Week 9 of the NFL Season is already here. It’s flying by, sadly, so make sure you sit back and enjoy it. It’s absolutely mind-boggling it’s already this deep into the season. Also, enjoy the chaos, as this fantasy football season is unlike anything we have ever experienced. It’s a scary sight. Look below at my running back start/sit for Week 8.
Week 8 is in the books, and it was a chaotic week again. We saw big-time performances from names like Tony Pollard, Travis Etienne, Alvin Kamara, and others. At the same time, we saw injuries occur to Gus Edwards, Mark Ingram, and others. Sigh. Now we are onto Week 9 in what will hopefully be a much better football week. I’ll be helping the Nerd Herd out this season with some running back Start/Sit for that week of fantasy football. Analysis and reasoning will be provided for every player that I mentioned. I’m here to help you win your fantasy football week and, ultimately, the championship. You might remember me from last year as I covered whom to start/sit at tight end. This year, I’m covering the running back start/sit.
Be sure to follow our other start/sit articles and authors; they contain great advice to help you each week.
Changing the Call (QB): Jayson Snyder
The Cutback (RB): Jake Oliver
Slant Pattern (WR): Tristan Cook
12 Formation (TE): Ethan Wyatt
Flex on ‘Em (FLEX): Evan Brown
IDP Start/Sit (IDP): Jon Glosser
There is one thing I want to note. For this article and every running back start/sit article I write, I won’t be including players like Jonathan Taylor or Austin Ekeler. These are apparent starts so long as they aren’t on bye or injured. If you don’t start them, well, you’re a Taco. I’ll be focusing on players that are a bit harder to decide whether to start or what to expect from them. All scoring in this article series will be PPR. All stats/RB# number finishes come from FantasyPros. So, let’s make this a great season as we get to watch over 200+ games of NFL football. It’s back! Good luck with this dynasty fantasy football season.
Week 8 Recap
This is my recap of my picks from Week 8. They qualify as a “win” if they finish above the consensus for the “start” and a “loss” if they finish below the consensus for the “sit” in PPR scoring. Hopefully, Week 8 running back Start/Sit fare better!
Swift was a solid start as he finished as the RB18, barely above his RB19 projection by FantasyPros. Meanwhile, Singletary completely busted according to FantasyPros projections finishing as the RB32, which was far below his RB24 expectation. Pollard won many people their weeks, so I hope you started him. Michael Carter finished below his expectation finish as the RB30, so it was a good call to sit him. However, I can’t say I expected Tyler Allgeier to finish with a touchdown and as the RB13 on the week, especially considering he averaged a meager 2.8 yards per carry.
Start: Antonio Gibson, WAS, RB22
Gibson has been doing really well lately and looks to have surpassed Brian Robinson in the touch script for the Commanders’ offense. They use Gibby when they need to move the ball or gain big yardage. Those are the situations you want your running back to play in the most. While first downs are fun and all, getting those targets and touches on second and third down is even better. Over his last two games, Gibby has at least 16 PPR points. Plus, he’s had at least 13 touches in both games. I like the odds of Gibson beating the RB22 prediction in Week 9.
Start: Eno Benjamin, AZ, RB26
Eno is a start this week for sure and is a good bet to beat the RB26 ranking if he gets a starter’s workload. Benjamin’s likely to get the start or a large share of the rushes because Conner is still injured and isn’t for sure starting this week. I’d be pumped to start Eno in PPR leagues, as he’s had at least three catches in four straight games. With the Cardinals likely to be playing from behind, that shapes up for Benjamin to have a good game on Sunday in PPR scoring.
Honorable Mentions: Clyde Edwards-Helaire (RB28), Raheem Mostert (RB16)
Sit: James Conner, AZ, RB27
The Seahawks have become a decent rushing defense in the past couple of weeks which limits Conner’s upside for Week 9, coming off a multi-week injury absence. To complicate matters even more, Conner isn’t even guaranteed to play. He’s a game-time decision and could easily be held out one more week after not practicing fully once this past week. With Eno Benjamin providing decent play, the Cardinals could play it safe with their high-priced running back. In this case, I’d avoid starting Conner.
Sit: Tyler Allgeier, ATL, RB25
There are rumors that Cordarrelle Patterson could play this week, but even if he doesn’t, I’m still benching Allgeier. You start him, and you’re just praying for a touchdown. Last week, he had a horrible 2.9 ypc which will do nothing for your fantasy team. With Marcus Mariota rushing a ton, your only shot at having a decent start from your running back would be for him to score a touchdown. I don’t know about you, but I’ll never solely start a running back in the hopes he scores a touchdown unless I’m rebuilding or truly beyond desperate.
Honorable Mentions: Kenyan Drake (RB24), AJ Dillon (RB23)
Good luck this week with your running back start/sit dilemmas!
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As always, May the Force be with You…
