Fantasy football strategy, rankings, and podcasts

It's fun to celebrate the emergence of guys like JuJu Smith-Schuster and it was nice to see some of the players that we touched upon last week (Robby Anderson) have big games, but your fantasy team should never stop to catch its breath for too long! Let's move right along to Week 9 and some of the highlighted plays going into this week. Hope your team is headed in the right direction because the fantasy playoffs will be here before you know it! This week take a look at Cam Newton, Alex Collins, Derrick Henry, Kenyan Drake, Will Fuller, Pierre Garcon, Ted Ginn, and Devin Funchess. Best of luck!

It's the end of another exciting week of football which means it's time to put your claims in for available free agents in your fantasy league to strengthen your team. I'll be going over who I think are the top five picks for you to target this week so don't miss out on them. Good luck!

Note: %owned is based on Yahoo! leagues at the time of publication.

5) Paul Richardson (SEA) - 32% owned - With the Seahawks not being able to produce anything on the ground they will have to continue airing the ball out which should mean continued opportunities for Richardson. He's been making the most of his targets lately as well, catching 8 of 9 for 166 yards and 3 TDs over the past two games.

4) Darren McFadden (DAL) - 35% owned - Ezekiel Elliott's 6 game suspension is in effect and it seems likely to stand this time around. McFadden is the likely favorite to lead the Cowboys backfield with Zeke sidelined so he's worth a claim; assuming there are no more appeals putting the suspension on hold further.

3) Robbie Anderson (NYJ) - 29% owned - Anderson got off to a slow start to the season but his targets and production each week put him on the WR2/3 border which means he should be owned more than he currently is.

2) JuJu Smith-Schuster (PIT) - 49% owned -  Martavis Bryant twittered himself to the bench last week giving JuJu the opportunity to start and he came up big catching 7 of 10 targets for 193 yards and a touchdown. Bryant seems to have fallen out of favor with the Steelers so expect more and more opportunities for JuJu going forward. Note the Steelers have a bye in week 9.

1) Alex Collins (BAL) - 35% owned - Collins had the look of an elite every-down back last week after he torched the Dolphins for 113 yards rushing on 18 attempts and another 30 yards receiving on 2 catches. Collins is actually leading the league with his 6.0 yards per carry for all running backs that have over 15 carries on the season. Look for him to be the guy in Baltimore the rest of the season.