Kevin Szafraniec highlights the best players available on waivers in 50% or more of ESPN and Yahoo leagues heading into Week 9.
Week 8 was kind of a wild one for running backs. Some surprising names finished as top-20 options at the position, with multiple backups proving that they can be more than just a fill-in when the starter needs a breather.
Unfortunately, not all the news was positive. The biggest development of the week was the season-ending injury to Cam Skattebo, who had been one of the biggest zero-RB hits over the first half of the season. Sadly, Skattebo’s injury is a prime example of the volatility of the RB position, which is a huge reason zero-RB is such a viable strategy year over year.
As the 2025 season continues to take shape, plenty of zero-RB targets continue to emerge. Let’s dive in and try to figure out which options are the best of the bunch as the fantasy playoff picture continues to take shape.
Byes: Cleveland, Tampa Bay, Philadelphia, New York Jets
Players featured in this article who are on bye this week are denoted with an asterisk (*).
Before we dive into the players, just a few reminders about how the article is set up:
- To be included as a potential add, a player must be rostered in at most 50% of ESPN or Yahoo leagues
- To be included as a potential drop, a player must be rostered in more than 50% of ESPN or Yahoo leagues
- FAAB recommendations will be given but also serve as tiers for leagues without FAAB budgets. The rationale behind FAAB recommendations is: If I had $1,000 in FAAB, what is the absolute most I’d be willing to spend on this player?
- All positional rankings and statistics are taken from RotoViz’s Monday Review tool.
