2018 Fantasy Football: 3rd (Penultimate) RB Ranks

Running back is deep this year, but there is significant fall off but it’s a dozen running backs deeper than any of the past couple of seasons.

Note: The Peterson news came out after I put all this together and I think I'd have him in the mid-RB 70s. So just outside these rankings and not much of a factor in fantasy.

Player	Rank	Team	Tiers	ADP	Pos. ADP	Pos. Diff	1st Rank	Rank Diff
David Johnson	1	ARI	1	4	4	-3	2	-1
Le'Veon Bell	2	PIT	1	2	2	0	1	1
Todd Gurley	3	LAR	1	1	1	2	3	0
Alvin Kamara	4	NO	2	6	5	-1	4	0
Ezekiel Elliott	5	DAL	2	3	3	2	5	0
Saquon Barkley	6	NYG	2	7	6	0	7	-1
Melvin Gordon	7	LAC	2	9	7	0	8	-1
Dalvin Cook	8	MIN	2	14	10	-2	12	-4
Leonard Fournette	9	JAC	2	10	8	1	13	-4
Kareem Hunt	10	KC	2	11	9	1	9	1
Jordan Howard	11	CHI	3	24	14	-3	15	-4
Devonta Freeman	12	ATL	3	18	12	0	10	2
Christian McCaffrey	13	CAR	3	17	11	2	14	-1
LeSean McCoy	14	BUF	3	34	16	-2	6	8
Lamar Miller	15	HOU	3	49	21	-6	18	-3
Jerick McKinnon	16	SF	3	21	13	3	11	5
Joe Mixon	17	CIN	3	26	15	2	19	-2
Tevin Coleman	18	ATL	4	64	27	-9	16	2
Kenyan Drake	19	MIA	4	36	17	2	31	-12
Dion Lewis	20	TEN	4	61	26	-6	17	3
Derrick Henry	21	TEN	4	38	18	3	30	-9
Alex Collins	22	BAL	4	39	19	3	24	-2
Marshawn Lynch	23	OAK	4	78	32	-9	28	-5
Carlos Hyde	24	CLE	4	91	37	-13	33	-9
Duke Johnson	25	CLE	4	96	38	-13	25	0
Chris Thompson	26	WAS	4	81	33	-7	26	0
Rex Burkhead	27	NE	4	70	29	-2	20	7
Jay Ajayi	28	PHI	4	40	20	8	36	-8
Rashaad Penny	29	SEA	4	55	23	6	46	-17
Gio Bernard	30	CIN	4	129	46	-16	38	-8
Mark Ingram	31	NO	4	52	22	9	27	4
Marlon Mack	32	IND	4	84	35	-3	35	-3
Royce Freeman	33	DEN	4	58	24	9	42	-9
Jamaal Williams	34	GB	4	90	36	-2	62	-28
Matt Breida	35	SF	4	143	51	-16	57	-22
Chris Carson	36	SEA	4	113	42	-6	43	-7
C.J. Anderson	37	CAR	4	105	40	-3	23	14
Devantae Booker	38	DEN	4	120	44	-6	41	-3
Peyton Barber	39	TB	4	164	55	-16	101	-62
Isaiah Crowell	40	NYJ	4	82	34	6	32	8
LeGarrette Blount	41	DET	4	176	58	-17	72	-31
Ronald Jones II	42	TB	5	59	25	17	21	21
Frank Gore	43	MIA	5	193	62	-19	40	3
Bilal Powell	44	NYJ	5	156	53	-9	39	5
Rob Kelley	45	WAS	5	191	61	-16	74	-29
Sony Michel	46	NE	5	68	28	18	65	-19
Aaron Jones	47	GB	5	111	41	6	29	18
Kenneth Dixon	48	BAL	5	207	67	-19	44	4
Tarik Cohen	49	CHI	5	74	30	19	37	12
Theo Riddick	50	DET	5	146	52	-2	34	16
Ty Montgomery	51	GB	5	119	43	8	63	-12
Javorius Allen	52	BAL	5	206	66	-14	52	0
Nick Chubb	53	CLE	5	104	39	14	59	-6
Jordan Wilkins	54	IND	5	167	56	-2	50	4
Kerryon Johnson	55	DET	5	75	31	24	70	-15
Jacquizz Rodgers	56	TB	5	289	83	-27	68	-12
Latavius Murray	57	MIN	5	163	54	3	55	2
Corey Clement	58	PHI	5	136	49	9	58	0
Nyheim Hines	59	IND	5	128	45	14	53	6
Jonathan Stewart	60	NYG	5	235	70	-10	56	4
Chris Ivory	61	BUF	5	180	60	1	60	1
James White	62	NE	5	130	47	15	51	11
Spencer Ware	63	KC	5	197	63	0	47	16
Chase Edmonds	64	ARI	5	265	76	-12	66	-2
Austin Ekeler	65	LAC	5	179	59	6	48	17
Samaje Perine	66	WAS	5	170	57	9	103	-37
D'Onta Foreman	67	HOU	5	133	48	19	49	18
Rod Smith	68	DAL	5	282	80	-12	54	14
Corey Grant	69	JAC	5	276	79	-10	81	-12
Darren Sproles	70	PHI	5	239	71	-1	114	-44
Charles Sims	71	TB	5	289	83	-12	64	7
Doug Martin	72	OAK	5	142	50	22	67	5
T.J. Yeldon	73	JAC	5	204	65	8	61	12

5 I’m Higher On

Jacquizz Rodgers, RB, TB – 27 Higher – Rodgers has been the second in Tampa no matter who has the starting job and he’ll be useful until he gets hurt. Peyton Barber, Charles Sims, and Ronald Jones II are all fighting for the number one spot Rodgers will have his usual 300-500 yards a couple touchdowns and a reception a game adding up to another 100 yards.

Frank Gore, RB, MIA – 19 Higher – Gore is the number two in Miami and although I think the co-number 1s is just the coaching staff being cheeky he’s going to get a pretty healthy workload and will get 3 yards a carry. At RB 43 he’s a depth piece that’ll take over the starter role if Kenyan Drake gets hurt or just disappear in the game plan for a couple weeks.

Kenneth Dixon, RB, BAL – 19 Higher – Dixon is the back I like the most in the Baltimore backfield and although I think Collins will start the season as the starter, but talent wins out often enough and Dixon should be the backup and sole heir to the role if Collins struggles or gets injured.

LeGarrette Blount, RB, DET – 17 Higher – Blount and the Detroit backfield are a mess. As such, I have Blount on this list and Johnson just missed the 5 I’m lower on list. I’m not that high on Blount (RB 41), but I do think he’s going to get the goal line work and may have a split role between the 20s while they continue to work Johnson into the starting role.

Gio Bernard, RB, CIN/Matt Breida, RB, SF – 16 Higher – Bernard and Breida are the seconds in very different kinds of offenses but they both have a value and I didn’t want to leave either of the list of five. Bernard is the receiving back in Cincinnati and should have a solid role in the running game as well as the passing game. This rank isn’t meant to take away from Mixon but note the value of the role Bernard has. As for Breida, if we’re paralleling the 9ers offense with the Falcons offense he ran two years ago then Breida is the new Tevin Coleman. If Breida is Coleman, then we’re all too low on Breida.

5 I’m Lower on

Doug Martin, RB, OAK – 22 Lower – It’s Lynch’s job and Martin is purely a handcuff and if you have to draft him for depth do it very late.

Tarik Cohen, RB, CHI – 20 Lower – I like Cohen as a player, and the coaching change should help, but Benny Cunningham is still there and more efficient in the passing game and he’s not taking over the feature back role from Jordan Howard. I have him in the second tier of receiving backs about a tier and a half behind the Johnson/Bernard tier and right in line with Riddick.

D’Onta Foreman, RB, HOU – 19 Lower – He’s coming off an Achilles tear and that’s incredibly tough to recover from. Plus, he’ll more than likely be on PUP to start the year and will miss 6 weeks. He’s talented if he returns, I just don’t want that type of risk.

Sony Michel, RB, NE – 19 Lower – Michel has been set back by a knee surgery and may be out until week 1. He’s talented but I think he’s a year 2 breakout guy. Also, I kept my promise he’s up 18 spots from the first set of ranks.

Ronald Jones II, RB, TB – 17 Lower – Jones has been one of the biggest disappointments in camp from a fantasy perspective. He hasn’t been able to beat out Peyton Barber so far and when you add in the soft tissue injuries he’s repeatedly had it’s tough for me to rank him too high.