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There are a lot of rules when it comes to the game of fantasy football.
Related: Week 9 Recap: St. Louis Rams vs Tennessee Titans
For instance, start your studs, stalk the waiver wire, buy-low, sell-high (I can go on for days). These are some of the more obvious ones, but one that owners tend to overlook seems to occur every single week.
Start your players against former teams.
New York Jets, 26 vs New Orleans Saints, 20
Jets: Remember what I said about starting players against their former teams? Of course you do, it was only a few seconds ago. Anyway, that proved to be true in this contest, as former Saints running back Chris Ivory exploded against his familiar foe. On 18 carries, Ivory rushed for 139 yards and a score. It wasn’t just the numbers that were impressive, but the ferocious running style of Ivory. He ran with power, burst and vision in this contest, and looked exactly like what we have been waiting to see out of him since joining the Jets organization. Ivory posted multiple runs of over 20 yards, including a 50-yarder. Meanwhile, the second part of this two-headed monster backfield in Bilal Powell carried the ball just nine times for 26 yards, and wasn’t used in the red zone, while Ivory was the featured goal line back. Over the last three weeks, Ivory has carried the ball 58 times, compared to just 22 totes for Powell. Perhaps we are close to seeing the Ivory fantasy owners have been waiting for.
The rest of the offense was useless, though Geno Smith did find the end zone on a rushing touchdown. However, it’s the Jets defense that continues to impress. This unit forced two sacks, two interceptions and pressured the quarterback all day long.
Saints: He may be a tight end, but you could make the argument that, at least right now, Jimmy Graham is the best overall player in fantasy football. I mean, even when he’s not 100 percent, he’s absolutely awesome. Graham posted another monster stat line on Sunday, catching nine balls for 116 yards and two scores. It’s his second straight game at less than 100 percent health, but it’s also his second straight game with two touchdowns. Graham now has four games with multiple scores on the year, and is by far the top fantasy tight end. Meanwhile, Drew Brees, though he had a difficult time doing it, still threw for 382 yards and two touchdowns.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t all good for the Saints. Running back Darren Sproles left this game very early, and was later diagnosed with a concussion. Mark Ingram, who was activated for the first time since Week 2, saw an uptick in work, seeing four carries. However, New Orleans threw the ball 51 times, compared to just 13 rushes. Keep an eye on Sproles’ status throughout the week. Oh, and big play wideout Kenny Stills, who is a boom-0r-bust guy, was a bust today, catching just three balls for 35 yards. Marques Colston did not play in this game.
Adam Pfeifer is a featured fantasy sports columnist for Rant Sports.
You can follow him on Twitter @aPfeiferRS.
