Fantasy Football: Week Nine Staff Must Start, Must Sit and Sleeper Picks

Hal Bent

START: Alfred Morris, RB – Washington Football Team

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If you drafted Morris (my hand is raised for multiple leagues) you have suffered. No bounce-back, no heavy load without RGIII, no big season so far. But Morris bounced-back a bit in Dallas with Colt McCoy at quarterback. The Vikings are a decent match-up for a running back. With a bye next week, Washington should run Morris until his tongue is hanging out. Now is the time to ride the hot hand at running back.

SIT: Emmanuel Sanders, WR – Denver Broncos

Sanders has been a sleeper this season for Denver putting up big receiving numbers. After San Diego with three touchdowns the masses made a run at him with owners trading him high or in the few leagues he was still out there he was being scooped up. Ahh, but now he faces a strong secondary in New England and the potential for high wind, cool temperatures, and rain. Peyton Manning has four targets to choose from and with bad weather he is going to be looking for his tight end Julius Thomas or his big receiver who can grab a pass a bit off-target in Demaryius Thomas. Play Sanders at your peril this weekend.

SLEEPER: Carson Palmer, QB – Arizona Cardinals

Maybe your quarterback has a bye this week. Maybe he is someone like Tony Romo who got hurt and cost your team a win last week (I’m not bitter….I’m over it…I swear.). This week is all about digging deep for sleepers and Carson Palmer is a deep-sleeper. In fact, he is likely still on waivers in your league. If so, he may be worth a gamble as a one-week starter. Last week he hit on a couple of big-play touchdowns, so with a beat-up Cowboys defense to go against, he has Larry Fitzgerald playing well now and Malcolm Floyd due for a big game.