We’ve made it to the official halfway point of the 2025 season. The wide receiver position took a collective week off in Week 9 as many of the top names in the NFL were either off because of their team’s bye week or out with an injury. We had to trudge through last weekend without Puka Nacua, Davante Adams, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Marvin Harrison Jr., Garrett Wilson, Drake London, and Nico Collins… OK, you get it, there were a lot of awesome players on our collective benches last week. The good news is that most of those players will be back this week. The top performers at wide receiver during “Bye-Mageddon” were players like Troy Franklin, Rashee Rice, Michael Pittman, and Jaylen Waddle. When Xavier Hutchinson and Roman Wilson are top 10 options, scoring more points than Ja’Marr Chase, you know you’re playing in a bizarre week, and we just have to chalk it up to the weirdness of the universe playing with our collective minds. In Week 9, the Earth should return to spinning on its axis as expected, and our top-10 wide receiver rankings should cover your best options to play in fantasy football. Notice, I said ‘should”.
Week 9 Wide Receiver Rankings
1) Ja’Marr Chase vs. Bears
Since Joe Flacco got to town, Chase has been targeted on a mind-boggling 40+% of the Bengals’ passes. He has already been targeted 99 times through 8 games and will soar past 200 during the fantasy season at his current pace. The bad news is that Joe Flacco left last week’s game with a shoulder injury, but he says he should be good to go this week against Chicago. While I hope that’s true, the dude is over 40 years old, and it’s crazy to think he’s going to last until Burrow comes back with the way Cincinnati’s offensive line blocks. Chase was drafted as the top WR overall, and while he doesn’t need 20 targets a game to be dominant, he’s going to remain a fixture at the top of this list as long as the volume stays anywhere close to where it’s been. Chicago is much weaker against the run than they are against the pass, but the Bengals aren’t likely to change their game plan very much. Chase is an every-week starter, and you didn’t need me to tell you that.
2) Jaxon Smith-Njigba vs. Commanders
Oh, how we missed JSN last week. Smith Njigba and the Seahawks return from their bye to take on a Commanders team that was just shredded by Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs on Monday Night. The Washington defense is ranked 27th overall and 26th in the league against the pass. They will be hard-pressed to slow down Sam Darnold and his favorite target this Sunday, and I expect JSN to pick right up where he left off with his 4th consecutive game of over 25 fantasy points. JSN is on a short list of players that will certainly be on a good portion of league-winning rosters when all is said and done this year.
