It’s week four, which means the brutal reality of owning running backs will soon start catching up to us all. Don’t fret, we’re here to help. Below you’ll find two running backs available in at least 50% of Yahoo! leagues, and a third back available in 99% of Yahoo! leagues. As always, check out Waleed Ismail’s Week Four Waiver Wire Cheat Sheet to see if any of those guys slipped through, and then the week four running back sleepers below. To qualify for the RB sleepers list, the running back must be available in at least 50% of Yahoo! fantasy football leagues, with one player under 10% ownership.
Week Four RB Sleeper:
Ronald Jones II at L.A. Rams (40% Owned)
Nobody touch anything, but Ronald Jones has two games of 13+ carries that turned into 75 or more yards so far this season. Let’s set aside the disastrous Thursday Night Football game against the Panthers, since TNF is always… weird. That makes two highly productive games out of three for RoJoII, and at 40% owned (up from 25% on Wednesday), this could be your last shot at him. He had the same amount of touches as Peyton Barber and outgained him by 73 yards against the Giants. RoJo’s been inconsistent, so he could put up another week two dud. However, he’s the back that’s flashed the highest ceiling this season in Tampa Bay.
This week, he gets a Rams squad that allows the eighth-most fantasy football points to running backs, yielding over 100 yards to both Christian McCaffrey and Nick Chubb. They shut down Alvin Kamara, but that mostly had to do with the Saints going into panic mode after Drew Brees injured his thumb in their tilt.
Week Four RB Sleeper:
Justin Jackson at Miami (33% Owned)
[UPDATE: Since I wrote this, Justin Jackson was ruled out for Sunday. Instead, consider Darrell Williams at Detroit. Williams will split time with Shady, and the Lions allow the sixth-most fantasy points to running backs this year.]
Through three games, it’s been the Austin Ekeler Show, with Justin Jackson tallying just eighteen carries so far this year. While he isn’t getting a lot of carries, Justin Jackson has been extremely efficient with the touches he’s received. His eighteen carries have gone for 142 yards, which is a cool 7.9 yards per carry for the season. He hasn’t gotten enough work to be a fantasy football force yet, but that should change—temporarily—this weekend, as you play Justin Jackson immediately before jettisoning him from your rosters.
The matchup doesn’t even need much of an introduction: the Miami Dolphins, ladies and gentlemen. They allow the most fantasy points per game to running backs this year, with five 10+ fantasy point games for running backs through three games. Sony Michel/James White and Tony Pollard/Zeke Elliott were two duos that crushed the Dolphins in the last two weeks. With the return of Melvin Gordon nigh, it’s likely the Chargers give Justin Jackson the second-half carries to preserve their Ekeler/Gordon split going forward.
Week Four RB Sleeper:
C.J. Prosise at Arizona (1% Owned)
With Rashaad Penny sidelined, and Chris Carson completely incapable of going a whole game without putting the ball on the ground, an opportunity’s opened for C.J. Prosise to do something for the Seahawks this weekend. He came in and spelled Chris Carson after his fumble last week, getting five catches on five targets. He turned those into 38 yards. Prosise didn’t do much on the ground, but he never does. This is a desperation, PPR-only, play but the Seahawks have the ninth-most running back catches this year, so it’s one likely to provide a good floor.
The Seahawks get a middling defense this week, as the Cardinals are in the middle class in terms of fantasy points to RBs. However, Christian McCaffrey went off for 188 yards and a score last week, and should Prosise get the bulk of the opportunities from a benched Chris Carson, he should return value to your fantasy football rosters.
Check out all our week 4 sleepers:
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(Header Image Source: https://live.staticflickr.com/2662/4013883239_58498797b9_k.jpg by Jennifer Snyder, on Flickr under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en)
