Week 9 of the 2025 NFL season is bringing several challenging wrinkles to the fantasy football landscape, particularly at the running back position. The main wave of waiver wire action has long passed, but there are still several serviceable streaming options remaining in most leagues.
Four teams are on bye in Week 9, removing Saquon Barkley, Quinshon Judkins, Bucky Irving, Breece Hall and Rachaad White from fantasy football lineups. The bye week slate is not as intense as Week 8, but several managers are still forced to look elsewhere for the most important position in the game.
A few new injuries have also recently surfaced to further complicate the situation for fantasy managers. Rhamondre Stevenson has already been ruled out, clearing the way for a potential TreVeyon Henderson breakout performance.
The Chicago Bears' D'Andre Swift, the Kansas City Chiefs' Isiah Pacheco and the Atlanta Falcons' Tyler Allgeier top the list of players in danger of missing Week 9. Swift's potential absence could be huge news for rookie Kyle Monangai, who would have an RB1 ceiling if he gets the start.
Josh Jacobs, Woody Marks and Alvin Kamara are also listed as questionable, but appear likely to play.
The chaotic state of running back should have caused the position to dominate the weekly waiver wire. Players like Henderson, Tyrone Tracy Jr., Zach Charbonnet and Kareem Hunt should now be owned in all leagues.
Managers still in need of running back assistance are typically forced to grasp at straws at the end of the week. However, there are still multiple intriguing players worthy of a fantasy football spot start who are available in most leagues ahead of Week 9 of the 2025 NFL season.
Devin Singletary, New York Giants
Cam Skattebo‘s season-ending injury caused fantasy managers to flock to Tyrone Tracy Jr. on the waiver wire. Tracy is the clear No. 1 beneficiary as the team's full-time starter in 2024.
However, with Devin Singletary still in the mix, the situation might not be so black and white. Although Singletary has been a distant third-string all year, he began the 2024 season as the team's starter and has still occasionally been a part of the offensive game plan.
Singletary enters Week 9 having played just 15 total offensive snaps over the last three weeks. Yet, he logged a 25 percent snap share in each of the New York Giants' three games before that. Even if he is a clear No. 2 behind Tracy, Singleary should still see at least 25 snaps against the San Francisco 49ers.
Without Skattebo, Singletary should also be the Giants' de facto goal-line back. He is a much more physical runner than Tracy, a converted wide receiver who has had fumbling issues before.
Tracy is still the preferred option, as Singletary will likely need a touchdown to record a meaningful fantasy stat line. The odds of that happening are just much higher than he is getting credit for.
Bhayshul Tuten, Jacksonville Jaguars
Could Week 9 finally be the one for Bhayshul Tuten? The rookie out of Virginia Tech has been a constant part of the Jacksonville Jaguars' offensive game plan, but he has been strictly limited to a backup role behind Travis Etienne Jr.
While that could remain true in Week 9, Tuten is coming off a season-high 28 snaps in Week 8, which was double the amount he played in Week 7. With Etienne coming off three consecutive listless performances, Liam Coen appears to be looking elsewhere for an offensive spark.
The Jaguars will have to get creative in Week 9 after placing two-way star Travis Hunter on injured reserve. If they turn to their backfield for more receiving production, that could be Tuten, who has already turned multiple checkdowns into long gains.
Jacksonville has not run the ball much in 2025, but it finds itself in a potentially advantageous matchup against the struggling Las Vegas Raiders. The Jaguars are averaging 28.5 rush attempts in their four wins thus far, as opposed to just 21.7 in their three losses.
Bam Knight, Arizona Cardinals
A lot of fantasy football managers seemed to have forgotten about Bam Knight during the Arizona Cardinals' Week 8 bye. Since he joined the team, Knight has been arguably the best running back streamer in the game.
Although he is not a workhorse back — not playing more than 50.7 percent of the offensive snaps in a single game — Knight could get that opportunity in Week 9. Trey Benson has at least one more game on injured reserve, and Emari Demercado has been questionable throughout the week with an ankle injury.
Against the Dallas Cowboys' bottom-feeding defense, Knight could be in store for his best game of the season. Dallas enters Week 9 allowing the fourth-most rushing yards per game and the eighth-most yards per rush.
Knight should already be owned everywhere and needs to be picked up in leagues where he remains available. He is a boom-or-bust option, but one that could end the week as a top-10 fantasy football running back in Week 9.
Tyjae Spears, Tennessee Titans
It has been a slow process for Tyjae Spears since his return from injured reserve in Week 5, but he appears to finally be fully up to speed. Spears played 37 offensive snaps against the Indianapolis Colts, resulting in a season-high 14.2 fantasy points.
Spears remains behind Tony Pollard on the Tennessee Titans' depth chart, but the backfield is practically a 50-50 split. That was the story at the end of the 2024 season and remains true in 2025, as Spears has out-snapped and out-produced Pollard in two of the last three weeks.
The recent results would suggest that Spears should be the preferred Titans running back in fantasy football. Yet, Pollard's ownership percentage remains much higher than that of Spears in ESPN, Yahoo, NFL and Sleeper Fantasy leagues.
The Titans' Week 9 matchup with the Los Angeles Chargers' stingy defense is unappealing, but Spears is slowly becoming one of the team's top offensive playmakers. His red zone usage is particularly intriguing, as Spears has four touches inside the 20-yard line since Week 6, while Pollard only has one.
Kyle Monangai, Chicago Bears
Kyle Monangai should already be owned everywhere, but he remains available in most leagues. That is likely due to D'Andre Swift just recently being ruled out on Friday. Either way, running back-needy managers need to have Monangai on their rosters if he is still available.
The Chicago Bears waited until Friday to rule Swift out, but he did not practice all week. Veteran backup Roschon Johnson has also been missing practice with a back injury, allowing Monangai to field all of the first-team reps ahead of Week 9.
Without either Swift or Johnson, it will be the full Kyle Monangai show in Week 9. The opportunity could not have come at a better time for the Rutgers alum against the Cincinnati Bengals, who allow the most rushing yards per game and the third-most yards per carry.
Monangai was not a highly-touted recruit in the 2025 NFL Draft, but it has not taken him long to adjust to the next level. The 23-year-old left Rutgers as the program's second all-time leading rusher and a first-team All-Big Ten running back. He enters Week 9 averaging an impressive 4.4 yards per carry and 10.2 yards per catch.
Any fantasy football manager who missed out on Tracy or Henderson early in the week needs to have Monangai on their roster. With an impressive performance, Monangai could potentially force his way into a bigger role even when Swift returns.
