Fantasy football Week 4 RB preview: Bye weeks bring in surprising must-starts

After the first two weeks, it seemed like running back was the only position with a surplus of starters. Injuries hadn’t hit yet, and several backfields were starting to seem settled. Heading into Week 5, nothing could be further from the truth. Part of the problem in Week 5 is that Kenneth Walker and Chubba Hubbard are both on bye. They’ve both been top 10 backs this season, and their absence will be felt. Another problem is that Saquon Barkley, Breece Hall, and Travis Etienne are all projected to miss Week 5, as well as several other borderline starters. But that’s not the only problem at running back. We have an increasing number of committees, making it hard to start any running back on certain teams.

Looking at my Week 5 projections, you won’t find any running backs from the Commanders, Patriots, Saints, Texans, or Packers in my top 24. RJ Harvey sneaks in in full PPR leagues, but there aren’t any Broncos in my top 24 in the other formats either. And even many of the guys who are in the top 24 don’t exactly have the types of projections that would normally get them there. Ollie Gordon is on arguably the worst team in the league, Emanuel Wilson may have more competition coming in Zach Charbonnet, and Omarion Hampton is now in a three-headed backfield. It’s not great.

All of that is to say, don’t be too shocked that Braelon Allen and Tony Pollard are inside my top 20 this week. Allen has had every running back touch for the Jets since Breece Hall went down; his poor Week 4 performance was largely a reflection of the Jets running only 33 offensive plays last week. Pollard is averaging more than 15 touches per game and projects as an RB2 even if it’s a difficult matchup against Houston. I would start them both over all the backs in the previous paragraph.

Now let’s get to the rest of the Week 5 RB preview:

Week 5 RB Preview

• 45.5% — Jeremiyah Love’s snap share was back below 50% in Week 4, and it sounds like that was at least partially his doing. We may have jumped the gun on declaring Love a borderline RB1, but we’re still starting him in Week 5.
• 42.0% — RJ Harvey leads all running backs with a 42% target per route run rate. He may just become a weekly RB2 in PPR if this role sticks.
• 25% — Keaton Mitchell has lined up in the slot on 25% of his targets. His role is increasing, and he has moved into flex consideration.

• 70 — Kyren Williams played 70 offensive snaps in Week 4. That means one of two things: he’ll get more breathers this week, or he’s an RB1 again. We’re leaning towards the latter.
• 1 — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had their first rush attempt inside the five-yard line in Week 4. It went to Sean Tucker. Bucky Irving hasn’t had a rush attempt inside the five since the 2024 season.
• 75% — Three-fourths of Austin Ekeler’s rush attempts went for five or more yards. Don’t be surprised if his role is bigger this week.
• 31.7% — Bhayshul Tuten has a 31.7% avoided tackle rate, which trails only Kenneth Walker amongst starting running backs.
• 13.25 — The Vikings have given up 13.25 PPR FPPG to running backs, the lowest mark in the league.

My full set of Week 5 Fantasy football projections for every position is now available 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 5. Projected stats for all starting running backs will be updated throughout the week, so check back regularly.