The final five weeks of the fake football regular season have descended on us like creeping 5 p.m. darkness after Daylight Savings Time. Week 9 was filled with unexpected fantasy heroes who may, or may not, be able to stand out as trusted contributors and bail your fantasy team out of purgatory and into the postseason.
We were treated to heartwarming stories like “Tank Dell is back” and more confusing ones like “Audric Estime and Kaleb Johnson were leading rushers for winning teams.” Weird weeks deserve weird fantasy coverage. So, instead of our typical add/drop analysis for a couple unexpected studs, we’re going to break down four running backs who stood out and who you should prioritize with a dwindling pool of free agent cash. Then, we’ll
do the same for this week's top wideouts in another post (and video).
I'm joined by fantasy expert and Rhode Island Scumbag Mike "Yaj" Boyajian to break down the players who shined in Week 9 and figure out if they’ll be able to keep it up over the back half of the 2026 NFL season.
The rules? There's pretty much only one; players have to be 40 percent owned or less in Yahoo! fantasy football leagues. We've got a handful of backs who can spark a bidding war on your waiver wire this week. Let's see if we can help prioritize those bids.
Rank the running backs who played their way off the waiver wire: Audric Estime, Kaleb Johnson, Seth McGowan and Kaelon Black
Christian:
1. Audric Estime, New Orleans Saints. Estime is a mess. Good news! So are the rest of the Saints. Travis Etienne has yet to have his practice window activated even though he’s eligible to return from injured reserve. Alvin Kamara has posted negative rush yards over expected (RYOE) for the fifth straight season and his -1.2 RYOE per rush is second worst in the NFL behind only MarShawn Lloyd. In third place on that ranking of shame is Kendre Miller, who isn’t even on the roster anymore.
Estime didn’t even start this season with New Orleans. But he was efficient in small doses there last year. His 19 RYOE in Week 9 was third-best among all tailbacks. He has, at the moment, the brightest combination of efficiency and opportunity.
2. Seth McGowan, Indianapolis Colts. Jonathan Taylor saidgoodbye to Colts fans in his postgame scrum. McGowan got a goal line carry early and eventually got six carries to Taylor’s 13. His 36-yard run was the second-longest play from scrimmage Indianapolis had Sunday. Even if Taylor isn’t traded – and publishing this the morning of the trade deadline could make us look very, very dumb very, very quickly – he should get some meaningful opportunities going forward for a team weighing its young talent.
3. Kaelon Black, San Francisco 49ers. Black had fewer carries and more rushing yards than Christian McCaffrey in Week 9, but 40 of his 70 yards came in the fourth quarter of a 35-17 game. He still managed to finish with -5 RYOE and failed to record a single target. For a 49ers team that’s missing almost all its wideouts! Still, Christian McCaffrey is always one tough practice away from injured reserve (not because of electrical currents, but because Kyle Shanahan runs drills like a maniac).
4. Kaleb Johnson, Green Bay Packers. Johnson looked legitimately spry, which is the biggest compliment he’s been paid since leaving Iowa. Josh Jacobs’ finger injury and continued legal concerns could clear a path for more touches.
Then again, he couldn’t outplay MarShawn Lloyd to earn snaps earlier this season, and we’ve already discussed how Lloyd is the NFL’s least effective running back through eight weeks. I’m gonna need a lot more data before I trust Johnson.
Yaj:
1. Audric Estime, New Orleans Saints. All signs point to Estime operating at the lead back for the Saints until they get Travis Etienne back. When that will be is a mystery. His practice window wasn’t opened last week after coming off of the bye, so we really aren’t sure what to expect.
Alvin Kamara was an afterthought in the Saints plans this past week and they set Kendre Miller packing. This feels like it’s going to be Estime’s backfield until we get some clarity on Etienne’s return.
2. Kaelon Black, San Francisco 49ers. For now, Black is No. 2 on my preferred back list mainly due to his place behind Christian McCaffrey. The 49ers bye week is in the rear-view as well, which bodes well for Black’s role (no more weeks off for McCaffrey). He really needs an injury to achieve league winning status. For now, he’s a great contingency plan and should not be on the wire in any league.
3. Seth McGowan, Indianapolis Colts. Full disclosure, if a JT trade does go down, McGowan rockets up the charts to the top RB to have in this list. For now, he’s simply a No. 2 back in a not so great offense.
However, he does provide value as a returner for leagues that count return yards, so there is a little extra juice there. He currently doesn’t provide the upside that Estime provides as a starter or the upside that Black provides in the event of an injury. Again, that could change this week; keep your ears and eyes open.
4. Kaleb Johnson, Green Bay Packers. Welp, I guess this was unavoidable. However, avoid him I will.
Johnson got some run as the lead back in Green Bay’s drubbing of our beloved New England Patriots, but I don’t want to chase the production. If you take a look at Green Bay’s schedule, it’s not a great setup for Johnson (or any waiver additions for that matter). The Packers face off against the Minnesota Vikings next week, followed by a bye. I would not be too excited to make that move off the wire knowing this could end up being a one week role -- against the NFL's top defense to boot.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Fantasy football waiver wire: Which unheralded RB will save your season?
