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2019 Fantasy Football Rankings: Running backs for Week 7

The Week 7 ARI at NYG showdown reigns supreme.

By NHB
NFL: New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

Saquon Barkley and David Johnson are primed to feed on each other’s production, en route to the top running back finishes. Leonard Fournette marches to Cincinnati with an albatross of a ceiling. Aaron Jones nearly falls out of the Top 12 after an embarrassing Monday Night Football performance and the RB2 ranks are dominated by a Hydra of two-headed backfields.

Byes: Panthers, Browns, Steelers, Buccaneers

Week 7 Running Back Rankings

Rank Running Back Team Opponent High Floor/ High Ceiling RB1s
Rank Running Back Team Opponent High Floor/ High Ceiling RB1s
1 Saquon Barkley NYG ARI Barkley should be back in time for a date with the hapless Cardinals' defense.
2 David Johnson ARI at NYG And David Johnson will be there to answer Barkely's stellar performance with one of his own.
3 Dalvin Cook MIN at DET He's a Top 5 RB, regardless of the matchup. Mike Daniels and Da'Shawn Hand's presumed absences are noteworthy for his ceiling though.
4 Leonard Fournette JAX at CIN Massive blow-up spot here. Could contend for Week 7's overall RB1 finish against this defense.
5 Chris Carson SEA BAL Only the Bengals have been unable to smash the Ravens' run defense in recent weeks.
6 Ezekiel Elliott DAL PHI Although it's a challenging matchup, Elliott can only be dropped so far down the rankings.
7 Derrick Henry TEN LAC Henry put up his first dud of the season last week. But, the Chargers' run defense has given up .5-PPR finishes of RB6 and RB1 performances to Phillip Lindsay and James Conner, respectively, over the last two weeks.
8 Mark Ingram II BAL at SEA Chris Carson's Week 7 counterpart should see ample touches in a close contest.
9 Josh Jacobs OAK at GB Green Bay's run defense has been a run-funnel this year.
10 Aaron Jones GB OAK The ease of the matchup keeps Jones from tumbling into the RB2 realm after a bad showing on Monday Night Football.
11 Le'Veon Bell NYJ NE It's a brutal matchup but he should rack up 20 touches.
12 Marlon Mack IND HOU Mack's ankle should be significantly healthier, coming off the bye week. 20-25 touches can be expected for Indy's focal point.
High Floor/High Ceiling RB2s
13 Todd Gurley II LAR at ATL We love running backs facing the Falcons.
14 Phillip Lindsay DEN KC Kansas City can't stop giving points to opposing backfields.
15 Tevin Coleman SF at WAS Coleman has taken over as the Niners' lead back. A matchup with Washington puts him firmly on the RB2 map.
16 Kerryon Johnson DET MIN He's been a reliable RB2 producer but has shown no RB1 ceiling to speak of.
17 Devonta Freeman ATL LAR Freeman begrudgingly gets this ranking, based on his matchup.
18 Matt Breida SF at WAS Washington's run defense poor play can't be overstated.
19 Royce Freeman DEN KC This is a very strong matchup. Freeman's got a good shot at scoring.
20 Sony Michel NE at NYJ Another great chance for Michel to find the end zone.
21 Latavius Murray NO at CHI Murray should see 20 touches in tough matchup with Alvin Kamara sidelined.
22 Devin Singletary BUF MIA Fire up your Bills!
High Floor/Capped Ceiling RB2s
23 Austin Ekeler LAC at TEN Ekeler is losing touches but still outplaying Melvin Gordon III. This is a bet on talent.
24 David Montgomery CHI NO Game script should fall relatively in Montgomery's favor.
High Floor/Capped Ceiling RB3s
25 Carlos Hyde HOU at IND Hyde's locked in for 18, or more, gross looking carries.
26 Damien Williams KC at DEN The KC offense goes as Patrick Mahomes' ankle does.
27 Melvin Gordon III LAC at TEN Gordon should see 12-15 touches this week. He's not playing well though.
28 Miles Sanders PHI at DAL Sanders finally added a touchdown to his steady yardage production. He's locked up the receiving back role, making him an excellent flex option this week.
29 Joe Mixon CIN JAX The Cincinnati offensive line just can't get him room to run.
30 Jordan Howard PHI at DAL Dallas's run defense is becoming one to target.
31 Jamaal Wiliams GB OAK Williams was granted lead back status during MNF after Jones lost a fumble and dropped a long touchdown pass. We can expect Jones to regain the 1A job, but it's probably closer to a split backfield than it was the Jones Show while Williams was out with a concussion.
32 Adrian Peterson WAS SF Peterson should see 20+ carries, regardless of game script.
33 James White NE at NYJ White's .5-PPR floor remains rock-solid. He's a sure thing for 9 points or so in this matchup too.
34 Frank Gore BUF MIA Gore should see around 10 touches. Against the Miami defense, that deserves low ceiling flex consideration.
35 Tarik Cohen CHI NO Cohen should see 10 or more touches this week.
The Shaky Floor/Capped Ceiling RB3
36 LeSean McCoy KC at DEN Denver had been a run defense to target, entering Week 6. McCoy 's locked in for his 8-11 carry workload but if last week's Denver defense comes to play, McCoy is best left on benches.
Shaky Floor/Capped Ceiling RB4s
37 Kenyan Drake MIA at BUF Mark Walton was given the start but Drake ended up getting the most work.
38 Chase Edmonds ARI at NYG Edmonds may need to be higher on this list. He's turned in back-to-back double-digit performances and would be a Top 12 option should DJ's back injury cause him to miss time.
39 Brandon Bolden NE at NYJ Bolden's been balling in the box score as of late.
40 Ito Smith ATL LAR Theoretically, Smith should see a decent number of touches and goal line work. That wasn't the case last week though.
41 Darrell Henderson Jr. LAR at ATL Henderson soundly outplayed Malcolm Brown on his handful of touches last week.
Low Floor/Low Ceiling RB4s
42 Mark Walton MIA at BUF Buffalo is interested in seeing what they have in Walton.
43 Alexander Mattison MIN at DET The handcuff could see a little run.
44 Jalen Richard OAK at GB Richard could get work as Oakland tries to keep up with Green Bay.
45 Gus Edwards BAL at SEA The Bus should see 5 or so touches against Seattle.
46 JD McKissic DET MIN McKissic seems to have passed Ty Johnson on the depth chart.
47 Nyheim Hines IND HOU Could provide some PPR value.
48 Dwayne Washington NO at CHI Washington assumes the No. 2 RB role for New Orleans with Alvin Kamara and his bum ankle declared Out, ahead of Sunday's matchup with the Bears.
Source links: Lions injuries and LAC’s run defense.

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