Fantasy Football Week 9 Winners & Losers: Jordan Love Bombs Away

Week 10 had some explosive performances in the wee hours of the morning (afternoon in Madrid) and then had a few more in some statement performances. And there were some that looked to be in smash spots, but ended up leaving their fantasy managers more than wanting. Before you look back, if you want to look ahead check out our fantasy football rankings and fantasy football projections.

Week 9 Fantasy Football Winners

Jordan Love | QB | Green Bay Packers

Green Bay’s downfield passing attack remained red hot on Sunday, pushing Jordan Love even further up the MVP leaderboard. Love completed 23-of-29 passes for 372 yards and 3 touchdowns against the Patriots, while adding a 13-yard rushing touchdown. It was another impressive display of deep passing from Love, who went 6-of-7 for 154 yards and a touchdown on passes of 15-30 air yards. Meanwhile, just over 30% of his passes traveled 20-plus yards in Week 9. His 18.7% deep passing rate over the course of the season is the highest rate among qualified signal-callers, as Love is averaging 5.2 fantasy points per game on passes of 20-plus air yards, trailing only Joe Burrow and Drake Maye.

Over the past two weeks, Love has posted fantasy finishes of QB2 and QB6, as Green Bay continues to rely on explosive plays in the passing game. Love is currently averaging 37.8 pass attempts per game, a career-high mark. Always one of the more efficient passers in the game, volume has been the only thing limiting Love’s fantasy upside.

Zach Charbonnet | RB | Seattle Seahawks

It wasn’t a great fantasy outing from Charbonnet, but the usage continues to climb.

In his debut game last week, Charbonnet logged 36% of the snaps and 35% of Seattle’s rush attempts. He was behind Jadarian Price in both departments, while the rookie out-touched Charbonnet 12-9. But in Charbonnet’s second game of the year, the veteran saw an uptick in work, bumping up to 56% of the snaps and a team-high 17 touches. Unfortunately, when Seattle got down to the goal line, it was consecutive AJ Barner tush pushes that got them into the end zone, but Charbonnet was on the field for 9-of-12 third downs during the game. Price was still involved, too, recording 13 touches on 36% of the snaps.

Both running backs will be involved the rest of the way, but Charbonnet appears to be the 1A in this backfield. The offense isn’t looking as good as we thought it would to open the season, especially now with multiple quarterback injuries, but Charbonnet should be in line for 14-17 touches per game and goal-line work each week. Before Seattle hits its bye in Week 11, Charbonnet gets a great matchup against the Raiders this week.

Week 9 Fantasy Football Losers

Quinshon Judkins | RB | Cleveland Browns

When starting Judkins in fantasy, you are mostly hoping the Browns keep the game competitive. That’s when Judkins’ true fantasy ceiling is unlocked. Sunday’s game against the Saints was tight all the way through, the perfect game environment for Judkins.

It didn’t matter.

Dylan Sampson led Cleveland’s backfield in snaps a week ago, but that was in a blowout so no need to overreact. But in a close game against the Saints on Sunday, Sampson once again led the team with 64% of the snaps to just 34% for Judkins. Sampson mixed in more than normal on early downs in this game, while unsurprisingly dominating the snaps on both third down and the two-minute drill. Judkins still led the team in carries (15), but Sampson had eight of his own. Since Sampson returned in Week 7, Judkins’ pass-game usage has virtually disappeared, averaging just 1.3 targets per game during that span. He’s still the clear led option to carry the ball in this backfield, but if Sampson cuts into his early-down work even a little bit, Judkins’ fantasy stock will continue to fall.

Adonai Mitchell | WR | New York Jets

Following a career-best 142 yards in Week 8, it only seemed logical that Adonai Mitchell would build off his stellar performance this week, especially with Garrett Wilson sidelined. Right?

Wrong.

Mitchell, who was plugged into many fantasy lineups this week, failed to record a catch against the Chiefs. But it wasn’t due to lack of opportunity. Mitchell saw a healthy 7 targets from Geno Smith, but didn’t help himself out, dropping 2 passes. With over 100 air yards and three end zone targets (one of which was dropped), Mitchell will pop in any expected fantasy points model after this week. It was a frustrating game for the talented, though inconsistent wideout, and with Wilson likely back in the lineup next week Mitchell will be a tough player to start.