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2020 Fantasy Football Rankings: Running backs for Week 15

Tiered RB rankings for Week 15.

By NHB
Atlanta Falcons v Los Angeles Chargers Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images

With NFL Week 14 upon us, here are my running back fantasy football rankings.

Derrick Henry gets his best match-up of 2020.

Taysom Hill finally figured out how to incorporate Alvin Kamara into the passing game plan.

Jonathan Taylor, J.K. Dobbins, and Cam Akers have earned full-on lead back duties.

Questions abound as to Ezekiel Elliot’s expected workload as he works his way through a calf injury.

James Conner suffered a quad injury. His status for Monday Night Football is uncertain.

Week 15’s Tiered Running Back Rankings - .5PPR

Rank High-Floor/High-Ceiling RB1s Team Opponent Breakdown
Rank High-Floor/High-Ceiling RB1s Team Opponent Breakdown
1 Derrick Henry TEN DET Detroit is Top 2* in both rushing yards and rushing touchdowns allowed. Derrick Henry is No. 1 in both rushing yards and rushing touchdowns*.
2 Alvin Kamara NO KC Balanced was restored to the universe on Sunday as Kamara returned to a team-high 10 targets last week*.
3 Nick Chubb CLE at NYG New York's run defense is far less effective than their pass defense is.
4 Austin Ekeler LAC at LV Vegas ia allowing the 3rd-most .5PPR PPG*.
5 Dalvin Cook MIN CHI Tough match-up but Cook can only be dropped so far.
6 Aaron Jones GB CAR Last week might be a signal that the team is looking to preserve Jones for the playoffs.
7 Jonathan Taylor IND HOU Taylor has secured his role and Indy's No. 1 back. Houston is allowing the most .5PPR PPG to opposing backfields*.
8 James Robinson JAX at BAL Tough match-up but Robinson has hit double-digit .5PPR points in 11 of 13 games this year*.
9 Miles Sanders PHI at ARI The installation of Jalen Hurts at QB -- for whatever reason -- made the Eagles' coaching brass GIVE MILES SANDERS HIS 2ND-HIGHEST SNAP SHARE OF THE SEASON* after relegating him to a committee-lead back over the last three weeks. Arizona's defensive front has been decimated by injuries.
10 Chris Carson SEA at WAS Rushing efficiency will drop, facing WAS's ferocious D-Line. His pas catching role keeps him RB1-viable though.
11 Mike Davis CAR at GB Green Bay is allowing the 5th-most .5PPR PPG to opposing RBs*.
12 David Montgomery CHI at MIN Elite usage for the capable dual threat.
Rank High-Floor/High-Ceiling RB2s Team Opponent Breakdown
13 J.K. Dobbins BAL JAX Baltimore's rushing attack should trample the hapless Jacksonville defensive front.
14 Cam Akers LAR NYJ Akers owns this backfield now and he should run roughshod over the Jets' atrocious defense.
15 Kenyan Drake ARI PHI Drake's been a beast since his return from injury in Week 10, posting overall RB6 in .5PPR scoring during that span. Philly has played reasonably well against opposing RBs though and Kyler Murray, whose shoulder injury in Week 11 led to an increased red zone rushing role for Drake, is getting healthier every week. Drake's ceiling is still high but likely lower than it has been over the last five weeks. Chase Edmonds' likely absence solidly enhances his ceilng.
16 Tony Pollard DAL SF Very good shot at 15 touches + his return game work.
17 Jeff Wilson Jr. SF at DAL Assuming Mostert is unable to go, Wilson would have himself a hefty workload in a good match-up.
18 D'Andre Swift DET at TEN Swift resumed lead back duties in his return from concussion/illness and did not suffer any setbacks. The likely loss of QB Matthew Stafford hurts the team's overall ability to score. The volume tradeoff for Swift, as he's likely to be the team's focal point, helps drastically though.
19 Clyde Edwards-Helaire KC at NO The lead committee back in the NFL's best offense.
20 Melvin Gordon DEN BUF We need to INTENSELY monitor the practice for info on his newly injured shoulder. Phillip Linsday is not a threat with his knee injury but Royce Freeman can be speculatively added.
21 Josh Jacobs LV LAC Moderate match-up but it's entirely possible he gets game-scripted out of this one.
22 David Johnson HOU at IND Should have a secure 18+ touch workload, in an albeit tough match-up.
23 Kareem Hunt CLE at NYG Cleveland's offense runs through their backfield.
24 Gus Edwards BAL JAX Edwards' hyper efficient rushing should keep on rolling this week.
Rank High-Floor/High-Ceiling RB3s Team Opponent Breakdown
25 Nyheim Hines IND HOU Rock-solid floor.
26 Lynn Bowden Jr. MIA NE Good shot at 10+ touches with vast majority via the air. WR eligibility. DeVante Parker is Out.
27 Leonard Fournette TB at ATL With Ronald Jones (broken finger) likely out this week, Fourenete should take over as the lead back. That said, he was a healthy scratch last week.
28 J.D. McKissic WAS SEA JDM's fantasy viability lives and dies by Alex Smith's (calf) status.
29 DeAndre Washington MIA NE Definitely the lead back but Lynn Bowden Jr. ate heavily into his passing game workload.
30 Wayne Gallman NYG CLE Gallman has been reduced to merely a lead back after weeks upon weeks of successful bellcow usage.
31 Zack Moss BUF at DEN Moss gets a soft defensive-front to roll on for the first time in a month.
32 Darrell Henderson Jr. LAR NYJ Henderson should get some run here, in an expected lopsided win for the Rams.
33 Damien Harris NE at MIA Decent match-up. Very low ceiling though.
34 Jamaal Williams GB CAR Good enough match-up for Williams to return low-end flex value. He's got great upside if the team opts to rest Jones mid-game.
35 James Conner PIT at CIN Conner got banged up last week (quad*) and the team has mostly phased out their ineffective run game over the last month. Tough to trust, even in a good match-up.
36 LeSean McCoy TB at ATL McCoy's washed up body may see upwards of 10 touches against a mediocre Falcons' defense.
Rank Low-Floor/Capped-Ceiling RB4s Team Opponent Breakdown
37 Jeremy McNichols TTEN DET The match-up is so good that even this handcuff running back could return low-end flex value.
38 Kalen Ballage LAC at LV Ballage could see 10 touches in a good match-up.
39 Todd Gurley ATL TB A Jordan Howard-esque statline of single-digit yards and a lone touchdown is now his ceiling.
40 Rashaad Penny SEA at WAS Penny, if active, should push for the No. 2 job.
41 Carlos Hyde SEA at WAS The potential return of Rashaad Penny does not bode well for Hyde's job security.
42 Benny Snell Jr. PIT at CIN Snell could see double-digit touches this week.
43 Le'Veon Bell KC at NO Low-end change of pace back/elite handcuff.
44 Devin Singletary BUF at DEN Singeltary's services probably won't be needed much for this one.
45 Duke Johnson Jr. HOU at IND Tough match-up.
46 Adrian Peterson DET at TEN It's Swift's backfield now.
47 Latavius Murray NO KC Murray is just a handcuff.
48 Latavius Murray NO KC Murray is just a handcuff.
Source links: .5PPR PPG allowed to RBs by the Detroit Lions, the 2020 rushing leaders, .5PPR PPG allowed to RBs by the Las Vegas Raiders, Miles Sanders’ Week 14 snap share, .5PPR PPG allowed to RBs by the Houston Texans, James Robinson’s outstanding weekly .5PPR totals, Alvin Kamara’s Week 14 team-leading target total, and the .5PPR PPG allowed to RBs by the Green Bay Packers.

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