Week 9 Fantasy Football Sleepers to Help You Win

The upcoming slate of games has several stars on bye and a handful more facing injuries, leaving fantasy football owners potentially scrambling for replacements. We've uncovered a seven unheralded options to help get you out of a jam.

Once the must-start players are locked in, fantasy football owners face challenging weekly lineup decisions for the remaining slots, and knowing the best sleeper picks gives you the winning edge. Join us each week of the NFL season as we uncover those hidden gems to help you hoist a fantasy championship trophy!

QB Mac Jones, San Francisco 49ers at New York Giants

Brock Purdy is once again deemed questionable to play, but Jones draws another start, his sixth of the year. In those half-dozen games, Jones has thrown at least two touchdowns and generated 20-plus fantasy points in 50% of his appearances. For their side in this equation, the Giants have allowed the fourth-most fantasy points per game, and the likeliest outcome for Jones is a low-yardage, multi-TD effort around 20 fantasy points.

RB Kyle Monangai, Chicago Bears at Cincinnati Bengals

Injuries to D'Andre Swift and Roschon Johnson thrust Monangai into the starting lineup, and it couldn't come at a finer time for fantasy purposes. The positional losses via bye weeks alone are staggering, and the Bengals have been clawless vs. running backs in 2025. No team is softer in PPR scoring. RBs have averaged the most rushing yards (132.1) and total yards (179.3) per game, along with the fifth-highest scoring rate against Cincy.

RB Kenneth Gainwell, Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Indianapolis Colts

Expect a lot of short-area throws from Aaron Rodgers in this bland offensive system -- shocking, right? On the year, Gainwell has sporadically chipped in useful stats for fantasy purposes and is pacing for a career season (10.2 PPR/game). He has at least four targets in four of seven outings and as many as six receptions in a pair of those contests. That said, nearly 44% of his season-long fantasy gains happened in one game. Indianapolis has allowed neutral RB receiving numbers on the year. Five backs have at least three grabs vs. the Colts. While the odds are long in this one, Gainwell has a hint of upside for PPR managers who are desperate to get anything out of their RB2 slot.

WR Tre Tucker, Las Vegas Raiders vs. Jacksonville Jaguars

While both teams come out of their respective bye, the Raiders will get wide receiver Jakobi Meyers and TE Brock Bowers back from injury absences as the Jags lose rookie CB/WR Travis Hunter. In the last six games, Tucker has five or more targets in all but one outing, and he has posted double-digit PPR points in two of the last four contests without even scoring a TD. Jacksonville has yielded the 13th-most yards on 10th-most receptions per game in 2025, and only four defenses have given up WR scores at a higher frequency in relation to catches allowed. Tucker's best bet here is slipping through the cracks with added defensive attention paid to RB Ashton Jeanty, Bowers and the disgruntled Meyers, presuming he's not rested ahead of a potential trade.

WR Michael Wilson, Arizona Cardinals at Dallas Cowboys

Dallas' worst-ranked defense of wide receivers faces a Cardinals team coming out of the break that will be in a pass-heavy mode. The backfield has question marks, and keeping pace with Dak Prescott through the air will be mandatory. Kyler Murray (foot) is less than 100%, if avialable, and the offense is in capable hands with Jacoby Brissett, if not. Wilson posted two of this three best games of the season in consecutive appearances before the Week 8 bye. Dallas has allowed a dozen receivers to score at least 10 fantasy points, and three of which came last week alone.

TE Ja'Tavion Sanders, Carolina Panthers at Green Bay Packers

Sanders returned to play in Week 7 after missing all but the first three games due to injury. The Panthers return to starting Bryce Young after an ankle injury cost him a little more than a game of play. Green Bay's glaring weakness defensively is containing tight ends, and Carolina will need all hands on deck to keep pace with the Pack. One in every 11 catches by the position scored vs. Green Bay this year, and only two defenses have been worse at slowing enemy TEs. A wild flier, Sanders at least has the matchup on his side.

D/ST Chicago Bears at Cincinnati Bengals

Even though Joe Flacco is expected to play through a sprained throwing shoulder, one has to question how effective he'll be and if the veteran will be able to make it through the game without setback. His absence at any point would turn the offense over to Jake Browning, who was nothing short of an unmitigated disaster prior to Flacco's acquisition. This season, Chicago has forced a hearty 16 turnovers in seven games, returning one for a score, and it's even more impressive given the Bears have produced only 14 sacks. Cincinnati has allowed 19 QB takedowns and turned it over 11 times in eight games played.