NFL: Russell Wilson, Christian McCaffrey among 5 Best Fantasy Football Performers in Week 9
The midway point has passed this season, which has ramped up the push towards the playoffs for your fantasy football team, with the race becoming that more intense. There were several highly impressive performances from familiar faces in Week 9 that could have been key to leading your team to a much-needed win. Here are the five best outings from this past week sans Monday’s matchup between the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants.
5. Jimmy Garoppolo
ESPN: 28.9 PTS
Throughout the 2019 season, one question that the 49ers have faced concerns about the play of quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo as he had yet to put forth a strong outing. The perception had become that it is their dominant defense that is leading the charge while he plays more of a game manager role.
Garoppolo broke out of that mold considerably last Thursday night with a big performance by passing for 317 yards with a season-high four touchdown passes for his second 20-point fantasy outing of the year. It has been hard to trust Garoppolo as a starting quarterback in fantasy, but when the match is favorable, he’s undoubtedly a viable option.
4. Mike Evans
ESPN: 36.0 PTS
There has been a fair share of ups and downs this season for Evans, but this was a dominant performance in the right direction as he torched the Seahawks defense. He had his way with their secondary, racking up 12 catches for 180 receiving yards and a touchdown.
It marked the second straight 30-point outing that has put him on this list once again and third overall this season. When Jameis Winston is playing well, it typically leads to Evans putting up a strong performance. Beyond that, the star wide displayed once again why he’s one of the league’s best at his position.
3. Christian McCaffrey
ESPN: 37.6 PTS
What more is there to say about McCaffrey as he continues to pile up massive outing after massive outing this season behind what has been an MVP-caliber campaign. He added another stellar performance in Week 9 as he easily handled the Tennessee Titans defense for 146 rushing yards along with three receptions for 20 receiving yards and a touchdown.
It marked the third time that he tallied at least one rushing and receiving touchdown. He also joined Hall of Famer Jim Brown as the only players with 150-plus scrimmage yards and one touchdown in six of the first eight games of a season in NFL history. McCaffrey has now tallied double-digit performances all but once while topping 30 points four times this season.
2. Russell Wilson
ESPN: 39.2 PTS
Like McCaffrey, Wilson has become a constant on this list as he has continued to add to his MVP bid. He has been one of the top quarterbacks in fantasy behind his impressive campaign as he picked apart the Tampa Buccaneers’ secondary for a monster outing for 378 passing yards with five touchdowns along with 21 rushing yards.
Wilson has now tallied more than 20 fantasy points five times, including more than 30 points twice. He has been an absolute factor with his arm as he has an incredible 22 touchdowns to one interception ratio throughout the first nine games played. There is no reason to believe that trend won’t continue this season.
1. Tyler Lockett
ESPN: 40.2 PTS
The tremendous success Wilson has had this season has led to some big performances from Lockett as his primary target in the passing game. That was once again the case in Week 9 as he put up a season-best outing with 13 catches for 152 receiving yards along with a pair of touchdowns.
Since the departure of Doug Baldwin, Lockett has stepped in smoothly as the No.1 wide receiver in the Seahawks’ passing game. He has tallied double-digit fantasy outputs all but once while topping more than 30 points twice. In short, there should be plenty of productive outings ahead in the rest of the 2019 campaign.
