With Eddie Lacy and Ryan Mathews on bye, and various injuries around the league leaving owners high and dry, it may be time to turn towards streaming your running back, at least for one week. If that’s how you want to play week four, here are three options for you in week four. All streaming candidates in the All Stream Team articles are owned in fewer than 50% of Yahoo! Fantasy Football Leagues, with one player being owned in less than 10% (for you deep divers).
Dwayne Washington at Chicago (36% owned)
With Ameer Abdullah on the shelf, possibly for the season, the lead back duties in Detroit are woefully under-owned. Last week was understandable, as many pundits believed Abdullah’s trip to IR would result in increased rushing attempts for Theo Riddick. They were right last week, but Riddick was abysmal in the run game, rushing ten times for nine yards. He’ll slot back into his usual role, with Washington getting the Abdullah carries against a Chicago defense that has given up 100 yards or a rushing touchdown to five different running backs so far through three games. Washington is set up to feast.
Cameron Artis-Payne at Atlanta (30% owned)
With Jonathon Stewart on the shelf for at least another month, expect this 30% figure to skyrocket. Last week he out-touched all other Carolina running backs. That was only twelve carries and one catch, but being the head of a committee is worth something to desperate owners. This week the Panthers take on a Falcons squad that has given up the fourth-most points to running backs so far in this young season. After this week, CAP will have a much higher ownership off the heels of his upcoming performance.
Chris Thompson versus Cleveland (7% owned)
If you’re diving this deep to stream someone, it’s likely going to be passing down back with the ability to score on a team that will be in a lot of passing downs in a high-scoring contest. Thompson is all of those things this weekend as Washington takes on the Browns.
The Browns are a common opponent, but they have yielded three scores to running backs in three games this season. Matt Jones is going to carry the mail between the twenties, but if you’re going this deep, you’re banking on a touchdown. He doesn’t get many yards per game, but it definitely would not surprise me to see Thompson cross the goal-line.