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2019 Fantasy Football Rankings: Running backs for Week 12

Nick Chubb prepares for his best showing of 2019.

By NHB
NFL: Cleveland Browns at Baltimore Ravens Mitchell Layton-USA TODAY Sports

Familiar faces like Christian McCaffrey (at NO), Derrick Henry (JAX), and Josh Jacobs (at NYJ) make up the position’s Top 10. Jaylen Samuels (at CIN) and Mark Ingram II (at LAR) take up the final two RB1 slots. Samuels is boosted by the outstanding matchup, Ingram by his outstanding offense, despite facing a stout Rams’ front. Both backs have great matchups and should see a high volume of touches while their respective starters recuperate. Nick Chubb should provide owners with an healthy box score result in his matchup with Miami. Chris Carson (at PHI) gets pushed to the top of RB2 zone, given his tough matchup, meanwhile Kareem Hunt (MIA) and Bo Scarbrough (at WAS) squeak into the back of the tier on account of their good matchups.

Teams on bye: Arizona Cardinals, Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Chargers, and the Minnesota Vikings.

Week 12 Running Back Rankings

Rank Running Back Team Opponent High Floor/High Ceiling RB1s
Rank Running Back Team Opponent High Floor/High Ceiling RB1s
1 Christian McCaffrey CAR at NO For CMC, matchup is largely irrelevant.
2 Saquon Barkley NYG at CHI Chicago's run defense is subpar.
3 Ezekiel Elliott DAL at NE Similar to CMC, matchups are mostly irrelevant to type of bell cow. Good matchups enhance his ceiling but tough ones don't drop his floor.
4 Derrick Heny TEN JAX Jacksonville's run defense is very bad.
5 Le'Veon Bell NYJ OAK Bell's ROS schedule is to die for.
6 Leonard Fournette JAX at TEN This Battle of the Backs matchup should play well for a running back-centric game script.
7 Nick Chubb CLE MIA There's a good chance that this date with Miami is Chubb's best performance of 2019. Kareem Hunt's presence takes potential targets off of Chubb's plate but Chubb still racked up 27 carries last week.
8 Alvin Kamara NO CAR Kamara really has not had the RB1 season we'd hoped for. As we discussed last week via Adam Levitan's tweet though (tweet linked below), Carolina's run defense is as bad as it gets.
9 Josh Jacobs OAK at NYJ Another eruption spot for Jacobs.
10 Aaron Jones GB at SF San Fran's defense has been pummeled as of late.
11 Jaylen Samuels PIT at CIN With James Conner re-aggravating his bizarre AC joint sprain (that really shouldn't have affected him -- there might be more at play here), Samuels gets a dreamy matchup against the woeful Cincinnati defense.
12 Mark Ingram II BAL at LAR Tough matchup but the offense is firing on all cylinders.
High Floor/High Ceiling RB2s
13 Chris Carson SEA at PHI Brutally challening matchup but he will receive workhorse usage.
14 Tevin Coleman SF GB Green Bay's run defense can't stop anyone. Should be a ceiling game here for Coleman.
15 Phillip Lindsay DEN at BUF Buffalo seemingly allows its opponents to run the ball so as to push offenses towards the less efficient means of moving the ball. That sets up well for Lindsay's box score status.
16 Joe Mixon CIN PIT Mixon has suddenly become the focal point of the Bengals' offense during Ryan Finley's tenure.
17 Todd Gurley II LAR BAL Gurley's workload is on the upswing, which buoys him in a tough matchup.
18 Devin Singletary BUF DEN Singletary can be billed for 15+ touches per week at this point.
19 Miles Sanders PHI SEA Jordan Howard could be out for an extended period of time with his stinger. Sanders will operate as Philly's lead back against a bad Seattle defense.
20 Carlos Hyde HOU IND Hyde shoud see 20 or so touches.
21 Jonathan Williams IND at HOU 13-15 touches for Williams is a solid bet. Jordan Wilkins should see 7 or so with Nyheim Hines operating independently as a pure-passing game option.
22 Kareem Hunt CLE MIA Hunt should be a high-end flex play this week. Should be the Browns get up on Miami, it's possible Hunt sees extensive work late in the game.
23 Bo Scarbrough DET at WAS The Lions' RB carousel continues. Scarbrough is likely to see 15+ carries as Matt Patricia's new banger.
24 Jamaal Williams GB at SF Williams should see his requisite 12-15 touches in a winnable matchup this week.
High Floor/Capped Ceiling RB3s
25 David Montgomery CHI NYG Even on a questionable ankle, Montgomery should be able to produce as a high-end flex.
26 Devonta Freeman ATL TB Freeman is supposedly on track to play this week. It's a brutal matchup from a rushing perspective though.
27 Ronald Jones II TB at ATL The change in defensive play caller responsibilities has immediately elevated this defense to a near-dominant level.
28 Adrian Peterson WAS DET Peterson should retain a featured role in the offense, despite Derrius Guice looking good late last week.
29 James White NE DAL White's passing game prowess will be necessary in this one.
30 Tarik Cohen CHI NYG Cohen has outplayed the banged up Montgomery. He should be a viable flex in this solid matchup.
31 Benny Snell Jr. PIT at CIN Snell is expected to return this week. He'd immediately take on 10 touches or so in a stellar matchup.
32 Matt Breida SF GB Breida's ankle injury isn't too bad. He's got a grea shot to return for a good matchup this week.
33 Kalen Ballage MIA at CLE Ballage will get the touches to be flex-relevant.
34 Derrius Guice WAS DET Guice should see 10 or so touches.
35 Royce Freeman DEN at BUF Freeman's workload is likely in the 8-10 touch range.
36 Nyheim Hines IND at HOU He's a solid PPR-only flex option. 8-10 touches is a reasonable.
N/A Jordan Wilkins IND at HOU Wilkins is likely to get single digit touches, unless Jonathan Williams falters. He's a worthy add though, given his competent dual threat capabilities.

Source links: Nick Chubb’s Week 11 workload, Carolina’s run defense per Adam Levitan, and the Indianapolis Colts’ injury report.

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