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Fantasy Football Rankings: Running backs for Week 15

Ranking the best running backs by matchup and opportunity for Week 15 of the 2018 NFL Season. 

By NHB
Los Angeles Chargers v Pittsburgh Steelers Photo by Joe Sargent/Getty Images

Week 15 brings us a changing of the guard at the top of the list. Outside of the top dogs, it’s slim pickin’s.

RB rankings - Week 15

Rank Running Back Team Opponent High-Floor/High-Ceiling RB1s
Rank Running Back Team Opponent High-Floor/High-Ceiling RB1s
1 Christian McCaffrey CAR NO There's a new Sheriff in town.
2 Todd Gurley II LAR PHI Gurley tumbles to the 2 spot as CMC dominates and Gurley's usage/results fluctuate over their last 3 games.
3 Ezekiel Elliott DAL at IND A great matchup for the productive workhorse.
4 Saquon Barkley NYG TEN Barkely will be needed -- and definitely will be used -- all game long.
5 Phillip Lindsay DEN CLE Denver's fighting tooth and nail for the AFC's 6th seed.
6 Joe Mixon CLE OAK Oakland: The Fountain of Youth.
7 Leonard Fournette JAX WAS Solid matchup for the bellcow.
8 Nick Chubb CLE DEN 20+ touches incoming.
9 Alvin Kamara NO at CAR His lowest ranking of the year -- it's a great spot for him to get back on track.
10 Aaron Jones GB at CHI Jones is getting it done despite questionable usage. Rodgers will get him going against Chicago.
11 David Johnson ARI at ATL Atlanta: The Land of Running Back Receptions
12 Dalvin Cook MIN MIA He's performed solidly enough that we can trust him to take advantage of a great matchup.
High-Floor/High-Ceiling RB2s
13 Chris Carson SEA at SF High-volume and a stellar matchup.
14 Lamar Miller HOU at NYJ Similar to the man above him, he'll get the touches and it's a good matchup.
15 Justin Jackson LAC at KC With Ekeler in the concussion protocol and Gordon's knee still ailing, Jackson is locked-in for bellcow duties.
16 Damien Williams KC LAC KC's new lead back should perform in his bellcow role.
17 Sony Michel NE at PIT Michel got 20 carries last week but flopped. His workload is seemingly secure though and that's what's important.
18 Tarik Cohen CHI GB Cohen had an absurd 14 targets last week. He's the team's top receiving option -- and that's good news for the upcoming shootout.
19 Jaylen Samuels PIT NE Samuels is a solid RB2 in standard scoring, a high-end RB2 in PPR, and an elite TE in Yahoo! Leagues.
20 Gus Edwards BAL TB He's losing touches but I think Harbaugh will try to control the clock with Edwards and their defense in an attempt to prevent Tampa Bay's offense from opening things up.
High-Floor/Capped-Ceiling RB2s
21 Doug Martin OAK at CIN Martin's highest ranking on the year, the Cincy D is just that generous. The workload will be there too.
22 Marlon Mack IND DAL Mack will receive a decent touch-count but it's unlikely we see a high-ceiling game against the stout Dallas run D.
23 Josh Adams PHI at LAR Adams should see double digit carries against the paltry Rams run D -- he's a zero in the passing game though.
The Penultimate Zero-Floor/Sky-High-Ceiling RB2 of 2018
24 Derrick Henry TEN at NYG Hot off of his record-setting showing in Week 14, Henry enters a prime matchup against NYG's awful run defense. Hopefully Henry's bulldozing ballerina display last week finally puts to rest the idea that the man who at worst matched Adrian Peterson's legendary NFL Combine performance, weighing a mammoth 247lbs -- 30lbs heavier than Peterson -- is a "plodder".
High-Floor/Capped-Ceiling RB3s
25 James White NE at PIT Pittsburgh linebackers have been victimized by RBs through the air this year.
26 Matt Breida SF SEA Breida's ranking is tentative. If he plays, he'll likely be somewhat limited.
27 Mark Ingram NO at CAR Ingram should see some second-half work. There's a good chance the Saints are up by a bit after the break.
28 Jordan Howard CHI GB Howard had a solid touch-count last week. He should continue his grinder ways.
Shaky-Floor/Capped-Ceiling RB3s
29 Elijah McGuire NYJ HOU If he's a go, McGuire will be the Jets's lead back this weekend.
30 Kenyan Drake MIA MIN It's a tough matchup but he's performed well as of late. Still, he's a shaky option.
31 Adrian Peterson WAS at JAX Peterson could benefit from a slow game-script as both team trades rushing attempts.
32 Tevin Coleman ATL ARI He's been unusable for sometime now but this is a matchup you'd consider flexing him in.
33 Zach Zenner DET at BUF Zenner outplayed Blount last week and he Detroit's facing off against a vulnerable Buffalo run defense.
34 Kenneth Dixon BAL TB Dixon's getting more work and TB's been worked by RBs through the air.
35 Peyton Barber TB at BAL It's a very difficult matchup but Barber is almost guaranteed 15 or so touches.
36 Nyheim Hines IND DAL Hines could be used to neutralize Dallas's D Line via the passing game.

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