Brian Thomas Jr. and Nico Collins Lead List of 6 Must Start Wide Receivers in Week 9
Week 9 is here, and it's time to set our starting lineups. Our fantasy wide receivers have dealt with a ton of injuries, as have their quarterbacks. It hasn't always been easy to fill out our lineups in recent weeks, but things should get a bit better this week with fewer byes and some of our players getting healthy. These are the wide receivers that you should be starting in Week 9.
Start Nico Collins in Week 9
Often, we find a team's star WR1 in the "sit" article when they are matched up against the Denver Broncos. That's because that means they'll be matched up against the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, Patrick Surtain II. However, Surtain went down with a pectoral strain on Sunday. It's perhaps the most significant injury to a defensive player possible for fantasy football. This is just a reminder not to fear the Broncos' matchup with Collins because Surtain will not be playing, and he's likely to miss at least a month.
Check out where Nico Collins ranks in Week 9
it's still the first quarter and Brian Thomas Jr. already has his best fantasy performance of the entire seasonpic.twitter.com/c66hBXC7Pz
— NFL Fantasy Football (@NFLFantasy) October 12, 2025
Start Brian Thomas Jr in Week 9
Thomas Jr was a player I was low on all offseason, and have been particularly critical of throughout the season. However, there is no way that we are benching him against the Las Vegas Raiders this week. Their pass defense has been terrible, and they've been giving up chunk plays in bunches. They have allowed the fourth-most fantasy points to wide receivers this season. This is a week that we will be plugging BTJ into our lineups.
Start Tee Higgins in Week 9
With Joe Flacco under center, we are willing to go back to starting all our Bengals. That is something we didn't see coming, but after two games, we are willing to admit that we were wrong on that one. With a solid matchup against a banged-up Chicago Bears' secondary, we are plugging Higgins back into our lineups in Week 9.
Find out where Tee Higgins ranks in Week 9
WHO STARTED WAN'DALE ROBINSON?!?pic.twitter.com/8WQbZgi7Rt
— NFL Fantasy Football (@NFLFantasy) October 10, 2025
Start Wan'Dale Robinson in Week 9
The 49ers' defense is horrible. You can blame it on injuries, but the reason doesn't really matter. They are now a defense that fantasy owners should be targeting with all of their fantasy options. Robinson will be a matchup-based option for the remainder of the season, and we are plugging him in this week.
Start Romeo Doubs in Week 9
The Packers spread the ball around a lot, and it's going to be tough to pick which receiver to start from week to week. We are going to follow the volume here, because it feels like the only logical way to handle this WR corps. While players like Christian Watson and Matthew Golden are big play threats, we will play it safe with Doubs, who will see more volume and is more of a touchdown threat down in the red zone.
Full list of Wide Receiver Rankings For Week 9
Start Jauan Jennings in Week 9
After two weeks with Jennings serving as the clear WR1 in San Francisco, it looks like we can officially put Kendrick Bourne on the back burner. Jennings once again led the team with seven targets in Week 8, with Bourne being the closest wide receiver with four. It also sounds like there is a strong chance that Brock Purdy returns this week, and we already know he much prefers Jennings over Bourne.
More Start and Sit Advice in Week 9
-0e06b43c57ceb063781f337e307e72d4.png "Mark Morales-Smith")
Mark Morales-Smith is a father of five, a former college football scout and semi-pro football player. Morales-Smith is a long-time competitive fantasy football player with well over a decade of professional writing experience at multiple high-level sites, including Sports Illustrated, FullTime Fantasy, FantasySP, and more.
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