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Fantasy Football Fantasy Football Rookie Travis Hunter's role as a receiver is growing — how high will it take him? Morgan Tencza / Imagn Images Week 8 was low-scoring and lacked drama, with 11 of 12 games decided by double digits. Passing was also way down last week, when only Rome Odunze and Tucker Kraft reached 100 receiving yards throughout the league. Conversely, the season’s three biggest rushing games all occurred last week, when four running backs topped 100 yards and 10. 0 YPC for the first time since 1991. Scoring should rebound in Week 9 with 18 teams sporting an implied team total of 23+ points, which is good news for the fantasy community. Here are the biggest questions entering Week 9. Advertisement Hunter saw career-highs in snap share, route share, targets, receptions and receiving yards while recording his first TD in Week 7. Liam Coen followed through on his promise to give the rookie a bigger role. Hunter’s three opportunities in the red zone matched his previous total over six games, and he’s playing fewer defensive snaps. Hunter was mostly quiet throughout Week 7’s breakout game before exploding in garbage time — he entered the fourth quarter with just 30 scoreless yards on nine targets. However, Brian Thomas ranks last among 83 WRs in securing catchable targets (64. 3%) this season. Moreover, BTJ aggravated his shoulder injury at the end of the Rams game, and he was wearing a non-contact jersey and a harness during Wednesday’s practice. Reports suggest Hunter will start getting the WR1 treatment from the Jaguars in the season’s second half, and he could see the coveted post-bye rookie bump in Week 9. Hunter has been a fantasy bust, but he can be a WR2 rest-of-season. Since Week 1, Courtland Sutton has been fantasy’s WR27, while Troy Franklin has been the WR29. Franklin has seen more targets than Sutton in five of eight games this year. Sutton leads in first-read target share (24. 1% vs.  20. 6%) on the season, but Franklin beats him in targets per route run (TPRR) and has twice as many red-zone targets. The Broncos’ passing offense has taken a step back this year, but Franklin is also due for positive regression, having converted just 26% of his air yards (fifth worst) into actual yards. Franklin will arguably face the league’s toughest pass defense in Houston this week after having a big game against maybe the league’s worst, so keep expectations in check Sunday. But Franklin has emerged as Denver’s co-WR1. Advertisement Flacco has targeted Ja’Marr Chase 54 times over three games (a 306-target full-season pace), and he’s also helped boost the fantasy values of Tee Higgins and Chase Brown. Flacco has been a massive upgrade over Jake Browning while resurrecting Cincinnati’s offense, but he’s dealing with a painful AC joint sprain in his throwing shoulder. Flacco reportedly has a 50-50 shot of playing against Chicago. Chase was back in the WR1 overall conversation, but the Bengals’ offense would experience a significant downgrade should Flacco be unable to go (or if he’s severely compromised). Given the byes and alternatives, Higgins and Brown will remain as fantasy options this week, but fantasy managers are hoping the 40-year-old QB makes a quick recovery. Harvey scored three touchdowns and finished as fantasy’s RB6 last week, but his middling usage remained the same. It’s good news that the rookie was featured out of the Wildcat formation and targeted at the goal line, and his explosive 40-yard touchdown could lead to more playing time. But Harvey saw only eight opportunities in the highly favorable matchup, finishing with just 16 snaps and a lowly 24% route share that matched his season mark. Harvey still possesses RB1 upside should injuries strike down the stretch, but J. K. Dobbins remains Denver’s clear lead back. Tyler Badie steals some passing down work, and last week was just the second game Harvey saw a red zone carry all season. Last week’s production was positive, but Harvey’s fantasy outlook hasn’t changed. He gets a much tougher matchup in Houston in Week 9 and is positioned as a low-end RB3. Tracy saw a 78% snap share and 9-of-12 RB opportunities after Cam Skattebo went down last week. He hasn’t been overly impressive this season, but Tracy flashed as a rookie and will be a major fantasy factor if he takes over as New York’s lead back. Of course, Devin Singletary could make it a committee, and Jaxson Dart will steal touchdowns around the goal line. Advertisement Still, Tracy was fantasy’s RB21 after Week 4 last season, and Dart makes this Giants’ offense better. Last week’s usage suggests Tracy will have a big role against an injury-ruined San Francisco defense, allowing the seventh most schedule-adjusted fantasy points to running backs. Tracy is my RB15 this week, but we’ll need Brian Daboll’s cooperation. Dowdle had just a 34% snap share and saw only 8-of-24 RB carries last week. The numbers are a bit misleading, as Carolina has been alternating series between its two backs over the past two weeks. Dowdle has been far more productive, and Dave Canales recently said, “We cannot ignore the fact that Rico (Dowdle) has been exceptional. ” The coach admitted he wanted to give Hubbard an opportunity following his calf injury, but the RB is now preparing for fewer carries. Dowdle gets a tough matchup as a big underdog against the Packers this week, but he’ll be a top-15 fantasy back the rest of the season if Canales makes him Carolina’s workhorse. Isiah Pacheco has been labeled week-to-week after suffering a sprained MCL on Monday night, and Hunt will benefit should he miss time. Hunt reclaimed the goal-line role Monday night when he scored two touchdowns, as it appears Brashard Smith’s increased usage came courtesy of Hunt’s minor knee injury. He’ll lose touches to the rookie back, but Hunt was the RB3 in expected fantasy points over eight games without Pacheco last season. He was fantasy’s RB13 over that span despite averaging just 3. 6 YPC for an offense far worse than this year’s version. Hunt gets a run-funnel Buffalo defense this week, whose opponents own the league’s eighth-highest rush rate. Pacheco’s injury may increase Kansas City’s chances of trading for Breece Hall, but Hunt is a solid short-term option at minimum. Hunt’s expert consensus rank is the RB25 this week, but he’s my RB18. He’ll be chalk in DFS given his salary came out before the Pacheco injury. Fantasy managers hope the move from Spencer Rattler to Tyler Shough is lateral, but there’s a chance the situation gets worse in New Orleans. Rattler was committing far too many turnovers, but he helped Chris Olave be fantasy’s WR20 and Rashid Shaheed the WR40 (tied with Tee Higgins, Marvin Harrison and Brian Thomas). Olave ranks second in the league in targets and third in air yards. It was a tiny sample, but Shough had 4. 3 yards per attempt and posted a -13. 9% completion percentage over expectation (in the seventh percentile) after subbing in last week. The historical rookie comps are not good for the 26-year-old rookie QB, and the Saints’ pass catchers must be downgraded. New Orleans gets an extremely tough Rams pass defense coming off a bye in Week 9. Kellen Moore says the team plans to start Shough for the remainder of the season, when fantasy managers will likely ask for a return to Rattler. Mc Carthy’s coming off a high-ankle sprain (or a phantom benching, whichever you prefer) and looked terrible the last time we saw him. But that came against a Falcons defense that’s performed far above expectations this season, and Kevin O’Connell continuously puts his quarterback in position to succeed. Carson Wentz was a huge boost for Jordan Addison, who’s been fantasy’s WR9 since returning from his suspension. Advertisement Justin Jefferson has been the WR15 this season despite Addison missing three games and T. J. Hockenson doing nothing, and he now has a wild card throwing to him. Undrafted rookie Max Brosmer is Minnesota’s QB2 with Wentz out for the season, so fantasy managers are banking on an improved (and healthy) Mc Carthy moving forward. Henderson has struggled mightily inside the tackles this season, but he’s excelled outside, where New England gave him more opportunities last week. Henderson ran for a career-high 75 yards, but it came with just a 22% snap share and a 7% route share. Henderson looked better than in any previous week, but the rookie lost a fumble near the goal line in the fourth quarter. Henderson never lost a fumble throughout college, but Terrell Jennings came in during New England’s final clock-killing drive afterward, as Mike Vrabel didn’t show the same forgiveness he has toward Rhamondre Stevenson. Stevenson missed Wednesday’s practice with a toe injury, which could theoretically open more opportunities for Henderson. Still, New England signed D’Ernest Johnson to its practice squad after RB trade rumors circulated, and all signs point to Vrabel not trusting his rookie back. I’d love to be wrong. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle Dalton Del Don writes about fantasy sports for The Athletic and just launched The Deep Shot. com, a content site he shares with Andy Behrens. Dalton previously wrote at Yahoo for nearly 15 years and co-hosted Roto Wire Fantasy Sports Today on Sirius/XM before that. Follow Dalton on Twitter @daltondeldon