Top daily fantasy football running back plays for Week 9

Welcome to Week 9 of the Daily Fantasy season. Pricing has stabilized as trends have emerged but there are still bargains to be found and even some higher-priced options that will go under-owned and can make a difference in your lineups. This article looks at some of the projected lesser-owned plays at running back who could provide huge boosts to your tournament lineups, as well as some trap plays to avoid.

All things being equal, the running back I really want to endorse (and will absolutely use in cash games) is Ezekiel Elliott. Everything is set up for Zeke to absolutely crush it on Sunday against a terrible Cleveland Browns run defense in the state where he starred in college. But Elliott costs $9,200 on FanDuel and he is almost certainly going to be the highest-owned player on the entire slate, and by a wide margin. If we’re looking to differentiate in tournament play, I would highly recommend pivoting off Elliott to Bell, who is $500 cheaper, should have close to half the ownership, and could easily duplicate the production via his passing game activity. But I would not dissuade anyone from going with Elliott and looking to differentiate elsewhere.

Booker gave all his owners a scare last week when he left the game early with a shoulder injury, but he was able to return and score a touchdown. Still, it was not a great performance, including a fumble at the goal line that short-circuited a potentially big day. The injury and uneven performance should be enough to scare most of that massive ownership from last week away, and now he gets another tasty matchup with the a weak Raiders run defense. Don’t be afraid to go back to the Booker well.

All signs point to Montgomery playing in Sunday’s late-afternoon game after he broke a lot of hearts last week with his late scratch. If he goes, he should feast on the Colts’ defense, which will be properly focused on stopping Aaron Rodgers and the passing game. After missing last week’s game, his ownership should be low, yet his production should make him one of the top values at the position.

Did we say top value at the position? Believe it or not, West might not be the title-holder this week (see below), but at $5,600 and as the lone reliable back available against the Jaguars, West will be tough to fade. Last year, it was West, not Spencer Ware, who got the first crack at replacing Jamaal Charles and he had his moments of greatness. Against a Jaguars team struggling in all areas, West has a perfect opportunity to rack up big yards in the running and passing games. With backup Nick Foles under center and Jeremy Maclin dinged up, West is going to be the focal point of the offense. He is also going to be high-owned, but that should not keep you away.

Now here is the value. The pricing system apparently did not take his performance last Sunday night into consideration, so he still sits at near-minimum price despite becoming the unofficial lead back in the Eagles’ running game. On top of that, Sproles is expected to get some work at wide receiver after Josh Huff was released mid-week. The best news is that his ownership doesn’t seem to recognize the incredible value he’s presenting right now, so not only is Sproles woefully under-priced, he might be equally under-owned. I would pair him with Elliott and not look back.

People are going to be all over his back-to-back 200-yard games. I am going to go out on a limb and say he won’t even sniff 100 yards this week against the best run defense in the league. Ajayi is the ultimate example of chasing points. Don’t be that guy.

I got a lot of questions about Hightower in chat this week, which tells me people want to ride the Hightower Train this week against the lowly 49ers. But the indications are that Mark Ingram is still part of this backfield and it could be a 50/50 distribution this week. That sets Hightower up as a trap play that can be avoided with West and Sproles cheaper and assured of greater workloads.