Geoff Ulrich gives his contrarian DFS picks for Week 9’s fantasy football slate on DraftKings. Check them out!

GPPs are not won by using a lineup with all the most popular players on the slate. Being a contrarian in a big-field event in your roster construction can help separate your lineup and gain you leverage over the field when some of the more popular names bust.

Hence, the goal of this article won’t be to just highlight the popular “play-it-safe” names. We won’t avoid all the chalky names, because good players are still good players most of the time. However, highlighting contrarian roster constructions and ways to make your lineup unique while maximizing upside will be the goal.

Remember, in most cases, the person who finishes in 10,000th place and the person who finishes in 1,269th place receive the same amount of money in many of these larger field contests, so there is no reason to simply follow the crowd to feel comfortable.

Let’s dive into Week 9 of the 2025 NFL season.

Set your DraftKings fantasy football lineups here: NFL $2.75M Fantasy Football Millionaire [$1M to 1st].

Top DFS Contrarian Stack

Los Angeles Chargers at Tennessee Titans

Justin Herbert ($6,800) – Keenan Allen ($5,600) – Kimani Vidal ($6,300) – Chimere Dike ($3,900)

The Chargers are 9.5-point favorites this week against the Titans, facing a Tennessee defense that is 29th in EPA per play per dropback. While the Titans are even weaker against the run, the Chargers rank 2nd in PROE (pass rate above expectation) and have a QB in Justin Herbert who has balled out over his last two starts, throwing 6 TDs and 647 yards. 

Herbert isn’t likely to be heavily owned in this spot either, given the fear of a Chargers blowout, but Los Angeles has only had one true blowout win this season, and played in very close games as large favorites vs. the Giants (a loss) and Dolphins (two-point win). Overall, there are numerous routes to a big game this week from Herbert, who also brings solid rushing upside. 

If this game does stay closer than expected, Keenan Allen could be the main beneficiary of a big game from his QB. Tennessee does not have a deep secondary, and with Ladd McConkey (questionable) not practicing in full this week and Quentin Johnston getting bypassed for other options, Allen seems like the best bet to go off if Herbert ends up balling out. 

Running back Kimani Vidal is also in a solid spot and carries a decent correlation with Herbert as well. The two connected for a TD pass back in Week 6, and he’ll take on a Titans team that has allowed a league high 14 TDs to opposing RBs. Using him with Allen will give you a solid three-way contrarian Chargers stack to attack smaller GPPs with this Sunday. 

Quarterback

Daniel Jones ($6,200)

The Steelers’ defense has been allowing big games against them all season. They’re down to 23rd in EPA per dropback on defense and 24th in yards per attempt against as well. They’ve also now allowed the second most FP per game to opposing QBs, and are coming off a Week 8 game vs Green Bay, where they allowed Jordan Love to go buckwild and throw for 360 yards and 3 TDs. 

Obviously, we could just get another Jonathan Taylor three-touchdown game, but Jones will have all of his top three WRs, plus TE Tyler Warren, healthy for this game, and should be forced into doing a little more this week, given that Pittsburgh tends to funnel to the pass. For game theory purposes, I do like targeting Jones and at least one of his receivers this week in larger GPPs, especially if you’re making lineups that won’t feature Indy’s RB1.  

Running Back

Jahmyr Gibbs ($8,000)

The Vikings’ rush defense has been regressing most of the season. They’re down to 25th in EPA per rush and have allowed at least one RB to go for 99+ yards against them in three of their last four games. That includes Kimani Vidal in Week 8, who rushed for 117 yards and a TD. 

Gibbs is coming in off a bye and just a game removed from one of the best efforts of his career when he took 17 carries for 136 yards, with two rushing TDs and 3 receptions for 82 yards against a tough Buccaneers front. He could easily challenge for top RB on this slate in a matchup this good and should come at lower ownership than the other top two backs.

Kareem Hunt ($4,700)

Isaiah Pacheco looks likely to miss Week 9 after he missed the first two practices of the week for the Chiefs with a sprained knee. Hunt had a two-TD performance in Week 8 and will likely be asked to carry a lot of the early down rushing load against the Bills, given that rookie Brashard Smith is much more suited to a passing back role. 

Hunt will also be taking on a Bills rush defense that ranks just 28th in EPA per rush on the season and has allowed the sixth-most FP to opposing RBs this year. At under 5k, he’s looking like a potential great value for those in need of some cheap upside at RB.

Wide Receiver

DK Metcalf ($5,500)

Metcalf may be in for a big day in Week 8. The Steelers are unlikely to hold down the Colts’ offense for large portions of this week’s game (or at all), which should lead to the former Seahawk seeing plenty of targets, many of which could be deeper shots downfield.

Metcalf is capable of taking a simple screen pass 80+ yards, and comes into this week with five TDs on the season already. His cheaper price tag makes him look like a great upside bargain for DFS, regardless of opponent. However, when you add the fact he’ll be up against a Colts pass funnel defense that has allowed the third-most FP to opposing WRs this season, it certainly raises the potential for a career sort of day and monster fantasy week.

Dyami Brown ($3,800)

The Jaguars could be thin at WR for this week’s matchup with the Raiders. Brian Thomas (shoulder) is only getting in limited practices and playing with a shoulder harness, while Travis Hunter (knee) is now on IR. It should lead to us seeing a lot more of Brown this Sunday vs the Raiders. 

While he’s been up and down as a Jaguar, Brown does have some upside — especially after the catch — and will be facing a Raiders defense that has allowed the fourth-most FP to opposing WRs. Overall, this is a great upside spot for the Jaguars’ passing game, and with the target tree condensed this week with one of the top two WRs out, Brown’s upside would go up substantially and make him a great value at under 4k.

Tight End

Colston Loveland ($3,300)

Loveland had a nice day in Week 8 with Cole Kmet out, as he caught three of his five targets for 38 yards (all career highs). Kmet (back) may play this week, but even if he does, it’s doubtful the Bears will reduce Loveland’s role much after the rookie finally started to carve out a role in this struggling offense. 

The matchup this week also couldn’t be better for a Loveland surge, as the Bengals are allowing 2.2 more FP per game to opposing TEs than any other team in the league, and have allowed 10 TDs to the position (more than 1.0 per game) overall. I wouldn’t hesitate to look Loveland’s way again this week for DFS, even if Kmet suits up.

Defense/Special Teams

Bengals ($2,600)

It’s a little grim when looking at cheap DSTs to use this week, so why not take a shot with the Bengals, facing one of the most underperforming QBs in the league in Caleb Williams? Williams comes into this week having thrown for zero TDs over his last two games with four turnovers (2 fumbles and 2 INTs). His inability to convert in the red zone is a huge issue, and even with better protection this season, he’s been a turnover machine, with four INTs already in 2025. 

The Bengals may give up some yards, and even a decent chunk of points, but the chances of them also snagging a couple of turnovers and potentially even a defensive TD this week are also much higher than normal. They’re certainly worthy of a look if you’re planning on punting with a sub-3k option in Week 9 at DST.