Week Nine Fantasy Football Winners

We are officially at the halfway point of the 2025 NFL Season, and fans have been given plenty of information to make assumptions for the remainder of the season. The Colts and Patriots are projected to be the top seeds in the AFC, just as they were in the 2000s. Sam Darnold is continuing his career resurgence, and Mac Jones was plugged into the 49ers offense for the injured Brock Purdy, winning five of his seven starts. Although there have been surprises in the real-life standings, there have been a seemingly equal number of surprises in the realm of fantasy football, with a few individual player performances that were fully expected. Here is a large group of players who either had excellent performances or are starting to prove the doubters wrong, making fantasy owners pay for not drafting them.

QB Caleb Williams – (38.7), TE Colston Loveland – (29.8), and RB Kyle Monangai – (22.8 Fantasy Points)

In what may be considered a game of the year candidate, the Bears and Bengals showed all offense and no defense, which proves beneficial for fantasy managers. Caleb Williams, Colston Loveland, and Kyle Monangai were by no means players to take in the first handful of rounds, but were steals towards the middle to later rounds. Williams leaves Week Nine as the QB10, mostly in part to his 280 passing yards, three passing touchdowns, and one receiving touchdown. It was by far his best performance of the 2025 NFL season in terms of fantasy production. However, without the two receptions for 22 yards and a touchdown, his fantasy output would be 10.2 points less than what showed up on fantasy box scores. His leading receiver: rookie tight end Colston Loveland, who brought in six of seven targets for 118 yards and two touchdowns, including a 58-yard game-winning touchdown with less than 20 seconds remaining. Loveland contributed to just under half of Williams’ passing totals, but under Ben Johnson, the Bears’ offense has the chance to be deadly if matched up against the right defense.

As mentioned above, Loveland had his best game of his young career, recording his first and second career touchdowns and his first 100-yard game, all in the same match. Much of this has to do with the injured Cole Kmet being absent during the Ravens’ game for a back injury and leaving the Bengals’ game early with a concussion. Nonetheless, Loveland has earned himself a spot on fantasy rosters if Kmet struggles to clear concussion protocol. Another rookie that shone in the absence of a veteran was RB Kyle Monangai, who filled in for D’Andre Swift, who is battling a groin injury. Monangai broke out in Week Seven with 81 rushing yards and a touchdown, but answered two weeks later as the lead back with 198 total yards. Swift and Kmet will eventually return, but if anyone learned anything from Ben Johnson’s time in Detroit, it is that if you prove yourself, you can get the ball, no matter who is projected to get the majority of snaps. Keep an eye on the injury report, but Loveland and Monangai can be stashed on your benches as a bye week or injury replacement.

QB Joe Flacco – (30.7) and WR Tee Higgins – (33.1 Fantasy Points)

The year is 2025, and the Baltimore Ravens’ 2008 first-round draft pick, who has played in 204 games over 18 years, just threw his first 400-yard game and almost hit 500. The closest Joe Flacco has ever gotten to 400 passing yards was 389 yards in a blowout win over the St. Louis Rams. That in itself deserves recognition, but what truly brings Flacco to this list is his ability to come in from essentially losing the starting job in Cleveland, get traded to Cincinnati, and win games for the Bengals at 40 years old. To be fair, it was an absolute offensive shootout versus the Bears, resulting in a 47-42 win for Chicago, but Flacco held his ground, showing how elite he was and still is. Three pass catchers helped Flacco get these numbers, but no more than Tee Higgins. Higgins brought in seven of his nine receptions for 121 yards, two touchdowns, and a two-point conversion, earning Higgins the respect to be in starting lineups over some notable names. Ja’Maar Chase and Chase Brown were able to record 111 and 75 yards, respectively, giving them modest fantasy points, but Chase and Brown were drafted high enough to justify their production. When Joe Burrow went down, Higgins was not expected to perform at this level, but now with Joe Flacco in the mix, Higgins may earn himself a starting spot in lineups nationwide.

RB Christian McCaffrey – (34.3 Fantasy Points)

I have held out for far too long to give Christian McCaffrey the recognition he deserves in 2025. CMC was the RB2 in 2022, RB1 in 2023, and was projected to be the top drafted player in all 2024 fantasy drafts. I was not in the lucky group to have the first overall pick in my draft in 2024, but if one was, they picked McCaffrey and probably got last place in the league due to recurring injuries that cost CMC all but four games in 2024. I believed the injuries would have an impact in 2025, but through nine games, CMC ranks as RB1, with only one game in 2025 not scoring more than 22 fantasy points. CMC may not appear on this list again, not because he won’t have a performance like this again, but because he has proven that he is worth the first-round pick projection and will make opponents pay every week the 49ers play football.

WR Drake London – (38.8 Fantasy Points)

The Falcons scored three offensive touchdowns against the Patriots in the Week Nine 24-23 loss. Let me rephrase that. Falcons WR Drake London scored all three offensive touchdowns for Atlanta against the Patriots in a 24-23 loss. With nine receptions, 118 yards, and three touchdowns, it is hard not to give recognition to a late second, early third-round selection. Bijan Robinson still put up respectable numbers, but London was responsible for more than 50% of Michael Penix’s 221 passing yards. The Falcons still came up short due to a John Parker Romo missed extra point and a punt near the two-minute warning, but London still showed managers, and general football watchers everywhere that Bijan Robinson is not the only playmaker on the Falcons.

TE Brock Bowers – (43.3 Fantasy Points)

It is unfathomable that a player scored three touchdowns and their team lost by one point. It happened to Drake London, but it also happened to Brock Bowers. Losing 30-29 in OT versus the Jaguars, Bowers hauled in 12 of 13 targets for 127 yards and three touchdowns. Bowers was the only person keeping the Raiders in the game, but the worst part is, although the final score was 30-29 at the end of OT, the score entering the fourth quarter was 9-6 in favor of Vegas. A total of 44 points were scored in the fourth quarter and overtime period, but Vegas still fell short when Vegas head coach Pete Carroll called a pass to win the game from the two-yard line and did not connect. Sounds similar to the ending of Super Bowl XLIX, but I am not here to dredge up the past. Bowers was coming off a three-game absence, not including the Week Eight bye, and scored just one fantasy point less than his four appearances combined. Bowers is a must start moving forward, but be wary in an offense led by QB25, Geno Smith.

Honorable Mentions

QB Sam Darnold – (28.2) and K Cam Little – (15 Fantasy Points)

There are plenty of players who deserve to be recognized on this list of Week Nine winners of fantasy football, but not enough time to go in-depth into every game that was played on Thursday, Sunday, or Monday. Lamar Jackson threw four touchdowns in his first game in a month, Rico Dowdle scored two touchdowns on 130 rushing yards, and the Titans D/ST scored on a pick-six and punt return against the Chargers. However, the storylines that are at the top of the mind are Sam Darnold and Cam Little. Sam Darnold started the Sunday Night Football matchup versus the Washington Commanders with four first-half touchdowns and 17 consecutive completions before throwing his first incompletion in the third quarter. The Seahawks decisively won 38-14. The other storyline is a record breaker. Jaguars kicker Cam Little lined up for a 68-yard field goal to end the first half against the Raiders. Little absolutely drilled it, breaking the record previously held by Justin Tucker of 66 yards from 2021. Darnold gains fantasy value in his efficiency and has Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Cooper Kupp, and recently acquired Rashid Shaheed as his main targets. Little gains fantasy value for being able to kick it from anywhere on the field. His power is there, but the accuracy in the 40 to 59 range needs to show improvement.