San Francisco 49ers

Five Fantasy Football Takeaways from Week 9

Published Nov. 9, 2015 4:20 p.m. ET

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Let's take a look at five of the biggest fantasy football takeaways from Week 9 of the NFL season.

Dion Lewis Ends His Run

Dion Lewis had been arguably the best widely available free agent pickup of the fantasy season. He wasn't being drafted at all, and he came completely out of nowhere to really take control of the Patriots backfield. He was Shane Vereen, but he was also getting carries and scoring touchdowns.

Unfortunately, Lewis had his season end when he tore his ACL yesterday against the Redskins.

Lewis is safe to cut in season-long leagues, obviously, but dynasty league players should hold tight. It's unclear how much of his explosiveness he'll retain when he makes it back next year, but he's worth holding on to. Brady and Belichick both clearly like him.

Of course, now we have to play fantasy roulette the rest of the way with New England's backfield. LeGarrette Blount sees a bump and should lead the backfield most weeks, but there will still be times the Patriots decide to lean heavily on the pass and go elsewhere. James White functioned as Lewis' backup in his absence previously, but Brandon Bolden caught three balls when Lewis went down on Sunday.

White is probably the better flier, based on his pedigree and youth, even though he was a healthy scratch yesterday. Bolden is worth a shot as well in hopes that he retains the role he occupied yesterday. Don't go crazy for either, but if you have an available roster spot or free agent dollars to spend, you never know what Belichick will do. Lewis is a prime example of that, after all.

Big Ben Down Again

Everything was going so well. Ben Roethlisberger had thrown over 300 yards and two scores against the Oakland Raiders, and Antonio Brown had made up for last time with star quarterback by rattling off nearly 300 total yards. The pairing once again looked like the best in fantasy football.

Then it all came crashing down as Roethlisberger came off the field with a foot sprain that should sideline him one or two weeks, or possibly more.

It's a tough break for fantasy owners that had their teams stay afloat without Ben while he was out with an MCL injury. While it seems like Roethlisberger will be back for the fantasy playoffs to help his owners and the owners of guys like Brown, Martavis Bryant, Heath Miller and DeAngelo Williams, missing the last few weeks of the fantasy season is likely to hurt.

You still want to hang on to Roethlisberger, and find another QB on the wire with more upside than Jones.

Banged Up Bills

Bills RB LeSean McCoy went down with an injury yet again on Sunday against the Dolphins, frustrating his owners to no end. At least McCoy had a nice game before exiting, and his shoulder injury doesn't sound overly serious. Right now the Bills are deeming Shady as day-to-day, and since this shouldn't be a lingering issue like his hamstring, there's a decent chance he suits up on Thursday night. Just remember to triple-check his status on Thursday.

The same goes for Sammy Watkins, who is still dealing with an ankle issue. He tore up the Dolphins secondary on Sunday, but it may be asking a lot for him to turn around and be at full speed for a Thursday battle against the Jets. Revis Island likely awaits him as well, but Allen Robinson and Allen Hurns of the Jags just showed that success can still be had against New York's secondary, even if it's a tough matchup.

Speaking of Hurns, keep an eye on his practice status this week. He has a sprained left foot and it's unclear whether he'll be good to go for Sunday.

Upset City

While the final results of games don't impact fantasy all that much, how about the Titans, Colts and 49ers all pulling off big time upsets? Andrew Luck was a very difficult player to start in a matchup against Denver's secondary, but hopefully his owners kept the faith. San Francisco's running back situation was a little clearer than expected, although it was hard to see Shaun Draughn coming off his couch to get 20 touches. Pierre Thomas and Kendall Gaskins can be cut his favor, if you were one of the unlucky ones to guess wrong.

As for the Titans? Delanie Walker showed why he's a must-start with Marcus Mariota back in and Kendall Wright out. He's going to be a target hog the rest of the way, and like we always say, fantasy is all about opportunity. Don't forget about Dorial Green-Beckham, either, as he received 10 targets and should be a mainstay with the new coaching staff in place.

Waiver Wire

QB: Ryan Fitzpatrick, Joe Flacco, Kirk Cousins

RB: Jeremy Langford, Karlos Williams, Shaun Draughn, James White, Brandon Bolden

WR: Kamar Aiken, Stevie Johnson, Dorial Green-Beckham, Bryan Walters, Marquess Wilson

TE: Crockett Gilmore, Austin Seferian-Jenkins

D/ST: CIN D, DAL D, PIT D