2026 Week 9 Fantasy Football: Raiders RB Situation Is a Week-to-Week Battle

The Las Vegas Raiders have an officially unsettled backfield, and fantasy managers are left holding the bag. According to ProFootballTalk (NBC Sports), head coach Klint Kubiak said Monday that running back playing time will be determined by "who's playing the best ball at the time" — confirming the Week 8 role swap was not a one-off and not a permanent change either. It's just… fluid.

Ashton Jeanty

Jeanty was the sixth overall pick in 2025 and came into this season as the presumed workhorse, but ProFootballTalk reports he averaged just over three yards per carry through the first seven games. That sluggish production got him bumped in Week 8 — he carried the ball just twice while spending most of his time on passing downs. He did make the most of it with a key 45-yard catch and run, which at least keeps his PPR (points per reception) floor alive. But two carries is not a role you can roster with confidence in redraft. In dynasty, the sixth-overall-pick pedigree still matters, but Week 9 is a genuine fade risk until this shakes out.

Mike Washington Jr.

Washington got the bulk of the Week 8 work — 25 carries for 83 yards — after Kubiak cited his practice performance as the reason for the promotion. That's a modest 3.3 yards per carry, so it wasn't a ground-breaking performance. But the Raiders won after four straight losses, and Kubiak acknowledged teams tend to stick with what just worked. Washington is the higher-floor start this week in redraft if you need an RB in a pinch, but "25 carries for 83 yards in a game your coach attributes to practice habits" is not a lock-him-in situation.

These two are directly connected: every touch Washington gets is one Jeanty doesn't, and vice versa. Kubiak's "moving target" framing means neither back is safe to start with confidence in Week 9. If you have better options, use them. The depth behind both — Connor Heyward is averaging just 1.4 touches per game and Dylan Laube 4.5 touches per game across eight games — doesn't offer a compelling pickup alternative unless the situation escalates into an actual injury.