After Week 8 some of the best fantasy football pickups into Week 9 include Martavis Bryant, Brandon LaFell, Bobby Rainey, John Brown, Denard Robinson, Mark Ingram, Odell Beckham, Andre Williams, Rashad Jennings, Andrew Hawkins, Big Ben Roethlisberger, Heath Miller, John Brown, Christine Michael, Jonas Gray and Theo Riddick, as those players performed well and have solid matchups coming for fantasy owners.
Bryant had a huge game for the Steelers along with Big Ben and they won over the Colts and put up some great numbers in the matchup. Bryant is a strong pickup if he has not been snagged by anyone, while Brandon LaFell had a huge game for the Patriots and is a strong starter moving forward for Tom Brady. Bobby Rainey and Charles Sims are solid options with the way Doug Martin has been playing for the Bucs and he comes out of this week banged up.
John Brown had a couple of electric plays for the Cardinals and with Michael Floyd apparently deciding that he is terrible and can't catch anymore, Brown could be a major sleeper. Denard Robinson has turned into a solid pickup for fantasy owners with the Jaguars, while Jonas Gray and Theo Riddick are strong free agent RB options. The Patriots like Gray as a runner over Shane Vereen with Stevan Ridley out, while Riddick has stepped up with the Lions dealing with injuries.
The Steelers looked as good as anyone this weekend and Bryant was one reason why and he had a great day for the team, putting up two touchdowns in the game against the Colts. Bryant ended up with five catches for 83 yards and two scores in the game and he joins Markus Wheaton and Antonio Brown as strong starters for the Steelers moving forward. Roethlisberger threw for over 500 yards and while he will not be doing that every week, he has another big target in Bryant.
The Patriots always play games with their RBs and while Shane Vereen is great for fantasy owners, Gray is the best option to replace Stevan Ridley. Gray led the team with 86 yards on the ground and he had 17 carries in the game and he is a good fit as an RB2 or RB3 for fantasy owners looking for injury replacements. Vereen is still a strong player in PPR formats and Brandon Bolden appears to be a non-factor for now.
LaFell had 11 catches on 11 targets this weekend and he had 124 yards and a touchdown in the game and now could be the top option for Tom Brady in the Patriot offense. Brown also made an impact and he had five catches for 119 yards in the matchup with a huge touchdown to help put the Cardinals over the Eagles in Week 8.
Doug Martin has been terrible and he is injured again and that means Rainey could get some starts going forward. Rainey has shown that he can handle RB1 carries and should be in that role now for the Bucs. Heath Miller had a strong game for the Steelers and while six touchdowns won't be the norm each week for Big Ben, he always seems to find Miller in these types of performances. Miller won't light it up every week, but he is a strong starter.
