Fantasy Football Rankings: Justin Jefferson Stands Out For Week 9

Welcome to the Week 9 fantasy football rankings edition of Cupps’ Cupboard! Every Friday this season, I’m going through my rankings for the upcoming week of games - identifying the players I have the biggest deltas on compared to Fantasy Life’s expert consensus, along with examining advanced metrics and utilization data.

As someone with a data-heavy background and overall approach to fantasy football, my rankings are created using a blend of several inputs:

• Fantasy Life weekly fantasy football projections, adjusted using fantasy football DvP rankings
• Prediction market data (essentially taking the current prices on various yardages, touchdowns, receptions, etc., and creating implied fantasy point projections)
• Vegas prop lines (rush/rec yards + receptions for pass catchers, pass/rush yards for quarterbacks). I will commonly refer to this as a player’s ‘Vegas Base’ projection: essentially, the floor a player offers without any touchdown odds

Using these sources as a baseline, I create my own hybrid projection system for each position and adjust from there.

Let’s get right into it.

Quarterback I Am High On In My Week 9 Fantasy Football Rankings

Patrick Mahomes

• Fantasy Life: QB9
• My Rank: QB4 (+5)

Mahomes has found himself on the opposite side of this column as the QB I’m lowest on against the market quite often this season. Not this time.

Mahomes and the Chiefs get the New York Jets in Week 9, currently 19th in DvP against the QB position (0.91 more points on average per week), and the market absolutely loves this spot for him:

• Fantasy Life’s DvP-adjusted projections: 19.2 points (QB8)
• Prediction markets: 21.0 points (QB4)
• Vegas base projection: 11.0 points (QB9)

When it comes to the top-12 weekly conversation, Mahomes has found himself on the outside looking in quite a bit this season. However, with Rashee Rice back in the mix and a much softer matchup than the last two (SEA and DEN on the road), I like this as a major bounceback spot.

QB I'm Low On In My Week 9 Fantasy Rankings

Matthew Stafford

• Fantasy Life: QB11
• My Rank: QB14 (-3)

On paper, this is a smash spot for Stafford from a fantasy perspective. The Washington Commanders are 30th in DvP against QBs, allowing 5.3 more points on average every week. Yet he doesn’t quite look like a QB1 in the market data:

• Prediction markets: 17.9 points (QB14)
• Vegas base projection: 10.4 points (QB14)

Combine this with the fact that Stafford has not surpassed 20 fantasy points in a single game since week 5, and it has me a little worried. There’s no denying the upside here against a soft Washington defense, but I’d temper expectations a bit.

Running Backs I'm High On In My Fantasy Football Rankings For Week 9

Devin Singletary

• Fantasy Life: RB38
• My Rank: RB32 (+6)

I’m pretty excited about what Singletary’s role could look like in Week 9. At the time I’m writing this, Cam Skattebo is still not practicing after injuring his hamstring at the end of their Week 7 matchup (before their bye last week), and if he doesn’t suit up, it’s looking like the Singletary show in New York.

Even if Skattebo does play, I still think Singletary profiles like a mid-range RB3 at worst. Najee Harris has been released, and Tyrone Tracy is on IR, so the backfield figures to be pretty consolidated.

Additionally, NYG gets the Eagles in Week 9, and while they're a middle-of-the-road matchup for RBs (13th in DvP), they do allow the third-most rushing yards per game across the league.

If you’re looking for a spot-start with upside if Skattebo doesn’t play or is limited, Devin Singletary would be my guy here.

RB I'm Low On In My Week 9 Fantasy Rankings

Josh Jacobs

• Fantasy Life: RB13
• My Rank: RB17 (-4)

Jacobs has had an insanely hot start to his 2026 campaign - through two games, he is averaging 21.6 fantasy points, good for RB3 this year. Obviously, this is a small sample, and I expect this number to come down quite a bit - I wouldn’t be surprised to see some regression this week.

The Packers get the Patriots in Week 9, currently 3rd in DvP against the running back position, allowing nearly 4 fewer points per game than the average matchup. The market is a bit cautious on Jacobs here as well:

• Fantasy Life’s DvP-adjusted projections: 10.3 points (RB21)
• Prediction markets: 13.1 points (RB13)
• Vegas base projection: 8.6 points (RB18)

If you have Jacobs, it would be hard to sit him after such an awesome start. I’m just tempering expectations here a bit.

Wide Receiver I'm Higher On In My Week 9 Fantasy Rankings