Week 9 fantasy football leading scorers, recap and trending players

Melvin Gordon rushed 343 times his final season at Wisconsin. Perhaps the Chargers’ second-year running back just needed a gap year between college and the NFL to allow his body to heal?

His rookie season left fantasy owners dazed and confused as to if Gordon would ever be a fantasy football asset. He failed to score a touchdown and only averaged 3.5 yards per rush in 14 games.

After racking up 32 carries for 196 yards against the Titans in Week 9, Gordon has eclipsed last year’s rush totals in five fewer games. He now boasts 768 rush yards on 193 carries and is flirting with 4.0 yards per carry. The cherry on top for fantasy owners is 14 receptions for 162 over the past three games as Gordon also embraces his inner-Danny Woodhead. He’s scored exactly 36.1 fantasy points twice in the last three games in PPR leagues.

Looking down the road, if Gordon can stay healthy, he faces two of the worst rush defenses in the NFL Weeks 15 and 16 in the Raiders and Browns. If he can’t stay healthy due to the increased workload – which is very possible – keep tabs on Kenneth Farrow.

In three starts this season, Colin Kaepernick is now averaging 23.2 fantasy points per game. CK7 was expected to have an above-average game against the Saints, but 30.20 fantasy points is just gravy. It wasn’t pretty at times, but he completed 24-39 passes for 398 yards with two touchdowns and four different receivers posted 76+ receiving yards with two touchdowns.

If you cup your hand to your ear and listen, you’ll hear the cries of Carlos Hyde, Mike Davis and Shaun Draughn owners. You may also catch a round of applause for one-time 49ers practice squad running back DuJuan Harris. Coming off a relatively quiet, but notable 7.70 fantasy points two weeks ago, Harris earned the start and bulk of the work against the Saints. He finished with 15 total touches for 142 yards with a touchdown and a fumble. Harris may wind up a fantasy rental, but this is one streamer to remember.

Over the past two games, Taylor Gabriel has caught eight passes on eight targets for 120 yards with a touchdown for the Falcons. In case you forgot, and you probably did, Gabriel caught 36 passes for 621 yards with the Browns in 2014. So, he has posted some fantasy friendly numbers in the past.

Zach Ertz is owned in most fantasy football leagues. After averaging just 4.55 fantasy points per game over the past month, this was your friendly reminder that he has the ability to break out for monster weeks.

Humphries is noteworthy if Mike Evans fails concussion protocol heading into Week 10. Hump and Cameron Brate would be the guys to own against the Bears.

FLEX Bonus: Chris Ivory rushed a season-high 18 times for 107 yards (5.9 YPR), but for some reason the Jaguars elected to give the ball to T.J. Yeldon inside the five yard line. It was the most carries for Ivory since Week 14 and most rush yards since Week 6 of 2015, while the Jets' featured back.

The Have and The Have Nots

Highlighting a pair of NFL teammates with different fantasy performances in Week 9 and beyond.

Witten's 134 receiving yards were the most in a game for the tight end since December 2013. The juicy matchup against the Browns' secondary failed to deliver for Bryant's owners as he was held to the one 19-yard reception. Cole Beasley continued to produce for the Cowboys with six receptions for 56 yards and a touchdown.

Lions tight end Eric Ebron has caught 14 of 18 passes for 171 yards with a touchdown over the past two weeks.

Norv Turner's resignation definitely dings Kyle Rudolph's fantasy-point ceiling. He averaged 14.8 fantasy points per game in September. Without the one-yard touchdown in Week 9, Rudolph would have posted a goose egg. On the contrary, Diggs has turned into Jarvis Landry 2.0 with 21 receptions for 156 yards and a touchdown over the past two games. The 7.4 yards per reception isn't great, but owners need to embrace Diggs as a volume receiver.

The fantasy point-per-game flow between Forte and Powell has been whacky this season.

Through the first two weeks, Forte averaged 25.7 fantasy points per game. 

In Weeks 3-5, Powell averaged 12 fantasy points per game.

In Weeks 7-9, Forte averaged 23.2 fantasy points per game.

What hurts Powell's fantasy stock, aside from the poor quarterback play, is that he's not earning nearly enough touches in the rush/pass game to even be owned at the moment.

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