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Week 10 Running Back Rankings - PPR Leagues

Examining the best matchups for week ten running backs from a point per reception-league standpoint.

By Matias Wodner
Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

If you need any more reason to not play fantasy football, just take me as an example. In one of my two leagues, I'm 2-7 and in last place, yet I have the third-most points in the entire league. I've been blessed with some of the worst head-to-head matchups nearly every week. I'm probably going to miss the playoffs, when I could possibly win the league if I made it (as I should). But enough of my whining and sob stories, let's get to the running back rankings for this week!

Rank Player Team Opponent Analysis
1 David Johnson ARI SF Best fantasy running back goes up against the worst run defense. Fireworks incoming.
2 Ezekiel Elliott DAL @PIT The Steelers run defense got back on track last week, but Zeke will give them a huge setback this week.
3 Melvin Gordon SD MIA He's looked phenomenal over the past two weeks and now gets an easy matchup in the Dolphins who just got torched by Matt Forte.
4 Le'Veon Bell PIT DAL The Cowboys haven't given up many fantasy points to the position because they hold the ball for so long on offense. That won't matter with Bell, who's a really good best to get his first touchdown of the year this week.
5 Jay Ajayi MIA @SD Who saw this development coming before the season? Coming off three straight 20+ point performances, Ajayi is a top five play against a Chargers defense that bleeds fantasy points to the position.
6 DeMarco Murray TEN GB The matchup is easily Murray's toughest this season, but Frank Gore went for 20 fantasy points against them last week and Murray has been dynamite every week.
7 Lamar Miller HOU JAX Fresh off a bye week, fully healed from a minor shoulder injury and in line for a lot of touches against a Jags defense that has given up seven rushing touchdowns on the year.
8 Jordan Howard CHI @TB John Fox finally committed to feeding Howard against a great Vikings defense and JoHo responded with 202 total yards and a touchdown. Now he gets an embarrassing Bucs defense.
9 Mark Ingram NO DEN I know better than to believe in Sean Payton to do the right thing, but if he doesn't continue to give Ingram carries this week then Payton is dead to me. The Broncos run defense is coming undone at the seams.
10 Devonta Freeman ATL @PHI If Tevin Coleman is out again or limited, Freeman could be in line for another big workload in a decent matchup.
11 Matt Forte NYJ LA Forte has looked great over the past three weeks and his fantasy numbers can back it up. The matchup isn't great, but he's getting the touches and being more than efficient enough with them to be an RB1.
12 Darren Sproles PHI ATL He's Philly's lead back at the moment. Atlanta hasn't been bad against the run in general, but they've given up the seventh most fantasy points to the position and are extremely vulnerable to receiving backs.
13 Terrance West BAL CLE Bit of an aggressive ranking considering he racked up a whopping 21 yards on 15 carries last week, but the Browns are horrible in every phase of their defense and the Ravens won't go away from the run game.
14 Devontae Booker DEN @NO I wish I could rank him higher given the glorious matchup, but he's been brutally ineffective in the last two games and now apparently Gary Kubiak believes Kapri Bibbs has earned more touches (sounds familiar doesn't it).
15 Jonathan Stewart CAR KC The Chiefs have been surprisingly bad on defense, with Chris Ivory the latest to run right through them. Stewart should bounce back nicely after not getting anything going against the Rams.
16 Todd Gurley LA @NYJ Receiving usage is keeping him afloat from a fantasy perspective right now, and he'll need it again this week against one of the league's premier run defenses.
17 Spencer Ware KC @CAR Tentatively expecting him to play, but this is a really tough matchup regardless. Ware's talent keeps him relatively high in the ranks, though.
18 LeGarrette Blount NE SEA The matchup warrants a bump down, but how far down? He plays in the most threatening offense and gets several goal-line opportunities every game while the Seahawks defense hasn't been great as of late.
19 Giovani Bernard CIN @NYG Gio and Hill are 1A and 1B, but Gio gets a boost in PPR formats. The Giants aren't an imposing matchup.
20 Peyton Barber TB CHI Barber isn't a sexy running back play, but he's literally the last man standing in the Bucs backfield. He'll get the bulk of the work with Mike James mixing in a bit. Every single Bucs running back gets injured, though, so there's injury risk here (just kidding, kind of).
21 DuJuan Harris SF @ARI In line for another start and a nice workload with Carlos Hyde looking unlikely to return. The matchup is tough, but Harris looks really good.
22 Chris Ivory JAX HOU I irrationally love Ivory this week, which means he'll total 13 yards. Hear me out, though. The Texans have given up three 20+ points and nine total double digit performances to running backs and Ivory is coming off a 100 yard effort in which he looked great.
23 Tim Hightower NO DEN Hightower will still get his fair share of carries even with Ingram coming off a huge game. And I repeat, the Broncos run defense is coming undone at the seams.
24 Jeremy Hill CIN @NYG The Giants are a good but not great matchup and Hill has looked pretty good over the last few weeks. Start him with reserved confidence.
25 Matt Asiata MIN @WAS I wish any Vikings running back was actually good so I could rank them high given the fantastic matchup, but instead we're stuck banking on a goal-line touchdown from Asiata.
26 Paul Perkins NYG CIN Was more effective than Rashad Jennings and continues to eat into his workload siginificantly. Only a matter of time before he supplants him, and he could do that with a good performance on Monday night against a weak Bengals run defense.
27 Christine Michael SEA @NE It was all good just a few weeks ago. He's not getting touches, is getting outsnapped by Prosise and gets a matchup in which the Seahawks might have to throw for the duration of the game.
28 Isaiah Crowell CLE @BAL If you start him, you're hanging your hat on the fact that he vaporized the Ravens defense in Week 2, but he's a very risky play considering his recent inefficiency and a revamped Ravens defense.
29 Rob Kelley WAS MIN Something has been up with the Vikes defense recently and teams have been able to run on them. Kelley is the best bet in the Redskins backfield as he's now the presumed starter.
30 Bilal Powell NYJ LA He's played stellar as of late, but his weekly touch counts aren't good enough to consider him a safe start.
31 T.J. Yeldon JAX HOU The Texans run defense is atrocious, so the Jags would be smart to attack them with both Yeldon and Ivory (50 Blake Bortles pass attempts incoming).
32 Ryan Mathews PHI ATL His snap counts have been disgustingly low, but he's a good bet for a touchdown in any given week, especially in a matchup like this.
33 Rashad Jennings NYG CIN Will still get his touches in a good matchup, but his hold on the starting job is dwindling quickly due to his terribleness.
34 Jerick McKinnon MIN @WAS Remember when he was a must-add after Adrian Peterson went down? Same. Good times.
35 Duke Johnson Jr. CLE @BAL I'm done trying to predict when his decent games will come. Their offense is so hit or miss it could just go nuclear-bad in any game.
36 Kenneth Dixon BAL CLE Was more involved in the offense and responded with 13 total yards on 11 touches. A riveting performance that will surely have the coaching staff excited going into next week. The matchup is so good, though.
37 Kapri Bibbs DEN @NO Gary Kubiak said that Bibbs has earned more opportunities, but I'll believe it when I see it. Still could do damage on limited touches against a horrible Saints defense.
38 Chris Thompson WAS MIN His passing game role is secure amid the lead back controversy, but it isn't too appealing of a position regardless.
39 C.J. Prosise SEA @NE The Prosise hype train came to a screeching halt with a four touch, 15 yard performance on Monday night. The Seahawks can't run and they might just stop trying to altogether, leaving Prosise very undesirable.
40 Terron Ward ATL @PHI He's looked pretty good as Freeman's breather back with Coleman out. If you're in a massive pickle at the position, you could do worse.
41 Damien Williams MIA @SD Williams has quietly gone for over 6.9 PPR points in each of his last four games, which isn't bad at all for the backup of one of the league's hottest runners. He has flex appeal in a good matchup.
42 Dion Lewis NE SEA Expected to be back this week. Could be eased in, but will probably lay waste to James White starting this week.
43 Ronnie Hillman MIN @WAS Was surprisingly heavily involved and looked good, but I wouldn't chase that good performance considering there is a two-headed committee in front of him.
44 Mike Davis SF @ARI Will backup DuJuan Harris if Hyde is out, but he is not very good at football.
45 James Starks GB @TEN Assuming he plays, I'm not expecting him to get too many touches coming off a multi-week injury.
46 Benny Cunningham LA @NYJ Gurley getting more pass game usage has hurt him, but he's still not a terrible deep play in PPR leagues.
47 Matt Jones WAS MIN If he fumbles one more time, I think the world will actually implode from within its core.
48 Antonio Andrews TEN GB DeMarco's backup with Derrick Henry injured, but don't expect much of anything.
49 Alfred Morris DAL @PIT He really only plays if the Cowboys are ahead by a lot, which isn't expected in this one.
50 Andre Ellington ARI SF He barely plays, but he might possibly house one on just one touch against one of the worst run defenses this league has ever seen.