The running back position is one of the more important in fantasy football. With more and more backfields becoming timeshares, finding a workhorse back has become quite tricky. In a season where we have seen significant injuries to some of the bigger names like Saquon Barkley and Christian McCaffrey, fantasy managers have struggled to find consistent production from the position. We have also seen a surprise appearance from Alvin Kamara on the Week 9 injury report. Looking at the most recent RB injury report and updates, we try to figure out who we should lock into our Week 9 fantasy lineups and who might continue to miss time.
If you want to see which WRs you need to keep an eye on in Week 9, make sure to check out our Fantasy WR Injury Report. We will continue to update this article as more news and injury updates become available.
Fantasy RB Injury Report & Updates: Will Christian McCaffrey play in Week 9?
AM Update: The Panthers officially activated Christian McCaffrey from the IR on Saturday morning, putting him on track to play in Week 9. McCaffrey is active for the Panthers Week 9 games against the Kansas City Chiefs.
This is the question that most fantasy football managers were hoping would be answered sooner rather than later. Carolina Panthers RB Christian McCaffrey was either the first or second overall pick in most fantasy drafts at the beginning of the year, and his absence since Week 2 of the season has been hard to manage.
Yes, his replacement Mike Davis has performed well if you were able to grab him off the waiver wire, but if not, the loss of McCaffrey likely hurt your playoff chances. Davis has averaged 4.2 yards per carry with 350 total yards and two rushing scores.
Related | Fantasy RB Rankings Week 9: Sleepers, must-starts, potential busts
Last year, Christian McCaffrey led the NFL with 2,392 yards from scrimmage and 19 total touchdowns. In his short time playing this season, he looked as if he hadn’t missed a beat. He opened the year with a good start against the Las Vegas Raiders with 23 carries for 97 yards and two rushing touchdowns. He also added three catches for 38 receiving yards.
Now that McCaffrey has been activated, the question flips to looking at how much he will be on the field in the Panthers Week 9 contest.
Will Alvin Kamara play in Week 9?
This one is a bit surprising. Alvin Kamara appeared on the Saints injury report late Wednesday. According to reports, Kamara was not spotted during the open portion of practice due to a bone bruise in his foot.
However, Kamara appeased fantasy football managers who were concerned about his availability. He said he will play on Sunday and that the bone bruise hurt but was nothing worse than “stubbing your toe on the corner of your bedpost.”
Kamara has been the most important part of this offense with Michael Thomas out for the majority of the season so far. He is on pace to break the running back receptions record, as he’s currently at 55 receptions for 556 yards and three touchdowns through seven games.
There shouldn’t be much to worry about here, except for the fact that he will be going up against a very good Buccaneers defense. However, if the Giants backfield with the likes of Wayne Gallman, Alfred Morris, and Dion Lewis can do what it did this past week, Kamara should still be quite productive.
Mark Ingram injury update for Week 9
Update: Mark Ingram is inactive for the Baltimore Ravens Week 9 game against the Indianapolis Colts.
Baltimore Ravens running back Mark Ingram missed last week’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Surprisingly enough, the lack of his presence did not impact Baltimore’s ability to run the football. The 5-foot-10, 212-pound rookie JK Dobbins rushed for 113 yards on 15 carries against Pittsburgh, and Edwards, in his third season, had 87 yards on 16 attempts as the Ravens put up an impressive 265 rushing yards, averaging 5.6 per carry.
Now, looking towards Week 9, the question becomes whether or not the Ravens want to rush Mark Ingram back after the success they found the week prior or let him rest.
Ingram didn’t practice on Wednesday, per the Baltimore Sun’s Daniel Oyefusi. Ingram’s ankle wasn’t deemed serious after he suffered the injury in Week 6 against the Eagles, but it was later learned that the injury was a “mid- to high-ankle sprain,” per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
We will continue to monitor the situation and update when we know more. As it stands right now, both Dobbins and Edwards could be fantasy relevant as the Ravens face off against the Colts. However, Indianapolis’ defense has been one of the best in the league this year and could present problems. If they were able to put up 265 rushing yards against the Steelers, I wouldn’t be too concerned.
Chris Carson, Carlos Hyde ruled out for Week 9
The Seattle Seahawks travel across to Buffalo to take on the Bills in Week 9. They will have been hoping to have one of their top two running backs on the field. However, there was bad news for the Seahawks, and those watching the RB injury report from a fantasy perspective both Chris Carson and Carlos Hyde were ruled out on Friday. This means that the Seahawks are currently looking at taking on Buffalo with DeeJay Dallas and Travis Homer potentially leading their backfield.
The Seahawks do have the option of promoting Alex Collins from their practice squad. Collins had success with the Ravens in 2017 and 2018 but has not played in nearly two years. His presence likely just clouds the running back picture more from a fantasy point of view.