Flex On Fire: 5 must-starts for Week 9 fantasy football

It was a good week for my must starts in Week 8, with four of my six selections giving you top 11 or better returns at their respective positions. Even the two that didn’t hit, Jarvis Landry and Scott Miller, still scored you 9.2 and 7.2 points respectively so weren’t complete duds. The big hits were on Rob Gronkowski, who scored a touchdown in a third consecutive game and finished as the TE4, and rookie Brandon Aiyuck, who took up the slack in the passing game left by the absent Deebo Samuel and injured George Kittle to reel in eight catches for 91 yards and a touchdown to finish as the WR6. Joe Burrow (QB10) and Trey Burton (TE11) also had solid days for the Bengals and Colts respectively as their strong fantasy performances helped their teams to wins in the world of ‘real’ football

Onto Week 9 and this week we have another four teams on bye, so you’ll be looking for replacements for the likes of Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp, Kareem Hunt and Tyler Boyd in your teams. Here are the guys I’m slotting into my lineups this week to help me get those all-important wins.

WR Brandin Cooks, Houston Texans @ Jacksonville Jaguars

It took a while for Cooks to get going this season but he’s seeing some consistent volume in recent weeks, with 12, nine and nine targets in the last three games, including a season-best 30.1 points in the last match up against the Jags in Week 5. Fresh off a bye and facing the league’s worst pass defense, Cooks has the chance to eat again in Week 9.

QB Derek Carr, Las Vegas Raiders @ Los Angeles Chargers

If you’re looking for a QB stream this week, Derek Carr is a solid option. Carr has been having a quietly consistent season, averaging just over 19 points per game as the QB15 and this week faces the Chargers, who allow the 7th most points to quarterbacks. A lot will depend on the game script and the health of Josh Jacobs who missed some practice time with knee/illness issues, so expect Carr to log a high volume day if Jacobs is limited in any way.

TE Noah Fant, Denver Broncos @ Atlanta Falcons

The perfect match up for Fant who looks to be full back from injury and logged his most receptions of the season last week against the Chargers. He faces a Falcons team allowing the most points per game to tight ends and so is an easy start for me this week.

RB James Robinson, Jacksonville Jaguars vs Houston Texans

With Gardner Minshew missing this week and rookie Jake Luton getting the start, its looking good for Robinson to see another high volume workload against the Texans. Robinson has logged double digit points in every game this season, and the Texans have allowed the most points per game to running backs. Even if the Texans try to load the box, Robinson should still some good volume in the passing game and is an easy start this week.

WR Cole Beasley, Buffalo Bills vs Seattle Seahawks

The Bills’ passing game has been limited the past two weeks as they ground out fairly comfortable divisional victories over the Jets and Patriots. They’ll need to be more expansive against Russell Wilson, DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, and Cole Beasley should definitely see an increase in the two targets he saw last week as the Bills look to keep pace. It was the first time this season Beasley had failed to gain double digit fantasy points but is the perfect flex option for your team this week against the team allowing the most points to wide receivers in 2020.