Michael Carter, Austin Estime Lead Week 16 Fantasy Football Running Back Streamers

With the fantasy football playoffs in full swing, Week 16 is the time to get aggressive on the waiver wire, and these running back streamers could be the difference between advancing and going home.

Arizona Cardinals running back Michael Carter (22) takes the field before their game against the San Francisco 49ers at State Farm Stadium on Glendale on Nov. 16, 2025. | Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The second round of the fantasy football playoffs is here, and we need our teams to perform at their best. That means finding the right running backs to plug into our lineups. If we don't have an option that we feel comfortable plugging into our lineups, we may have to find a streaming option. These are the top running back streaming options for Week 16.

Michael Carter, Arizona Cardinals

Trey Benson and Bam Knight have both been placed on injured reserve, ending their seasons. That propels Carter into the projected RB1 role in Arizona. Last week, Carter carried the ball 14 times and saw four targets, which he turned into 96 yards. Emari Demercado saw one carry and three targets, which he turned into one yard. We are going with Carter this week over Demercado in fantasy, despite Demercado's big-play upside.  

Audric Estime, New Orleans Saints

New Orleans Saints running back Audric Estime (30) leaps over Carolina Panthers cornerback Jaycee Horn (8) during the second quarter at Caesars Superdome. | Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

Devin Neal has been ruled out for Week 16, and Alvin Kamara is still nursing a knee injury. That leaves the backfield work to Estime and Evan Hull. The due split carries 4 - 3 with Neal going down, but it was Estime who saw three targets to Hull's zero. With this backfield being almost a complete mystery, we are going to roll with the potential PPR upside of Estime. Quarterback Tyler Shough has gotten fantasy value out of his running backs through the air this season.  

Samaje Perine, Cincinnati Bengals

Perine has seen 14 carries in two of his past three games and three targets in those two games. It makes little sense why, and he hasn't done much with his touches, failing to rush for more than 3.0 yards per carry in either of those games, but that kind of volume can't be ignored. If you are looking to stream a running back, grabbing a guy who can get 15 opportunities against a Miami Dolphins defense with nothing left to play for is hard to overlook.  

Jordan Mason, Minnesota Vikings

Minnesota Vikings running back Jordan Mason (27) rushes the ball against the Washington Commanders during the second half at U.S. Bank Stadium. | Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

Mason is coming off a down week; however, he had rushed for at least 42 yards in the four previous games and scored two touchdowns during that span. This week, he draws the New York Giants in Week 16, who are allowing the second-most fantasy points to running backs this season, and just got torched by Jacory Croskey-Merritt in Week 15. He should have a strong outing in this matchup.    

Devin Singletary, New York Giants

Singletary only carried the ball five times and saw one carry last week. However, in his three previous games, he had carried the ball a total of 42 times for 159 yards and three touchdowns, rushing for at least 44 yards in all three games. He also caught four passes for 37 yards. We don't know if his volume will come back this week, but we do expect him to at least maintain his goal-line job.