The Indianapolis Colts will face the Minnesota Vikings in Week 9. Here’s the latest fantasy football news and advice to help you with your lineups this week and moving forward, especially regarding WR Michael Pittman.
Is Michael Pittman Playing in Week 9?
Michael Pittman Jr. is still battling the back injury that the Colts initially thought would send him to injured reserve in Week 6. Pittman miraculously played that week and suited up again in Week 7.
Indy has been managing his practice reps since. Pittman has gone DNP-Full-DNP the last two weeks, and it appears he’s on track to repeat that again ahead of Week 9. After not participating in Wednesday’s practice, Pittman was a full participant on Thursday.
Pittman was limited on Friday but was then sequentially removed from the Colts’ injury report. He has no injury designation for Sunday night’s game against the Vikings.
Pittman was a top-30 fantasy WR in all three games with Flacco as Indianapolis’ primary quarterback. Meanwhile, his WR37 finish in Week 8 was his best output with Richardson as his starting QB. Flacco’s insertion into Indy’s lineup should be a boon for all the club’s pass catchers.
We’ll continue to monitor the Colts’ injury report. You can also visit and bookmark our NFL Injury Tracker and Fantasy News Tracker for the latest updates.
Should You Start or Sit Michael Pittman in Week 9?
Pittman was targeted deep down the field on Anthony Richardson’s first pass last week, and I was mentally preparing to be sucked back in with the thought being that they are adjusting Pittman’s role to put him in a position to at least see targets with their YOLO second-year QB.
After 36 hours of trying to talk myself into that — mental hurdles that included falling asleep to the recording of the radio call of that missed target (some people have white noise, I wish cast fantasy production; sue me) — I saw the news break that Joe Flacco was named the Week 9 starter.
Pittman with Anthony Richardson, 2024:
- 27.3% under fantasy expectations
- 13.8 aDOT
- 50% catch rate
Pittman with Joe Flacco, 2024:
- 7.8% over fantasy expectation
- 8.9 aDOT
- 63.2% catch rate
I don’t think there’s any question that this is a positive move for the receiver we presumed was atop this depth chart two months ago, and that makes him a Flex-worthy player.
I worry that he has been surpassed by Josh Downs as the primary target in this offense and we are looking at a low pass rate over expectation projection with a healthy Jonathan Taylor, but I’m cautiously optimistic and have Pittman ranked ahead of names like Tank Dell and DeAndre Hopkins for Week 9.
Are you looking for start/sit advice for other players in your lineup? Read our Week 9 Fantasy Start-Sit Advice Cheat Sheet for every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Michael Pittman’s Fantasy Points Projection in Week 9
Pittman is projected to score 13.5 fantasy points in PPR formats. This includes 5.6 receptions for 59.8 yards and 0.3 touchdowns.
Check out the free PFN Fantasy Start-Sit Optimizer for the latest projections and advice for your lineups this week.
PFN Insights: Minnesota Vikings Defense
The Minnesota Vikings are coming off their worst defensive performance of the year, ranking 28th in Week 8. Prior to this week, they had been ranked inside the top 15 in all of their first six games and had been inside the top four on three occasions. The question now will be whether their 15th-ranked finish in Week 7 and their No. 28 rank in Week 8 are a product of facing good offenses or the start of a downturn in their fortunes.
The most concerning element for the Vikings’ defense will be the fact they are allowing touchdowns on 61.9% of red-zone trips, which ranks 24th in the league this year. Even if they’re a top-10 unit in nearly every other metric, if teams can convert in the red zone on 60%+ of their trips then it will be hard for Minnesota to win games convincingly.
For more insight on all other team defenses, head to our PFN Defense+ Metric Analysis.
Michael Pittman’s Week 9 Fantasy Ranking
Our Weekly Consensus PPR Rankings are below — both positional and overall. They were last updated at 11:45 PM ET on Saturday, January 25.Â
Conference Championship WR PPR Rankings
1) A.J. Brown | PHI (vs. WAS)
2) Terry McLaurin | WAS (at PHI)
3) DeVonta Smith | PHI (vs. WAS)
4) Khalil Shakir | BUF (at KC)
5) Xavier Worthy | KC (vs. BUF)
6) Hollywood Brown | KC (vs. BUF)
7) DeAndre Hopkins | KC (vs. BUF)
8) Keon Coleman | BUF (at KC)
9) Dyami Brown | WAS (at PHI)
10) Mack Hollins | BUF (at KC)
11) Amari Cooper | BUF (at KC)
12) Curtis Samuel | BUF (at KC)
13) Olamide Zaccheaus | WAS (at PHI)
14) JuJu Smith-Schuster | KC (vs. BUF)
15) Jahan Dotson | PHI (vs. WAS)
16) Jamison Crowder | WAS (at PHI)
17) Luke McCaffrey | WAS (at PHI)
18) Justin Watson | KC (vs. BUF)
19) Johnny Wilson | PHI (vs. WAS)
20) Parris Campbell | PHI (vs. WAS)
21) Nikko Remigio | KC (vs. BUF)
22) Ainias Smith | PHI (vs. WAS)
Indianapolis Colts at Minnesota Vikings Insights
Indianapolis Colts
Team: The Colts are 4-4 this season, with five games decided by a field goal or less (2-3 in those games).
QB: Pressure is one thing; seeing ghosts is another – Richardson went 6-of-20 for 78 yards and an interception against the Texans when not pressured.
Offense: The Colts gained 21.2 yards per drive in the Week 7 win against the Dolphins, their lowest rate of the season. In the loss to the Texans on Sunday, that number was 21.0.
Defense: In Weeks 1-5, the Colts forced a punt on 23.6% of drives, a rate that has spiked to 48.6% since.
Fantasy: Anthony Richardson hit Josh Downs for a 69-yard touchdown pass of the season – his third of 50-plus yards.
Betting: Indianapolis has covered eight of their past 10 road primetime games (this is their first game since Week 13, 2022).
Minnesota Vikings
Team: The Vikings have played just three true road games this season – after this week, they go on the road for three straight (Jaguars, Titans, and Bears).
QB: Sam Darnold posted his highest in-pocket passer rating of the season on Thursday night (134.0, he’s been over 106.0 in six of seven games.
Offense: In Weeks 1-4, Minnesota averaged 6.5 yards per play on first down, a rate that is down to 4.8 since.
Defense: The Vikings posted their highest pressure rate of the season in Week 7 against the Lions (58.6%) but couldn’t make Matthew Stafford uncomfortable in Week 8 (11.8%, 18 percentage points below their previous season low).
Fantasy: Against the Rams on Thursday night, Sam Darnold started hot and then struggled – 67.5% of his fantasy points as a passer were scored on Minnesota’s first two drives.
Betting: Since 2020, 74.4% of Vikings games played after Halloween have gone over the total (29-10-1, league average: 48.4%).
Betting: The Vikings are 1-5-1 ATS in their past seven games played on extended rest.
