Fantasy Tip Sheet: Week 9

BY A.J. KURZMAN

Week nine in the NFL has ended and that means one thing: the season is officially over halfway over.  However, week nine didn’t bring all bad news though, as there were a couple of rookies with record breaking games.  Here are the best/worst players of week nine.

Best

• QB: Andrew Luck, Indianapolis Colts: Wow.  What a job the number one overall pick out of Stanford has done.  He took a 2-14 Colts squad from last year, and has turned them into a 5-3, playoff contending Colts team.  It helps to have record setting performances as well.  Last week against the Dolphins, Luck threw for a rookie record 433 yards, and he added 2 touchdowns to that impressive stat as well.  He made Miami’s secondary look like a bunch of second graders.  There is no doubt Luck’s future will be filled with performances like this.
• RB: Doug Martin, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Martin made this list with a monster game against Minnesota two weeks ago.  There was no way he could have another game like that right? Wrong.  He showed he is one of the best running backs in the league, and he is only a rookie.  Martin had a historic 251 yard, 4 touchdown game in the win over Oakland.  Martin became the second player in NFL history with at least 250 yards rushing and four rushing touchdowns in a game.  Martin also set the franchise record for rushing yards and rushing touchdowns in a single game. In addition, his touchdown runs were impressive to say the least.  He had touchdown runs of 45, 67, and 70 yards to go along with his one yard touchdown run.  Martin has cemented himself as a true running back threat in this league week in and week out.

Worst

• WR: Hakeem Nicks, New York Giants: Nicks came into the game on Sunday completely healthy and apparently rust free for the first time in a very long time.  Although it was against a good Steelers defense, Nicks has enough skill to breakout any given Sunday.  Unfortunately for Nicks’ owners, it wasn’t on Sunday.  He had a measly one catch for 10 yards.
• RB: Ryan Mathews, San Diego Chargers: Mathews has been in a slump all year, never quite breaking out.  Against a bad Kansas City defense, he only had 67 yards on the ground.  The Chargers used a first round pick on him in 2010, and there is no denying his talent, but he has to produce something soon or else San Diego may start to lose faith in him.

After this week, it’s clear the future is very bright for the many rookies in the NFL such as Doug Martin and Andrew Luck.