Fantasy Football Week 4 Running Back Preview: Rankings adjustments, waiver adds, stashes, and more
Everything you need to know about the running back position for Fantasy Football in Week 4
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3 min read
The waiver wire at the running back position in 2025 has been less than stellar. That is an understatement, particularly if you play in 12-team leagues, particularly if you play on CBS. To be honest, it isn't much better this week. I am sure when the buys come along some of these handcuffs are going to get dropped and inevitably a starter is going to get hurt, and we will have a great option on the wire in most leagues. But until then, we're left hoping we drafted enough depth.
I put those qualifiers at the top because I know a lot of you play on several different sites, and a lot of you play in leagues smaller than 12 teams. If you are one of them, there is a 50/50 chance that this week's waiver wire looks fantastic to you. That is because Trey Benson and/or Cam Skattebo are available on your waiver and ranked inside my top 20 running backs in Week 4.
We'll start with Benson, who is my favorite this week and rest of the season. He just turned 23, and he still has fewer than 100 touches in the NFL, so it is important to remember his pedigree. The Cardinals took him 66th overall last year after a college career that saw him average 6.1 yards per carry and score 24 touchdowns on 314 career rush attempts at Oregon and Florida State. He also averaged more than 11 yards per catch on 33 college receptions. That receiving work is what has gotten me excited this year.
Benson has a 12.5% target share on the season, good for third on the Arizona Cardinals. This is with James Conner playing 50% of the team's offensive snaps so far in 2025. Benson has 10 targets the past two games and Kyler Murray has thrown 23.8% of his passes to running backs this year. While Emari Demercado will factor in on passing downs on occasion, he only has three opportunities this year and he has produced zero yards and one terrible drop in Week 3. I am projecting Benson for a 60% rush share in Week 4 and a 13% target share. That should equal 20 opportunities for Benson, which is a fair projection rest of season as well. That makes Benson a must-start running back and a good buy-high candidate if he is not available on your waiver wire.
Skattebo was very exciting in Week 3, turning 18 opportunities into 121 yards and a touchdown against the Chiefs. I believe he will get a similar opportunity in Week 4, but Tyrone Tracy is not out for the year and would expect more of a committee once he is back. Of course, one of the big changes in New York is that Jaxson Dart is taking over as starting QB. As a rookie QB with rushing upside I am not sure we can count on the same 26% target share they enjoyed the first three weeks with Russell Wilson. I am still adding Skattebo anywhere I can and starting him most places, but I am not quite as excited about him rest of season as I am about Benson.
Now let's get to the rest of the Week 4 RB Preview:
Week 4 RB Preview
RB Preview
Numbers to know
- 77% -- Tony Pollard and Chase Brown lead the NFL with a 77% rush share. They have been mostly terrible, but they are both still low-end starters based on volume.
- 55% -- Jordan Mason's 55% success rate as a rusher leads all starting running backs. He is a must-start running back regardless of the matchup.
- 81.5% -- Only Pollard and Saquon Barkley have a higher snap share than De'Von Achane's 81.5%.
- 5.14 -- Quinshon Judkins is averaging 5.14 yards after contact per rush. That is number amongst qualified running backs.
- 2.62 -- The Patriots are allowing 2.6 yards per carry to opposing running backs, only the Browns have been better.
- 29.67 -- The Bengals are giving up 29.67 PPR FPPG to opposing running backs, the most in the league.
- -.04 -- Ashton Jeanty is still averaging negative yards before contact per rush attempt; only Chase Brown has a lower mark.
- 5 -- Chris Rodriguez had the first five rush attempts for the Commanders in Week 3. It's still not quite Jacory Croskey-Merritt's time. But we think it is coming.
- 2 -- Rhamondre Stevenson fumbled twice in Week 3. He fumbled seven times last year. We are hopeful TreVeyon Henderson gets his first start in Week 4.
- 28.8% -- RJ Harvey's 28.8% snap share was his lowest of the season. Hold him, but don't even think about starting him.
RB Preview
Waiver Wire Targets
Week 4 Adds (RB Preview)
Hunt is still available in more than a third of CBS leagues and ranks the highest in a bad crop of Week 4 running back waiver wire options. Week 3 he set season highs with 10 rush attempts and 11.4 PPR Fantasy points. Also, Isiah Pacheco made a couple of mistakes in the passing game so it is possible we see Hunt's workload increase, as it has each of the first three weeks. Surprisingly, the Ravens have given up the second-most Fantasy points to running backs this season. Less surprisingly, they have seen the most running back targets.
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Gordon is tryin gto work his way into the Raheem Mostert role and took a step in Week 3 with nine rushes for 38 yards and a touchdown. The Jets lead the NFL with 39 missed tackles so there could be some big opportunities for both running backs in this game. Gordon is a much better flex in non-PPR as we still expect De'Von Achane to dominate passing downs for the Dolphins.
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Stashes (RB Preview)
Blake Corum was in this spot last week and he is still a very good stash, but another name to know is Houston's Woody Marks. Marks has seen his number of touches and snap share increase each of the first three weeks and there is a chance at some point the 0-3 Texans choose to go with the young guy over veteran Nick Chubb. Marks came into the NFL with a very good receiving profile and has turned two catches into 46 yards this season. We hope he sees more work in that role moving forward.
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RB Preview
DFS Plays
Top DFS Play
Projections powered by
Sportsline
Skattebo's breakout happened on Sunday night so it is not reflected in his Week 4 price. Take advantage of that in cash games, no matter how chalky he might be. He's averaging 5.7 yards per touch and could see 20 touches in Week 4 assuming Tyrone Tracy is out. The Chargers have a good defense, but they just gave up 15.3 PPR points to J.K. Dobbins on 12 touches.
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Contrarian DFS Play
Projections powered by
Sportsline
Jeanty's price just keeps falling, along with his projection and his ranking. Still, I have liked what I have seen the few times the Raiders have blocked well for him. This is a get right spot at home, as a favorite, against the Bears. They are giving up 25.6 PPR FPPG to running backs this season and 5.3 yards per carry to opposing backs. If the Raiders can't get Jeanty free against this defense we have even bigger problems than it already feels like.
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RB Preview
Heath's Projections
My full set of Week 4 Fantasy football projections for every position are now available on SportsLine. You'll find them here. Find out which of my favorite plays are projected to score higher than consensus rankings and which don't live up to their draft hype, at least in Week 3. Projected stats for all starting running backs are available, so be sure to check out the full set of projections at SportsLine.
