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2020 Fantasy Football Rankings: Running backs for Week 6

Tiered RB rankings for Week 6.

NFL: Green Bay Packers at Minnesota Vikings Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

NFL Week 6 starts Sunday and here are my running back rankings for fantasy football this week.

Alexander Mattison storms his way into the top five, playing in place of the injured Dalvin Cook. Todd Gurley and David Montgomery squeak into the back-end of the RB1 ranks. Phillip Lindsay is suddenly a mid-tier RB2 with Melvin Gordon’s expected DUI-caused absence. Chase Edmonds leapfrogs backfield partner Kenyan Drake and Matt Breida makes for a sneaky flex play.

Week 6’s .5PPR Tiered Running Back Rankings

Rank High-Floor/High-Ceiling RB1s Team Opponent Breakdown
Rank High-Floor/High-Ceiling RB1s Team Opponent Breakdown
1 Ezekiel Elliott DAL ARI Arizona's hole-filled defense won't stand a chance.
2 Derrick Henry TEN HOU The Texans defense has allowed the most rushing yards in the NFL (sourced below).
3 Mike Davis CAR CHI The Bears' run-funnel defense keeps Davis a Top 3 option.
4 Aaron Jones GB at TB Tampa Bay's defense funnels passes to running backs via emergency outlet passes as their overall stout defense thwarts intended game plans.
5 Alexander Mattison MIN ATL Minnesota will live in Atlanta's red zone.
6 Miles Sanders PHI BAL Baltimore is weaker than you think against the run.
7 Kareem Hunt CLE at PIT Tough match-up but massive workload incoming.
8 James Conner PIT CLE Battle of the Backs on tap.
9 James Robinson JAX DET Robinson's been producing at his fantasy floor over the last two weeks but against a Detroit front-seven that's set to chance. Detroit has allowed totals like Aaron Jones' 236-yards from scrimmage, four catches, and three touchdowns. Alvin Kamara and Latavius Murray combined for 202-yards from scrimmage, plus the exact same catch & touchdown total (sourced below).
10 Todd Gurley ATL at MIN Another TD-friendly match-up for Gurley.
11 Clyde Edwards-Helaire KC at BUF Buffalo's run defense has not met expectations.
12 David Montgomery CHI at CAR Fire up your Bears in one of the best match-ups they'll see all year.
Rank High-Floor/High-Ceiling RB2s Team Opponent Breakdown
13 Jonathan Taylor IND CIN Even in a decent match-up, Taylor can't be trusted for locked-in RB1 production. Last week's slight bump in snaps (sourced below) was encouraging but this really is a 3-man committee at the moment. Given the talent and scheme, he's still a great start against Cincinnati though.
14 Raheem Mostert SF LAR The Rams haven't been world-beaters against the run.
15 Joe Mixon CIN at IND Very tough match-up but his uptick in targets over the last two weeks is extremely encouraging (sourced below).
16 Myles Gaskin MIA NYJ Gaskin scored on 1st Quarter goal-line carry (sourced below) after the bench kept a healthy Jordan Howard, the team's nominal goal-line back, off of the active roster last week. This is a huge development that rockets Gaskin's value into the high-end RB2 range. Facing a hapless Jets' front-seven sets up for a very nice outing for the budding back.
17 Ronald Jones TB GB The Packers have been thrashed by opposing backs thus far. Assuming Leonard Fournette isn't able to play, Jones is in a great spot.
18 Phillip Lindsay DEN at NE Lindsay is suddenly the team's unquestioned bellcow after Melvin Gordon was got himself a DUI on Tuesday night (sourced below).
19 Devin Singletary BUF KC Singletary flopped last week but assuming Zack Moss's troubling toe keeps him out again, Singletary is in position to smash the box score against a KC defense that allows team's to run their way to losses as Patrick Mahomes lights up the scoreboard. We'll need to monitor practice reports though as backup RB T.J. Yeldon played well last week.
20 Chase Edmonds ARI at DAL Dallas' defense can't stop anything and Edmonds' passing game (and overall) usage is bulletproof (sourced below).
21 David Johnson HOU at TEN A great match-up for the BOB-less back.
22 Antonio Gibson WAS at NYG The Giants have been getting pummeled by opposing backfields.
23 Kenyan Drake ARI at DAL Drake's maintained the team-lead in red zone rushes last week (sourced below), even with Edmonds emerging as a standalone fantasy back. Dallas' defense provides another great opportunity for him to hit paydirt.
Rank High-Floor/Shaky-Ceiling RB2s Team Opponent Breakdown
24 Darrell Henderson Jr. LAR at SF The Rams' backfield carousel continued last week with Henderson as the lead horsey. He's the best bet to return RB2 value against the struggling 49ers.
Rank High-Floor/Capped-Ceiling RB3s Team Opponent Breakdown
25 Mark Ingram BAL at PHI The Eagleas have provided moderate resistance to opposing backfields.
26 Devonta Freeman NYG WAS Freeman is the unquestioned lead back at this point.
27 Adrian Peterson DET at JAX Assuming Matt Patricia doesn't sign Le'Veon Bell, Peterson is a good bet for 15 carries in a decent match-up.
28 Matt Breida MIA NYJ Breida's change of pace role could return flex value this week against the hapless New York Jets.
Rank Shaky-Floor/Capped-Ceiling RB3s Team Opponent Breakdown
29 Frank Gore NYJ at MIA Now cemented as the lead back following the release of Le'Veon Bell, Gore has a revenge game on tap against the Dolphins.
30 Jerick McKinnon SF LAR He's a passing game-only player now -- an area where the team is struggling to get things going.
31 Cam Akers LAR at SF Akers showed burst last week but played well behind Henderson.
32 J.K. Dobbins BAL at PHI Decent match-up but stuck in a backfield quagmire.
33 Jamaal Williams GB at TB Tampa Bay funnels passes to RBs. Williams tends to pickup blitzes rather than run routes but he'll be out there for passing game opportunities.
34 Nyheim Hines IND CIN Hines has a small, but firm role in the offense. Good match-up.
35 Brian Hill ATL at MIN Great match-up for the rotational back.
36 Mike Boone MIN ATL It's possible Boone's passing game abilities get utilized in this one.
Source links: The Houston Texansrun defense as it pertains to Derrick Henry, production allowed by the Detroit Lions to Aaron Jones and the New Orleans Saintsbackfield as it pertains to James Robinson, backfield snap-count of the Indianapolis Colts, Myles Gaskin’s goal-line role, Melvin Gordon’s DUI, Joe Mixon’s usage, Chase Edmondsusage, and Kenyan Drake’s red zone rushes in Week 4.