Week 9 Fantasy Football: Start or Sit Andy Dalton

By Adam McGill @adammcgill83twitter.com on November 1, 2014

After throwing 4,293 yards and 33 touchdowns in 2013, Cincinnati Bengals QB Andy Dalton seemed like he was on the verge of becoming a perennial top-10 fantasy football signal caller. He had a ton of surrounding weapons and was coming off a supposed breakout fantasy campaign.

This season, though, Dalton has struggled to mirror his numbers from last season. In seven games through 2014 the Red Riffle has only throw six touchdown passes. He has obviously missed the presence of WR A. J Green, who has been sitting out for the past several games with a nagging toe injury and the absence of his the wideout has caused Dalton to force the ball downfield much more.

Luckily, Green should be ready to go in Week 9. Head coach Marvin Lewis seems confident that his All-Pro wideout will play this weekend, because he practiced the last three days. If Green plays, which it appears that he will, it instantly improves the fantasy outlook for Dalton. It will also take more pressure off the running game, which will open up the passing game even more for Dalton.

Something that has been overlooked this year has been the fact that Dalton has drastically limited his interceptions. He threw 20 picks in 16 games last season, but he has dropped that down to only six through seven games this season. Dalton may not be filling out the box score on a weekly basis, but it is at least promising to see him limiting those costly turnovers.

Dalton will face off against an abysmal Jacksonville Jaguars secondary in Week 9. The unit has been torched all season long and the return of Green should finally allow Dalton to breakout of his shell. AD has been playing too inconsistent to start on a weekly basis past this point, but he will certainly be worth gambling on this week with the extremely favorable matchup.

 

Adam McGill is the Senior Fantasy Sports Writer at Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @adammcgill83, like him on Facebook, or add him to you networks on Google here or here.