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Fantasy Football Rankings: Running backs for Week 3

Ranking the best running backs by matchup and opportunity for Week 3 of the 2018 NFL Season.  

By NHB Updated
NFL: Carolina Panthers at Atlanta Falcons Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

We’re onto Week 3! Here are my running back rankings for Week 3.

RB rankings - Week 3

Rank RB Team Opponent High Floor/High Ceiling RB1s
Rank RB Team Opponent High Floor/High Ceiling RB1s
1 Alvin Kamara NO at ATL Atlanta is the NFL's worst defense at stopping pass catching RBs…
2 Todd Gurley II LAR LAC Even in a tough matchup, you can count on Gurley.
3 Ezekiel Elliot DAL at SEA Seattle D is now a plus matchup for opposing offenses. Zeke should easily go over 20 touches.
4 James Conner PIT at TB Conner gets another full workload against a weak TB defense.
5 Saquon Barkley NYG at HOU Saquon surives on volume and talent, even in a terrible offense with bad play calling.
6 Melvin Gordon LAC at LAR The RB4 will continue to put up numbers, even in a tough matchup.
7 Christian McCaffrey CAR CIN McCaffrey is the focal points of the Panthers' offense.
8 Kareem Hunt KC SF Every KC and SF starter has a good chance to score this week.
9 Tevin Coleman ATL NO Coleman is the real deal and he's got a great matchup and a full workload on tap.
10 Leonard Fournette JAX TEN Assuming he's healthy, Fournette's got a great matchup against a weak Tennessee D.
11 Latavius Murray MIN BUF Latavius is in for a serious workload against the one of the NFL's worst run defenses. Buffalo has allowed the most rushing TDs (4) in the league so far this season.
Low Floor/High Ceiling RB1s
12 David Johnson ARI CHI Arizona's offensive ineptitude is hampering one of the NFL's most dynamic play makers.
High Floor/High Ceiling RB2s
13 Jordan Howard CHI at ARI Howard should bounce back against an atrocious ARI D.
14 Giovani Bernard CIN at CAR Gio's locked-in for bellcow duties. His all-around skill set should guarantee close to 20 touches.
Low Floor/High Ceiling RB2s
15 Marshawn Lynch OAK at MIA Lynch has a secure, high-volume workload.
16 Matt Breida SF at KC Breida may have separated himself as the 1A last week and now he tees off against the NFL's worst defense.
17 Lamar Miller HOU NYG The workload's there, even if the talent's not. Good matchup too.
18 Kenyan Drake MIA OAK The talent's there, even if the workload's not. Good matchup too. (HA)
19 Carlos Hyde CLE NYJ Hyde is getting by on volume but has a tough matchup this week.
20 Corey Clement PHI IND Clement should see close to 20 touches against Indy's quesitonable defense this week.
21 Chris Thompson WAS GB Thompson is effectively the lead back in WAS. He's Smith's favorite target and WAS will be forced to throw against GB.
22 Rex Burkhead NE at DET With Rex at full health once again, he should resume his role as the goal line back while mixing in between the 20s as a RB & slot receiver.
23 Alex Collins BAL DEN Workload concerns and a tough matchup lower him considerably this week.
24 Phillip Lindsay DEN at BAL Need to see the young play-maker do it against a top-tier defense this week.
High Floor/High Ceiling RB3s
25 Dion Lewis TEN at JAX Dump-off passes to Lewis should be a featured part of the gameplan this week.
26 James White NE at DET His passing game role should keep him relevant in what could be a shootout.
Low Floor/High Ceiling RB3s
27 Austin Ekeler LAC at LAR Ekeler now has standalone value and Gordon is slightly banged up.
28 Adrian Peterson WAS GB Peterson is washed up but could produce on volume -- also, he could not.
29 Isaiah Crowell NYJ CLE CLE has an underrated defense, with Larry Ogunjobi wreaking havoc in opposing backfields.
30 LeSean McCoy BUF at MIN McCoy may not even play this week. If he does, it's still an awful matchup.
31 Jamaal Williams GB at WAS Williams simply isn't doing enough with his touches.
32 Aaron Jones GB at WAS The electric play-maker could force McCarthy's hand in Jones' return to action.
33 Alfred Morris SF at KC Apparently the 1B now, he could still produce against the NFL's worst defense.
34 Royce Freeman DEN at BAL Freeman is being out-played by Lindsay at the moment. This is a tough matchup, on top of that.
34 Kerryon Johnson DET NE Kerryon could break out this week. He was far and away the most effective DET runner in Week 2.
35 Derrick Henry TEN at JAX He's the 1B in a BAD matchup.
36 Javorius "Buck" Allen BAL DEN Even if he's playing poorly, he's being given goal line work.
RB4s
37 Peyton Barber TB PIT Barber has no floor and no ceiling but could fall into the endzone in an decent matchup.
38 Bilal Powell NYJ at CLE Tough to see him producing much this week but the talent is there.
39 Sony Michel NE at DET It's only his second NFL game and Burkhead is fully healthy/will be part of the game plan this week. I expect to rank Michel in the RB2/3 realm next week but we need to see how his knee held up after last week.
40 Chris Carson SEA DAL Carson's the best RB on Seattle's roster and Carroll's catching a lot of flack for betraying his "always compete" mantra by playing "favorites" with the rookie Penny.
41 Theo Riddick DET NE The pass catching back should see solid work as the Lions attempt to keep up with New England.
42 Frank Gore MIA OAK Gore isn't going away.
43 Jordan Wilkins IND at PHI He's the best RB on the roster. Hopefully he gets more work after Mack re-aggravated his hamstring.
44 Tarik Cohen CHI at ARI Even if he sees limited touches, anyone can score against Arizona.
45 T.J. Yeldon JAX TEN Yeldon should still see 8 or so touches against a weak Tennessee defense.
46 Ito Smith ATL NO Smith played well filling the 1B running back role in Atlanta last week.
47 Marcus Murphy BUF at MIN LeSean McCoy is banged up. Once this game is out of hand, it's possible Murphy sees fruitful garbage time action. He's a more explosive player than Chris Ivory.
48 Jalen Richard OAK at MIA Richard was a favorite of Carr's in Week 1. If MIA can get up early, OAK may be forced to throw -- which would mean more work for Richard.

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