- Start Daniel Jones: He has hit at least 22 fantasy points in each of the last three weeks, scoring eight touchdowns over that span.
- Sit Bo Nix: He has scored fewer than 18 fantasy points in each of his last three games on the road, including two performances with just 13 points.
- Unlock your edge with PFF+: Access Premium Stats, dominate fantasy with in-season tools and projections and make smarter bets with the new PFF Player Prop Tool.
Estimated Reading Time: 6minutes
Are you struggling to set your Week 9 fantasy lineups? Maybe I can help… Below you can find my top fire (boom) and ice (bust) players at each position for Week 9. I also include my sleeper of the week at each position in case you are in a deeper league or in need of a replacement for an ice player.
Don’t miss my Fire and Ice chart at the bottom of this page. There, I have listed out all of my fire, good, sleeper and ice plays for Week 9 of the 2025 fantasy football season.
Quarterbacks
Fire QB Start of the Week: Daniel Jones (at PIT)
Daniel Jones has hit at least 22 fantasy points in each of the last three weeks, scoring eight touchdowns over that span. His hot streak should continue this Sunday in Pittsburgh against the Steelers‘ struggling defense. The Steelers have allowed the second-most points on average to quarterbacks this season, behind only the Dallas Cowboys. Over their last two games, they let Joe Flacco score 26 fantasy points and Jordan Love put up a season-high 28.3 points.
Sleeper QB of the Week: Sam Darnold (at WAS)
The Washington Commanders have allowed six of the eight opposing quarterbacks they have faced this season to hit at least 18 fantasy points, including below-average fantasy quarterbacks like Geno Smith, Michael Penix Jr. and Caleb Williams. In two of his last three games, Sam Darnold has hit at least 20 fantasy points, and he should be able to put up another good performance in this matchup.
Ice QB Start of the Week: Bo Nix (at HOU)
Bo Nix has scored fewer than 18 fantasy points in each of his last three games on the road, including two performances with just 13 points. In his career, Nix averages just 16.3 fantasy points in away games, compared to 22.2 points per game at home. On top of that, Nix gets an extremely tough matchup this weekend against the Houston Texans‘ stingy pass defense. The Texans have allowed, by far, the fewest points per game (10.5) to quarterbacks than any other team this season — they have allowed a league-low six passing touchdowns and have seven interceptions in 2025.
Running Backs
Fire RB Start of the Week: Kimani Vidal (at TEN)
Kimani Vidal has scored more than 19 fantasy points in two of three games since taking over as the Los Angeles Chargers‘ starting running back in Week 6. Last week, Vidal was on the field for 74% of the Chargers‘ offensive snaps and saw a career-high 23 carries in the game. His success should continue in a great matchup against the Tennessee Titans, who have allowed the third-most fantasy points per game to running backs in 2025.
The Titans have allowed an opposing running back to hit at least 16 fantasy points in each of their last six games, as Woody Marks (Week 4) and Jonathan Taylor (twice in Week 3 and 8) have hit 27-plus points against them.
Sleeper RB of the Week: Bam Knight (at DAL)
Bam Knight has led the Arizona Cardinals‘ backfield in carries and touches in each of their last two games. Before the Cardinals‘ Week 8 bye, Knight saw a season-high 17 touches in Week 7. On top of his increased workload, Knight has been given three of the team’s four goal-line carries since Week 5 and converted two of those opportunities into touchdowns.
The Dallas Cowboys are allowing the second-most fantasy points per game to RBs in 2025. In two of their last three weeks, running backs Rico Dowdle (33.9) and RJ Harvey (24.1) both had monster fantasy performances against the Cowboys.
Ice RB Start of the Week: Rico Dowdle (at GB)
Rico Dowdle was a monster when Chuba Hubbard was sidelined. However, now that Hubbard is back, Dowde’s snaps and touches have taken a big hit despite being the far better player in the duo. Hubbard has been inefficient all season and especially horrendous since returning from injury, but for some reason, that hasn’t stopped the coaches from letting him lead the backfield and limiting Dowdle.
Last week, Dowdle saw the field for just 36% of the Panthers‘ offensive snaps and was given just eight touches in the game. Hubbard even stole the team’s one goal-line carry in Week 8. With limited work, it will be hard for Dowdle to put together a good fantasy performance against the Green Bay Packers‘ tough defense.
Wide Receivers
Fire WR Start of the Week: DK Metcalf (vs IND)
DK Metcalf has scored a touchdown in five of his last six games and has hit more than 16 fantasy points in three of the previous four games. Metcalf (461 yards and five touchdowns) is the only Steelers player with more than 200 receiving yards or more than two receiving touchdowns this season. If the Steelers are going to keep up with the Indianapolis Colts‘ No. 1-ranked offense, Metcalf will need to have a massive game in Week 9. Luckily, the Colts have allowed the third-most receiving yards and fantasy points per game to wide receivers this season.
Sleeper WR Start of the Week: Wan’Dale Robinson (vs SF)
The 49ers have allowed the second-most yards, yards per reception and touchdowns to slot receivers through the first eight weeks of the 2025 season. Wan’Dale Robinson leads the NFL in receiving yards out of the slot by nearly 150 yards. Robinson has gained 367 yards when aligned in the slot this season, and the next closest player in that metric is Ja’Marr Chase with 219 yards. In two of the last three weeks, Robinson has scored more than 15 fantasy points, and his target volume should remain steady in the New York Giants‘ injury-riddled offense.
Ice WR Starts of the Week: Courtland Sutton (at HOU)
Overall, Courtland Sutton has had a very solid fantasy season, scoring over 16 fantasy points in five of eight games. However, he also has two performances where he scored fewer than three points, and I won’t be surprised if he puts up another dud this weekend in a very tough matchup.
Only two wide receivers have scored more than 12 fantasy points in a game against the Houston Texans this season (Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Puka Nacua). Neither of those performances came at Houston. No player has hit 60 receiving yards in a game against the Texans in Houston, and the Texans have allowed only two receiving touchdowns to WRs at home in 2025.
Tight Ends
Fire TE Start of the Week: Jake Ferguson (vs ARI)
Jake Ferguson randomly had zero receptions in Week 8, after he had the fourth most receptions in the league (51) over the first seven weeks of the season. I am willing to throw last week’s game away and attribute the poor performance to a tough matchup on the road against the Denver Broncos. This week, the Dallas Cowboys are back at home, and Ferguson will face a much more favorable opponent. The Arizona Cardinals allowed tight ends Tyler Warren and Tucker Kraft to both score over 16 fantasy points against them over their last two games.
Sleeper TE of the Week: Kyle Pitts (at NE)
Kyle Pitts has quietly scored 13-plus points in three of his last four games, including each of the last two weeks. Over the last two games, Pitts has 19 targets and 15 receptions. The New England Patriots‘ defense is stingy, but they have allowed tight ends to put up big performances against them throughout the year. They have allowed the eighth most fantasy points per game to the tight end position in 2025. Last week, Cleveland Browns’ tight ends Harold Fannin Jr. and David Njoku each scored a touchdown and had over 13 fantasy points against the Patriots.
Ice TE Start of the Week: Dalton Schultz (vs DEN)
Dalton Schultz has had fewer than 40 receiving yards in five of seven games played in 2025, including a season-low performance of just two receptions for 24 yards last week. Schultz has yet to catch a touchdown this season, and his first one is unlikely to come against the Denver Broncos‘ tough defense. The Broncos have allowed the eighth fewest fantasy points per game to the tight end position this season, and they just held Jake Ferguson to zero receptions in Week 8.
Fire and Ice Fantasy Football Plays
Here, I categorize every relevant fantasy player into five different buckets: (1) fire starts (best starts of the week); (2) thumbs up (good starts); (3) risky players with upside (sleepers); (4) ice starts (predicting bad performance from good player); (5) stop (must sits).
Note: If a player/defense is not listed, I am not considering starting them in Week 8. I did not include Ravens/Dolphins players as they will have already played by the time this article is published.
Fire 🔥
Thumbs Up 👍
Upside 📈
- QB: Kyler Murray, Caleb Williams, Joe Flacco, Sam Darnold, Aaron Rodgers, Trevor Lawrence, Brock Purdy (if he plays)
- DEF: Seahawks, Bears
