Best Week 9 RB Streamers - Fantasy Football Running Backs to Pickup and Start

The top Week 9 running back streamers, fantasy football pickups and RB starts for 2025. Target these fantasy rb streaming options with strong Week 9 matchups.

The running back position has been hit hard with injuries heading into Week 9. On Friday, managers saw several solid options be ruled out, like D'Andre Swift (groin), Isiah Pacheco (knee), and Rhamondre Stevenson (toe).

As a result, managers will likely need to run to the waiver wire to fill their RB2/FLEX spot.

Let's take a look at the top streaming options for Week 9.

Top Running Back Streamers for Week 9

Only players rostered in fewer than 60% of fantasy football leagues are considered potential streamers.

Kyle Monangai (CHI) at CIN
35% Rostered

The top streaming option is still widely available in nearly 60% of the leagues. With Swift and Roschon Johnson (back) both sitting out, the Rutgers product is poised to operate as the clear workhorse in Week 9. Monangai has already begun to carve out a larger role behind Swift and is now set up for a breakout showing.

In Week 7, Monangai took a season high 13 carries and racked up 81 yards and his first career touchdown. While he took just six carries in Week 8, managers should expect that number to increase significantly in Week 9.

He will have a very favorable matchup, facing the Bengals, who have allowed the most PPR points to opposing RBs. Monangai is set to carry low-end RB1 upside in his first career start.

Kyle Monangai To Step Into Prominent Role? https://t.co/S0KrAyw0EL

— RotoBaller NFL (@RotoBallerNFL) October 31, 2025

Samaje Perine vs. CHI
15% Rostered

Even though Perine is listed as the No. 2 RB in Cincinnati, he is beginning to make this a near committee split. Given Chase Brown's slow start, Perine has seen his snap share and workload increase significantly over the past few weeks. Since Week 5, Perine has logged at least 42% of the snaps in all but one game and has even logged 47% of the snaps in two games.

In Week 8, Perine nejoeyd his best outing of the season, taking nine carries for 94 yards and a score, and catching his lone target for six yards. Like Monangai, Perine has a prime matchup, facing the Bears, who have allowed the eighth-most PPR points to opposing RBs this season.

Tyjae Spears (TEN) vs. LAC
40% Rostered

Tyjae Spears opened the season on the IR but has slowly begun to carve into the Tennessee backfield. In fact, despite being listed as the team's No. 2 RB, Spears saw a higher snap share than the starter, Tony Pollard, last weekend, and could overtake this backfield on Sunday. Over the previous two games, Spears has taken 14 carries for 81 yards and caught six of his seven targets for 41 yards.

Since Week 6, Spears has seen at least three targets in each game, while Pollard has seen just two targets in two of these three games.

Given that they will be facing a potent Los Angeles Chargers offense, the Titans will be forced to push the ball downfield. This game script will likely benefit the team's primary pass-catching back, Spears, and not Pollard. Managers in PPR leagues should look to stream Pollard as a viable mid-end RB2.

Tyjae Spears Surging Toward Bigger Role in Titans Offense https://t.co/tJp45ysor8

— RotoBaller NFL (@RotoBallerNFL) October 30, 2025

Brashard Smith (KC) at BUF
20% Rostered

The final running back we will look at is Chiefs' rookie Brashard Smith. Smith has typically operated as the team's No. 3 RB, but with Pacheco ruled out, he is projected for a larger role in Week 9. Since Week 4, Smith has seen at least four targets in all but one game and has caught 14 passes for 122 yards during this stretch.

While his role as a rusher has been quite limited, Smith is bound to see an uptick with Pahceo sidelined.

He has a prime matchup to break out, facing a Bills defense that has allowed the fifth-most PPR points to opposing RBs this season. While Kareem Hunt should operate as the primary back, given the potential for this game to be a high-scoring affair, Smith could be heavily involved as the Chiefs look to compete with a potent Buffalo offense.

Read more Running Back news and updates for Week 9

Week 9 Running Back Waiver Wire Rankings

Below you can see our priority order for picking up a running back off the waiver wire:

Week 9 Running Back Rankings for Fantasy Football

Bookmark our PPR rankings, Half-PPR rankings, and standard (non-PPR) rankings 

Who Should I Start Tool

You can also see the Who Should I Start tool here.

Week 9 Running Back Decisions. Today's focus is on specific RBs - Kyle Monangai, Samaje Perine, Tyjae Spears, and Brashard Smith. These are some of the most common searches for fantasy football lineups in Week 9.

Using The Tool. This is a simple tool, but very powerful. The first step is to enter the player names that you want to compare. In the first box, search for the first player's name. In the second box, search for the second player's name. Compare up to four NFL players at once, and then click the Who To Start? button to see who the recommended starts are based on weekly fantasy football matchups.

Improvements For Who Should I Start? You may have noticed that our 'Who Should I Start?' tool has gotten an overhaul. We've added lots of great features for you to give you as much information as possible to win your fantasy football matchups each week. You'll see NFL player tiles with headshots and bye weeks, stats, projections, strength of schedule, player news, and enhanced search results with data to compare with a slick new interface. We hope you enjoy!

How It Works. Each week, our RotoBaller staff puts together their weekly fantasy football rankings and projections based on their research. That information is the core data that is powering the decision-making in this tool. When you search for player names, you will only see those players who are ranked. If someone is out for the week, they will not appear in the search results.

Scoring Formats. Fantasy football managers play in various types of leagues, and this tool allows you to choose whether it's PPR scoring, Half-PPR scoring, or Standard (Non-PPR) scoring. The second thing you want to do is to select the scoring format. There are three small radio buttons (small circles), so click on the scoring format you prefer. The results may vary based on the scoring format you select.

Popular Week 9 Searches. Curious to see some tough lineup decisions for Week 9 (2025)? Below you will find a list of some popular Who Should I Start? searches that RotoBaller readers are looking at this week. Click any of the links to see the result and recommendation.

Popular Week 9 Searches - Start/Sit Player Comparisons

Below are some popular searches and comparisons from our Who To Start tool for Week 9 for Kyle Monangai, Samaje Perine, Tyjae Spears, and Brashard Smith:

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