Fantasy Football NFL Week 9 Target Report: Oronde Gadsden Shakes Things Up

Bye-megedon with six teams on bye is over. But we’re not completely safe just yet, as we still have four teams on bye this week. A little aftershock, if you will. And, with a lot of streaming options picked up in Week 8 that might not be dropped for Week 9, we may need to dig deeper than ever.

With this report, we are going to do what we always do and attempt to sort out the target pecking orders for each team. Not just who is getting the targets, but who is getting the snaps and running the routes that lead to targets. That will help us figure out who we can trust or not for fantasy football lineups or deep league stashes. So let’s dive in. 

2025 Fantasy Football NFL Week 9 Target Report Preview

Why do we do the target report? Well, we have a pretty good indication historically of how many fantasy-relevant pass-catchers can come from each team. The short and sweet is that the vast majority of teams will have one, maybe two fantasy-relevant pass-catchers. And there will almost certainly be more teams with zero than there are with three. Most meaningful fantasy players get at least 100 targets - here is a look at how players on each team over the last decade have hit that milestone. 

In the chart below, what we will do is attempt to take each team and project A. the target pecking order, and B. what target range the players will likely fall into. At the bottom, we’ll include some notes as far as what went into the rankings and color-coded chart. So let’s dive in!

Fantasy Football Target Chart 2025 NFL Week 9

Fantasy Football Week 9 Target Report Advice & Takeaways

If a team has a ** next to them, it means they moved to a new section. If a team has a note, it means there is something we should monitor or some sort of change. If there are no notes, we can assume it is business as usual. After the first week of football, there are a lot of notes!

Clear Top Two

Arizona Cardinals

• Trey McBride
• Marvin Harrison Jr
  • Week 8 Bye

Cincinnati Bengals

• Ja'Marr Chase
• Tee Higgins
  • Joe Flacco is HYPER focused on Ja'Marr Chase. 19 targets for Chase, 2 for Higgins. If this keeps up we may need to downgrade Higgins. The tight end rotation also makes Fant hard to trust in normal leagues - he ran less than 50% of the routes. 

Indianapolis Colts

• Michael Pittman
• Tyler Warren
  • Same deal here. We are starting Michael Pittman and Tyler Warren where we have them. Josh Downs is a part-time slot guy who skews towards PPR. Alec Pierce is a full-time field stretcher who skews towards standard or best ball given the boom/bust nature of his role. This is a good team, so both have spot start potential. 

Jacksonville Jaguars

• Brian Thomas Jr
• Travis Hunter
  • Week 8 Bye

Las Vegas Raiders

• Brock Bowers*
  • Week 8 Bye

Los Angeles Rams

• Puka Nacua*
• Davante Adams
  • Week 8 Bye

High Consolidation

Atlanta Falcons

• Drake London
• Darnell Mooney
• Kyle Pitts
• Bijan Robinson
  • When Darnell Mooney was out, Casey Washington got the snaps at flanker. But, just like last year when Drake London missed time, Khadarel Hodge picked up the split end snaps. So, if London remains out, Hodge is the best streaming option. David Sills is now in the slot role that Ray-Ray McCloud held before being released. 

Dallas Cowboys

• CeeDee Lamb
• George Pickens
• Jake Ferguson
  • The Broncos continue to be a bad matchup for tight ends, so be aware of that. This game doesn’t mean Ferguson is dust by any means, but he’s clearly not matchup proof, especially with Lamb back.

Los Angeles Chargers

• Ladd McConkey
• Oronde Gadsden
• Quentin Johnston
• Keenan Allen
  • The Chargers are easily the most interesting team for this topic. And, as you know, we factor more than just targets into the report. Given the recent trends and his TE eligibility, we have to elevate Oronde Gadsden here. Not only is he getting the targets, but he actually led the team with 32 routes run this week. Ladd McConkey was second in routes with 29 and got 10 targets, so he remains up top. The next two are where it gets interesting, as Quentin Johnston ran 27 routes to 17 for Keenan Allen, but Allen got 5 targets to zero for Johnston. That remains closer to a coin flip for us. McConkey and Gadsden are much more reliable starts right now. 

Miami Dolphins

• Jaylen Waddle
• De’von Achane
• Darren Waller*
  • Achane runs a ton of routes from a WR spot, making him a great PPR play. He and Waddle are the primary target earners, followed by Malik Washington. In VERY deep leagues, Greg Dulcich could be a stash while Waller is out, as he led the TE group in routes run in his first game active. 

Philadelphia Eagles

• AJ Brown*
• DeVonta Smith
• Dallas Goedert
• Saquon Barkley
  • As expected, Jahan Dotson was elevated to WR2 with AJ Brown out. He scored on his one target, which was nice. 

Washington Commanders

• Terry McLaurin*
• Deebo Samuel*
• Zach Ertz
  • Terry McLaurin has already been ruled out for this week. If they are going to revert to their plan from the past week, that should see Chris Moore elevated to a bigger role. We’d love to see either Jaylin Lane or Luke McCaffrey get those snaps but they seem to prefer the veteran. 

One Stud, Then Uncertainty

Baltimore Ravens

• Zay Flowers
  • Zay Flowers is just over a 125 target pace, so hard to say he’s a lock right now, but he leads the team in routes and targets virtually every week (this week he led with 23 of 26 routes run). Bateman was next with 20, followed by Isaiah Likely (16), Mark Andrews (15), and DeAndre Hopkins. Charlie Kolar obviously scored the National Tight End Day touchdown. Really hard to trust anyone out of Flowers. 

Carolina Panthers

• Tetairoa McMillan 
  • So last week, Jalen Coker played limited snaps and pretty much only from the slot. This week, he played in most three WR sets but also took a couple of two WR set snaps from Xavier Legette. That leaves the door open for him as a stash play - he also had the second-most targets after McMillan. JT Sanders ran more routes than Tommy Tremble, but their rotation does not work for fantasy. Need Tremble to get traded. 

Chicago Bears

• Rome Odunze
  • We got a glimpse of what Colston Loveland looks like without Cole Kmet. And his deployment was solid with around 80% of the snaps and routes. He was fourth on the team in targets with 5, which was right behind Odunze (10), Moore (6), and Olamide Zaccheaus (7). For now, Odunze is a guy you are starting while the others are in the start/sit debate. 

Denver Broncos

• Courtland Sutton
  • Troy Franklin took a bigger hold on the WR2 chair here. Sutton ran 28 of 30 routes. Franklin ran 26. After that, it was Evan Engram (17), Pat Bryant (16), and Marvin Mims Jr (11). Engram has TE eligibility; the others are not to be trusted.  

Detroit Lions

• Amon-Ra St. Brown
  • Week 8 Bye

Houston Texans

• Nico Collins 
  • With Nico Collins out, it was Jayden Higgins (34 of 42 routes) and Xavier Hutchinson (33) as the outside guys. And, with Christian Kirk out, they used Jaylin Noel (19) and Braxton Berrios (16) out of the slot. Rookie Jared Wayne (15) was elevated and played a handful of specific packages. Dalton Schultz (33) played his typical role. We’d love for the healthy lineup to be Nico Collins and Jayden Higgins out the outside with Jaylin Noel in the slot but they seem hesitant to commit to that. 

Minnesota Vikings

• Justin Jefferson
  • Justin Jefferson is a must-start player regardless. After him, the battle is between Jordan Addison and T.J. Hockenson. And we’ve yet to see much of those three, all with JJ McCarthy. Let’s hope the T.J. Hockenson trade rumors turn out to be true, which will give us some more weekly clarity. 

New Orleans Saints

• Chris Olave
  • Juwan Johnson suffered an ankle injury against the Bills that he’s been playing through. That saw him have some down games, but he’s looked better the last two weeks. The main concern here for Olave, Shaheed, and Johnson is the potential QB change to Tyler Shough. We simply don’t know what that is going to do to the flow of things or the quality of targets. 

New York Giants

• Wan’Dale Robinson
  • Theo Johnson is just about out of the woods now with his bad matchups after facing the Eagles, Broncos, and Eagles again. The 49ers without Fred Warner aren’t as bad as they would have been. Wan’Dale Robinson is on the full PPR radar, and Darius Slayton returned to take the WR2 chair back, so he’s a deep league consideration.  

New York Jets

• Garrett Wilson*
  • With no Garrett Wilson or Josh Reynolds, here is how things shook out. Allen Lazard played split end, Tyler Johnson was the flanker opposite him - they both played full snap shares. Arian Smith and Isaiah Williams split WR3 duties, with Williams pretty exclusively playing slot. Mason Taylor quietly led the team in both routes run and targets, so he’s the main fantasy asset beneficiary. 

Pittsburgh Steelers

• DK Metcalf
  • Calvin Austin returned to be second on the team in routes behind DK Metcalf. The tight end routes were as follows out of 39: Jonnu Smith (23), Pat Freiermuth (16), Darnell Washington (11), Connor Heyward (0). Tough to trust those guys in that capacity. 

Seattle Seahawks

• Jaxon Smith-Njigba
  • Week 8 Bye

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

• Emeka Egbuka
  • Right now, Emeka Egbuka is on a 125+ target pace and, with all the injuries, I don’t see why that would stop. The battle out of the bye will be Chris Godwin vs. Tez Johnson for a full-time snap share opposite Egbuka. Jalen McMillan could be back at some point, but there’s no definitive timeline. Cade Otton is a spot start if needed, but not trustworthy once Godwin gets back. 

Wide Open

Buffalo Bills

• Keon Coleman
• Khalil Shakir
• Dalton Kincaid
  • They had the luxury of not using Kincaid much, coming off an injury in a blowout. In fact, no one ran more than 19 routes. Coleman is your high-risk, high-reward option, Shakir is the safe slot guy that plays a part-time snap share, and Kincaid is valuable because of his TE eligibility. The rest we can forget. 

Cleveland Browns

• Jerry Jeudy
• David Njoku*
• Harold Fannin
• Cedric Tillman*
  • The Browns went back to leaning on the tight ends this week, as teams often do against the Patriots. Jerry Jeudy led with 33 routes run, while Fannin (28) and Njoku (22) ran more than the WRs. Isaiah Bond got four targets and caught zero of them while dropping to about a 50% snap share, so he’s droppable.

Green Bay Packers

• Tucker Kraft
• Matthew Golden
• Romeo Doubs
• Christian Watson
  • Christian Watson returned this week to take his role as the field-stretching flanker. So, for now, it will be Doubs and Watson on the outside with Matthew Golden in the slot. Watson, for me, falls into the range where we keep guys like Alec Pierce - field stretchers that we spot start, hoping they catch a deep ball. When Jayden Reed gets back, we will need to see what they do with Golden, but the Packers could have WRs available to trade if they so choose. Tucker Kraft should be bolted into your TE spot since he’s already had his bye. 

Kansas City Chiefs

• Rashee Rice
• Travis Kelce
• Xavier Worthy
  • The Chiefs have been more pass-happy than usual, which has masked the fact that Xavier Worthy has not been targeted heavily in the pass game - especially since Rashee Rice returned. He does get a couple of carries here and there, which gives him some additional upside, but he’s been hard to trust. 

New England Patriots

• Stefon Diggs
• Hunter Henry
• Kayshon Boutte
• Mack Hollins
• Demario Douglas
  • Diggs is currently the only one on pace for 100+ targets, and it’s just barely, so not quite a lock. Diggs only ran 22 of 34 routes as they continue their rotation - Henry ran 25 and Boutte led with 31. Kyle Williams and Demario Douglas took a back seat in this one, with only 15 and 14 total snaps. 

San Francisco 49ers

• George Kittle
• Ricky Pearsall*
• Jauan Jennings
• Brandon Aiyuk*
• Christian McCaffrey
• Kendrick Bourne
  • This week perfectly illustrated our concern for the end of the season when they have Rickey Pearsall, Jauan Jennings, and Brandon Aiyuk all back. It doesn’t take much for the WR3 to have a limited snap share. Even with limited usage of the TE2 options in Jake Tonges and Luke Farrell, the fullback usage kept it mostly to two WR sets. George Kittle is safe (and he led the team in routes), but one of Jennings, Pearsall, and Aiyuk will be the odd man out when the time comes. So keep that in the back of your mind. And hope the Jauan Jennings trade rumors end up being legit. 

Tennessee Titans

• Calvin Ridley*
• Elic Ayomano
• Chimere Dike
• Van Jefferson
• Chig Okonkwo
• Gunnar Helm
  • It seems clear they want the young guys to play more - that’s probably why Tyler Lockett asked for his release. Chimere Dike surpassed Van Jefferson in usage, so the question is, who will be the WR2 when Calvin Ridley gets back, Dike or Elic Ayomanor? Gunnar Helm also split the snaps with Chig Okonkwo, rendering them both useless.