Fantasy Football Week 9 running back rankings: Michael Carter looking to make it three good games in a row

With another superstar running back going down with an injury, you might think the position is especially thin for Week 9, but that actually isn’t really true at the top, at least. Of the top 12 in preseason ADP, eight are going to be available for sure and should be considered must-start Fantasy options, and two more — Saquon Barkley and Christian McCaffrey — could be back from their injuries. At least among the top options, things are OK. 

Of course, if you’ve been paying attention you know that the top of the position is hardly the only thing that matters, and it gets a lot dicier once you get outside of the top 12. Cordarrelle Patterson is my No. 11 RB for this week, and he’s got a tough matchup against the Saints coming off a pretty ugly game for the Falcons offense without Calvin Ridley. He’s no sure thing, and neither is Michael Carter, my No. 12 RB in PPR leagues. His passing game role has been super valuable with Mike White at QB throwing 40% of his passes to running backs, but he also hasn’t done much as a runner and really only has two good Fantasy games for the season. You should start him, but you shouldn’t necessarily feel great about it. 

And things only get sketchier from there, with a menagerie of backups and small-sample-size heroes making up much of the RB2 tier. 

Get your first look at the running back rankings for Week 9 from yours truly. To see Jamey Eisenberg, Dave Richard, and Heath Cummings’ rankings, make sure you head here. We’ll be updating this throughout the week with new notes and rankings as we get news and the rankings get tweaked, so make sure you bookmark the page.    

Week 9 RB Rankings

1. Najee Harris vs. CHI
2. Austin Ekeler @PHI — A hip injury kept Ekeler out of practice late last week and put a scare into Fantasy managers, but he played and had yet another great game, racking up 124 all-purpose yards and 24.4 PPR points. There’s a case to be made for Ekeler being the No. 1 PPR RB as long as Christian McCaffrey is out. 
3. Ezekiel Elliott vs. DEN — Elliott had a bit of a down week in Week 9, but with Dak Prescott expected back from his calf injury, Elliott should be just fine in this one. 
4. Alvin Kamara vs. ATL — I’m giving Kamara the benefit of the doubt right now, but I’d be lying if I wasn’t a bit concerned about what Taysom Hill at QB might mean for his value. In Hill’s four starts last season, Kamara had just 10 catches for 51 yards, however, Hill did help open up rushing lanes and Kamara rushed for 237 yards and three touchdowns in those four starts. Given the volume he’s seeing in the rushing game this season — at least 16 carries in all but one game — Kamara could still be an elite Fantasy option, but the path there is a bit narrower. 
5. Aaron Jones @KC
6. Dalvin Cook @BAL
7. Darrell Henderson vs. TEN
8. Jonathan Taylor vs. NYJ — I should probably have Taylor higher for this matchup, if I’m being honest. He’s a player I struggle ranking on a weekly basis, because he doesn’t have a huge role in the passing game and he hasn’t had 20-plus carries in a game this season. But he seems to break off a long run every week and has scored six touchdowns in his last five games, so he can’t really be any lower than this. 
9. Joe Mixon vs. CLE — Mixon is another player who is hard to rank, though not for the same reasons as Taylor. He’s had three games out of eight with four or more targets but has just two or fewer in every other game. However, two of those higher-target games have come in his last three, with the lone exception being a game where the Bengals won easily and he played just 54% of the snaps. If he’s going to have a role in the passing game, Mixon is an easy top-10 RB, and there are promising signs of late. Let’s hope that’s the case. 
10. Nick Chubb @CIN — Chubb more or less played his usual role with Kareem Hunt out in Week 8, which was a bit disappointing. I’ll take the over on 16 carries most weeks, but he may still have a limited passing game role even with Hunt out, which is disappointing. 
11. Cordarrelle Patterson @NO — The Falcons offense failed to get much going in their 19-13 loss to the Panthers in Week 8, raising some questions about how effective they’ll be with Calvin Ridley away from the team for the time being. He still played 60% of the snaps and had a solid role in the passing game, so I’ll still start him, but the matchup against the Saints is an especially tough one. Don’t be surprised if he disappoints again. 
12. Michael Carter @IND — Carter has played just about one and a half games with Mike White at quarterback and yet 22 of his 37 targets this season have come from him. White has thrown to running backs on 40% of his attempts, and if that continues, Carter is going to be a top-12 running back in PPR formats for as long as Zach Wilson is out. 
13. Josh Jacobs @NYG — I’m assuming the bye week was enough time for Jacobs to get back from the chest injury that forced him out of Week 7’s game early. If that’s the case, you’ve gotta like his chances of putting together a strong performance against a Giants defense that ranks 23rd in points. Jacobs has struggled for most of this season, with ankle and toe injuries early on limiting his effectiveness, but he could be in for a strong run here with the Giants and Chiefs as his first two matchups coming out of the bye. If he’s healthy. 
14. Devontae Booker vs. LV — Jacobs is probably the last player I’m reasonably confident in for this week, but I could see making the case for Booker, too. In four games since Saquon Barkley’s injury, he has averaged 14 carries and 4.3 targets per game. That kind of workload will make you a borderline RB1 most weeks, though it’s also possible Barkley will return this week, in which case he is a top-10 back and Booker is probably outside of the top 40. 
15. Chase Edmonds @SF
16. Elijah Mitchell vs. ARI — You could push Mitchell up higher this week without much complaint from me, though I will note his previous matchup against the Cardinals was also his second-worst game of the season for Fantasy. Granted, that was with Trey Lance in at quarterback and keeping more of those read-option plays that Mitchell has feasted on. He should be good for more than 11 touches this week at the very least. 
17. Myles Gaskin vs. HOU — Just a heads up: I’ve been wrong about Gaskin’s value basically every week. He’s been arguably the most frustrating player to rank for Fantasy going back to the preseason, when his draft price fluctuated wildly based on the Dolphins seeming unwillingness to commit to him as the lead back. That was a harbinger of things to come, but I’m willing to trust him against this matchup, especially with his passing game role. There’s no question about it, I’m ready to get hurt again. 
18. Khalil Herbert @PIT
19. Damien Harris @CAR 
20. Chuba Hubbard vs. NE — Obviously, if McCaffrey plays this week, Hubbard’s value disappears, so we’ll keep an eye on his status throughout the week. At this point, he looks more doubtful than questionable, but a lot can happen between now and Sunday. 
21. Darrel Williams vs. GB
22. Mike Davis @NO — I had a hunch Davis wasn’t finished as a potential Fantasy starter, and he saw his usage creep up after bottoming out with four touches in Week 7. In two games without Calvin Ridley he has 11 targets, and I would expect he’ll remain a big part of the game plan moving forward, with Patterson lining up as a wide receiver a bit more often. 
23. Boston Scott vs. LAC — Scott ended up as the lead back for the Eagles in Miles Sanders‘ absence, and don’t be fooled by Kenneth Gainwell having more carries or Jordan Howard matching him. In the first half of the blowout, Scott was the clear top option. That should remain the case in a more competitive game against the Chargers. 
24. Zack Moss @JAX — Moss has just eight carries in each of the last two games, but with 11 targets in that span, you can live with that. Especially with matchups against the Jaguars and Jets in the next two games that should provide plenty of scoring opportunities. 
25. Melvin Gordon @DAL
26. Carlos Hyde vs. BUF — I’m hoping James Robinson plays, because Hyde is a pretty boring option. He’ll get 15 carries if Robinson is out, and maybe a few targets, too. But he’s not a big playmaker, so it’s hard to get excited about Hyde, especially in a tough matchup. 
27. Javonte Williams @DAL
28. Adrian Peterson @LAR — I don’t really know what to expect. I could see Peterson getting 20 carries and I could see D’Onta Foreman being the lead back here this week — remember, Foreman has experience in this offense and was added to the practice squad along with Peterson Tuesday. I don’t expect much from Peterson in the passing game either way, so he’s a pretty fringe-y Fantasy option in my eyes either way. 
29. AJ Dillon @KC
30. James Conner @SF
31. Ty Johnson @IND — Johnson has also benefited from White’s preference for dumping off to his running backs, as he has 13 targets over the last two games. In PPR, that’s enough to make him worth starting. 
32. Tony Pollard vs. DEN
33. Devonta Freeman vs. MIN — Maybe Freeman will get into the end zone for the third straight game and outperform his ranking here. But there really isn’t much at all to be excited about in this backfield, because it still looks like a three-way split between Freeman, Le’Veon Bell, and Ty’Son Williams, with Lamar Jackson likely to serve as the lead runner anyway. 
34. Devin Singletary @JAX
35. Kenyan Drake @NYG
36. Brandon Bolden @CAR
37. Nyheim Hines vs. NYJ
38. D’Ernest Johnson @CIN
39. David Johnson @MIA — The Texans used a four-headed backfield in the first game without Mark Ingram, with Rex Burkhead actually having the most interesting usage, seeing four targets and four carries. Such are the meager joys of the Texans backfield. This is a good matchup, but I don’t know how you can trust anyone here. 
40. Kenneth Gainwell vs. LAC
41. Alexander Mattison @BAL
42. Salvon Ahmed vs. HOU
43. Damien Williams @PIT
44. Jeremy McNichols @LAR
45. Sony Michel vs. TEN
46. Rhamondre Stevenson @CAR
47. Mark Ingram vs. ATL
48. Derrick Gore vs. GB

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