Fantasy football waiver wire: 5 running backs to target for Week 15

The fantasy football semifinals are here, assuming you’re in one of the smart leagues that doesn’t play into Week 17. If you made it this far, you should be sticking with your top players instead of getting too cute, but some Week 14 injuries throw a wrench into things.

The biggest loss of the week was Seahawks star rookie Thomas Rawls, who broke his ankle against the Baltimore Ravens. Jaguars workhorse T.J. Yeldon sprained his knee in the middle of a blowout win over the Indianapolis Colts, dealing a blow to the Jacksonville AFC South hopes. And LeGarrette Blount is dealing with a hip injury, which adds yet another question mark to a backfield that has enough of them as it is.

So the waiver wire is worth paying attention to, especially with playoff games on the line. With that in mind, here are five running backs worth targeting, owned in less than 50 percent of Yahoo! leagues.

When Blount left Sunday night’s game, White and Brandon Bolden formed a committee backfield the rest of the way. White had a relatively quiet night with just four catches for 38 yards, but he did plunge into the end zone on his lone carry. Blount’s Week 15 status is up in the air for now, so that committee could continue against the Tennessee Titans. As always, it’s impossible to predict the Patriots’ backfield on a week-to-week basis, but White should at least be on the PPR radar.

After being out of football since 2011 and getting only sporadic playing time this season, Hightower was thrust into a feature back role when Mark Ingram went on injured reserve. The veteran responded with 29 touches for 95 yards and a touchdown. The 3-yards-per-carry aren’t terribly inspiring, but the sheer amount of volume he saw shows that the Saints trust him as the new workhorse. Hightower has likely done enough to earn RB2 consideration against the Detroit Lions on Monday night.

Riddick played his usual role as a receiver in a running back position, snagging seven catches for 44 yards against the St. Louis Rams. He’s only a fringe player in standard leagues, but those receptions have made him a viable PPR asset for most of the year. Look for him to continue playing that role against the Saints Monday night.

With Rawls done for the year and Marshawn Lynch still out indefinitely, the Seahawks are suddenly thin at running back. Harris got the majority of playing time when Rawls went out, but he was mostly unimpressive, rushing for just 42 yards on 18 carries and losing a fumble inside the red zone. Jackson played his usual bit role as the change-of-pace back, getting seven carries for 15 yards.

Seattle also signed Bryce Brown to the active roster, so we could be looking at some kind of three-headed committee until someone stands out. For now, Harris looks like the favorite to lead the backfield and has a friendly matchup with the Cleveland Browns, but he’s only a recommended option if you’re desperate in deeper leagues.

Yeldon is questionable at best for Week 15, with no firm update from the coaches on Monday. That leaves Robinson as the next man up, and he had an impressive showing in garbage time, racking up 75 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries. There’s no committee in this backfield, so Robinson is looking at potentially 20-25 touches against the Atlanta Falcons. He’ll be one of the top waiver adds this week, so strike while the iron is hot.

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