Week 9 Fantasy Football Start ‘Em Sit ‘Em: Jaylen Waddle vs. Zay Flowers

Evaluating who to play in fantasy football in week nine between Miami Dolphins WR Jaylen Waddle and Baltimore Ravens WR Zay Flowers.

Oct 26, 2025; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Zay Flowers (4) looks on during the third quarter against the Chicago Bears at M&T Bank Stadium. | Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

The Baltimore Ravens and Miami Dolphins will headline the start of week nine of the NFL, with the two teams playing on Thursday Night Football. In that matchup are two WRs whose fantasy outlooks have changed throughout the 2025 season: Dolphins WR Jaylen Waddle and Ravens WR Zay Flowers. Here is a breakdown on who to start and who to sit between Flowers and Waddle in fantasy football this week.

Jaylen Waddle 

Oct 26, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Miami Dolphins wide receiver Jaylen Waddle (17) scores a touchdown against the Atlanta Falcons in the third quarter at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

In his newly established role of WR1 for the Miami Dolphins, Jaylen Waddle has excelled. In three of his past four games, he has had 95 or more receiving yards. This includes his week eight performance against the Atlanta Falcons, where he had five catches for 99 yards and a touchdown. This outing for Waddle was especially impressive given how elite the Falcons' secondary and passing game as a whole has proven to be this season. They are currently allowing the fewest passing yards per game in the NFL. Waddle was the first pass catcher this season to record 90 or more receiving yards against them. In week nine, he has a great chance to continue this breakout fantasy potential momentum against the Baltimore Ravens.

The Ravens are on the opposite end of the fence when compared to the Falcons' passing defense. Baltimore this season is allowing the fifth-most passing yards per game. In the season in PPR formats, they are giving up the most fantasy points to the WR position per game. In that, though, it should be noted that they have only let two WRs have over 100 receiving yards on them this season.

Zay Flowers 

Sep 28, 2025; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Zay Flowers (4) makes a catch during the fourth quarter against the Kansas City Chiefs at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. | Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

A quarterback change helped the Ravens last Sunday, but Zay Flowers' fantasy point output as of late did not see much change. For the fourth week in a row, Flowers had between 40-75 receiving yards and his no touchdown streak extends to six games. In week eight game against the Chicago Bears, he had seven receptions on nine targets for 63 yards. And while this is not breakout WR1-10 material, Flowers' production has been consistent.  He sees a fair share week in and week out. He has only one game this season with fewer than five receptions. With this steady baseline, it will remain to be seen if he can finally put together a huge fantasy point outing against the Miami Dolphins on Thursday night.

The Dolphins this year are allowing the 11th fewest passing yards per game. They have been especially good as of late. In the last two weeks, they have not allowed a single opposing pass catcher over sixty yards receiving. On the year, only one player has gotten over 100 receiving yards against them.

Final Verdict

Overall, both Flowers and Waddle are good plays in fantasy football in week nine, but in the debate in who should start and who should sit between them in week nine, Flowers is a sit and Waddle is a start. The main reason for this is that Waddle has shown more big game potential as of late, and he is going up against one of the weaker passing defenses the NFL has to offer in 2025.