We begin the ninth week of the 2025 NFL regular season on Thursday. Here are the key injuries, fantasy stars and projected upsets.
Key Injuries
There were two massive injuries in week eight. Minnesota Vikings quarterback Carson Wentz is out for the season with a season ending shoulder injury. The specific injuries are a shoulder dislocation, torn labrum and fractured socket. What is remarkable is that Wentz suffered the injuries on October 5 when the Vikings played the Cleveland Browns, according to Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz of USA Today.
Meanwhile, we have documented the great NFL rookie season of New York Giants running back Cameron Skattebo of Rio Linda, California already this year. Well, it came to an end on Sunday. That is when he broke his leg and dislocated his ankle in a 38-20 Giants loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Fantasy Stars
We expected Lamar Jackson to play last week. He did not, and the Ravens have been criticized throughout the NFL for not being upfront with their initial week eight injury report. We know for a fact that Jackson will play Thursday night against the Miami Dolphins and should have a big game. He is projected to get 213 passing yards, 44 rushing yards, and two touchdowns. The top ranked wide receiver is Ja’Marr Chase of the Cincinnati Bengals. He is projected to get eight catches for 96 receiving yards and a touchdown against the Chicago Bears. The top ranked running back is Christian McCaffrey of the San Francisco 49ers. He is projected to get 116 total yards and a touchdown on Sunday against the Giants minus Skattebo.
Projected Upsets
I like four underdogs this week. They are the Buffalo Bills, Denver Broncos, Arizona Cardinals and Las Vegas Raiders. I don’t like the Cowboys defense at the moment. Buffalo’s running game was excellent last week against an improved Carolina Panthers squad. Denver is simply better than Houston, and I feel the Jaguars are overrated.
