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Here are my Week 1 tiered running back rankings! Miles Sanders and James Conner will make drafters who passed on them pay. Sell high on Josh Jacobs and David Johnson after their thunderous Week 1 performances. Clyde Edwards-Helaire will waste no time making his presence felt. Start both Colts backs. Antonio Gibson is already flex-worthy. Jump ship on Le’Veon Bell as soon as possible.
Week 1 Tiered Running Back Rankings
Rank | High Floor/High Ceiling RB1s | Team | Opponent | Breakdown |
---|---|---|---|---|
Rank | High Floor/High Ceiling RB1s | Team | Opponent | Breakdown |
1 | Christian McCaffrey | CAR | LV | CMC should have no issue working over the Raiders' front-seven. |
2 | Ezekiel Elliott | DAL | at LAR | Scheming Elliott away from Aaron Donald is all that's needed for a bountiful day. |
3 | Derrick Henry | TEN | at DEN | Both Von Miller and Bradley Chubb are unlikely to play in Week 1. |
4 | Dalvin Cook | MIN | at GB | A fully healthy Cook should see 25 or more touches. |
5 | Saquon Barkley | NYG | PIT | Squaring off against Pittsburgh drops Barkley to RB6. |
6 | Josh Jacobs | LV | at CAR | Carolina may have the worst defense in the league. Sell high after Jacobs pulverizes them with his rush-only workload. |
7 | Clyde Edwards-Helaire | KC | HOU | TNF will be a high-scoring affair. |
8 | James Conner | PIT | at NYG | The Terminator will erase the lowly Giants D. |
9 | Alvin Kamara | NO | TB | The two showdowns against TB's ferocious front will be Kamara's toughest all year. |
10 | Aaron Jones | GB | MIN | Battle of the Backs in Green Bay. Jones should have his way with the lacking Vikings' front. |
11 | Joe Mixon | CIN | LAC | 20+ touches agains the run-friendly Chargers. |
12 | Austin Ekeler | LAC | at CIN | 20+ touches against a generous Cincy front. |
Rank | High Floor/High Ceiling RB2s | Team | Opponent | Breakdown |
13 | Kenyan Drake | ATI | at SF | The tough matchup pushes Drake to the RB2 ranks but the high-scoring likelihood of the divisional showdown gives him a stellar ceiling. |
14 | Nick Chubb | CLE | at BAL | BAL's stout front-seven and powerhouse offense causes concern of Chubb being game scripted out, in favor of Kareem Hunt. He's a lock for a high-volume of touches in the 1st half though -- no fewer than 15-18. Stefanski's system is a plus. |
15 | Mark Ingram | BAL | CLE | Cleveland's LBs will be overworked and Ingram should see 20 or more clock-killing touches. |
16 | Todd Gurley | ATL | SEA | Facing Seattle's dreadful D-Line, the healthiest he'll be all year. |
17 | David Johnson | HOU | at KC | Sneaky shot at multiple touchdowns in a surefire shootout against KC's leaky run defense. |
18 | Chris Carson | SEA | at ATL | Carson should make short work of ATL's weak front-seven. |
19 | Raheem Mostert | SF | ARI | The presumed SF starter will feast on Arizona's weak defense. |
20 | Jonathan Taylor | IND | at JAC | Taylor should come close to splitting backfield work evenly with starter Marlon Mack. Given the Junior Varsity nature of the Jags' D, we should expect Taylor to make a strong case to be Indy's starter right out of the gates. |
21 | Marlon Mack | IND | at JAC | There should be little difference in workload between the two. Mack is the safer option as he is currently the starter. |
Rank | High Floor/Capped Ceiling RB2s | Team | Opponent | Breakdown |
22 | Boston Scott | PHI | at WAS | Scott produced for the last 4 games last year after carving out a passing game role. His receiving ability will be frequently called upon to circumvent Washington's ferocious front-seven. Corey Clement will still work though. |
23 | Melvin Gordon | DEN | TEN | Gordon is reportedly "struggling"* to adjust to the altitude in Denver and thus has been given just the 1A* role to Phillip Lindsay's 1B. TEN's front-seven was dominant before they added Jadeveon Clowney on Sunday. |
24 | Kareem Hunt | CLE | at BAL | Hunt will be called upon for pass catching as the Browns try to keep pace with the Ravens. |
Rank | High Floor/Capped Ceiling RB3s | Team | Opponent | Breakdown |
25 | Cam Akers | LAR | DAL | Akers' athletecism and pass catching ability likely gives him the lead in backfield touches over Malcolm Brown. Darrell Henderson has a bad hammy and is unlikely to play. |
26 | James White | NE | MIA | White has a serious chance to operate as a lesser CMC for Cam in 2020. Facing Miami's weak D is a great place to do so. |
27 | Antonio Gibson | WAS | PHI | Carolina's former offensive coach, Scott Turner, finds himself as Gibson's OC. As a former WR* with excellent athletecism* and a big body, Gibson has a shot to be used in similar ways to CMC early in his career. |
28 | Darrel Williams | KC | HOU | Will see a healthy dose of snaps in an All Hands On Deck shootout. |
29 | Tevin Coleman | SF | ARI | A matchup against Arizona should be fruitful enough for the "No. 2" back to get his share of work as well. |
30 | Zack Moss | BUF | NYJ | Training camp ended with Moss gunning for the starting job. Against a weak Jets defense, Moss is a daring bet to muscle his way past the diminutive Devin Singletary. |
31 | Tarik Cohen | CHI | at DET | With David Montgomery likely Out (groin), Cohen has a shot at 15 touches. |
32 | Phillip Lindsay | DEN | TEN | Lindsay should see 12 touches and could see 18 if Gordon's cardio is truly a problem. |
Rank | Shaky Floor/Capped Ceiling RB3s | Team | Opponent | Breakdown |
33 | J.K. Dobbins | BAL | CLE | Dobbins should see 1-+ touches. |
34 | Devin Singletary | BUF | NYJ | Although Moss is likely to outproduce Singletary, Singletary will have see a solid chunk of touches in Week 1. |
34 | Leonard Fournette | TB | at NO | Not a great matchup after seeing little practice time with his new team, Bruce Arians is clearly not content with Ronald Jones though. |
35 | Ronald Jones | TB | at NO | Jones should remain a rotational grinder in the Bucs' high-scoring offense. |
36 | Le'Veon Bell | NYJ | at BUF | Loathed by Adam Gase, facing a brutal defensive front. Trade Bell the moment he has a good game. |
Rank | Shaky Floor/Capped Ceiling RB4s | Team | Opponent | Breakdown |
37 | Corey Clement | PHI | at WAS | On the August 20th episode of Inside the Birds, Adam Caplan and Geoff Mosher indicated that Clement would step into the workhorse, primary ballcarrier role, if Miles Sanders were to miss time, as he's significantly larger that Boston Scott. 12-15 carries against WAS might not yield more than a moderate flex output though and Scott owns rights to pass catching duties. |
38 | Frank Gore | NYJ | at BUF | HC Adam Gase's favorite player, facing said player's old team. |
39 | Duke Johnson Jr. | HOU | at KC | High-scoring affair in which everyone will be involved. |
40 | James Robinson | JAX | IND | With Devine Ozigbo not practicing (hamstring) Robinson may be walking into 18+ touches this weekend. |
41 | Kerryon Johnson | DET | CHI | Detroit will deploy all 3 backs this week, nuking everyone's value. Kerryon, he veteran with team experience, is the best bet to produce but it's far from certain. If you own a Lions' back and they have a boom week, sell high ASAP. |
42 | Jordan Howard | MIA | at NE | Lead back in a tough matchup. |
43 | Chase Edmonds | ARI | at SF | Word on the street is that Edmonds is no longer a pure backup. Possible 8-10 touches. |
44 | Malcolm Brown | LAR | DAL | Brown shouldn't see fewer than 10 touches. |
45 | Chris Thompson | JAX | IND | Thompson has a shot at 10-12 touches this week and should retain full rights to the backfield passing game work. |
46 | Rex Burkhead | NE | MIA | With Damien Harris on IR and Sony Michel's health severly in question, the Sexy One will ride again. |
47 | Jalen Richard | OAK | at CAR | Oakland's premier pass catching back. |
48 | Jerick McKinnon | SF | ARI | Good enough matchup where all 3 backs are in play. |
Source links: Melvin Gordon and Denver’s altitude, Jadeveon Clowney signs with the Tennessee Titans, Antonio Gibson’s college wide receiver production, Antonio Gibson’s Combine numbers, Boston Scott’s production in Weeks 14-17 of 2019, and Corey Clement as the possible lead ball carrier were Miles Sanders to miss time.