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2 Smash RBs (& A Trap To Avoid)

2 Smash RBs (& A Trap To Avoid)

Week 9 news...

Peter Overzet
November 02, 2025

Good morning! Lots of moving parts on this Week 9 slate. Here’s everything you need to know before setting your lineups…

📈 3 RBs stepping into more opportunity. With Isiah Pacheco, D’Andre Swift, and Rhamondre Stevenson all ruled out, two fresh faces (and one not so fresh face) are stepping into bigger roles…

Bears RB Kyle Monangai - He’s our consensus RB14…and that still feels a smidge light to me. He’s a clean one-for-one replacement to Swift and gets to face the worst run defense in football. In the prop markets, he’s projected for 94.5 scrimmage yards. TLDR: if you got Monangai, you are playing him (and lock buttoning in DFS).
Patriots RB TreVeyon Henderson - On paper, the 2nd-round rookie looks to be stepping into a similar workload as Monangai…except the Patriots have repeatedly demonstrated that they don’t trust Hendo. Their hand is somewhat forced to give him more playing time in this spot, but I’d be pretty stunned to see him clear 15 touches. He’s our consensus RB21—which is certainly solid—but just be prepared to learn “D’Ernest Johnson” and “Terrell Jennings” today.
Chiefs RB Kareem Hunt - We have Hunt and Hendo back-to-back in our ranks, but Hunt has a much higher floor. Even if he doesn’t see a significant touch upgrade (I could see CEH siphoning a few), he’s still the goal line back for the best offense in football in the best game environment of the week (52.5 point over/under).

🤷 The biggest question mark. The trickiest injury situation this week is easily Bengals QB Joe Flacco. He’s been dealing with an AC joint sprain in his right shoulder and was a limited participant in only one practice this week. He says he’s planning to start, but this is one you’ll need to monitor when inactives are released (11:30am et — we’ll have a breakdown on our socials shortly thereafter).

🟢 If Flacco does go (and appears fully healthy) > Ja’Marr Chase is the best WR on the slate (21 point projection in full PPR), you can stream Flacco, and you can start Tee Higgins and Chase Brown with confidence.

🔴 If Flacco doesn’t go (or is reported to be limited) > You are only starting Ja’Marr (and not feeling great about it).

🏈 Quick hitters.

Don’t be afraid to start Nico Collins this week. He’s good to go after emerging from the concussion protocol and the Broncos will be without Patrick Surtain. You can see where we have Nico ranked here. Btw, take advantage of the offer from Comet to get FREE FantasyLife+ for a year—which includes all of our ranks—simply by downloading their browser (it really is that easy).
It sounds like the Panthers are done appeasing Chuba Hubbard with extra touches and are capitulating to Rico Dowdle being their best rusher. It’s not the best matchup, but the volume should be there for the man with the most disconcerting player photo on our site.
Cooper Kupp is unlikely to play tonight. Make sure he’s not in your lineup. For a sleeper WR to plug in for him, check the Watercooler for Ian’s helicopter play of the week…

Good luck, everyone…

Aaron Jones or Tyjae Spears? Ask the Start/Sit Tool

True story: Last winter we worked around the clock to improve the beloved start/sit tool, with designs of putting it into our premium Tier 2 package. Then Xfinity asked if they could make it FREE for everyone. So now you can enjoy our excellent start/sit column AND the accompanying tool all at the low price of $0.00, thank you to Xfinity. Go now! Run some players through! Enjoy the tool! And get that win!!

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Fantasy

Editors’ Picks

Welcome to the first Sunday in November! The season is flying by, so lock in. Remember: Eagles, Bucs, Jets and Browns are on bye, so keep an eye on your rosters. Also remember — turn your clocks back an hour. If you need a hand, our Xfinity Start/Sit Tool, the latest expert rankings and Xfinity Best Projections will prepare you for your lineup tinkering. And here’s some ICMYI content:

Fantasy

Week 9 Cheat Sheet: Worried About Kyren Williams’ Usage

With 638 scrimmage yards and 5 total TDs through seven games, it would appear that Kyren Williams was back to his usual fantasy stud self that he’s been the past two seasons, and was doing so after HC Sean McVay talked in the preseason about lightening the load for the workhorse back and giving some touches to Blake Corum. But is that happening now?

Chris Allen takes another run through the rankings, talks about the weather and helps you plan beyond Week 9 with the Cheat Sheet that’s great last-minute reading before finalizing lineups.⬇️

DFS

Week 9 Underdog DFS: Stack Those Bears

Pete here. Yes, we know that targeting the Bengals defense has been like printing money in DFS thus far. Heck, they allowed Justin Fields to “complete a pass” downfield. More than once. So is it as easy as looking at the schedule and, checks notes, draft all the Bears players possible as they travel to Cincy in Week 9? If only it were that simple, but it’s also not difficult at the same time.

I dropped a few players I’m targeting in Underdog Battle Royale drafts this week, and I’m making sure not to think about, tilt or do anything to remind me that I came thisclose to winning the whole thing last week. Not. One. Single. Thing. Here’s my article.👇🏼

Fantasy

Smash Starts for Week 9: Running Backs Aplenty

Yes, we’ve touched on TreVeyon Henderson and Kyle Monangai up above, so just know that they’re in John Laghezza’s Week 9 Smashes feature. We’ll let you read his great analysis to find even more reasons to get these players into your lineups this week. Laghezza also offers plenty of reason—AKA well-researched data—to get LA Chargers RB Kimani Vidal into your lineup:

“Aside from the strong +71% backfield touch share since Week 6, everything else is in place to keep the smash train rolling. Vidal’s underpinning rushing metrics rank among above-average starters (5.2 yards/attempt, 3.0 yards after contact/carry, 13.0% explosive rush rate), including commanding the majority of backfield targets, topped off with an insane 94% red zone touch share in that timeframe.”

But it’s not just young RBs that he’s targeting in this weekly article. He has some stars who will be in the spotlight, some bounceback players and more.⬇️