Fantasy Football Sleeper Picks: Week 9

Fantasy Football Sleeper Picks: Week 9

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For the first time as a pro in the regular season, Cutler returns to his old Nashville stomping grounds. He's coming off a clunker of a performance Sunday against the Lions, but the Titans have given up a total of 17 passing touchdowns on the season, including at least two in six games.

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A battle of the league's swashbuckling teams is also a matchup between two of the most likely bye week replacement quarterbacks, Palmer and Tampa Bay's Josh Freeman. Palmer, the former No. 1 pick, has thrown touchdowns in all but one of his games this season, while Tampa Bay has given up at least 250 yards to every quarterback it has faced but Brady Quinn.

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The Cardinals have surrendered at least 100 rushing yards in six of the eight games they've played, including the last four contests, all of which they lost. Green has been less than stellar, averaging 2.9 yards per carry as a replacement for the injured Cedric Benson, but the way the wheels are falling off the Cardinals' rushing defense, Green is worth the gamble for owners looked to replace Stevan Ridley, Steven Jackson, Shonn Greene or Frank Gore during the bye.

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The Texans are the league's sixth-best rushing team, and the Bills own the league's worst rushing defense. With Ben Tate sidelined, former Seahawk Forsett will serve as Arian Foster's relief. Both backs will see plenty of touches and yards.

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The San Diego State rookie made some noise Sunday night against the Saints, picking up 86 yards on 14 carries. It was admittedly against the league's worst defense, but it was impressive nonetheless. The Bengals were just carved up by Jonathan Dwyer, have given up 115 rushing yards per game over their last three contests and are among the league leaders in rushing touchdowns allowed. It's shaping up to be another fine day for the duo of Hillman and Willis McGahee.

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With Ryan Tannehill's availability in question this weekend in Indianapolis, the Dolphins will likely go a little conservative with Matt Moore, whose career TD-to-INT ratio ranks 26th in the league among active players with at least 500 pass attempts. That means a steady diet of Reggie Bush and his understudy, Thomas, who has now reached the end zone in two straight and three of his last four games. Thomas' 3.0-yards-per-carry average isn't anything to get excited about, but the fact that the Colts are allowing more than one rushing touchdown per game this season is.

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He was last week's big pickup after a 104-yard effort in Minnesota, but was a major disappointment for the misguided who used him against the 49ers, when he gained just six yards on eight carries. Less-than-overwhelming backs like Rashard Jennings, Daryl Richardson and Donald Brown have delivered big yards against Green Bay in October, though, so it's not a reach to believe Stephens-Howling will also have some success.

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The leading pass-catcher in FBS history has finally gotten his NFL career going following offseason knee surgery. He's stepped in and caught touchdown passes in his last two games and has endeared himself with Matthew Stafford thanks to his knack for getting open. We expect Megatron to have a big game against a Jaguars team that has failed to handle mammoth receivers like Brandon Marshall and A.J. Green, but those with similar statues to Broyles, like Reggie Wayne, T.Y. Hilton and Denarius Moore, have had success as well. With Stafford seemingly out of his season-long slump, Broyles will continue to see scoring chances.

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Everyone tends to come to the party when the Saints are the opponent, and things will be the same this week as Michael Vick & Co. get a chance to redeem themselves against a defensive unit that allowed a whopping 359.7 passing yards per game in October, by far the highest in the NFL. Avant is merely the Eagles' fourth downfield option, but other non-starters like Randall Cobb, Tiquan Underwood and Aldrick Robinson have made a significant fantasy impact against New Orleans this season.

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The chance to acquire a contributing member of Matt Ryan's potent passing attack at this late stage of the season is too good to ignore. The rookie from Oregon stepped in for an ailing Harry Douglas (ankle, knee) and caught two balls for 30 yards and his first NFL score while playing in more than half of Atlanta's snaps last week against the Eagles. Dallas' secondary will have its hands full accounting for Julio Jones, Roddy White and Tony Gonzalez, so Davis should get opportunities Sunday night if Douglas misses another game.

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Opposing players have had a field day getting deep against the Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium, and over the past two games Moore has reeled in long receptions of 29 and 37 yards against better pass defenses than this.

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For a struggling offense, few sights are more welcome than the Redskins' defense. In what should be a matchup of dynamic quarterbacks, 2011 breakout fantasy stud Cam Newton has a chance to redeem himself and re-establish his place among the elite with a big game. Newton will be quite active against the league's 28th ranked scoring defense, and with Brandon LaFell likely out with a concussion, Newton's options are limited. Of Newton's regular options, Olsen (29 catches on 44 targets) is the most reliable and the most likely to have a big day.

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Owned at less than 20 percent, Gresham had a terrible 19-yard game against Pittsburgh, but now faces a great matchup against a Broncos defense that's been allowing nearly 10 points per game to opposing tight ends. There are plenty of worse players to use in Rob Gronkowski's place.

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Most likely jettisoned last week with Houston on a bye, Graham is second in the league in extra points, eighth in fantasy points and going against a Bills team that allowed a staggering 29 PATs through seven games. A field goal or two sprinkled in would give Graham big numbers, and he's someone owners can keep for the rest of the season as well.