Welcome to Week 9 — the 2016 season is officially past its half-way point.

I nearly dropped the mic and retired from this piece after suggesting a Julio Jones fade last week. Jones was nearly 50% owned in the Sunday Million, and he responded with 3 catches, 29 yards and 4.4 FanDuel points.

Ryan Mathews was also terrible, rushing just four times for 10 yards. He did save his fantasy day with a touchdown, but Mathews still accumulated a meager 7.6 points. Philip Rivers wasn't nearly as terrible, throwing for 267 yards and 2 touchdowns. He did, however, toss 3 interceptions, which limited him to 15.7 FanDuel points.

As always, we'll be using our Net Expected Points (NEP) metric to help identify a quarterback, running back and wide receiver who you should consider avoiding in Week 8.

In DFS, the best players aren't always the best plays for a particular week. Salaries, matchups and projected ownership all need to be considered when building lineups. With that said, here are three players you should avoid in Week 9.