Every Friday throughout the NFL regular season I will be sending you this lineup helper that I like to call: Tough Decisions. In this article I will breakdown players with similar value, ranking and projection heading into this coming week.

Since this piece does come out on Fridays, injury news may pop up after posting time. Make sure you’re checking all your sources so you have up to date information regarding injuries, playing status, etc. Once again, if you want your lineup question featured in this piece, just hit me up on Twitter and your question could be featured. Anyways, let’s get into it.

Let's take a look at the TOUGH DECISIONS for Week 9:

QUARTERBACKS

Marcus Mariota (@SD) or Matthew Stafford (@MIN)

The Case for Mariota: Over the past four weeks, Mariota is playing some of the best football of his young career. During this four game stretch, he’s averaging 237.25 yards, 2.5 passing touchdowns, 37.25 rushing yards and 0.25 rushing touchdowns per game. He’s done it against subpar defenses, but nonetheless, we can’t take the numbers away from him. In Week 9, Mariota gets to square off against an average San Diego defense that has gotten abused by some quarterbacks this season. Tennessee loves to run the ball, but Mariota gets his fair share of time to throw the ball. In my eyes, he’s a low-end QB1 in Week 9.

The Case for Stafford: The Vikings have been stingy against opposing quarterbacks so far this season, but Jay Cutler of all people exposed some of that defense. Minnesota’s corners got banged up, they couldn’t stop Jordan Howard and Cutler simply took what was given to him. Detroit boasts a pass-happy attack and since I expect the Vikings to bottle up Detroit’s subpar run game, it’s going to have to be a lot of Stafford in this one. Zach Miller just beat up the Minnesota defense, so if you ask me right now, I’m thinking the Stafford to Eric Ebron connection is going to be dynamic this week. Stafford has nine touchdowns to zero interceptions over the last four weeks. I’m thinking 250 yards and two scores from Stafford on Sunday.

The Verdict: Mariota. He’s one of my favorite, lesser talked about plays of the week.

RUNNING BACKS

Charcandrick West (vs. JAX) or Terrance West (vs. PIT)

The Case for C. West: With Spencer Ware likely all but ruled out for Sunday, it’s going to Charcandrick West that draws the start. Quarterback Alex Smith isn’t going to play, which means Nick Foles will be under center. Regardless of who is where and why they are there, Kansas City is going to continue to run the ball and seeing as the Jaguars just got decimated by Tennessee on the ground, there is going to be an added concentration to pound the football. Since Jacksonville’s bye in Week 5, they’ve allowed five touchdowns on the ground to opposing running backs, including an average of four yards per carry. Over just 33 carries this season, West is averaging 4.2 yards per carry and he’s going to be a popular play in Week 9. Just make sure that Ware is officially ruled out before proceeding with West.

The Case for T. West: West’s 4.4 YPC mark ranks 17th best in the league and he gets to face a Pittsburgh defense that is allowing just under 4.8 YPC through the first eight weeks of the season. This Pittsburgh defense can be run on, just ask Miami’s Jay Ajayi and New England’s LeGarrette Blount, because they ran for 204 and 127 yards respectively against this defense. Baltimore just had its bye, so West should be completely rested coming into this matchup. I like West as a RB2 against an uncharacteristically soft Pittsburgh run defense.

The Verdict: Terrance West. Everyone is going to be on Charcandrick, but I’m going with Terrance this week.

WIDE RECEIVERS

Allen Robinson (@KC) or Donte Moncrief (@GB)

The Case for Robinson: At the beginning of the year, I never thought I’d actually be comparing these guys in this sort of fashion. Robinson, largely due to quarterback Blake Bortles, has been a fantasy bust this season to say the least. He has just three touchdowns on the season and his season-high in receiving yards were 72 in the season opener. Bortles has completed just 47.1 percent of his passes to his top receiver this season, which simply isn’t cutting it for Robinson owners. If it weren’t for garbage time production, Bortles’ numbers this season would be pretty damn bad. However, Robinson has an advantageous matchup this weekend against a Chiefs defense that is allowing the seventh-most fantasy points per game to opposing wideouts. At this point, Robinson is boom-or-bust and should be viewed as a WR2 at the absolute highest.

The Case for Moncrief: In his return to the lineup, he hauled in four passes for 41 yards his second touchdown of the season. He actually scored two touchdowns in the outing, but of course, it was called back on a penalty. Quarterback Andrew Luck will continue to look his way in the red zone and that’s a huge plus against a Green Bay defense that has allowed the sixth-most fantasy points per game to opposing wide receivers. The Packers are exceptional at stopping the run, so Indy is going to throw early and often in this one. Moncrief should easily see double-digit targets on Sunday, en route to another productive fantasy outing. He’s a WR2 in Week 9.

The Verdict: Moncrief. It’s hard for me to stay on the Robinson train, given his lackluster production this season. I’m a big fan of Moncrief this week.

THE FLEX CONUNDRUM

Corey Coleman (vs. DAL) or Rashad Jennings (vs. PHI)

The Case for Coleman: Coleman hasn’t played since Week 2, when he torched the Ravens defense for 104 yards and two touchdowns on five receptions. He was looking the part early on, but an ill-timed hand injury has cost him the past six weeks of the season. However, he’s healthy and will be a full-go on Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys. Cleveland is going to continue to sling it, regardless of who is under center, and the Cowboys are going to have to worry about slowing Terrelle Pryor and Coleman. Over the first two weeks of the season, when Coleman was healthy, his 13 targets were second most on the team. He slots in as a low-end WR2/high-end WR3 for me in his return.

The Case for Jennings: Other than a solid Week 1 showing, Jennings has been terrible this season. He did find the end zone in his last game, which salvaged an otherwise unspectacular fantasy day. However, he is an intriguing play against the Eagles on Sunday. The Eagles have fared well against opposing backs, but they are by no means a surefire run-stopping defense. Also, for his career he’s averaging 5.69 yards per carry against the Eagles. Just last season, he galloped for 170 yards and a touchdown in Week 16 against the Philadelphia defense. Consider Jennings a RB2 on Sunday against the NFC East rival Philadelphia Eagles.

The Verdict: Coleman. Nothing against Jennings, but Coleman is going to return in a big way.

TIGHT ENDS

Gary Barnidge (vs. DAL) or Jack Doyle (@GB)

The Case for Barnidge: Barnidge has received seven or more targets in four of the last five weeks, but he’s been unable to put together any significant statistical performances. He’s topped 70 receiving yards just once this season and he’s still without a touchdown on the season. Dallas has allowed the ninth-most fantasy points to tight ends this season, but they haven’t allowed a tight end score since Week 3 of the season. Since it is a shallow position and some of the top options are on bye this week, Barnidge serves as an average streaming option.

The Case for Doyle: Green Bay has been tough against opposing tight ends, but that doesn’t stop me from liking Doyle a good bit in Week 9. If T.Y. Hilton is out or limited in any fashion, Doyle’s value goes up even more. Doyle was solid in Weeks 6 and 7, but a two-catch performance in last week’s contest will likely scare some owners off. Well, let me tell, that shouldn’t be the case. He carries some risk, but Indianapolis is going to throw a ton on Sunday, because Frank Gore will be unable to get anything going on the ground. With quarterback Andrew Luck likely throwing it around 40 times this week, Doyle will have plenty of opportunity to get his.

The Verdict: Doyle. These two will put up similar numbers, but I’m giving a slight edge to Doyle.

You can find me on Twitter: @colbyrconway