Week 9 is in the books. Here are a few of this week’s fantasy football juggernauts and weaklings. Wow, how many different ways can I say studs and duds? Anyway, got any feedback to this weekly fantasy analysis? Shoot an email to sports@bupipedream.com, and if you’ve got something good to say, I’ll give you some space in my article next week!

MATT RYAN — After starting the season with three of four dynamic performances, Ryan has fallen off; over the past four games, he has more than 200 yards only once, has thrown for more interceptions (eight) than touchdowns (six). Atlanta is playing well as a team, but Ryan’s stats are no longer worthy of fantasy starting lineups.

JAMAAL CHARLES and KOLBY SMITH — I didn’t think that Larry Johnson would last through the years as the Chiefs’ starter (then again I thought the same thing about Joseph Addai), but Kansas City released Johnson, clearing the way for these two backs. Charles and Smith are both quite talented, and personally, Charles is the guy that I picked up off waivers before Week 9, but honestly, either one could see the carries. But even that doesn’t mean fantasy success; Johnson wasn’t doing very well with the touches he was getting.

LAURENCE MARONEY — Left for dead by most fantasy owners, he didn’t score a touchdown or run for more than 32 yards in the first five weeks. In the past three games, he has 248 rushing yards and one TD in each week. But it took injuries to other running backs in New England to even give him another shot at scoring fantasy points. I don’t know if this kind of production will last.

VERNON DAVIS — Falling short of his potential in the past few years has driven Davis’ owners insane. But this year, he is playing diesel football: he had 102 yards on Sunday, and has scored his seven touchdowns in three separate games this year. He is a trusted option in San Francisco, and he is the second best tight end in football right now, second only to …

DALLAS CLARK — This guy’s high production is ridiculous; he has 703 yards on 60 catches in eight games. The stats he’s on pace to achieve this year, well, you can do the math. While Peyton Manning is playing MVP-caliber football, Clark is the league’s best TE.

MAURICE JONES-DREW — MJD has dispelled rumors that his body wouldn’t hold up to the heavy workload that we knew he would have in Jacksonville. The dude has 407 yards and six touchdowns in his past three games. I don’t even need to explain how valuable he is.

LADAINIAN TOMLINSON — It looked like things were looking up after last week’s outburst, but the fact is, that two-touchdown performance has been his only good game. He hasn’t run for more than 71 yards yet this season, and his mediocrity warrants a spot on your bench if you have better options.

JOE FLACCO — Flacco is difficult to gauge. He had some great games (like throwing for 385 yards and scoring two TDs against then-unbeaten Minnesota) but he also has four games in which he has failed to reach 200 yards passing and has turned the ball over 10 times. He’s not someone I’d advise starting other than during a bye week, even though his fantasy points ranked in the top 10 among quarterbacks.

DWAYNE BOWE — I never know what to expect from him. He is stuck in Kansas City, but his stats aren’t awful. They just aren’t anything close to stellar. You’ll be okay with his stats, but you probably won’t see any ridiculously good performances out of him; his highest fantasy point output this year is just 14.

CALVIN JOHNSON — Yeah, he’s been hurt. Yeah, he plays in Detroit. On talent alone, Johnson belongs in the elite class of WR’s with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald and Randy Moss. But his stats are not coming this year. We saw what he’s capable of with his 133-yard outburst at Chicago in Week 4, but overall Johnson has been a disappointment thus far.

GREG OLSEN — Olsen had been just okay before this week, when he exploded for three touchdowns, doubling his season total. He’s been getting consistent targets, but that “consistency” amounts to about four catches per game. But at the thin tight end position, you could do worse.

RONNIE BROWN — I really like what Brown does with the football. I think he’s one of the smartest running backs in football based on how he can run the Wildcat offense. He even threw for a touchdown last week. He really only had one bad game all year long. Ricky Williams is getting quite a few touchdowns in the backfield, but that’s only because Brown is so much of a threat that it opens the field for Williams in the red zone when they run the Wildcat. Brown is the real deal; if fantasy points were awarded for helping your team to score TDs, Brown might be at the top of the fantasy world.

REGGIE WAYNE — Yeah, he had a rough week last week. He’s had two bad games all year; it happens to every player. But how many players can say that they have a touchdown in every single other game? Yep, he’s scored in six of eight games this year, and the consistent number of receptions is creating phenomenal opportunities for him. The numbers will continue to please in Wayne’s World.

LAVERANUES COLES — After three straight semi-decent weeks, including his highest catch and yardage output of the season last week, should you start him? Unless you have a lot of byes, probably not. Chad Ochocinco is putting up great stats, and that hasn’t gotten Coles the stats we were optimistic about him getting in Cincinnati.

MIKE BELL — He’s done getting a good amount of the carries in New Orleans; Pierre Thomas is getting most of the work now, and Thomas is the Saints’ RB you want. But listen up: the Saints have a few ridiculous matchups left, including the next two against St. Louis and Tampa Bay. If the Saints get up early, they might pull Thomas and get Bell some serious garbage-time carries. Don’t drop him yet.