him the benefit of the doubt. In the first two games of the season, Renfrow had 16 targets and 10 receptions. But since then he only has 8 receptions on 9 targets in three games. His decrease in production has led to other WRs stepping up.

The Raiders currently rank near the middle of the league in passing yards per game and total points. But Renfrow is currently 4th in targets behind Adams, Hollins, and Jacobs. As the 4th target on a team that is not scoring a ton of points you are not going to be getting enough points to support their 4th option in the passing game.

Hunter Renfrow will probably have a couple decent fantasy football games. Renfrow is only being started in 12.3% of ESPN leagues. So even if Renfrow has a good game it will not likely help many people. I am dropping Renfrow if I am in need of a bye week fill in.

TE – Dawson Knox, Bufallo Bills, 62.2% Rostered

Unless you have Kelce, Andrews, or Zach Ertz you are likely having to make a decision about which TE to start each week. If you find one that scores a touchdown you likely made the correct decision. But this is not always the case. For example, Dawson Knox scored a touchdown and still did not finish inside of the top 12 TEs for the week. With just 8 points, Knox finished as TE13 in Half-PPR leagues.

The Bills currently rank 4th in total points and 1st in passing yards per game, so there is plenty of opportunity. But Knox just has not been getting the work we are hoping for from our fantasy football TEs. Knox has only had more than 5 targets in one game this season. On top of that, his 41 receiving yards in Week 2, was the most he has had in the season.

According to Player Profiler, Knox ranks outside of the top 12 in nearly every single one of their opportunity, productivity, and efficiency metrics. Until Knox can jump into the top 12 in more of these categories he is not really a safe option for your fantasy lineups.

Roster Clogger Watchlist

• Aaron Rodgers, QB, Green Bay Packers
• Damien Harris, RB, New England Patriots
• Melvin Gordon, RB, Denver Broncos
• Brandin Cooks, WR, Houston Texans
• Darren Waller, TE, Las Vegas Raiders