Start Kimani Vidal or Ty Johnson? Week 9

Our Week 9 call

Start Ty Johnson over Kimani Vidal in Week 9.

Market-based projections have Ty Johnson at 6.1 points and Kimani Vidal at 5.8, a gap of 0.3. That is inside the noise of a single catch, so treat it as close to a coin flip. Kimani Vidal's number is scaled up from a partial market: not every stat the position needs is posted yet, so the rest is estimated from what is. No player market is posted for Ty Johnson this week yet, so his 6.1 is the average of his market-based projections in Weeks 6 and 8 (7.0 and 5.1); the call is rebuilt when his market posts.

What the market projects

No Week 9 player market is posted for Ty Johnson yet. His market-based projections were 7.0 and 5.1 points in Weeks 6 and 8, an average of 6.1, which stands in until his Week 9 market posts.

The market-based projection for Ty Johnson is 0.1 touchdowns (8 market sources).

Player markets imply 5.8 fantasy points for Kimani Vidal, with 70 percent of the markets a RB needs posted.

The market-based projection for Kimani Vidal is 26 rushing yards and 0.2 touchdowns (8 and 9 market sources).

That puts Ty Johnson 0.3 points ahead of Kimani Vidal on these projections.

Week 9 matchups

Ty Johnson and BUF visit MIN on Monday at 8:15 PM ET.

MIN allowed 18.4 fantasy points a game to RBs this season over 7 games, the 5th fewest in the league.

Running backs ran for 103 yards and 0.6 touchdowns a game against MIN and caught passes for 18 more yards.

Kimani Vidal and LAC host HOU on Sunday at 4:05 PM ET.

HOU allowed 22.3 fantasy points a game to RBs this season over 7 games, the 13th most in the league.

Running backs ran for 91 yards and 0.9 touchdowns a game against HOU and caught passes for 21 more yards.

By points allowed to the position, Kimani Vidal has the softer matchup.

Injury status

Ty Johnson is not on the injury report.

Kimani Vidal is not on the injury report.

Usage before Week 9

Through Week 8, Ty Johnson played 24 percent of BUF snaps, took 4 percent of the carries, drew 11 percent of the targets and had 7 percent of the red zone chances.

Ty Johnson, Week 4 against NE: 19 of 59 snaps, 1 carry for 3 yards, 2 targets and 2 catches for 9 yards.

Ty Johnson, Week 5 against LAR: 14 of 64 snaps, 0 carries for 0 yards, 4 targets and 4 catches for 72 yards.

Ty Johnson, Week 6 against LV: 12 of 68 snaps, 1 carry for 3 yards, 2 targets and 2 catches for 24 yards.

Ty Johnson, Week 8 against BAL: 20 of 82 snaps, 4 carries for 4 yards, 3 targets and 3 catches for 19 yards.

Through Week 8, Kimani Vidal played 29 percent of LAC snaps, took 15 percent of the carries, drew 7 percent of the targets and had 8 percent of the red zone chances.

Kimani Vidal, Week 4 against SEA: 25 of 71 snaps, 5 carries for 25 yards, 3 targets and 2 catches for 11 yards, 1 touchdown.

Kimani Vidal, Week 5 against DEN: 28 of 67 snaps, 8 carries for 57 yards, 2 targets and 1 catch for -1 yards, 1 touchdown.

Kimani Vidal, Week 6 against KC: 25 of 68 snaps, 7 carries for 21 yards, 4 targets and 3 catches for 19 yards.

Kimani Vidal, Week 8 against LAR: 28 of 61 snaps, 8 carries for 23 yards, 2 targets and 2 catches for 7 yards.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025, Ty Johnson played 17 games for BUF and scored 100.3 PPR points, 5.9 a game, finishing RB47.

He ran 50 times for 200 yards and 3 touchdowns, and caught 24 of 33 targets for 263 yards.

He was on the field for 29 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

In 2025, Kimani Vidal played 13 games for LAC and scored 117.9 PPR points, 9.1 a game, finishing RB42.

He ran 155 times for 643 yards and 3 touchdowns, and caught 16 of 22 targets for 136 yards.

He was on the field for 58 percent of the offense's snaps in the games he played.

Their other Week 9 calls

• Start Aaron Jones Sr. over Ty Johnson.
• Start Alvin Kamara over Ty Johnson.
• Start Brian Robinson over Ty Johnson.
• Start Alvin Kamara over Kimani Vidal.
• Start Cam Skattebo over Kimani Vidal.
• Start Kimani Vidal over Corey Kiner.