Fantasy football players get a bit of a break now that we no longer have weeks with six teams on bye. That said, it still isn’t an easy grind in Week 10. There are four more teams getting a break, and they feature some prime names at running back.
Fantasy football waiver wire: 5 running backs to target for Week 10
The bye week grind continues with four more teams off this week. We examine the top options at running back available on the waiver wire.
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This week’s bye teams are the Buffalo Bills, Detroit Lions, Indianapolis Colts, and Oakland Raiders. That takes solid fantasy options like Latavius Murray, LeSean McCoy, Frank Gore, and Theo Riddick (at least in PPR formats) off the table. Owners will likely need to turn to the waiver wire to fill out their rosters for this week, and we’ll try to help you out. Here are the top five recommended waiver options at running back, owned in 50 percent or fewer of Yahoo! standard leagues.
Chris Ivory, Jacksonville Jaguars (33 percent)
The Jaguars’ season may be circling the drain, but at least Ivory finally came to life. He had his first 100-yard game of the season Sunday, putting up 107 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries against the Kansas City Chiefs. The Jags offense is far too volatile to trust on a week-to-week basis, but Ivory is worth looking at as an RB2 against the Houston Texans’ 28th-ranked rush defense this week.
DuJuan Harris, San Francisco 49ers (33 percent)
Harris did a fine job filling in for Carlos Hyde, racking up 142 total yards and a touchdown on 15 touches. He certainly rewarded fantasy owners who took the plunge with Hyde out with a shoulder injury. Of course, there are a few caveats to his performance -- namely, that it came against the New Orleans Saints’ atrocious defense. Harris will have a much tougher matchup with the Arizona Cardinals, but if Hyde is forced to miss another week, he’s in the RB2/flex conversation.
Rob Kelley, Washington (28 percent)
Matt Jones is back in practice coming off Washington’s Week 9 bye and will likely return in time to face the Minnesota Vikings. However, head coach Jay Gruden isn’t ready to hand the starting job back to him, telling reporters Monday he has to “earn his way back.” So Kelly should still be considered the lead back for now. He had a nice performance before the bye, rushing for 87 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries against the Cincinnati Benglas in London. The Vikings are a much more imposing matchup, however, so Kelley’s fantasy ceiling should be downgraded for this week.
Peyton Barber, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (18 percent)
Barber is quite literally the last man standing in Tampa’s backfield. Jacquizz Rodgers is out with a foot injury, Doug Martin still isn’t practicing, and Charles Sims remains on injured reserve. The only other body left, Antone Smith, is done for the year with a knee injury. As we saw with Rodgers, Dirk Koetter isn’t afraid to give monster workloads to even his backup running backs. Barber isn’t an inspiring talent, but the opportunity is there against the Bears’ middling rush defense.
Paul Perkins, New York Giants (6 percent)
Rashad Jennings simply isn’t getting it done anymore. Although he still played ahead of Perkins (37 snaps to Perkins’ 22), he managed just 39 total yards on 14 touches, while Perkins had 47 total yards on the same number of touches. He deserves a longer look in New York’s backfield, and while he doesn’t quite have standalone fantasy value yet, Perkins is worth a bench stash in most standard leagues. Keep an eye on his usage when the Giants take on the Bengals and their 22nd-ranked run defense on Monday night.
