NFL Fantasy Football Waiver Wire: Week 9 RB adds and drops

With Week 8 of the NFL season nearly over, here's a look at the top running back adds you need to make with Week 9 on the horizon.

Lions RB Theo Riddick

With Reggie Bush continuing to be his injury-prone self, Theo Riddick continued to emerge in the Lions backfield.  Riddick finished his Week 8 game against the Falcons with a career-high eight catches for 74 yards and three carries for five yards.

He also scored on a 5-yard catch with 3:56 left in the fourth quarter that cut the deficit to 21-19 In the two games with Bush sidelined, Riddick has filled in well.

In a Week 6 win over the Vikings, he had five catches for 75 yards and a touchdown before missing the second half after aggravating a hamstring issue.

Joique Bell, who had 14 carries for 39 yards and two catches for 22 yards vs. Atlanta, is the Lions' primary runner until Bush returns, but Riddick has made this close to a 50/50 split in terms of RB touches.

Pick Riddick up in PPR leagues.

Patriots RB Jonas Gray

Jonas Gray finally got his shot to make an impact for the PAtriots, and he ran for a career-high 86 yards on a career-high 17 carries in a blowout-win over the Bears in Week 8.

Gray averaged 5.1 yards a carry on Sunday. In the first quarter, he notched a 19-yard rush to set up New England’s first TD. In the second quarter, his 17-yard run helped lead to the Pats' third touchdown.Gray received just under 40 percent of the snaps in the game.

When Stevan Ridley went down with a torn ACL and MCL against Buffalo, Gray got promoted to the 53-man roster a day before the Patriots played the Jets. In his NFL debut last week, he ran for 12 yards on three carries.

It looks safe to say he's passed Brandon Bolden and James White on the Patriots depth chart, and with Shane Vereen being more of a scat-back, Gray looks like the new Stevan Ridley in this offense.

Panthers RB Jonathan Stewart

Between Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams, it's never a god idea to rely on Panthers RBs to stay healthy, but when Stewart is, he's a quality player. In his second game back from a knee injury, Stewart notched 16 carries into 79 yards (4.9 ypc) in a tough matchup against the Seahawks and even caught three passes for 15 yards.

As the Panthers’ No. 1 RB, Stewart will be worth adding and starting with a Week 9 matchup against the Saints on deck.

Ravens RB Lorenzo Taliaferro

With Bernard Pierce a healthy scratch Sunday, Lorenzo Taliaferro nearly carried the Ravens back from defeat against the Bengals. He scored two touchdowns in the second half, the last putting Baltimore up 21-20. He also chipped in two catches for 42 yards.

The rookie from Coastal Carolina is never going to rack up big yards consistently (he had just 27 yards on seven carries Sunday), but he;s done enough to earn "Bye-Week flyer" status.

As long as he's the No. 2 RB behind Justin Forsett, Taliaferro is someone to consider in leagues you're in need of RB help in.

Now, here's a look at the guys you need to drop.

Browns RB Isaiah Crowell

With Ben Tate and Terrance West now cemented as Cleveland's top backs, Isaiah Crowell rushed once for one yard and caught one pass for eight yards in the Browns' Week 8 win over the Raiders. Ever since Tate returned from injury, Crowell has rarely seen the field.

He's carried the ball just seven times for 18 yards in Week 7 to go with one catch for five yards. That's 32 yards over two games. Time for Crowell to go back to the waiver wire.

Raiders RB Maurice Jones-Drew

Once arguably the best RB in fantasy football, Maurice Jones-Drew is now a shell of himself, and so are his fantasy prospects. He was held to eight yards on six carries and had a six-yard catch in the Raiders' Week 8 loss to the Browns.

The most carries MJD has gotten this year was nine in Week 1, and he's gotten just 15 over his last four games combined. If you're holding out hope he's going to look anything like his former self, abandon all hope and boot him off your roster.

Jets RB Chris Johnson

Like the aforementioned MJD, Chris Johnson looks like a shell of his once great self. He was held to three carries for seven yards in Sunday's Week 8 loss to the Bills to go with two catches for 13 yards.

The Jets are rotating Chris Ivory, Bilal Powell and CJ2k in what has become one of the worst RB rotations in the NFL  for one of the worst teams in football.

Time to drop Johnson.