Week 9 Fantasy Football Waivers: Is Troy Franklin a Weekly Starter?

Well, that sucked. With six teams on bye and a plethora of injuries, Week 8 provided some interesting start-sit decisions! If you pulled out a win, congrats. If you took an L, don’t take it too hard. This time, it truly may not have been your fault. As far as waivers go, this article is on a bit of a hot streak.

Three weeks ago, Kimani Vidal was my top add. Since then, he has been the RB8 in fantasy. Two weeks ago, I told you to go get Jaxson Dart. He has been the QB5 in that span. And last week, it was Oronde Gadsden, who has 36 fantasy points in his previous two games and was the TE4 last week. Not to brag (definitely to brag), but we are on fire! Let’s keep it going with the Week 9 waiver wire.

A few quick notes: I use ESPN as my baseline, so players must be available in at least 50% of ESPN leagues to be included on the list. I’m also a proponent of streaming QB, TE, K, and DEF, so you’ll rarely see those positions on my list; they’re easily available for free after the waiver period. Save your FAAB! Now, let’s hit the Top 5.

Bye Week Notes: Four teams are on bye in Week 9: the Cleveland Browns, New York Jets, Philadelphia Eagles, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Watch your league’s drops this week for players from these teams who were cut out of desperation.

Week 9 Fantasy Football Waivers

Troy Franklin (57% Available on ESPN, 67% on Sleeper)

Franklin has really come alive over the last two weeks, but he has actually been pretty decent this whole season. He is the WR24 in fantasy right now, but in his previous two games, he was the WR6. Franklin has easily outscored Courtland Sutton in that span, too. After eight games played, Sutton is sitting at 56 targets, and Franklin is at 54. Sutton is close to 100% rostered, and Franklin is available in far too many leagues. It’s true that Franklin has more boom-or-bust to his game, but he is still a solid Flex option most weeks, and Denver has three pretty good matchups before their Week 12 bye.

Tyrone Tracy (58% Available on ESPN, 65% on Sleeper)

Losing Cam Skattebo is terrible, whether he was on your fantasy team or not. The kid made football fun, and we just don’t see that enough. He will be missed, and let’s hope he comes back stronger in 2026. Tyrone Tracy is not Cam Skattebo, but we don’t leave starting RBs on waivers. I don’t have a bunch of obscure stats to throw at you for why Tracy will succeed. He has done next to nothing this year. He did find the endzone in Week 7, and this Giants offense is just plain better with Jaxson Dart. Tracy should benefit from that QB improvement.

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Tyjae Spears (64% Available on ESPN, 54% on Sleeper)

While I am far less enthusiastic about Spears than many, I am also not leaving him on waivers. At best, this will be a 50/50 timeshare between Spears and Tony Pollard, but Spears showed he could make fantasy waves with limited touche. In Week 8, he led the Titans in rushing and broke a long TD run. You can certainly do worse as a Flex play. This case is similar to Sutton/Franklin. Pollard is rostered everywhere, and Spears is far too available. The Titans do have a Week 10 bye, but they get a juicy matchup with the Chargers this week.

Kayshon Boutte (70% Available on ESPN, 47% on Sleeper)

It’s been a rollercoaster season for Boutte. After the first two weeks, he looked like the WR1 for New England. Then, he fell off…hard. But, over the last three games, he is the WR7 in fantasy and appears to be Drake Maye’s favorite yet again. The Patriots have a Week 14 bye again this season, meaning you can rely on Boutte in your Flex for the next month. With 10 catches and four TDs over the last three weeks, Boutte should be rostered everywhere. Boutte, Boutte, Boutte, Boutte rostered everywhere.

Josh Downs (47% Available on ESPN, 44% on Sleeper)

I was initially going to put Tez Johnson here, but I hate rostering fringe players through their bye, and even more so paying for them when you cannot use them. So we pivot. Downs had been some combination of hurt or mediocre for the first month of the season, but he seems to have found his footing as of late. In his last three games (he missed Week 7), Downs has been targeted 15 times and found the endzone twice. In those two games with scores, he is the WR34 in fantasy, despite playing one fewer game than most. He is working far behind Michael Pittman this season, and Tyler Warren and Alec Pierce definitely cap his ceiling, but Downs can still be a decent Flex play as we navigate the rest of the bye weeks.

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You can also find Club Fantasy’s Week 9 rankings here!