Fantasy drafts have wrapped up, which means the best way for fantasy managers to improve their roster is by making trades or adding players via the waiver wire.
Who are some running backs you should target on your league’s waiver wire? Here are three names worth considering.
Which RBs To Target on This Week’s Waiver Wire
Rico Dowdle, RB, Dallas Cowboys (48%)
The Cowboys’ backfield is one of the biggest mysteries heading into the season. It’s very easy to poke holes in all three of Ezekiel Elliott, Dalvin Cook, and Rico Dowdle.
At the same time, the lead back is going to have value. This is one of the best offenses in football. Dowdle was reasonably effective in limited opportunity last season. The issue is he’s a 26-year-old former UDFA who has 96 career carries since entering the league in 2020.
Nevertheless, Dowdle could easily be the most valuable member of this backfield. We saw what Cook looked like last season. The once-elite running back has absolutely nothing left.
As for Elliott, he has a little more juice, but only barely. However, he could still be the guy who falls into the end zone.
The point is there’s a lot of uncertainty here. Embrace it. What if Dowdle gets 15 touches on Sunday? He will be one of the top waiver wire adds. Grab him now.
Tyler Allgeier, RB, Atlanta Falcons (36%)
I will keep this short and sweet: When it comes to handcuffs, we often don’t know who the likely handcuff is or whether he is capable of producing if the starter goes down.
With Tyler Allgeier, we know definitively that he is both of these things.
No one is rooting for Bijan Robinson to get hurt, but if he does, Allgeier would be worth a huge chunk of FAAB. Stash him before then.
Jaleel McLaughlin, RB, Denver Broncos (32%)
This is an awfully low roster percentage for a guy who may actually have standalone RB3 value alongside Javonte Williams. Jaleel McLaughlin won the Broncos RB2 role, resulting in the team cutting Samaje Perine.
Last season, McLaughlin was quite impressive, finishing inside the top 10 in yards per touch and evade tackles per touch rate. If Williams were to go down, McLaughlin would not suddenly be a lead back, but he would stand to see an uptick in touches.
The main reason to add him, though, is because he simply might touch the ball enough to be startable.