Early Week 9 Ownership

The Week 9 ownership data is in from the Thursday night contests. From consensus plays to low-owned options, here are a few highlights at FanDuel:

Tom Brady has been close to automatic this season and now gets struggling Washington as two-touchdown favorites in Foxboro. Brady's salary matches the projections at a gaudy $9,500 this week, but he still leads the position in ownership at more than 15%. Drew Brees and Eli Manning, coming off their historic shootout last week, round out the top-3 with optimistic passing matchups against Tennessee (in New Orleans) and Tampa Bay (on the road) respectively.

Big Roethlisberger is surprisingly low at 5% early ownership. He is a prime bounce-back candidate returning home with a game under his belt -- a humbling loss -- since returning from injury. The Steelers have a top-5 team total and Roethlisberger has been pedestrian in his last two games. Jameis Winston at $6,700 against the porous Giants defense in Tampa Bay, especially stacked with Mike Evans, is a quality play in tournaments at 4% ownership.

Benjamin Watson creates his own tier this week at 17% after a career day against the Giants. At $5,700 Watson is cap friendly and the Saints are at home. Rob Gronkowski ($8,500) and Antonio Gates ($6,000) round out the top-3, both over 10% early ownership. Gates is the best combination of ownership and Footballguys projections with Ladarius Green on the mend and Keenan Allen out against Chicago.

Martellus Bennett is on a similar dry spell with the end zone as Demaryius Thomas, Bennett has a single score over his last 32 receptions with San Diego being a positive matchup this week plus 3% ownership. 

To catch the rest of the article, plus example cash and tournament lineups for Week 9, find the full post at Footballguys.com.