Week 9 of the 2021 NFL season starts with Thursday Night Football as the Indianapolis Colts play host to the New York Jets. Here’s a break down the fantasy football starts and sits and DFS plays for Thursday night’s action.

New York Jets

QB Mike White — Mike was white hot in his starting debut last week. Hysterically, his average air yards per attempt mark, 4.1, was 31st in the NFL yet he threw for a league-best 405 yards. Nearly 70% of his yardage came after the catch. That’s good scheming and it will be difficult to repeat as few teams are going to take his long ball seriously. For what it’s worth though, his longest attempt did go for a touchdown and it was nice to see the Jets remain confident in their QB after scoring. Zach Wilson was No. 4 in the NFL in 2-point attempts converted and White added 1 of his own last week. White has a great chance at finishing inside the position’s top-12 this week as the Colts are dead last in QB pressure rate (16.3%) and continue to be banged up at the CB position. White can be started as a safe, high-end QB2 with easy QB1 upside.

WR Keelan Cole — Cole hogged the highest snap share but was only afforded five targets, fifth on the team. With Davis (hip) doubtful, Cole has a shot at getting loose against a T.J. Carrie-less CB corps but he’s no better than a boom/bust WR5.

WR Elijah Moore — The coaches have to increase Moore’s usage this week. The stud rookie was on the field just 36% of the time but was White’s go-to whenever he was on the field, finishing 6-of-6 for 67 yards. Moore needs to be rostered in 100% of leagues and can be started as a WR4 this week.

WRs Jamison Crowder and Braxton Berrios — Crowder was the clear-cut WR target leader with 9 to his name, 8 of which were caught for 84 yards. Berrios cycled in behind Crowder and would’ve had just five yards and one reception to his name had he not caught an eight-yard TD. Don’t bank on him. Start Crowder as a high-floor WR4. Indy’s slot man Kenny Moore II is a pushover.

WR Denzel Mims — Mims only saw action due to Davis’ (hip) absence and should not be counted on for redraft purposes.

TE Tyler Kroft and Ryan Griffin — Kroft had a similar day to Berrios which isn’t a great thing to chase. Indy is allowing 13.0 .5PPR TE PPG though, 7th most in the NFL. If you are desperate, Kroft is a streaming option. Griffin is irrelevant.

RBs Michael Carter and Ty Johnson — We nailed the RB usage last week:

Really happy with #TakeFlight game planning this week. #RuleTheJungle can’t stop RB passing game & Mike White also honed in on MC/TJ last week. Good to see the RBs get featured this week. MC led team w/ 13 TGTs, TJ T-3rd on team w/ 6. pic.twitter.com/JX93BpiX2c

— Nic Bodiford (@Ginger__Nic) October 31, 2021

Correction for tweet above: Carter actually had a team-high 14 targets, catching 9 for 95 yards, on top of his 15 carries, 77 rushing yards and 1 touchdown.  Johnson added 4 carries for 15 yards to his 5-of-6 for 71 yards and 1 touchdown line. Carter is a full-on bellcow who can be started as a high-end RB2. Johnson operates as the No. 2 offensive player in NY right now and can be started as a borderline RB2/3.

Indianapolis Colts

QB Carson Wentz — Wentz extended his multi-TD streak to five games last week. Expect game No. 6 to come this week against a Jets pass defense ranking 28th per NEFF rating. Wentz is a top-15 QB play this week.

WR Micheal Pittman Jr. — We also nailed Pittman’s usage last week, calling him a high-end WR1 vs the Titans. The second-year X-receiver saw a career-high 15 targets last week and can be expected to stay hot as a top-15 WR against the Jets’ hapless DB group.

WRs Zach Pascal and Ashton Dulin — Pascal and Dulin round out the IND starting WR trio. Pascal is a WR4/5. Dulin a WR6.

TEs Mo Alie-Cox and Jack Doyle — MAC actually maintained his No. 1 TE status with four Week 8 targets but failed to corral a single one. Doyle caught a touchdown. Chasing low-volume efficiency is risky. The Jets have struggled to cover tight ends with SS Lamarcus Joyner so Alie-Cox remains a viable TE1 streamer though.

RBs Jonathan Taylor and Nyheim Hines — The Jets are allowing the most .5PPR RB PPG (32.9) by over 4 points… Taylor is a no-brainer top-5 RB with easy No. 1 overall RB upside. The team thankfully relegated Marlon Mack last week with the trade deadline nigh. He’s not likely to return to relevance ever again. Notably the Jets are allowing 8.3 RB receptions per game (2nd in the NFL) and 79 RB receiving yards per game (1st). Hines is a safe RB3.