Fantasy Football Week 10 Early Waivers: Running Back Injury Replacements Could Be Primary Targets

When injuries happen to Fantasy football superstars, there usually isn’t a silver lining to be found on the waiver wire. Sure, sometimes, you’ll get a Mike Davis showing out for a few weeks in Christian McCaffrey’s absence — a situation we may see again in Week 10 with McCaffrey suffering a shoulder injury Sunday — but usually you get what we’ve seen in the Giants backfield since Saquon Barkley’s injury. Usually, that’s just a net loss for the Fantasy football world; you lose a difference maker and he gets replaced with an inferior player.

Injuries to lesser players don’t operate by the same math. Sometimes, a backup gets an opportunity and actually outplays the starter — think of the situations we’ve seen in Miami, New England, Baltimore and with the Rams this season. And there could be three more coming out of Week 9, or at least three more spots where the backup will have a chance to bring a spark

The Texans lost David Johnson to a concussion early Sunday, while David Montgomery left the Bears game late with a concussion of his own. Later, Justin Jackson managed to make it through one play for the Chargers before leaving with a knee injury. All three injuries could open up short-term opportunities Fantasy players might be interested in for Week 10. 

• The most intriguing backup is obviously Duke Johnson, who rushed for 41 yards and a touchdown while adding four catches for 32 yards with David Johnson out. Duke has been around for a while, usually working as a change-of-pace or third-down back, but he has averaged 11.8 PPR points per game in five career games where he’s had at least 10 carries, and if David Johnson were unable to play in Week 10 against the Browns, Duke would be a very interesting Fantasy starter. 
• The potential replacements for Montgomery and Jackson are a bit less interesting. Joshua Kelley would figure to see a bigger role if Jackson is out for the Chargers against the Dolphins, but given how he’s run the ball this season, he probably wouldn’t be the lead back. Sunday, that was Kalen Ballage, who stepped up to lead the team with 69 yards on 15 carries, with a touchdown. Ballage is a journeyman for a reason — he’s never impressed when given the opportunity — but if he’s getting double-digit carries and goal-line work in the Chargers offense, he could be a viable Fantasy starter. 
• In Chicago, Ryan Nall would likely be the beneficiary of Montgomery’s absence, if it comes to that. He replaced Montgomery on that late drive and scored on a pass from Nick Foles from 6 yards out. He played the final three drives with the Bears trying to make up ground through the air, catching four passes for 35 yards and that score, and would likely have received carries ahead of Cordarrelle Patterson if the situation had called for it. The matchup in Week 10 against the Vikings isn’t great, but it isn’t bad, either, so Nall could certainly be worth starting. 

None of those players necessarily profiles as a must-start player even if they get a healthy workload, but all could be useful in Week 10. There is one other back who didn’t play Sunday who might have more upside than any of them, however: 

• DeAndre Washington didn’t play Sunday, but he bears mentioning, because Myles Gaskin (knee, IR) and Matt Breida (hamstring) didn’t play either. Jordan Howard got the start but was ineffective as usual, with undrafted rookie Salvon Ahmed leading the team with 38 yards. It could be Ahmed who continues to see those carries moving forward, but I’d bet on Washington, who was acquired at the deadline from the Chiefs. He was ineligible to play in Week 9 due to the COVID-19 protocols, but he could be Miami’s primary running back as soon as Week 10 against the Chargers. Don’t forget, Washington averaged 20.5 PPR points in three starts for Josh Jacobs last season. 

Here’s who else we’ll be looking at for Week 10 and beyond: