Week 5 Running Back Rankings- PPR Leagues

We are officially a quarter into the NFL season and in most fantasy leagues, we are 31 percent into the season. Some notable backs did not play in Week 4 as Marshawn Lynch, LeSean McCoy, Andre Ellington, and Tevin Coleman all sat out. Lance Dunbar suffered a season ending injury which opens the door for Christine Michael. We also saw the return of Arian Foster, but it was an underwhelming return as he carried the ball eight times for 10 yards. Let's move on to Week 5 and check out this week's top 50 PPR backs.

Le'Veon Bell is the number one ranked back this week and that will likely be the case moving forward. He has scored a touchdown in each game since returning from suspension and has topped 100 total yards. Game flow doesn't affect him and he should continue being a high volume back.

Some new faces to the top 10 are: Arian Foster, Dion Lewis, and Todd Gurley. As I mentioned above, Foster had a disappointing game last week as he returned from injury. This week he has a favorable matchup against the Colts who have allowed 95+ rushing yards in three of their four games and have surrendered four touchdowns this season. In seven career games against the Colts, Foster has yet rushed for less than 96 yards and has eclipsed 100 rushing yards in five of those contests, and also has eight touchdowns. Needless to say, he has crushed the Colts in just about every game he's faced them.

Being that these are PPR rankings, Lewis becomes an RB1. He has 19 targets in the first three games and has caught 15 passes for 179 yards and a touchdown. He receives nearly 15 percent of the team's targets. The matchup is also appealing as the Cowboys have allowed 33 receptions and the second most receiving yards to opposing backs. Running backs are averaging 9.25 targets against the Cowboys. The Cowboys have allowed back to back 100+ rushing yards games as well and four rushing touchdowns in those games. Lewis who is averaging a tad less than 15 fantasy points per game should continue to strive against a subpar run defense.

Gurley showed his power and explosiveness in the second half of last week's game against the Cardinals. If it wasn't because the team was trying to kill the clock, he would have scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter. Instead, he dropped to the floor before reaching the end zone. He rushed 19 times for 146 yards averaging 7.7 yards per carry. The matchup isn't ideal, but the Packers have shown some vulnerability against the run in previous games. They've surrendered four touchdowns in the first four games. Gurley will likely see the bulk of the carries and could build off of his great Week 4 performance.

Another rookie who had success in Week 4 was T.J. Yeldon. He rushed for over 100 yards for the first time in his NFL career. This week he has a favorable matchup against the Bucs defense who have allowed three 100+ rushing yard games this season and four rushing touchdowns. Yeldon has yet scored a touchdown in the NFL, but that could change this week. On the opposite side is Doug Martin who is coming off of his biggest game of the season and it came against a stout run defense. He looks to carry that momentum against a mediocre Jags run defense. A familiar face in the top 20 is Danny Woodhead. He continues to be a solid running back in PPR formats and is the only back in the league that has 100 percent of his team's red zone rushing attempts. He averages five targets per game and a little over 10 yards per target. He should remain a big part of this offense. Best of luck to all this week!