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Fantasy Football Rankings: Running backs for Week 7

Ranking the best running backs by matchup and opportunity for Week 7 of the 2018 NFL Season.      

By NHB Updated
Chicago Bears v Miami Dolphins Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images

Can Matt Breida and Tarik Cohen finish Week 7 as RB1s? They sure can.

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Rank Running Back Team Opponent High-Floor/High-Ceiling RB1s
Rank Running Back Team Opponent High-Floor/High-Ceiling RB1s
1 Todd Gurley II LAR at SF At this point, Gurley is the RB1 ROS. McVay continues to scheme him in to 7-man boxes. There's no stopping either one of them.
2 Melvin Gordon LAC TEN On the surface, this looks like a tough matchup. Upon further inspection, the Titans have faced a cake-walk of opposing run games. Gordon will continue his dominant ways.
3 Saquon Barkley NYG at ATL Start your pass-catching RBs against ATL -- even if their quarterback is Eli Manning.
4 Joe Mixon CIN at KC Matchups against KC consistently turn into track meets. Mixon will feast.
5 Ezekiel Elliot DAL at WAS Similar to Tennessee, Dallas has only played well against sub-par run games.
6 Kareem Hunt KC CIN Early-season usage questions have been resoundingly put to rest. Hunt's a locked-in RB1.
7 Alvin Kamara NO at BAL It's a tough matchup, but Kamara will have had roughly 3 weeks to get his injured knee rested -- he'll ball.
8 Christian McCaffrey CAR PHI His lack of TD production is concerning but Saquon and Wayne Gallman just hung 271 combined yards on the Eagles. CMC will be fine.
9 David Johnson ARI DEN Moronic usage can be ignored here. Denver has allowed a combined 579 yards from scrimmage to the Jets and Rams RBs over the last two weeks…
10 Sony Michel NE at CHI Chicago has shut down opposing run games, but has not faced a truly potent one. Michel is a featured part of the Patriots offense. Don't shy away from him now.
Lower-Floor/High-Ceiling RB1s
11 Matt Breida SF LAR The Rams allow opposing offenses to waste time running the ball, while counting on their own high-octane offense to simply run up the score. Matt "Iron Man" Breida will put up numbers this week.
12 Tarik Cohen CHI NE This is the perfect matchup for Cohen to shine. New England's molasses defense won't be able to touch him and Chicago will be forced to throw, in order to keep up.
High-Floor/High-Ceiling RB2s
13 Phillip Lindsay DEN at ARI Lindsay will be featured in a Week 7 matchup against the league's worst run defense.
14 Tevin Coleman ATL NYG Devonta Freeman has been placed on IR. Coleman is barely out-snapping Ito Smith at this point (per Adam Levitan on twitter) but the matchup is right for both of them to eat.
15 Nick Chubb CLE at TB A near lock for 20 touches, Chubb makes his starter-debut against a banged up TB front.
Solid-Floor/Capped-Ceiling RB2s
16 Royce Freeman DEN at ARI The matchup is there for Freeman to eat in the second half.
17 Ito Smith ATL NYG He's getting the workload to produce and it's a great matchup.
18 James White NE at CHI 2018's Rock-solid, Dependable RB2.
19 T.J. Yeldon JAX HOU Yeldon should still operate as JAX's RB1 this week but he's no longer a bet for 20 touches.
20 Adrian Peterson WAS DAL Two offenses that like to grind out games on the ground.
21 Kerryon Johnson DET at MIA Limited workload be damned. Miami's run defense is a paper towel.
22 Mark Ingram NO at BAL He won't repeat his Week 5 workload but he's a lock to take on 10 or so touches in a scary-good offense.
Lower-Floor/High-Ceiling RB2s
23 Duke Johnson CLE at TB Johnson popped off for 109 yards on 6 touches last week. Hyde's exit opens up potentially 10 more opportunites against an injured TB defense that already struggled to contain pass-catching RBs.
24 Bilal Powell NYJ MIN Minnesota has struggled to contain pass-catching RBs this year.
25 Javorius Allen BAL NO The pass-catching back will be called upon to keep up with the Saints.
26 Marlon Mack IND BUF The workload appears to be there in this plus matchup.
High-Floor/Low-Ceiling RB3
27 Austin Ekeler LAC TEN Ekeler's outrageously efficient second-fiddle role will continue to produce dependable flex results.
Lower-Floor/High-Ceiling RB3s
28 Dalvin Cook MIN at NYJ If we get any sort of workload confirmation, Cook will fly up this list.
29 Corey Clement PHI CAR Clement turned this around last week and should lead this RB committee against Carolina.
30 Jordan Howard CHI NE Given his solid weekly touch-count, he's got a decent shot at a touchdown.
31 LeSean McCoy BUF at IND McCoy is approaching weekly flex consideration with moderately successful outings in Weeks 6 and 7. Indy D has been somewhat charitable to opposing running backs.
32 Alex Collins BAL NO Collins's looks to be regaining the trust of the coaching staff, however, this matchup does not bode well for his usage.
33 Isaiah Crowell NYJ MIN Crowell has been relatively matchup-dependent which is why he's an RB3 this week, rather than an RB2.
34 Frank Gore MIA DET Gore is only this high due to the cake-walk matchup and the coaching staff's affinity for the old-timer.
35 Peyton Barber TB CLE Barber immediately produced in Jameis Winston's first start of the year. He soundly out-played Ronald Jones and could rise on this list next week.
36 Chris Thompson WAS DAL If he can go, he should resume his role atop the Alex Smith target-tree.
RB4s
37 Nyheim Hines IND BUF The pass-catching back should retain 8-10 touches this week.
38 Raheem Mostert SF LAR Mostert looks to have surpassed Morris as the No. 2 RB in SF. He ran very well and should find open lanes, on a limited touch-count, against the Rams.
39 Wendell Smallwood PHI CAR Limited touches but he's in a good offense.
40 Kenyan Drake MIA DET If Gore tires, Drake could see a decent workload against a paltry Detroit run defense.
41 Latavius Murray MIN at NYJ Murray ran very well last week in-place of Dalvin Cook.
42 Dion Lewis TEN at LAC Lewis could see work as Tennessee tries to keep up with the Chargers offense.
43 LeGarrette Blount DET at MIA Miami has allowed the 9th most rushing TDs thus far. Blount could rumble in for a score.
44 Lamar Miller HOU at JAX Miller has resumed "bellcow" duties for the Texans offense.
45 Theo Riddick DET at MIA Riddick has a secure pass-catching role in the Detroit offense.
46 Devontae Booker DEN at ARI Booker could see garbage time usage.
47 Jordan Wilkins IND BUF Wilkins could see garbage time usage.
48 Jamaal Charles Jax HOU For those of us stuck in our glory days.

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