Fantasy Football Week 9 WR rankings: DeVante Parker, Jarvis Landry can go from the wire to your lineup

Week 7 was the worst bye week for Fantasy this season, but Week 9 is coming close at wide receiver, with Terry McLaurin, Chris Godwin, Mike Evans, Antonio Brown, D.K. Metcalf, and Tyler Lockett all out this week. And with Calvin Ridley (personal reasons) away from the team and Deebo samuel, DeAndre Hopkins, and Julio Jones (among others) in question , the deepest position in Fantasy is looking a bit shallow.

The good news is there are some guys on waivers I’m actually OK grabbing and sticking into my lineup, starting with DeVante Parker. Parker has at least 77 yards in three of five games — including all three with Tua Tagovailoa — and he has a great matchup against the Texans to take advantage of this week. He’s a top-24 WR for me this week, and I’d also be willing to use Jarvis Landry (WR31), Jamison Crowder (33), and Brandon Aiyuk (36) if I was in a pinch. 

Here are my top 48 wide receivers for Week 9. To see the rankings from Jamey Eisenberg, Dave Richard and Heath Cummings, make sure you head here. We’ll be updating this throughout the week with new notes and rankings as we get news and the rankings get tweaked, so make sure you bookmark the page.

Week 9 WR Rankings

1. Cooper Kupp vs. TEN
2. Davante Adams @KC — Even with Jordan Love in for Aaron Rodgers (reserve/COVID-19), I’m still viewing Adams as arguably the best WR in Fantasy in this matchup. The Packers are probably going to have to score a ton, and I’m confident enough in Love to get the ball to Adams. Adams has still averaged 16.3 PPR points per game in his career without Rodgers.   
   
   
3. Tyreek Hill vs. GB — Opposing defenses have effectively taken away the big play from the Chiefs offense of late. The Chiefs completed five of seven attempts that traveled at least 20 yards down the field in Week 6 against Washington, but they are 3 for 15 in Week 5, 7, and 8 combined. That helps explain why Tyreek Hill has his lowest yards per catch (11.5) since his rookie season. However, he does lead the league in catches with 64, giving him eight per game — 2.2 higher than 2020’s career-high mark. This offense should figure it out, but even if it doesn’t, Hill remains a must-start Fantasy option. 
4. Deebo Samuel vs. ARI — We’ll see if Samuel’s calf injury impacts his availability for Week 9, but I’m not expecting it to at this point. He had just 58 yards on three catches in Week 5 against the Cardinals, but that was with Trey Lance under center, and he still has nine targets. 
5. A.J. Brown @LAR — With Derrick Henry out for at least the next six weeks, I expect we’ll see more passing from the Titans, and that should be good news for Brown. He has 379 yards on 25 catches with two touchdowns over the past three weeks since getting healthy. 
6. Justin Jefferson @BAL
7. Ja’Marr Chase vs. CLE
8. Stefon Diggs @JAX — Diggs has seen a slight reduction in usage since last season, but the bigger issue has been one of effectiveness — after averaging 9.2 yards per target in 2020, he’s down to 7.7  through seven games. Maybe we’re seeing some regression from his career-best numbers, but I’d expect we’ll see better production from Diggs moving forward, too. 
9. Diontae Johnson vs. CHI — Johnson has at least 10 targets in all but one game this season. 
10. Keenan Allen @PHI — One interesting thing about the Justin Herbert era for the Chargers is that it hasn’t quite elevated Allen the way it has the entire offense — he’s averaging 6.9 yards per target over the past two seasons after being north of 8.0 in each of his previous five seasons. I’m still riding Allen, but it would be nice to see a bit more success here. 
11. Mike Williams @PHI — Given his lack of a track record, I understand being worried about Williams, who has two or fewer catches in three of his past four games. But it’s worth remembering that he wasn’t any close to 100% healthy for one of them, so I’m not going to worry about Williams yet. 
12. DeAndre Hopkins @SF — The last time Hopkins faced the 49ers, he had a target share north of 30%. Assuming he’s healthy, could he see a similar share this week? I would take the under, but something close to it certainly seems possible to me. The only real concern I have is with his hamstring injury, so we’ll need to keep a close eye on his participation in practice to close out the week. 
13. Marquise Brown vs. MIN —  Brown has at least 18.9 PPR points in five of seven games — at least 12.9 even if you take out touchdowns. He’s just playing at an incredibly high level right now, though it will be interesting to see if he’s still getting a target share north of 25% if both Rashod Bateman and Sammy Watkins are active for the first time. 
14. D.J. Moore vs. NE
15. Brandin Cooks @MIA — Week 8 was a good reminder of why it’s so hard to sit Cooks, even given the state of the Texans offense. He’s too talented to keep down for too long, especially since he’s still seeing one of the largest target and air yard shares in the league. 
16. CeeDee Lamb vs. DEN
17. Courtland Sutton @DAL — Sutton getting just four targets in Jerry Jeudy’s first game back is a little bit concerning. I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, and I think there’s a chance we see good showings from both in what will hopefully be a shootout for the Broncos. 
18. Amari Cooper vs. DEN
19. Michael Pittman vs. NYJ — The Jets haven’t really given up huge numbers in the passing game, but don’t be fooled into thinking that means they have a good pass defense — they’re giving up the eighth-most yards per attempt, just ahead of Washington. If the Colts want to throw against the Jets on  Thursday, they should be able to, and Pittman should benefit. I was skeptical, but he looks like he has taken a significant step forward. 
20. Tee Higgins vs. CLE — Given that Higgins’ target share has been north of 25% for most of the season, a big game was inevitable. Whether he can come up with another one against a tough Cleveland defense is a different question, but I would have a hard time sitting him right now. 
21. Jaylen Waddle vs. HOU
22. Robert Woods vs. TEN
23. Chase Claypool vs. CHI
24. DeVante Parker vs. HOU — I don’t feel a ton of confidence in this ranking, and I wonder if I’m letting my preseason expectations of Parker cloud my judgment. I thought he was going to be third on the hierarchy for targets, but Parker is averaging nearly nine targets per game and has 77-plus yards in three of five — including both full games with Tua Tagovailoa. He was initially top-20 in my first run of rankings before I moved him down. Maybe I should stick with my gut. 
25. Adam Thielen @BAL
26. Jarvis Landry @CIN — With 18 targets in his first two games back from his knee injury, Landry sure looks like he’s back to being a solid PPR option, especially with Odell Beckham not around. 
27. DeVonta Smith vs. LAC — It feels like Smith has been something of a disappointment, but he’s on pace for about 850 yards, which isn’t far from what I expected. The problem is, it seems like there’s been room for him to do more with a very solid 22% target share. It’s worth remembering, rookie wide receivers tend to perform better as the season goes on, so don’t write off Smith just yet. And don’t expect the Eagles to be able to lean on the run nearly as much as they did last week against an offense that can actually move the ball. 
28. Jerry Jeudy @DAL — I’m assuming Jeudy will be back to something like a full role this week. Maybe that’s an unfair expectation, but in a game the Broncos will likely need to throw a bunch to keep up, I’m willing to take that chance. 
29. Emmanuel Sanders @JAX
30. Marvin Jones vs. BUF — I have no faith in Jones in this one at all, but there’s a relative shortage of viable wide receiver options this week, so if I have to throw him out there, at least he has some upside. 
31. Cole Beasley @JAX
32. Jamison Crowder @IND
33. Jakobi Meyers @CAR
34. Hunter Renfrow @NYG — With Henry Ruggs being released Tuesday, Renfrow could see a larger role in the passing game in a great matchup, though I do think Bryan Edwards may see an even more expanded role. 
35. A.J. Green @SF
36. Rashod Bateman vs. MIN — Sammy Watkins looks like he’s going to miss another week, so I’m interested in seeing if Bateman’s role grows coming out of the bye. 
37. Brandon Aiyuk vs. ARI — Aiyuk didn’t do much with it, but I can’t just ignore that he played his largest role of the season in Week 8, leading the team in snaps and routes at wide receiver. He’s still too talented to write off entirely, and if the 49ers find themselves trailing in this one, that might mean a breakout game. 
38. Darnell Mooney @PIT
39. Laviska Shenault vs. BUF
40. Mecole Hardman vs. GB
41. Corey Davis @IND
42. Allen Robinson @PIT
43. Kadarius Toney vs. LV — If Sterling Shepard (quad) doesn’t play, Toney could be well positioned for another big game. Sure, he didn’t do much in his return from injury in Week 8, but the flashes he’s shown were too impressive to ignore him entirely. 
44. Tyler Boyd
45. Tim Patrick @DAL
46. Rondale Moore @SF
47. Russell Gage @NO
48. Bryan Edwards @NYG

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