Three low-owned fantasy football RB pickups to make for Week 9, including Tennessee Titans’ Tyjae Spears.
The running back position continues to be a difficult one to figure out for fantasy football purposes on a week-to-week basis. Outside of Jonathan Taylor, the studs and duds in a given week have been as fluid as ever. Every week, there are sparsely-rostered RBs outperforming expectations and perceived fantasy superstars laying eggs. On the bright side, this phenomenon continues to keep the low-owned fantasy football RB pickups conversation intriguing on a weekly basis. If you are needing to cover for players on bye or are simply looking to provide a spark to your lineup, there are a slew of streaming candidates available again in Week 9.
Let’s take a closer look at some low-owned fantasy football RB pickups and streamers for Week 9. Also, make sure to check out our Week 9 fantasy football rankings!
Fantasy Football RB Pickups for Week 9
Tyjae Spears, Tennessee Titans (40.1%)
A staple of our low-owned fantasy football RB pickups column for a month now, Tyjae Spears gets to be the poster child heading into Week 9. After putting up 82 yards and 17.2 PPR points last weekend, we thought for sure Spears would get a sizable ownership bump when waivers were processed this week. Instead, his ESPN ownership only rose by 4%! I mean, what are we doing here?! The guy just finished as the RB12 in fantasy scoring! Furthermore, there is no sign that his recent role and usage within the Tennessee offense is destined to change anytime soon.
Clearly, the unwillingness to roster Spears has a lot to do with the fact that he plays for the Titans. Admittedly, this offense stinks. However, this is hardly the first time that a terrible team has presented an opportunity in fantasy football. The former Tulane Green Wave star has been on the field for more snaps than Tony Pollard in two of the last three games. Yet, he remains available in 60% of leagues while Pollard is rostered in more than 82%. On top of that, Spears has demonstrated a more reliable pass-catching role than Pollard, something that looms large given that they play for a bad team that is always trailing on the scoreboard.
Spears did find the end zone last week, a feat that we cannot expect him to replicate in most weeks given Tennessee’s inability to score consistently. That said, it is worth pointing out that Spears has five red zone touches over the last three weeks compared to just two for Pollard. There’s an argument to be made that Spears is a better fantasy streamers play than his backfield cohort heading into a Week 9 matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers. For their part, the Bolts rank just 28th in defensive EPA/rush this season.
Zonovan “Bam” Knight, Arizona Cardinals (39.2%)
The Arizona Cardinals may be coming off a bye, but their backfield requires a clear update of status ahead of Week 9. In reality, there are actually two low-owned fantasy football RB pickups available on this roster, depending on your specific needs as a manager. For this week, the player with streaming potential to highlight is Donovan “Bam” Knight. Currently available in just north of 60% of ESPN leagues, Knight has a great situation and matchup to produce this Sunday.
After losing both of their top two RBs to injuries, the Cardinals initially turned to Michael Carter to lead their backfield back in Week 5. He played decently but clearly had a hard cap on his upside. Through Weeks 5-7, Carter totaled 34 rushing attempts but was only able to manage 2.8 yards per carry. Arizona actually released him on Monday of this week, only to re-sign him to the practice squad roughly 24 hours later. Although there’s a good chance Carter is on the active roster for Week 9, it would likely be more as a reserve given that Emari Demercado had to miss the game before the bye entirely with injury.
Speaking of Demercado, he barely saw the field after his horrendous goal-line fumble in Week 5. On the flip side, Knight garnered 14 and 11 carries in Weeks 6 and 7, respectively, and averaged roughly 3.5 yards per attempt over the two games. This week, the Cardinals face a Dallas Cowboys defense that ranks 31st in EPA/rush and has allowed the second-most PPR points per game to opposing RBs. Knight looks to be the clear lead back in this favorable matchup.
To wrap up our Cardinals breakdown, it’s also worth mentioning that Trey Benson (48.5%) is available in over half of ESPN leagues and could return as soon as next week and will no doubt resume his role as the team’s lead back when he does. Fantasy managers who can afford to use a roster spot on a long-term approach should prioritize him as a pickup before his IR status changes.
More Fantasy Football Streamers Week 9
Kareem Hunt, Kansas City Chiefs (38.6%)
Somehow, at age 30, Kareem Hunt continues to pop up as a relevant name in the fantasy football RB pickups conversation this season. Week 9 presents another opportunity for the veteran and arguably his best chance to produce a solid fantasy output to date. There is a real likelihood that the Chiefs will be without Isiah Pacheco in this game due to an MCL sprain. If that is the case, Hunt stands in line to receive the majority of the workload out of the backfield.
Kansas City has morphed back into being one of the most dangerous offenses in the NFL since getting Rashee Rice back two weeks ago. However, the Chiefs are clearly a pass-heavy team. Patrick Mahomes has a multitude of weapons at his disposal. Couple that with the team’s offensive line being quite poor at blocking in the run game and the passing attack clearly gets the spotlight. Hell, Mahomes is only 49 rushing yards behind Pacheco for the team lead in that category as well. That’s how bleak it has been for the Chiefs’ ground game.
Nonetheless, if Pacheco does fail to suit up for Week 9, Hunt should see double-digit rushing attempts for the first time since Week 4. With rookie Brashard Smith (11.4%) being the only other threat to his workload, Hunt could be poised to drop a solid stat line on Sunday. It wouldn’t be the first time he has had a strong game against a Buffalo Bills defense that continues to be horrendous at stopping the run. Hunt’s continued usage in the offense as a red zone weapon, whether Pacheco is active or not cannot be ignored either in a game where both teams figure to put up points.
Deep Dives to Consider
In addition to our three featured fantasy football RB pickups above, there are a number of other players one might wish to consider adding ahead of Week 9. The streaming/plug-and-play appeal of these RBs may not be as high (and some are even on bye this week), but similar to Trey Benson, all seem to be under-owned. For managers in deeper leagues who may need a spot start or for anyone simply looking to churn their bench to have players with upside, the following RBs might be worth considering:
- Kyle Monangai, Chicago Bears (32.2%)
- Ollie Gordon, Miami Dolphins (11.2%)
- Dylan Sampson, Cleveland Browns (10.9%)
- Isaiah Davis, New York Jets (8.2%)
- Devin Neal, New Orleans Saints (2.5%)
Follow us on all of our social channels! Check out our Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and TikTok for more great FlurrySports content.
