Panthers in Fantasyland Week 9
Jeff “Tito” Thitoff works for Fantasy Draft Proxies, a service that assists people in drafts and decisions throughout the seasons on starting lineups, trades and waivers. Tito has played fantasy football since 1980, with his first pick ever being Cleveland QB Brian Sipe. He hosted a fantasy football radio show for eight years on the ESPN affiliate in Columbus, Ohio. Here are his Week 9 suggestions:
Four teams on bye this week: Atlanta, LA Rams, New Orleans and Cincinnati. They all have players that people start consistently (yes, even the Bengals and Falcons).
AND keep in mind – there is a 9:30 AM ET game Sunday morning across the pond.
Let’s start with a look at Carolina:
When it comes to the Panthers, most weeks the fantasy football production starts and stops with Christian McCaffrey. Others may move the needle from time to time, but CMC is the only one with PLAY next to his name every week … barring injury.
He did make an appearance on the injury report this week, but according to ESPN, it was more of a workload/rest issue.
DJ Moore’s struggle with finding the end zone is concerning – he has just one touchdown this season – but he is getting targets, and that is important. He has 27 targets the last three games and, if you recall, he had 24 the first two weeks of the season. He is someone you should play, but don’t expect a monster performance against the Titans.
Curtis Samuel has a lot of upside, but can’t stay consistent or healthy. Monitor his status, but even if cleared he isn’t anything other than a flex play.
Greg Olsen has just eight catches over the last four weeks and he only scored in one game this season. I see him consistently ranked in the top-10 by various outlets each week, but I just don’t see why.
I can see playing both Joey Slye and the Panthers defense this week. Tennessee’s offense is a disaster, and even though San Francisco hung 51 up on Carolina a week ago, but the Titans have Ryan Tannehill at QB.
There are three wide receivers trying to come back from injury that you need to monitor for this week: Davante Adams, Adam Thielen and Sterling Shepard.
Adams has been hurt, rehabbing, stud, hurt, rehabbing all season it seems. Dude was drafted highly and hasn’t been able to stay on the field. He’s Aaron Rodgers favorite target and when he gets back he is a must play. He has been dealing with turf toe, but hopes to play this week.
I hate hamstring injuries for wide receivers, but that has been holding Adam Thielen back. The Vikings have an important game with the Chiefs this week, and I expect he will play.Shepard is working through another concussion. He will likely play against Dallas on Monday night, but it’s always tricky waiting to see if a MNF guy will go. Have a backup plan in place if you plan on using Shepard.
Speaking of receivers, I drafted AJ Green in many of my leagues and it looks like he will be back for Week 10. If he’s available in your league, grab him.
