The fantasy football week is drawing to a close with the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears on Monday night football and that means Week 10 is getting closer and some of the best running back options out there includes Jonathan Stewart coming back from an injury as well as Giovani Bernard, Chris Ivory and Darrel Young, who can help replace the injured Arian Foster.
The Foster injury is a tough one for fantasy football owners and the return of Stewart could be something to counter that, as he was solid and productive on Sunday in his first game of the season. Stewart is expected to be a factor along with DeAngelo Williams the rest of the season after dealing with ankle injuries and now he has 43 yards on nine carries to go along with three catches for 22 yards this season. He averaged a solid 4.8 yards per carry and that is a welcome sign and Stewart should be able to continue getting touches as long as he can remain healthy.
Stewart has been productive in his career and he can be a touchdown threat as well and with the Panthers looking like one of the more improved teams this season, he should get a steady stream of carries as long as he is on the field and healthy. The Panthers won again on Sunday in dominating fashion over the Falcons and one of the main reasons was the play of Stewart.
Some other players worth checking out includes Giovani Bernard, who has a very good game this week, as well as Chris Ivory, who was the leader against his old team in the Saints for the Jets, as he rushed for over 130 yards on 18 carries. He had 139 yards in the game and a touchdown and that came two weeks after a 104 yard game and that could be a sign of things to come for the running back, who has split time with Bilal Powell as well. The Jets want to continue rushing the ball and having Ivory healthy and running well gives the team some hope coming into next week and while they will be on a bye, the team plays the Buffalo Bills next and adding him as a stash player could be a solid move for fantasy owners in need of a running back.
Bernard had one of the touchdowns of the season and he had 79 yards and two scores on Thursday in the loss to Miami and while his stats have not been crazy, he has been a solid and steady contributor and is valuable in PPR leagues. Bernard has 30 catches this season and he had four more on Thursday and his two touchdown game was nice, doubling his total from this season and moving forward he should continue to get touches, including against the slumping Ravens. Darrel Young likely won't continue to put up numbers like this, but anytime a player scores three TDs in a game, it deserves some notice and he did that on Sunday, beating his totals in rushes yards and TDs all in one game.
Young came in with just two carries for 19 yards and he had five for 12 on Sunday with three scores and while that wouldn't merit a pickup usually, the way the Redskins have played in the redzone means Young could get more chances. The team has been terrible down there and after showing he can get into the redzone, he may have it made in the shade moving forward.