I feel like a broken record, but here we go again with the injuries…and they keep happening at one offensive skill position in particular.
We saw four more superstar wide receivers go down in Week 9, and one of them might have lost his quarterback, too. Speaking of receivers, we also saw one of our heroes continue to struggle in the stat sheets, while tight ends went right back in the tank.
With that said, here’s my Fabs’ Five Storylines from Fantasy Football Week 9 that stood out the most. For all of the latest news and fantasy advice, be sure to check out Fantasy Dirt five days a week!
Fabs' Five: Week 9 Fantasy Football Storylines
The Cowboys offense is falling apart
It’s bad enough to be a Cowboys fan these days (trust me, I know better than most), but now their bad play on the field is being coupled with injuries … and serious ones.
Dak Prescott, who was having a very “mid” game in the stat sheets against the Atlanta Falcons, suffered a hamstring injury that will require an MRI this week. He left the game, was unable to return and finished with a meager 12.3 fantasy points. (Let’s go, Cooper Rush!) Ugh.
If that wasn’t bad enough, the Cowboys then saw CeeDee Lamb miss time with an injured shoulder. While he did return for a two-point conversion, he was clearly uncomfortable. Reports after the game suggest he’ll have an MRI for a right AC joint sprain. Lamb finished with eight catches for just 47 yards and 16.2 points. The superstar wideout, who had 403.2 points last season, is on pace for just 314.5 points in 2024 … and if he misses time (likely?) or is catching passes from the backup Rush, Lamb’s current pace could be even worse.
Ouch.
More big-name wide receivers get hurt
Lamb wasn’t the lone receiver to go down this week. Chris Olave (concussion), Drake London (hip), and A.J. Brown (knee) were also here hurt and didn’t return. Olave’s concussion was his second of the season, so you have to be worried about his health moving forward.
This continues a terrible trend of valued fantasy wideouts getting hurt. Fantasy fans have been without Brown (who already missed games), Malik Nabers, Nico Collins, Chris Godwin (I-R), Cooper Kupp, Puka Nacua, Rashee Rice (I-R), Deebo Samuel, Mike Evans, DK Metcalf, Stefon Diggs (I-R), DeVonta Smith, Davante Adams, Tee Higgins, Brandon Aiyuk (I-R), Josh Downs, Rashid Shaheed, Amari Cooper, Jauan Jennings, Diontae Johnson, Keenan Allen, Christian Kirk (I-R), Jameson Williams (SSPD), Hollywood Brown (I-R), Jordan Addison, Brandin Cooks, Quentin Johnston and Adam Thielen for at least one or more games.
(Did I miss any … is this crazy or what?)
This season has shown that running backs are not always the most injury-prone players among the skill positions, and it proves the Zero-RB Strategy has been a massive failure.
Is Tyreek Hill really a bust this season?
Hill started the season looking like the fantasy superstar we all drafted, scoring 26 points in a win over the Jaguars. Little did we know that would be his best game (by a mile) for the next two months. While we forgave him for his lack of production without Tua Tagovailoa (he scored single digits in four of his next five games), the Cheetah hasn’t been great since Tua returned. In fact, he’s averaged just 12.6 points without a touchdown. What’s more? Hill has not found the end zone since Week 1! With eight games in the books, he’s on pace to finish with 187.5 points … that’s fewer than half of the 376.4 points he had last season.
Joe Burrow throws for five touchdowns
Burrow had a huge game against the Bengals and fantasy managers alike, throwing for 251 yards with five touchdowns in a blowout win over the Raiders. The performance was good for 29.1 fantasy points and was his second game in five weeks with five touchdown passes.
Surprisingly, Burrow’s great stat line didn’t benefit Ja’Marr Chase. He did finish with seven catches, but he had just 43 yards and didn’t score. The touchdowns went to Mike Gesicki (2), Chase Brown, Drew Sample, and Andrei Iosivas. Burrow and Chase should both find success in Week 10 though, facing a bad Baltimore pass defense on Thursday night.
Tight ends giveth, tight ends taketh away…
Remember how happy we all were last week when 18 tight ends scored at least 10.8 points, nine scored at least 16.8 points and five went over 21 points … on National Tight Ends Day? Well, every Sunday should have that label. The position took a massive turn downward in terms of fantasy points, as just 11 scored in double digits prior to Sunday night, and only one (Mike Gesicki) had more than 20 points.
What’s more, six of the tight ends who scored double digits (Gesicki, Taysom Hill, Theo Johnson, Ja’Tavion Sanders, Drew Sample, Nick Vannett) did not start in most leagues. In fact, only Hill and Gesicki were even owned in a double-digit percentage of leagues. So, we can go back to complaining about tight ends!
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Fabs Five: Wide Receiver Injuries Continue To Plague Fantasy Football Fans.
