By admin 
Week 1 is in the books, and plenty of unexpected occurrences have already forced fantasy football owners to adjust. Because of that, many of us are already looking to stream a starting running back this week.
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The good news is that there are plenty of excellent options you can plug into your RB2 or flex spot this week who can still potentially be found on your waiver wire. These are the top running back streamers for Week 2.
Kaelon Black, San Francisco 49ers
If Black survived your waiver wire this week, which he did in quite a few leagues with shallower rosters, he could be a great option this week against a Miami Dolphins’ defense that was torched on Sunday by Ashton Jeanty. Jeanty rushed for 102 yards on 4.4 yards per carry and added six receptions for 45 yards and two touchdowns. His backup, Mike Washington, also racked up 41 yards on 5.9 yards per carry.
This game should be a blowout in San Francisco, allowing Black even more work late in the game to preserve the now 30-year-old Christian McCaffrey, who has been dealing with various injuries for weeks now. Last week, Black had 14 carries to McCaffrey’s 10, and we could see them split carries again this week in a game that the 49ers likely won’t need CMC late in the game to win easily.
Woody Marks, Houston Texans
In Week 1, Marks handled nine carries and saw one target, while Montgomery carried the ball 20 times and was targeted three times. Despite Montgomery scoring three touchdowns and having a great fantasy day, Marks looked better when he ran the ball.
On 20 carries, Montgomery rushed for 60 yards on 3.0 yards per carry, while Marks rushed for 42 yards on 4.7 yards per carry. Marks looked noticeably more explosive than Montgomery. This is a workload that we should see balance out, even if Montgomery is likely to continue to get the work down in the red zone.
This week, the Texans face off with the Cincinnati Bengals, who allowed 4.5 yards per carry last week to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and 5.6 yards per carry to Bucky Irving. The Texans should be attacking the Bengals early and often on the ground.
George Holani, Seattle Seahawks
Holani and Jadarian Price nearly split snaps and carries evenly. Price played 24 snaps to Holani’s 23, and carried the ball 10 times to Holani’s eight. Those carries could have easily been flipped, but until something changes, we should expect this to be a split-back system in Seattle.
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Price outperformed Holani in Week 1, but a one-game sample size is not enough for us to assume that Holani can’t be the one to have the bigger game in Week 2. Something we saw time and time again in Seattle with Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet in recent years.
The Seahawks’ rushing attack has a strong matchup this week against the Arizona Cardinals, who are projected to be one of the worst teams in the NFL this season. Both the game script and a subpar rush defense should work in his favor.
Chris Brooks, Green Bay Packers
The Packers’ backfield was a bit of a mess last week, but not nearly as troubling as the Chicago Bears’ rush defense that allowed the Carolina Panthers to average 5.9 yards per carry, and on five RB targets allowed four receptions for 86 yards and a touchdown.
While all the hype going into the game was surrounding MarShawn Lloyd and even Kaleb Johnson to some extent, but it was Brooks who led the team in snaps and played the best. Brooks was on the field for 56% of the offensive snaps and averaged 4.1 yards per carry on seven carries to Lloyd’s 2.8 yards per carry on 13 carries.
Brooks has averaged 4.8 yards per carry for his career, while Lloyd has averaged 2.5 yards per carry and has never reached 3.0 yards per carry in an NFL game. It shouldn’t take long for the Packers to realize that Brooks is simply the better and more reliable option. He’s the running back to start this week in a great matchup.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/onsi/fantasy as Kaelon Black And Chris Brooks Lead Our Fantasy Football Running Back Streamers For Week 2.
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This story was originally published September 16, 2026 at 9:16 AM.