Fantasy football Week 5 RB replacements: Waiver adds like Rachaad White and Rico Dowdle could save your season

It's been crazy with all the running back injuries heading into Week 5, so let's make sense of the madness. Which of the replacement running backs can you trust in your Fantasy lineups?

To recap the new injuries, we had Trey Benson (knee) placed on injured reserve, and Chuba Hubbard (calf) and Bucky Irving (foot) are not expected to play in Week 5. Fantasy managers are looking to the backfields in Arizona, Carolina, and Tampa Bay for help, and there are options off the waiver wire to potentially save you.

For Week 5, my favorite replacement running back is Rico Dowdle, who should start in place of Hubbard. Dowdle is rostered in 55 percent of CBS Sports leagues as of Friday morning, so add him where available, and he has the best combination of matchup and clear path to touches this week. And we've seen him excel as a featured running back before.

In 2024 with the Cowboys, Dowdle had 10 games with at least 15 total touches, and he scored at least 14.9 PPR points in six outings over that span. He will likely share the work in Carolina with rookie Trevor Etienne in Week 5, but we expect Dowdle to do most of the heavy lifting.

Dowdle already started to recently take work away from Hubbard, and Dowdle has 19 carries for 62 yards and a touchdown and two catches for 6 yards on two targets in his past two games against Atlanta and New England. The Panthers should trust him against Miami, which is a great matchup.

The Dolphins have allowed a running back to score at least 12.8 PPR points in every game this season, including the past three opponents (Rhamondre Stevenson, James Cook, and Breece Hall) to score at least 16.1 PPR points. I like Dowdle as a No. 2 running back in all leagues with Hubbard out.

With Irving not expected to play in Week 5 at Seattle, Tampa Bay will turn to Rachaad White and Sean Tucker to share the backfield, and I like White the best for this matchup given his expected role in the passing game. White only has one game this season with double digits in carries, but he got four catches in Week 4 against the Eagles.

White, who has at least 50 catches in every season of his career, is worth using as a No. 2 running back in PPR. The Seahawks are No. 1 in most receptions (29) and receiving yards (266) allowed to running backs this year, and three backfields this season (San Francisco, Pittsburgh, and Arizona) have combined for at least seven catches against Seattle.

In those games, Christian McCaffrey, Kyle Juszczyk, Jaylen Warren, Kenneth Gainwell, Trey Benson, and Emari Demercado have scored at least 4.6 PPR points against the Seahawks with their receiving stats alone. This is all a benefit for White.

As for Tucker, he's a wildcard, and we saw him dominate in 2024 in one game when White was out in Week 6 at New Orleans. He shared playing time with Irving against the Saints, and Tucker had 14 carries for 136 yards and a touchdown, three catches for 56 yards and a touchdown.

It's tough to run on Seattle, so Tucker is more of a flex option in deeper leagues. Still, add him to your Fantasy roster if possible since we don't know how long Irving will be out, and Tucker is rostered in just 31 percent of leagues on CBS Sports as of Friday morning (White is 91 percent rostered).

The Cardinals have the toughest backfield to figure out with Benson injured. Michael Carter and Emari Demercado are expected to share playing time, and it could be messy.

In Week 5 against the Titans, I'd lean toward Carter over Demercado since I expect Carter to lead the team in carries, with Demercado keeping his role on passing downs. This should be a game where Arizona is playing with a lead, and Carter is worth using as a low-end No. 2 running back in all leagues.

Carter had two games in 2024 with extended action for the Cardinals, and he did well in those outings. He scored 10.1 PPR points at the Rams in Week 17 with 13 carries for 70 yards and two catches for 11 yards, and he had 15.9 PPR points in Week 18 against San Francisco with 17 carries for 43 yards and a touchdown and four catches for 16 yards.

This is a great matchup against the Titans, who are No. 4 in most Fantasy points allowed to opposing running backs. Three running backs this season have scored at least 14.8 PPR points against Tennessee, and Carter might be able to help Fantasy managers in a desperate situation in Week 5.

Demercado might also help in a desperate situation, but his best game this year was Week 4 against Seattle in the first outing without James Conner (ankle). Demercado had two carries for 8 yards and two catches for 13 yards and a touchdown on two targets.

In his career, Demercado has three games with double digits in carries, with all of them coming in 2023. He averaged 11 PPR points in those outings, and I'm curious to see if the Cardinals give him an expanded workload with Benson out.

Demercado is rostered in 86 percent of leagues on CBS Sports as of Friday morning, while Carter is at 60 percent. Both are worth adding in all leagues to see what develops moving forward, since Benson is out for at least the next four games.