2024 NFL Pick Em Confidence Pools Strategy & Advice: Week 9 Predictions

NFL Week 9 has arrived and it’s time to make our picks for 2024 NFL Pick Em Confidence Pools. It opens up with yet another prime-time game for Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets as they host C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans for Thursday Night Football.
The Jets are in dire need of righting the ship for the season while the Texans are preparing for life without Stefon Diggs. Also, without Nico Collins, this receiver group is going to have a tough time with the Jets secondary which should make this game an interesting one for our NFL Week 9 confidence pool picks.
Last week was another tough one. It wasn’t that we had the Ravens at such a high confidence level as most people in 2024 NFL Pick Em Confidence Pools did the same thing. We racked up some good points at the top of our confidence levels, but then the upsets in the lower half of our picks piled up and we ended up 8-8 for the week.
Our points weren’t terrible, but between the Ravens and Vikings, who we also had at a high level, we didn’t make up any ground. We didn’t lose a ton, but we didn’t gain. As we look ahead to this week, having a strong confidence pool strategy is important.
Are we looking at mostly favorites? If not, which upsets are we looking to predict and how much confidence do we put into that? There is still plenty of time to make up some ground, but at some point, my confidence pool advice is going to go off the rails and we’re going to be taking some major chances to climb the standings.
Is that time now? Probably not, but let’s dive into some helpful confidence pool advice before finalizing our 2024 NFL Pick Em Confidence Pool picks this week.
2024 NFL Pick Em Confidence Pools Strategy For Week 9
Again, strategy for your 2024 NFL Pick Em Confidence Pool picks is always relative to your place in the standings. Up top, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. My confidence pool advice is to lean into the chalk, don’t take too many chances and stay the course. You’re just looking to maintain your place in the standings.
If you find yourself in the middle or back half of the standings of your 2024 NFL Pick Em Confidence pools, rather than try to pick a bunch of upsets, we’re going to play around with some of our confidence ratings. We’re going to lean into the chalk and, based on what I am seeing in the Vegas lines and odds, we’re going to increase our confidence in some of the games that may not have a juiced-up money line but still indicate a clear advantage.
A game like Thursday’s Jets/Texans game is a good example. The Jets are favored by two points and their money line is only at -130, but I feel like I have a good read on the game and will try to gain some extra points with the pick. There are a few others, so let’s keep looking and get ready to make our 2024 NFL Pick Em Confidence Pool picks for Week 9.
NFL Pick Em Confidence Pools Advice
There is no real addition to my current confidence pool advice other than what you just read. You should definitely go to one of the Sportsbooks and check out the point spreads and money lines. In addition to the Jets, there are a few other intriguing picks to make.
We won’t get greedy – at least not yet – and see if we can make up some ground. We were climbing up the standings for a couple of weeks, hit a stumbling block last week and are ready to get back to moving on up like we’re The Jeffersons.
Now, let’s get to the rest of my picks for Week 9 of your 2024 NFL Pick Em Confidence pools.
NFL Week 9 Confidence Pools Expert Picks
Game | Pick | Confidence # | Money Line |
Denver Broncos at Baltimore Ravens | Ravens | 15 | -450 |
New Orleans Saints at Carolina Panthers | Saints | 14 | -350 |
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Kansas City Chiefs | Chiefs | 13 | -450 |
Houston Texans at New York Jets | Jets | 12 | -130 |
Las Vegas Raiders at Cincinnati Bengals | Bengals | 11 | -350 |
Jacksonville Jaguars at Philadelphia Eagles | Eagles | 10 | -350 |
Indianapolis Colts at Minnesota Vikings | Vikings | 9 | -250 |
Washington Commanders at New York Giants | Commanders | 8 | -210 |
Detroit Lions at Green Bay Packers | Lions | 7 | -175 |
Miami Dolphins at Buffalo Bills | Bills | 6 | -275 |
Los Angeles Chargers at Cleveland Browns | Chargers | 5 | -125 |
Dallas Cowboys at Atlanta Falcons | Cowboys | 4 | -145 |
Los Angeles Rams at Seattle Seahawks | Rams | 3 | -125 |
Chicago Bears at Arizona Cardinals | Bears | 2 | -105 |
New England Patriots at Tennessee Titans | Patriots | 1 | 150 |
Player News
Dolphins signed No. 13 overall pick DT Kenneth Grant to a four-year contract.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports that Grant will sign his contract today. The former Michigan defensive tackle is expected to fill a major void left by Christian Wilkins, who left for the Raiders in the 2024 offseason. Grant totaled 32 tackles, three sacks, and seven TFLs in his final season at Michigan and excelled at stopping the run while also generating 27 pressures in his final season, per PFF.
Beat reporter John Hendrix reports that free agent WR Donovan Peoples-Jones is among the 16 players that the Saints will host for their rookie minicamp.
Peoples-Jones last played regular season snaps with the Lions back in 2023, when he caught 13-of-24 targets for 155 yards. He is highly unlikely to return to fantasy relevance at this point but could perhaps sign on as a special teams contributor.
Titans signed fourth-round pick WR Elic Ayomanor to a four-year contract.
Ayomanor will now begin learning behind Calvin Ridley. Although Ayomanor is unlikely to find a meaningful role in year one, dynasty managers should note his status as training camp gets underway this summer. The former Stanford receiver flashed big-play ability in his two college seasons.
Buccaneers signed seventh-round pick WR Tez Johnson to a four-year contract.
Johnson will serve as a rotational deep-threat option for Baker Mayfield. His thin frame (5'10/154) simply does not lend itself to the repeated hits one incurs in a full-time role. Johnson did earn 100-plus targets in his two seasons at Oregon, though. His big-play style make him a better fit in best ball for now, pending any major on-field breakthroughs.
Giants waived DT Casey Rogers.
Rogers was a 2024 undrafted free agent and logged 33 defensive snaps for the Giants in his rookie season. He is credited with zero tackles and/or sacks. He may find his way onto another roster as a practice squad option.
Vikings signed third-round pick WR Tai Felton to a four-year contract.
Felton is quietly in play to challenge Vikings No. 3 WR Jalen Nailor in training camp. Nailor (5'11/190) caught 28-of-42 targets for 414 yards and six touchdowns in his first season as a starter last year, with the latter category buoying his fantasy productivity. Felton (6'1/183), meanwhile, caught 96-of-143 targets for 1,119 yards and nine touchdowns while averaging 2.32 yards per route run in his final college season. Fantasy managers should monitor Felton’s training camp reports this summer, as he could have a matchup-based WR5 role if everything falls into place.