8 Fantasy Football Sleepers for Week 9

Ito Smith, RB, Atlanta Falcons

While the Ito Smith hype has certainly died down a bit, there's no reason to be any lower on him now than we were when Devonta Freeman first landed on the injured reserve.

The fact that he notched double-digit fantasy points in Weeks 4 and 6 showed some intriguing value for the new number-two back in Atlanta. But his 6.5 fantasy points in Week 7 soured some owners, and his Week 8 bye left a lot of managers tossing him back onto the waiver wire. That down game in Week 7 came with Smith still playing an encouraging 43.1% of the team's offensive snaps, though, which is right in line with his 46.3% mark from Week 6.

He got 9 opportunities in that game (7 carries and 2 targets), which doesn't' seem like a ton, but is not far back from the 13 (11 carries and 2 targets) that Tevin Coleman received.

The Falcons draw something of a tough matchup against Washington this week, but Smith's volume will give him a chance to get it going. And even if he doesn't, he still offers the season-long upside that had fantasy players flocking to him a couple of weeks ago.