Fantasy Football Running Back Waiver Adds for Week 4: Trey Benson, Woody Marks and More

Last week, I spent this intro bemoaning the lack of interesting options. This week, I am spoiled for choice with multiple very exciting options. 

We had a few unfortunate injuries this week, opening up massive opportunities in valuable backfields. We also had a few rookies (and a veteran or two) simply earn larger roles. And I'm also going to be including a couple of players well above the 50% roster threshold, to help those of you in shallower leagues.

Put these three things together, and we have a recipe for a very exciting set of Week 4 waiver wire running backs. Let's get right into it.

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Trey Benson, Arizona Cardinals (54.6% Rostered)

James Conner suffered an ankle injury on Sunday which will require season-ending surgery. This is obviously incredibly unfortunate, but the nature of fantasy football is that injuries create opportunities. In this case, the beneficiary of that opportunity is second-year back Benson.

Benson's role in the Cardinals' offense was already expanding even before Conner's injury. He served as the team's third-down back and handled a handful of carries in each of the first two weeks. Now, with Conner out, he should be a certified bellcow. 

Emari Demercado, who played a passing-down role for Arizona last year, could see his role expand. If not, we might be in a legitimate 2024 Chase Brown situation where Benson sees essentially all of the valuable work in the Cardinals' backfield. Either way, being Arizona's RB1 for the rest of the season makes him a priority add in all formats, worth blowing a huge chunk of FAAB on.

Cam Skattebo, New York Giants (80.1% Rostered)

Here is the first of those shallow-league adds I was talking about, as Skattebo is only available in just under 20% of leagues. If you are in one of those leagues, don't let this mistake continue any longer. The fourth-round rookie was already on his way to taking over the Giants' backfield when his main competition, Tyrone Tracy Jr., dislocated his shoulder.

With Tracy exiting early, Skattebo played 59% of the Giants' snaps and handled 10 carries and eight targets on Sunday night. He made the most of his opportunities, finishing with 21.1 half-PPR points with 121 combined yards and a rushing TD. 

Even prior to last night, Skattebo has been excellent to start his career, leading all qualified RBs in PFF Offense Grade and averaging nearly 3.5 yards after contact per carry. If he is available in your league, run, don't walk, to the waiver wire. 

Quinshon Judkins, Cleveland Browns (70.5% Rostered)

Judkins is another player who needs to be rostered in every single league (and probably already is in most competitive ones). Even though he only officially joined the Browns' roster just prior to Week 1, the second-round pick is already their clear RB1. He played 58% of snaps, handled 18 of 19 RB carries, and led Cleveland's backfield with a 32% route participation rate on Sunday (Jerome Ford did see four targets to his three). 

What's more, Judkins has looked good in his opportunities, averaging 5.5 yards per carry and ranking third among qualified RBs with 2.01 yards over expected per attempt. He's already a startable back every week, and his role should only expand as he continues to settle in with the team. The only potential bump in the road is that he may still end up facing a suspension, but he could miss a few weeks and still be a no-brainer win for anyone who added him off waivers.

Bhayshul Tuten, Jacksonville Jaguars (56.1% Rostered)

Okay, I promise this is the last player rostered in over 50% of leagues. But Tuten being only 6% above that mark is simply fantasy negligence at this point. Although his role in the Jaguars' offense is still small (seven opportunities on just an 18% snap share on Sunday), he scored his second touchdown in as many weeks against the Texans. 

When an explosive rookie keeps scoring TDs on a limited role, that role tends to grow. And as Tuten's role grows, he should just keep making impressive plays. Given that they both played for Liam Coen behind a solid-not-elite veteran RB1, it's almost too obvious to compare Tuten to Bucky Irving … but he's got a shot to be this year's Irving. 

Woody Marks, Houston Texans (13.7% Rostered)

Speaking of players who have a shot to be this year's Irving, we have Marks. Marks, yet another fourth-round pick in this deep class of rookie running backs, has seen his role grow from week to week. 

In Week 1, Marks tied for fourth in Houston's backfield in snaps with Dameon Pierce, behind Nick Chubb and Dare Ogunbowale. In Week 2, Pierce was a healthy scratch, but Marks still played fewer snaps than both Chubb and Ogunbowale. In Week 3, Ogunbowale played zero offensive snaps, allowing the rookie to reach a 49% snap share (one fewer snap than Chubb). If the trend continues, Marks will overtake Chubb and be the team's RB1 in Week 4.

Even if it doesn't happen immediately, that outcome seems to be where things are headed. Marks wasn't a hugely exciting prospect, but he has some pass-catching ability and hopefully has more juice than Chubb at this point in their respective careers. He does rank 56th out of 59 qualified RBs in PFF Rush Grade, and this Texans offense looks putrid, so there might not be massive upside here. But we want to be early to rookie RBs claiming lead roles, and Marks is already serving as the 1B to Chubb's 1A — he's an add in all formats.  

Kareem Hunt, Kansas City Chiefs (23.2% Rostered)

Last week, I pointed out in this same article that Hunt had been seeing more snaps than Isiah Pacheco near the goal line. On Sunday night, that stat rang true, as the veteran punched in a one-yard score in Kansas City's first win of the season. Of course, scoring just 10.9 half-PPR points even with a touchdown isn't exactly inspiring, but it's still 10.9 half-PPR points. 

Outside of his edge on goal-line work, Hunt is just barely the RB1B to Pacheco's RB1A. Although they each saw 10 carries and one target on Sunday, the younger back has two more carries and one more target for the year; Pacheco has also consistently outsnapped Hunt.

Still, given that neither of these backs is a threat for explosive plays, Hunt's lead near the goal-line (he has played eight of the Chiefs' 11 snaps inside the 10 and both of their two inside the five) makes him arguably the more valuable fantasy asset. He's worth rostering as a fill-in flex or RB2 option. 

Ollie Gordon II, Miami Dolphins (31.6% Rostered)

In another win for being patient with rookie running backs, Gordon's role massively increased in Week 3. That's not saying much, as he had just three carries for 12 total yards in his first two NFL games. But still, nine carries for 38 yards and a goal-line TD on a new career-high 25% snap share isn't nothing.

Coming into the season, there was some buzz that Gordon could fill the Raheem Mostert role in Mike McDaniel's offense, racking up TDs and taking hits in De'Von Achane's stead. While we are a long way from that reality, this was a massive step in the right direction.

If Gordon's role keeps expanding and Miami's offense finds a groove, he could be a usable flex option, albeit a TD-dependent one. That, plus plenty of handcuff value, makes him a worthwhile stash. 

Chris Rodriguez Jr., Washington Commanders (5.7% Rostered)

With Austin Ekeler done for the season, this game was supposed to be Jacory Croskey-Merritt's coming-out party as the Commanders' RB1. Instead, Rodriguez, who was a healthy scratch in Weeks 1 and 2, led Washington with 11 carries (“Bill” had eight). 

Rodriguez wasn't very effective on his carries, with just a 27% success rate per Next Gen Stats. He also only ran two routes, fewer than both JCM and Jeremy McNichols; there's very little hope he will ever be a factor in the passing game. But in deeper formats, any player who leads an NFL team in carries should be rostered — Rodriguez is straining the limits of that maxim, but he doesn't quite break them.