We hope you enjoyed the last month of only two teams on bye per week. Things get shaken up in Week 9 with the Green Bay Packers, Detroit Lions, Chicago Bears, Atlanta Falcons, Buffalo Bills and Tennessee Titans all getting the week off. That means studs like Matt Forte and Eddie Lacy are unavailable, and even intriguing lottery tickets like Bishop Sankey and Bryce Brown will have to ride the pine.
Fantasy football waiver wire, Week 9: 5 running backs to target
Need a replacement for Matt Forte or Eddie Lacy this week? Here are some useful waiver wire options.
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The waiver wire isn’t as interesting as it was last week, but with many solid fantasy options missing you might have to do some barrel-scraping. Here are five players owned in less than 50 percent of Yahoo! leagues who might help you out.
Jonathan Stewart, Carolina Panthers (36 percent) -- Stewart continues his reign of being the most reliable but least exciting RB2 in fantasy. He had perfectly fine numbers in Carolina's Week 8 loss to the Seattle Seahawks with 94 total yards on 19 touches, but nothing about his performance says "this guy will carry my fantasy lineup." With DeAngelo Williams tentatively expected back for the team's Thursday game against the New Orleans Saints, Stewart will remain a shaky starter, but you'll probably start him anyway with most of the interesting running backs on bye.
Bobby Rainey, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (24 percent) -- The Doug Martin experiment should be just about over in Tampa. Martin had another poor performance (27 rushing yards on 10 carries) before leaving with an ankle injury. Rainey wasn't much better on the ground with 25 rushing yards, but he proved his passing game chops with six catches for 41 yards. That's at least enough to put him on the PPR flex radar, barring a possible debut from a rookie we'll talk about later.
Lorenzo Taliaferro, Baltimore Ravens (8 percent) -- With Bernard Pierce a healthy scratch and Justin Forsett handling the early-down work, Taliaferro did his job as a goal line vulture, picking up two touchdowns and 69 total yards on nine touches. The rookie hasn't seen the most consistent playing time this year, but with Pierce clearly falling out of favor in Baltimore, Taliaferro is back on the map as a flex play in deeper leagues. He'll have a plus matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 9.
Charles Sims, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7 percent) -- Sims is back in practice after missing most of the year with ankle surgery. The Bucs talked him up a lot before he went down with the injury, and he should get plenty of opportunities with the run game sputtering. Sims made his name as a pass-catching specialist at West Virginia, making him a tasty PPR option. While he has yet to be activated from the injury reserve/designated to return list, Sims could be a useful fantasy piece down the stretch with the 1-6 Bucs playing out the string and seeing what they have in their youngsters.
Juwan Thompson, Denver Broncos (2 percent) -- Ronnie Hillman has been playing well in the absence of Montee Ball, but Thompson has been the goal line vulture. He scored two touchdowns in Denver's win over the San Diego Chargers but didn't do much else, rushing for 24 yards on seven carries. Ball's role is unsettled after his disappointing start and C.J. Anderson still has to be accounted for, so Thompson is worth a look as an RB3 in the deepest of fantasy leagues.
