Fantasy Football Week 9 Running Back Preview: Waivers, projections, DFS plays and more

One way to describe the Week 9 waiver wire would be robust. There are, in fact, a lot of available guys who project to score Fantasy points in Week 9. A better word might be disorienting. I mean, look at those names:

Adrian Peterson, Boston Scott, Jordan Howard, Carlos Hyde. And that’s just to name a few. 

But the more disorienting thing may be role projection. Scott and Howard shared almost evenly in a game where the Eagles barely threw, so Kenneth Gainwell barely played until garbage time. Peterson just joined the Titans on Tuesday to help replace Derrick Henry and could very well be on the short end of a committee with Jeremy McNichols this week. Hyde’s role is entirely dependent on James Robinson missing time, and Robinson is currently viewed as day-to-day with a heel injury.

All of this is to say it’s not a week to break the bank and hope a waiver wire running back wins you a week. I’ve listed them in order of my priority below, but it’s more with a long-term outlook than a Week 9 outlook. And Peterson is the one who I could see turning into an RB2 for a month or more. 

Let’s get to the rest of the Week 9 RB Preview:

Week 9 RB Preview

The following players are not being projected to play Week 9 at this time. Here’s what it means:

• 450 — Adrian Peterson needs 450 yards to pass Barry Sanders for fourth all time in rushing yards.
• 25.6% — Michael Carter leads the Jets with a 25% target share over their past two games.
• 87 — Khalil Herbert has 87 touches over his past four games. It’s hard to sit him even against a tough matchup.
• 72% — Elijah Mitchell has accounted for 72% of the 49ers rush attempts since the bye. Only Derrick Henry and Najee Harris have a higher rate for the season.
• 66 — Myles Gaskin has 66 carries this season, the most for a running back without a rushing touchdown.
• 5.2 — The Texans have allowed 5.2 yards per carry to running backs.
• 11 — Mike Davis has 11 targets in the two games Calvin Ridley has missed.