Week 9 Fantasy Football Projections Standouts: Malik Willis & More

The NFL regular season heads into Week 8. We’re halfway through the typical fantasy “regular season,” which means it’s officially crunch time. Teams in clear playoff positions need to start thinking about how to fortify their rosters, while teams on the outside looking in need to start making a push. Regardless, picking up wins over the next few weeks is paramount.

Fortunately, we have a bunch of tools at Fantasy Life that can help. That includes our fantasy football projections tool. In addition to our expert rankings, we also project the fantasy output for each offensive player each week. The focus of this piece is to identify a few players that stand out in those projections. Those can be positive surprises who could offer some value, or negative surprises that could be worth benching.

Let’s dive into a few of those players for NFL Week 9.

Standouts In The Week 9 Fantasy Football Projections

Malik Willis, QB, MIA

Projection: 16.9
Rank: QB14

NFL Week 9 is a bit lighter on byes than previous weeks. Only two teams will have the week off, and neither features a particularly relevant fantasy quarterback (Titans and Steelers). As a result, the top 12 at the position is loaded with basically all of the typical names you’d expect.

However, Willis comes up just outside the top 12 at QB14 in our projections. He got off to a slow start this season, but he has quietly turned up the production of late. Willis has finished as a top-15 scorer at the position in three straight games, including a QB4 finish vs. the Jets in Week 7. He remains one of the most effective rushers at quarterback, even if he hasn’t used his legs quite as much as hoped so far this season.

Willis is in an interesting spot this week vs. the Lions. They’ve shown some improvement defensively over the past two weeks, which coincides with their secondary getting healthier following their bye week. Still, no team has allowed more fantasy points per game to opposing QBs so far this season. Detroit also ranks 29th in EPA per pass attempt defensively.

Add it all up, and Willis is an intriguing streamer this week at a minimum.

Jonah Coleman, RB, DEN

Projection: 12.5
Rank: RB14

With RJ Harvey landing on Injured Reserve, the coast is clear for Coleman to take over in the Broncos’ backfield. He’s still going to lose some of the work to J.K. Dobbins, but Coleman looks like the clear-cut RB1 in the team’s backfield. He handled 68% of the snaps and 52% of the carries last week, including the majority of the high-value touches. Coleman had 86% of the short-yardage opportunities, while he racked up a season-high 16% target share.

As a result, Coleman finished with 18.4 0.5-PPR points, good for a top-12 finish at running back. Those types of performances could be commonplace for the rookie for as long as Harvey is sidelined.

He could be poised for a big showing this week. He’s taking on the Panthers, who rank just 25th in EPA per rush defensively this season. They’ve ultimately allowed the second-most fantasy points per game to opposing RBs, with only the Saints serving as a better matchup for fantasy purposes.

With that in mind, Coleman’s RB14 spot in the projections and RB15 spot in our consensus rankings could end up being conservative. I’d have no issues with him as my RB1 this week.

Stefon Diggs, WR, WAS

Projection: 9.4
Rank: WR23

Terry McLaurin is seemingly done for the year for the Commanders, which opens the door for Diggs to take over as the team’s unquestioned top pass-catcher. That didn’t exactly come to fruition last week. Diggs was on the field for 79% of the team’s pass plays, though he was targeted on just 19% of his routes run (TPRR). It resulted in a 21% target share in a game that the Commanders thoroughly dominated.

Diggs ultimately has plenty of room for improvement moving forward. He has a 25% TPRR for the year, so he should be more involved in future weeks. Even so, Diggs still managed a WR23 finish last week, and he’s finished as WR23 or better in four of his six games.

Diggs will have to navigate a matchup vs. the Rams this week, but Diggs still looks like a low-end WR2/high-end WR3 for fantasy purposes. He checks in at WR23 in our projections, and he’s WR26 in our consensus rankings.

Harold Fannin, TE, CLE

Projection: 8.9
Rank: TE8

The Browns could be forced into a QB change this week. Deshaun Watson was officially placed in the concussion protocol, making his status this weekend vs. the Saints a question mark. If he’s unable to clear the protocol before Sunday, Shedeur Sanders would be tasked with his first start of the year.

That could end up being a great development for Fannin. In Sanders’ seven starts last season, Fannin posted a 28% target share. He also had 50% of the team’s end zone targets, and he averaged 12.3 0.5-PPR points per game. That was enough to make him the No. 7 TE over that time frame.

Fannin also benefits from a fantastic matchup. The Saints’ defense has been pitiful for most of the year, and they’ve allowed the seventh-most fantasy points to opposing tight ends. Add it all up, and it’s enough to push Fannin up to TE8 in our projections. Our rankers are even more bullish, with Fannin as a Tier Two option at the position in Week 9.