What if I told 18 just feels like the number. Do I have Caleb Williams syndrome? Do I miss Peyton Manning? Have I seen too much of Paintin’ Manning? Or am I just all over J.J. McCarthy this week? Either way, not entirely arbitrarily, but indeed with some degree of hipfire-performance threshold, I’ve decided, this week, for must-starts, I want to tout guys who can break into the top-18 performances of their respective classes. That feels like a great bellwether for fantastic performance this week, and affords analysis for a tier of prospects outside the high-end WR/RB2 ranks to potentially win you your week.
And so—I’m here with the Five Lists of Five: Week 9 edition. The ride-the-wave edition. Ahem.
For the (somehow) newly-ordained: Soundbite-length blurbs with advanced analysis on my favorite plays of the week. We begin now with my Top five streamer plays for fantasy football Week 9. Here are my other offerings in this edition:
- Top five must-start WRs for fantasy football Week 9
- Top five must-start RBs for fantasy football Week 9
- Top five FLEX plays for fantasy football Week 9
- Top five sleepers and upside plays for fantasy football Week 9
All data provided by Fantasy Points Data Suite 2.0, unless otherwise noted.
Fantasy football Week 9: Top five streamer plays
Malik Willis, MIA (vs. Lions)
New England put Malik Willis on the ground five times. And yet! He ran once for two yards and still threw for 211 yards and two touchdowns. Now he gets the Lions, who’ve let opposing quarterbacks throw for 297.7 yards and 2.6 touchdowns per game, both league highs. Miami averaged a sluggish 52.5 plays through Week 4. They’ve run at least 60 in every game since, getting to the next snap 2.5 seconds faster.
Detroit brings 24 sacks to Miami and can wreck a possession if Willis gets stuck in obvious passing downs. I’ll start him for the damage he can do through the air. In each of his two games before New England, he ran eight times and scored on the ground. If Willis starts running that often again, he’s got a shot at a six-point rushing touchdown, too.
Greg Dulcich, MIA (vs. Lions)
Dolphins stack! Last week, Greg Dulcich caught four of six targets for 43 yards against New England. He’s caught at least four passes and gained at least 37 yards in four of his last five games. Over his last three, he’s snagged 13 of 16 targets. He ran routes on 62.6% of Miami’s dropbacks in that stretch and drew a fifth of the targets from Dolphins quarterback Malik Willis.
Miami could lean on the run and leave Dulcich with a handful of throws to work with. I’m happy to stream him in PPR on that workload. Detroit has let opposing tight ends haul in a league-high 8.7 passes and rack up 97.7 receiving yards per game. Now the Lions have to cover the middle without linebacker Jack Campbell. If Willis goes to Dulcich six times again, I like his chances of catching five.
Mike Gesicki, CIN (vs. Falcons [Madrid])
Mike Gesicki got up the seam for a 25-yard touchdown against Tennessee, part of a four-catch, 76-yard afternoon. Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow threw 48 times in that overtime game, and Gesicki drew six targets. With fellow tight ends Tanner Hudson and Erick All Jr. on injured reserve, Cincinnati sent Gesicki out on 71.7% of their dropbacks. He’d never cleared 60% this season.
Atlanta has allowed tight ends 5.9 catches a game. Bengals wideouts Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins can command enough of Burrow’s attention to leave Gesicki waiting for a throw up the seam. He’s scored in five straight, and I’ll stream him for another crack at the end zone if Cincinnati gives him that much work again. Set your lineup before the 9:30 a.m. ET kickoff at the Bernabéu.
New York Giants D/ST (at Eagles)
Washington sacked Eagles quarterback Tanner McKee five times last week. Now Philadelphia hands the offense to Joe Milton III, and Giants defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson has blitzed on 39.9% of opposing dropbacks. Milton has the arm to throw over a blitz and the legs to run clear of it. He’s faced just 15 blitzed dropbacks in his regular-season career, and Philadelphia has ruled out receivers DeVonta Smith and Dontayvion Wicks.
The Eagles can spare Milton some long passing downs if running back Saquon Barkley gets them moving early. New York has collected only nine sacks all year, five in one game. I’ll stream them here. Edge rusher Abdul Carter returned to full practice Thursday after an illness, and if Philadelphia falls behind the sticks, Wilson can send help and make Milton hurry a few throws.
Buffalo Bills D/ST (at Vikings)
Buffalo buried Baltimore with four sacks and three takeaways in a game the Ravens played largely without starting quarterback Lamar Jackson or backup Tyler Huntley. Bills edge rusher Greg Rousseau got home once. He’ll chase Vikings quarterback Carson Wentz on Monday. Chicago sacked Wentz three times in his only start this season, a rain-soaked game in which he threw just 20 passes.
Wentz has a receiver who can make Buffalo pay when the rush arrives late. Vikings wideout Justin Jefferson has averaged 89.1 receiving yards in games Wentz has played at least five snaps since the start of 2025, and the Bills have yielded 269 passing yards a game to quarterbacks. I’d start the Giants first. If Bills quarterback Josh Allen gets Buffalo ahead, I like Rousseau and the rush to get enough cracks at Wentz to make Buffalo playable.
