Fantasy Football Week 9 Running Back Preview: How will Titans proceed without Derrick Henry?

I get frustrated often by the recency bias in Fantasy Football. I'm not sure that's ever been true than last week when people were legitimately concerned about Travis Kelce, who remains the No. 1 tight end in Fantasy Football. But there are times were we need to quickly react to new information. And one of those times is with rookie running backs. Michael Carter is the perfect example.

The Jets came out of their bye in Week 7 and gave Carter a 72% snap share for the first time all season. Then in Week 8, he played 70% of the snaps again. That type of workload will get most running backs into the top 20 all by itself. But Carter is averaging 3.8 yards per carry and plays on one of the worst offenses in the league. I could understand if it wasn't enough to sell you.

Enter Mike White.

White has thrown 77 passes in the past two games and 32 of them (41.5%) have gone to running backs. Even Tom Brady is impressed at that rate of dump-offs. Carter actually leads the Jets in targets with White under center, with 22 in seven quarters.

A running back playing 70% of the snaps and earning more than 10 targets per game is a must-start running back, even if it's a small sample size.

Let's get to the rest of the Week 9 RB Preview:

Week 9 RB Preview

Who's Out

Numbers to Know

Matchups That Matter

Waiver Wire Targets

DFS Plays

Projections

RB Preview

Who's Out

The following players are not being projected to play Week 9 at this time. Here's what it means:

Who's Out

Derrick Henry RB

BAL Baltimore • #22
Age: 30 • Experience: 9 yrs.

Adrian Peterson and Jeremy McNichols should split touches in a very tough matchup.

James Robinson RB

NO New Orleans • #26
Age: 25 • Experience: 4 yrs.

Carlos Hyde has a very tough matchup against the Bills if Robinson does in fact miss Week 9.

Damien Williams RB

ARI Arizona • #29
Age: 32 • Experience: 9 yrs.

Khalil Herbert should remain a workhorse back with 20-plus touches against the Steelers.

RB Preview

Numbers to know

• 450 -- Adrian Peterson needs 450 yards to pass Barry Sanders for fourth all time in rushing yards.
• 25.6% -- Michael Carter leads the Jets with a 25% target share over their past two games.
• 87 -- Khalil Herbert has 87 touches over his past four games. It's hard to sit him even against a tough matchup.
• 72% -- Elijah Mitchell has accounted for 72% of the 49ers rush attempts since the bye. Only Derrick Henry and Najee Harris have a higher rate for the season.
• 66 -- Myles Gaskin has 66 carries this season, the most for a running back without a rushing touchdown.
• 5.2 -- The Texans have allowed 5.2 yards per carry to running backs.
• 11 -- Mike Davis has 11 targets in the two games Calvin Ridley has missed.

RB Preview

Matchups that matter

Matchups that Matter

Myles Gaskin RB

MIN Minnesota • #37
Age: 27 • Experience: 6 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs HOU MIA -6.5 O/U 46

OPP VS RB 25th

PROJ PTS 13.5

RB RNK 14th

YTD Stats
RUYDS 279	REC 31	REYDS 165	TD 3	FPTS/G 11.7

Carlos Hyde RB

JAC Jacksonville • #24
Age: 33 • Experience: 9 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs BUF BUF -14.5 O/U 49

OPP VS RB 1st

PROJ PTS 7.4

RB RNK 24th

YTD Stats
RUYDS 140	REC 8	REYDS 54	TD 0	FPTS/G 4.6

Chuba Hubbard RB

CAR Carolina • #30
Age: 25 • Experience: 4 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs NE NE -4 O/U 41

OPP VS RB 22nd

PROJ PTS 8.7

RB RNK 20th

YTD Stats
RUYDS 391	REC 18	REYDS 119	TD 2	FPTS/G 9.9

Tony Pollard RB

TEN Tennessee • #20
Age: 27 • Experience: 6 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs DEN DAL -10 O/U 49.5

OPP VS RB 13th

PROJ PTS 9.2

RB RNK 30th

YTD Stats
RUYDS 392	REC 16	REYDS 116	TD 1	FPTS/G 10.4

RB Preview

Waiver Wire Targets

Week 9 Adds

Carlos Hyde RB

JAC Jacksonville • #24
Age: 33 • Experience: 9 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs BUF BUF -14.5 O/U 48.5

OPP VS RB 1st

RB RNK 25th

ROSTERED 22%

YTD Stats
RUYDS 140	REC 8	REYDS 54	TD 0	FPTS/G 4.6

Hyde was the least popular of the waiver wire running backs this week and is still available in three-quarters of leagues. If James Robinson is out this week, Hyde may also be the highest-scoring of the waiver wire running backs.

Jordan Howard RB

NO New Orleans • #24
Age: 29 • Experience: 7 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs LAC LAC -1.5 O/U 50

OPP VS RB 21st

RB RNK 43rd

ROSTERED 32%

YTD Stats
RUYDS 57	REC 0	REYDS 0	TD 2	FPTS/G 17.7

An optimistic take on Howard would be that he takes on a larger role in his second week active. If that happens, he could be a legitimate No. 2 running back against the Chargers.

Derrick Gore RB

WAS Washington • #38
Age: 29 • Experience: 3 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs GB KC -7.5 O/U 48

OPP VS RB 20th

RB RNK NR

ROSTERED 21%

YTD Stats
RUYDS 48	REC 1	REYDS 7	TD 1	FPTS/G 4.2

Gore's role is uncertain, but he looked a lot better running the ball than Darrel Williams. Williams isn't leaving on passing downs, so Gore is a better add in non-PPR.

Stash

Jeff Wilson RB

MIA Miami • #23
Age: 28 • Experience: 7 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs ARI SF -1 O/U 45

OPP VS RB 11th

RB RNK NR

ROSTERED 17%

Wilson is returning to practice this week and could be ready to play in the next three weeks. Elijah Mitchell is nursing a rib injury as well.

RB Preview

DFS Plays

Top Play

Nick Chubb RB

CLE Cleveland • #24
Age: 28 • Experience: 7 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

@ CIN CIN -3 O/U 47

OPP VS RB 28th

PROJ PTS 12.3

RB RNK 12th

YTD Stats
RUYDS 584	REC 6	REYDS 43	TD 4	FPTS/G 15.1

Chubb is my No. 1 back this week in non and half PPR. This has been a good Bengals defense, but they got exposed a little bit last week and I love the opportunity to play an underpriced Chubb without Kareem Hunt. Expect 20-plus touches and Fantasy points.

Contrarian Play

Cordarrelle Patterson RB

PIT Pittsburgh • #84
Age: 33 • Experience: 12 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

@ NO NO -6 O/U 42

OPP VS RB 2nd

PROJ PTS 15

RB RNK 8th

YTD Stats
RUYDS 268	REC 32	REYDS 333	TD 7	FPTS/G 19.2

Patterson's roster rate could be held down by the Saints' exceptional run defense and the Falcons' low implied point total. But I'm not shying away from a back who has averaged 17.5 touches and 18.3 PPR Fantasy points in two games without Calvin Ridley.

RB Preview

Heath's Projections

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