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2020 Fantasy Football Rankings: Running backs for Week 2

Tiered running back rankings for Week 2.

By NHB
NFL: Houston Texans at Kansas City Chiefs Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Here are my Week 2 tiered running back rankings for fantasy football! All lingering questions about Clyde Edwards-Helaire’s transition to the NFL have been erased. Jonathan Taylor is now a rock solid RB1. Benny Snell Jr. and Zack Moss both have back-end RB2 status. Ronald Jones earned himself another week as Tampa Bay’s lead back and he’s got a great matchup against the Panthers’ rookie-made defense.

Week 2 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 ATL Atlanta continued its tradition of getting waxed by running backs through the passing game in Week 1 against Seattle. Zeke's a good bet to clear 100 total yards and at least one score in Week 2 against them.
2 Alvin Kamara NO at LV Kamara's training camp back-scare was just a scare. He looked great in the passing game in Week 1.
3 Derrick Henry TEN JAX Jacksonville's defense just yielded 218 yards from scrimmage and 2 touchdowns from the Colts backfield. Henry's 3 targets in Week 1 (plus his 31 carries) reaffirmed Henry's potential for 2020.
4 Christian McCaffrey CAR at TB TB's front-seven did a reasonable job slowing Alvin Kamara on the ground in Week 1 but couldn't slow him much through the air. CMC should have no issue producing high-end RB1 results.
5 Saquon Barkley NYG at CHI Chicago's vaunted D-Line looked anything but in Week 1.
6 Clyde Edwards-Helaire KC at LAC KC's system and CEH's talent should make the rookie matchup-proof, even against a tough defense like LAC.
7 Nick Chubb CLE CIN The Chargers' backfield ran roughshod over the Bengals' hapless D in Week 1.
8 Jonathan Taylor IND MIN Despite his gator hands, Philip Rivers force-fed Taylor through the passing game. Coupling that with Taylor being locked into a massive rushing game workload with Marlon Mack out for the year (torn Achilles), and fantasy drafters have an RB1 on their hands.
9 Miles Sanders PHI LAR The hopeful return of Lane Johnson against the weak Rams front-seven (outside of Aaron Donald) sets up nicely for Sanders.
10 Dalvin Cook MIN at IND Two ball-control teams squaring off against one another should bode well for each other's hopes.
11 Kenyan Drake ARI WAS Drake's pass catching will be sorely needed to negate Washington's dominant D-Line.
12 Joe Mixon CIN at CLE Mixon's in for a heavy workload in what is quietly shaping up to be a high-scoring Browns vs Bengals showdown.
High Floor/High Ceiling RB2s
13 Aaron Jones GB DET David Montgomery was able to limp his way to an average of 4.9 yards per carry with a pulled groing against this group last week.
14 Austin Ekeler LAC KC Ekeler predictably saw a massive decrease in his passing game usage in Week 1. We can certainly expected an uptick from the one target last week but the usage is indicative of the difference between Phillip Rivers and Tyrod Taylor at QB. Ekeler retains high hopes for Week 2 though against one of the league's most generous run defenses.
15 Raheem Mostert SF at NYJ Mostert looked great last week but his stranglehold on backfield touches was most likely due to Tevin Coleman's sickle cell disease putting his health in jeoprady with Santa Clara's air quality being so bad. Mostert is still the lead back though, and this is a great matchup.
16 Josh Jacobs LV NO Jacobs' obliteration of the lowly Panthers' defense was foretold. Now he must face a who's who of dominant defensive fronts. His rushing workload and rushing talent will buoy him but his passing game usage in Week 1 could be a bit inflated.
17 Chris Carson SEA NE Carson was finally utilized as a pass catcher last week and it paid immediate dividends. Miami went 6/6 in passing to backs last week against New England.
18 Malcolm Brown LAR at PHI Drafters were advised to select Brown over Akers in the LA Rams Team Preview piece. If they did so, it's paid off in the short term. Akers will be a threat to take over as the lead back as the season progresses though.
19 Mark Ingram BAL at HOU J.K. Dobbins proved he's a real threat to Ingram's workload. Against the paltry Houston defense though, everyone can eat.
20 Todd Gurley ATL at DAL Drafters were warned that Gurley was a risky pick in the Falcons Team Preview piece. He played on just 45.5% of the team's snaps in Week 1. The firepower of the offense will make a weekly TD-candidate though. Dallas' D-Line was bullied by the Rams' ho-hum O-Line on SNF though so Gurley should have another efficient outing in Week 2.
21 Benny Snell PIT DEN Snell will, at worst, be the 1A back against Denver if James Conner misses Week 2.
22 Kareem Hunt CLE CIN Cleveland is looking like a 1A/1B backfield and in this matchup both Chubb and Hunt are going to eat.
23 Zack Moss BUF at MIA Moss was slightly out-touched by Devin Singletary but he clearly owned rights to the goal-line job. The take over is imminent.
24 Melvin Gordon DEN at PIT A brutal matchup but his receiving work keeps him in the RB2 mix.
High Floor/Capped Ceiling RB3s
25 Ronald Jones TB CAR His grasp on the touch-lead was good in Week 1 but will always be somewhat tenuous. A cure-all matchup against the Panthers is a great development though.
26 David Montgomery CHI NYG Montgomery played admirably despite being hobbled with a groin injury last week. A cake walk matchup against the Giants gives him a shot at finding the endzone.
27 David Johnson HOU BAL Baltimore completely erased the Browns' rushing attack in Week 1. DJ's workload is helped by Duke Johnson's injury-absence but this will not be an easy outing.
28 Sony Michel NE at SEA Seattle's appalling D-Line is going to have a tough day against the Patriots dominant rushing attack. Bill Sony Michel for 12-14 touches.
29 J.K. Dobbins BAL at HOU Dobbins should find room to run against Houston's empty defense.
30 James Robinson JAX at TEN Very tough matchup but Robinson is the clearcut lead RB in this backfield.
31 Antonio Gibson WAS at ARI The rookie flashed last week but was out-touched by Peyton Barber. Although that occurrence is a possibility again, 10 touches against Arizona's weak defense is flex-worthy.
32 Tevin Coleman SF at NYJ This is a get-right spot for Coleman. The veteran back was unable to play much in Santa Clara's smokey air -- his health was at risk with his sickle cell disease.
33 Nyheim Hines IND MIN Although talent-deficient, QB Phillip Rivers' committment to getting RBs going in the passing game has birthed Hines' a new fantasy outlook.
34 Devin Singletary BUF at MIA Singletary could still lead the team in touches, operating as the team's featured back between the 20s.
35 Adrian Peterson DET at GB Tough matchup but he's got the keys to the Lions' backfield as of now.
36 Joshua Kelley LAC KC KC's leaky run defense should help Kelley to flex-able numbers.
Shaky Floor/Capped Ceiling RB4s
37 Myles Gaskin MIA BUF In hindsight, it makes sense that the team might give the starting gig to the only actual dual threat RB on the roster. Tough matchup this week though.
38 Jerick McKinnon SF at NYJ All 3 SF backs should get involved as the 49ers route the Jets in Week 2.
39 Peyton Barber WAS at ARI Barber is a TD-dependent boom/bust option after retaining rights to the majority of goal-line touches.
40 Tony Pollard DAL ATL Pollard should see 8-10 touches in a shootout with Atlanta. There's a good chance that 4-5 of them are high-value passing game opportunities.
41 Carlos Hyde SEA NE Hyde is a 10-touch back in the Seattle offense.
42 Corey Clement PHI LAR With Scott possibly Out (injury), Clement would step into a 10-touch No. 2 RB role.
43 Frank Gore NYJ SF Revenge game on tap.
44 James White NE at SEA Week 1 didn't show much of a connection between White and QB Cam Newton. Perhaps Seattle's offense can provide the impetus to get the passing game going.
45 Alexander Mattison MIN at IND Mattison's looking like a safe bet for 8-10 weekly touches.
46 Jamaal Williams GB DET Williams has low-end flex viability at a 10-touch back at home vs. Detroit.
47 D'Andre Swift DET at GB The rookie experienced some growing pains in Week 1 but the coaching staff showed that they want to get him involved.
48 Josh Adams NYJ SF Out-touched Gore last week after Bell went down.

Los Angeles Rams Team Preview, Los Angeles Rams Week 1 snap counts, Miami Dolphins passing game usage, Todd Gurley usage, and the Atlanta Falcons Team Preview.

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