Transcription
What's going on, man? Welcome back to the basement. I'm Ron, and if you are scrambling to find fantasy rankings before your draft tonight, tomorrow, or over the weekend, this is the place for you because today I am going to talk through my final top 50 running back rankings and tiers for this fantasy football season. This is the biggest tier list I've ever done on this channel. So, leave a like, subscribe if you're new, and let's get right into it.
This is going to be for full PPR leagues, but you can definitely use it for half PPR. And we are going to do a tier list here to break down how I see the running back landscape. I am a big believer in tiers where if you want to put a player ahead of another player within the same tier, you absolutely can. But this is how I see the entire landscape of the running back position in fantasy football.
And at the 101, we have Jamir Gibbs. Now, of course, if you want to know my RB-51, my RB52, who my targets are, how I have these guys ranked across positions, quarterback, tight end, wide receiver, running back, you can find that over on the Patreon, patreon.com/ronstewart. I have my top 200 cheat sheet rankings there. I have my tiers, my target rounds for every player, my targets, my fades, all of that good stuff and more to get you ready for fantasy drafts this weekend. You can find the link to that down below in the description and in the comments section.
Now, with Jamir Gibbs, he is my RB1 overall. Now, we are going to have a few running backs in this tier. To me, all worthy of RB1 overall consideration. My champion is Jamir Gibbs. He last year led all running backs with a 10% explosive run rate. He was fifth in missed tackles forced per attempt, top five in yards per route run. So, super efficient in the running game and the passing game. And the environment is really good. He is in Detroit, who has the sixth best offensive line by established the run and the third best offensive implied total by Vegas. We're going to be referencing that a ton. That is just in terms of how Vegas is seeing the overunders and point totals throughout the entire season. Which offenses are they projecting to score the most points? Detroit, despite losing their offensive coordinator, despite losing a couple offensive linemen, are still a top three offense this year. And I just think the cat's out of the bag with Gibbs. He had over 20 plus points per game last year. Even with Montgomery, was at 18 plus points per game. And he's just been so good. I think that this is going to be the largest split between Montgomery and Gibbs we've seen thus far.
Then at RB2, we have learned our lesson. Saquon Barkley was the RB1 overall last year in points per game. He's arguably the best running back in the league and finds himself behind the best offensive line in the league on an offense implied for the sixth most points by Vegas. Now, with these guys up top, we're going to be nitpicking. If you want to know why he's my number two, these are kind of the downsides. He had 482 touches last season, counting the postseason. That is the most for a running back since 2015. And his 22.5 points per game is one of the weaker RB1 overall seasons we've had. Now, over the last five years, it's really just been McCaffrey at 24 plus points per game. You can go back to Kamara in 2020, where he was at 24 plus, but outside of that, it's been like Ekeler, JT, Saquon this past year, all flirting around 21, 22 points per game. Just to put in perspective, Alvin Kamara was the RB4 in 2018 at 23.6 points per game. So there were four running backs who actually outscored Saquon in 2024 back in 2018. That's kind of just the nature of the running back position where there's a lower ceiling at this point in the game.
Then we have Bijan. And to be honest, I'm probably one of the guys who are lower on Bijan in the industry. Is my RB3. If you want to put him at RB1 overall, you absolutely can. But for me, he is my 106 at this point. I get he is a volume-based bet. He's young. He's still ascending. That's all very exciting. But he was only 28th of 46 running backs in explosive run rate last year. He had 60 plus receptions, but we're going to need more than that for him to really pay off here. And he was only 24th in yards per run. Not a super efficient receiver, not a super explosive playmaker. And now something that I learned from last year that was a big lesson for me is that situation matters a ton at the running back position. You want a good offensive line and a good scoring environment. Bijan Robinson, after losing Caleb McGary, I believe, on the Falcons and Drew Dalman last year, established the run. Now has the Falcons as the 23rd ranked offensive line, and that puts them again outside the top 20 in offensive line rankings and outside the top 20 in point implied point totals by Vegas. So, you're talking about someone that has to get there off of volume and creating his own efficiency, and I just don't know that he can. I think he can still hit 20 plus points a game and be absolutely fine, but I would prefer the two running backs ahead along with Chase, CD Lamb, and Justin Jefferson.
Then, we will move down to the RB1's tier. These are guys that I still am absolutely fine with as my RB1, but they're just not guys I would consider as the RB1 overall. First, we have Christian McCaffrey. He's somebody who's been in the news recently, right? But we have Brian Robinson getting traded to the 49ers for a 2026 sixth-round pick. I haven't really budged on McCaffrey since then. I think that that speaks more to how they feel about Isaac Guerendo and that banged-up running back room. Christian McCaffrey, we talked about it in terms of RB1 overall seasons. He is just in a different league when it comes to if it is a McCaffrey season, he is the only running back that really matters in fantasy football, putting up 24 plus points per game. He has the upside to be the RB1 overall in fantasy. Lead all running backs in targets and lead all running backs in touchdowns this season. San Francisco right now has Ayiute banged up, Jauan Jennings banged up, and he is going to be one of the top options in a Kyle Shanahan offense. So McCaffrey is maybe the biggest boom-bust pick on the board, but at a certain point, when you're trying to win a fantasy football league, one out of 12 people win, you have to kind of swing for upside.
Then at RB5, we have Austin Ekeler. This is a Saquon, Bijan level running back prospect. He's in line for all the volume, 300 plus touches, probably 70, 80 plus targets with Chip Kelly. He just finds himself on a Raiders offense projected for the 27th most points by Vegas. So the touchdown environment is a little rough, but the floor is pretty high with Ekeler.
At RB6, I'll go Devin Singletary. The big thing with him is the calf. Everybody is freaking out about the calf injury. We got a report today. All indications are Singletary will be ready by week one. I'm expecting him to play in week one, but I will say this, that doesn't mean we are out of the woods here with Singletary. There's a 100% a scenario where he plays week one, two, three, and then he has a flare-up or he re-aggravates the calf and then all of a sudden you're playing, is he in or is he out the rest of the season, and that is definitely a scary downside scenario. But the reason why we're drafting him is that in games with Tua last year, he actually outscored Saquon Barkley last year. If we can get a marriage of Tua staying healthy, 2024 Singletary volume, 2023 Singletary efficiency, you are talking about somebody who could go toe-to-toe with the McCaffrey 25 point per game season, but you are definitely walking a tightrope to get there.
Then our last running back in this tier, we have my RB7, Derrick Henry. We have learned our lesson with the Big Dog. Done fading the Big Dog. This is as low as I can really justify putting him. He is my 204. And to me, I just don't want to overthink it. He had 19.8 points per game. He finds himself on Vegas' second highest implied scoring offense, ETR's 10th best offensive line. He has the upside for one of these years. I was actually looking back to see because the issue with him is pass-catching upside and age at this point with Derrick Henry. Age is definitely a factor in every year, but he continues to defy age. And if you go back, you look at like the best point per game seasons without with with less than 25 catches, I think Shaun Alexander once upon a time had like 1,800 plus rushing yards and like 27 touchdowns. Derrick Henry in this offense, if he just did something crazy like 25 touchdowns or 2,000 rushing yards, I wouldn't put it past him. And again, when we talk about the modern NFL, 21, 22 points per game will get you to the RB1 overall conversation. And Derrick Henry, I wouldn't put it past him to do something nuts in terms of just like out-wire efficiency seasons given the environment, year two with the Ravens. Lamar Jackson creating lighter boxes for him as well.
And then we have the low-end RB1 category. These are guys I'm taking in like the mid to late second round, early third as fine RB1s. To me, they're just backend RB1s. They don't project as well as these top seven, but they are still really strong bets with plenty of upside.
Here we have Bucky Irving at RB8. This is just a good player and a good offense. And Tampa Bay is implied to be top 10 in scoring by Vegas. On top of that, Tampa Bay's offensive line is really good once Tristan Wirfs is back, who is in the mix to play early season. So, it shouldn't be a massive deal. And Bucky Irving last year already showed the efficiency was there. He was fifth in yards per carry, seventh in explosive run rate, third in missed tackles forced per attempt, fourth in yards after contact. He was also top 10 in receptions. So, he's explosive, he's efficient, he catches passes. And after the week 11 bye last year, he was the RB6 in points per game. We could see that efficiency rewarded where then he gets a ton of volume this season in a great spot for fantasy football.
Then at RB9, we got Chase Brown. Similar story, 20.6 points per game from week nine on last year. He was RB4 in points per game over that stretch. And now his only competition is no longer Zach Moss. It is Samaje Perine and it is day three running back Taj Brooks. Taj Brooks will get out there on passing downs, right? Like third down, third down and distance to be a pass-catching specialist, to be a pass protection guy. But Chase Brown should still get plenty of volume. The real only hold-up here is that he wasn't super explosive. Only a 4.4% explosive run rate last year. That was between Alvin Kamara and Najee Harris. So, not great. And then the Bengals also have a bottom three offensive line, but of course, they're going to score so many points and have to play from not maybe behind, but in shootouts because of this bad defense that the offensive line shouldn't matter. It might matter for efficiency, but at this point with RB9, I'll bet on volume in a good offense any day of the week.
Then at RB10, we have JT, who had such a weird season. He was at 14 points per game from weeks 1 through 14, and then 26 points per game from weeks 15 on. And that kind of sandwiched in together to give him like a 17 plus point per game season. He was the only running back not named Derrick Henry or Saquon Barkley to rush for 100 plus yards per game. It's just really weird. I don't know which side to trust with Jonathan Taylor. He probably falls somewhere in the middle, but there's a chance that he recaptures his explosive run rate from when he was really good in 2021. The Colts offensive line is pretty solid. And they also have the third highest rate of rush percentage inside of the 10-yard line, meaning whenever they're in scoring position, it's going to go to Jonathan Taylor, so that is a really good sign along with Richardson not being live to steal many of those if Don Jones is going to start as long as the Colts have led on.
Here at RB11, we have Josh Jacobs. I don't think RB1 overall is really in his range. Maybe I, it's tough to actually rule out RB1 overall these days, cuz again, you can get there with 21.5, 22.5 points per game. That would still be a stretch for Jacobs. I think he probably taps out around 19, 20. Last season he was at 17 points per game. I want to say the big year in Oakland, I don't know if it was Oakland or Las Vegas, but it was the Raiders where he was maybe 18, 19 points per game, but that's still really strong. You're getting him at the two-three turn. He is to me a really high floor player. This Green Bay backfield is brutal. Marshawn Lloyd can't stay healthy. After that, you're talking like Brooks and Wilson. There's really not a ton going on there. And this is the 12th best offensive line, 11th best offense by Vegas. It's a great scenario, tons of volume. He is a perfect RB1.
Then we have our next tier. And I'm not somebody that subscribes to the idea of, oh, RB 7 through 12 or RB or RBs 1 through 12 or RB1s in terms of how we're drafting them. It's just based on feel. And these guys I would prefer as my high-end RB2 when I am building teams.
So, RB12, we have Amari and Hampton. I'm just not budging on the Najee stuff. I get that he's back at practice. I got he got activated off of the NFI list, but Hampton's been getting all the reps with the ones. He's already built up that lead with Najee behind him. I think that Najee would just be the clean number two back in this offense. There is really no longer a bellcow role in the NFL. There's very few guys that can get there. I think last year was really like JT, Kyren, Chubb, and that was kind of it in terms of pure pure bellcows. If this is a 65-35 split, that's really not a big deal for Amari and Hampton. This is a really strong prospect who looks like a Joe Mixon, Ezekiel Elliott style clone of 4.4 speed, 220 pounds, first-round pick. He had 1500 plus rushing yards, 15 plus touchdowns in each of his final two seasons at UNCC. And he averaged 30 plus receptions. So he can do it all, productive, can catch passes, big, fast, strong, drafted in the first round, and despite losing Rashawn Slater, this team is still implied for the 13th most points by Vegas.
Then we have Trevon Henderson here at RB13. I do want to make it clear that this is not how I would rank things for week one. And my seasonal rankings are going to look a lot different than how things are divvied up in week one because my philosophy with drafting is I want players with league-winning upside and guys who are going to be higher in the week 15 rankings versus the week one rankings. And that's what I think Trevon Henderson represents here where he has rookie upside. He's a really fun prospect, top 40 pick, 7.1 yards per carry in his final season at Ohio State. He was one of three running backs in this class with a 10% plus breakaway run rate. Super explosive pass-catching back in a similar mold to your Bijan, James Cook, Devin Singletary style players. He could be second or third on this team in New England in targets after Stefon Diggs. It gets really shaky. And then also, I like betting on this Patriots offense with Josh McDaniels and Drake May and this new and improved offensive line with Will Campbell up front. I think could surprise people this season.
At RB14, we have Kenneth Walker. On paper, this goes against what I've said. This is not a good environment. These are offensive line and implied Vegas scoring total environments outside of the top 20, similar to Bijan Robinson. But last year, he was on such a terror. He was the RB7 in points per game before getting hurt in week 13. He is someone to me that I would be drafting in the late second if he didn't get hurt last year. He was the RB2 in points per game through week seven with more points per game than Saquon Barkley. He was truly going crazy last year. Now he is presumably healthy. Clint Kubiak is coming in here to install this outside zone rushing scheme that I think is going to cover up a lot of the issues of the offensive line. I think that they've drafted well with what I think Gray Zable is a guy they got out of one of the Dakota schools up front, and this rushing offense I just want pieces of.
Then at RB15, we have James Cook. I get people are hung up on the snap share. He had the lowest snap share among all RB1s in points per game last season. But the end of the day, he's heading into year four. He got his payday. We could see that snap share come up. And even if it doesn't, he was still an RB1 in points per game. I have him as my RB15 right here. That's where you can draft him at this point. And yes, his touchdown total might come down, but Josh Allen just had 13 rushing touchdowns himself. This team is the first offense in terms of implied scoring. I don't think it's smart to be like, "Oh, well, James Cook is just going to have like eight touchdowns now." No, I think he'll still be in the mix to have the most touchdowns at the position. This is a team that also has the second best offensive line by established the run. The situation is too good. He's a young ascending player to be fading James Cook over usage.
Now, Kyren Williams, opposite end of that spectrum where yes, he got his payday, but instead of James Cook, where I think that his snap share could rise, I think Kyren Williams' snap share is going to actually come down a little bit. He was at 85% of the snaps. That is unheard of in the modern NFL at this point. I don't think that he has earned that kind of workload. I think that of course he earned his contract. He'll be the RB1 on this team, but instead of the 85% crazy work share, I think that he's probably going to come down to more 65%, which is a more normal RB1 in football in 2025 number. Last year, he was 27th in rush grade, 42nd in yards after contact per attempt, 35th in yards per carry, 50th in explosive run rate, 40th in tackles forced per attempt. He had six fumbles last year. He really wasn't that great. The Rams were dead last as a total unit in explosive run rate, and I just can't see them wanting to run that back. Even in 2023, Kyren Williams is still out of the top 25 running backs in explosive run rate. And we have gotten quotes all offseason from the Rams saying up top here, McVay envisions a little more versatility in his 2025 offense and notes how impressed he was by the variety of personnel groupings and runs in Liam Cohen's 2024 Bucs offense. Less need than came over the top here saying we do think the way this NFL season is going, the amount of wear and tear that goes into playing running back, that having a committee and a committee with different skill sets only helps us continue being able to run the football like we want to. I think we're going to see a lot more Darrel Henderson, a lot more Blake Corum, a lot more of a committee here where we see maybe two drives of Kyren, one drive of another running back. And if he goes from an 85% snap share to a 65% snap share, we're all of a sudden just talking about a high floor, low ceiling RB2, which isn't really my cup of tea.
Then we have the RB2 tier. These are guys that aren't high-end RB2s. They're like, they're fine RB2s. You take in the middle rounds. And I'll go for the upside of R.J. Harvey. Everyone's freaking out about J.K. Dobbins. We had a report from Benjamin Albright, who isn't the cleanest source of all time. He has kind of been really steadfast on this idea. He did say Devin was going to be a stud for the Broncos as he gets traded. On top of that, in the first preseason game, R.J. Harvey is the starter at running back, and then Benjamin Albright runs with this story that Jacob Dobbins lost his helmet or whatever. So, I don't really buy it a ton. But this is a great kind of like meme here to just kind of talk through why you're going to see me have a lot of rookies higher, and maybe it's going to be uncomfortable for some of you guys, but I am not in the business and why I think also like season-long accuracy stuff is nonsense is because I'm not in this business to pick my RB7 to finish as RB17 or RB7 to finish as RB7. I'm trying to get my RB7 to finish as a top 12 back. I want access to league-winning upside. I don't want to finish fifth overall in my league. I want to finish first overall in my league. And I think a guy like R.J. Harvey represents that upside. You can see here, rookie, it's kind of the cycle we go through. Rookies provide a disproportionate share of top win rate players. Last year you had Bucky Irving, Brock Bowers, Jayden Daniels, Malik Nabers, Brian Thomas Jr., all monster players. Before that, Puka, Sam LaPorta, C.J. Stroud, Devin Achane, monster, huge league winners as rookies. We see it every single year. Tank Bigsby is another one. Then everyone targets rookies above week one projection for because upside wins championships. Rookie is third on the depth chart in August. Need to draft veterans. Rookie moves up depth chart by week six and wins leagues. And that's kind of the cycle here is that we want to be drafting players that are going to heat up towards the end so that we can win our fantasy football championship. That is what rookies provide. But then we get closer, closer to week one. We put that player in our lineup. We see the week one projection. We're like, "Ooh." But we're not playing for week one projections. We're playing for fantasy football championships. And that's what R.J. Harvey represents. But on top of that, I think that the J.K. Dobbins stuff is overstated. I think Dobbins will be the starting pass protection third-down back, but that's not an issue for a Broncos running back because we've seen Sean Payton absolutely pepper running backs with targets. So much so that on first and second down, R.J. Harvey will get plenty of targets on those downs. We've also seen years where Benjamin or not Benjamin Albright, but Sean Payton have Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara finish as top 12 running backs. This could be a poor man's Montgomery-Gibbs where if J.K. Dobbins and R.J. Harvey finish as top 24 running backs, it wouldn't shock me at all. This is a really good environment with a fourth-best offensive line, top 15 scoring offense by Vegas. Bo Nix checks down all the time, one of the highest target rates behind the line of scrimmage. I really like R.J. Harvey as this second-round draft pick handpicked by Sean Payton. He's explosive. He catches passes. And he's a very fun player.
At RB18, someone that is going to get subbed out on third down but doesn't have Sean Payton calling plays and that's why it's a bad thing is Breece Hall. He is my RB18. We saw in his first preseason preseason game with Israel Abanikanda and with Braelon Allen, it got really ugly. Breece Hall opens and gets a carry. Then you get Israel Abanikanda on the third down. So Braelon Allen's taking stuff on the early downs, and now you're getting squeezed for pass-catching role, you're getting squeezed for short-yardage situations on the goal line. Braelon Allen could come in. Justin Fields could come in or not come in, but Justin Fields could just run it in himself, and that creates a really tough spot. But we have seen Breece Hall play good football in his past. He has pass-catching upside. This is going to be maybe the most run-heavy, run efficiency, best offensive line that he's ever played behind. So the upside is there, but there's a lot of hurdles here for Breece Hall.
Then at RB19, we have James Conner. He is what he is at this point. He still has the juice. You can see here from PFF's tweet, first in missed tackles forced per attempt last year, fourth in yards after contact per attempt, fourth in explosive run rate. He is the ageless wonder at this point. Kind of the poor man's Derrick Henry. Not in as good a situation or as good of an offensive line, but he has been the RB15, 13, and RB9 over his last three seasons. He lacks true RB1 upside, like top five type upside, but he is somebody that is going to give you 15 points per game. It just comes down to one of these seasons he is going to fall off the age cliff and probably miss a bunch of time. He is somebody famously who misses a game or two in pretty much every single season that he's played.
After that, we have RB20, Alvin Kamara. Not my favorite pick. He loses Clint Kubiak. This should be a dumpster fire offense projected for the 31st most points. I know that he's a PPR scam that in PPR leagues, Alvin Kamara is always going to score, but he presents kind of the anti-R.J. Harvey where over the last three years for the Saints, he's been really good out the gate. He averages 20 plus points per game from weeks one through nine over his last three seasons, but just 13.6 points per game from week 10 on over his last three seasons. He breaks down as the season goes on. The Saints fall out of playoff contention. It's just a recipe for Alvin Kamara to give you a good push and then fall off towards the end. And if you want to push him up so you can draft him and then trade him after week four, you can go right ahead. But I'd rather take players with more upside than Alvin Kamara.
At RB21, we have Chuba Hubbard. Someone I'm lower on than consensus this season. He was a true bellcow last year, third in snap share, RB9 expected points per game. But we have seen via JJ Zachariason's research in his draft guide, talking about receiving efficiency for running backs then dictating how much receiving volume you get in that next season. We just saw that Chuba Hubbard had a 12% target share in 2024. He had a 0.51 yards per route run last year, and that falls in a bucket of running backs that average a 7.6% target share in that following season. We can see Chuba Hubbard's passing down role and target share get cut in half, which then makes him a fine RB2 without a ton of upside in a Carolina offense that is bottom 10 in projected scoring.
Then we have low-end RB2. These guys are fine, but they're probably guys I'm taking more in like the round six to eight area as RB2s and hero RB builds or just kind of depth pieces.
And at RB22, you have Tony Pollard. He should start strong. We have Tyjae Spears officially on IR. Tony Pollard is wheels all the way up in the early season as the bellcow running back. Now the Titan situation isn't great. They are one of the worst implied scoring offenses in football, but you should get some efficiency here because this offensive line is actually really good. They continue to build here. You have Peter Skoronski. You have J.C. Latham. They signed a tackle, I believe, too. You have Bill Callahan's dad, or maybe Bill Callahan, and it's Brian Callahan's dad, but the two Callahans are on the coaching staff. One of them is an all-time offensive line coach. So, Pollard is kind of in a sneaky good spot where if you need early season production to kind of offset one of these rookies you feel squeamish about, I think Pollard makes a lot of sense.
Then we have DeAndre Swift, who just refuses to die. He has been the RB21, 24, 158, and RB15 in points per game over his entire career. He's the RB23 for me this year. That's like right in his wheelhouse. This offense has improved, better offensive line, Ben Johnson now calling the plays, more receiving weapons, and DeAndre Swift could very easily be like the RB15 this year in points per game, and it wouldn't surprise me.
RB24, we have Isiah Pacheco, who was a two-three turn pick last year and is now kind of the same bet to be honest that you can get in like the seventh round as the RB1 on a high-end offense in the Kansas City Chiefs. Really, the main concern for me is pass-catching upside and then also we've seen this hip-trophy surgery that he had zap Mark Andrews and Tony Pollard of their explosiveness. We'll see how Isiah Pacheco looks after this injury. I know that he suffered it early last season, but it could still have some lingering effects here.
At RB25, we have David Montgomery. He has finished RB16 and RB15 over his last two years. So, RB25 is a little bit low, but again, I think this is going to be the furthest split in touches between him and Gibbs that we've seen so far in Gibbs' career, but at the end of the day, David Montgomery himself is still on a top six offense with a top six offensive line. And if Gibbs was to ever go down, Montgomery is a top six running back rest of the way. And you have to factor that in when you are ranking him.
At RB26, we have Aaron Jones. I think people are giving Jordan Mason too much credit. This is still Aaron Jones. He's the lead back for Kevin O'Connell's offense. He has explosive upside. He has pass-catching upside. I don't believe the idea that he can't score on the goal line. This Minnesota Vikings interior offensive line was bad last year. So, I think Aaron Jones is going to be in the mix as the 1A in a good offense you can get cheap at this point in time.
Which then brings us to my RB3s. And first up at RB27, we have J.K. Dobbins, aka "Breece." Now, I think a lot of you guys are going to be shocked that he is my RB27. But this is where running backs get ugly. And why not swing for massive upside here? I cannot stress enough that when we see players rise late season like this, it happened with Kyren Williams in his rookie year. It happened with Jordan Mason last year. It happened with James Robinson when Travis Etienne went down. And we have that exact environment, right? Of course, Brian Robinson didn't get hurt, but Brian Robinson got traded. And now it's J.K. Dobbins in this backfield competing with Austin Ekeler and Chris Rodriguez, but J.K. Dobbins has been getting all the buzz this offseason. All of the Washington beat reporters have been talking about him like crazy. And then we saw in real time the hype get confirmed when they traded Brian Robinson. So, this is going to be a team that is projected for the fifth most points by Las Vegas. Why not take a swing on a fun rookie? I think when we get to this point of the draft, a lot of these guys have question marks like a Caleb Johnson who's going to be splitting his backfield at RB28 with Jaylen Warren. He's a tough one because I think he's a good player, but his upside is a first and second down back for a bad offense and then also the goal line back for a bad offense that also has Aaron Rodgers who insists on passing the ball at the goal line. So, it's tough. And then he's going to be splitting passing down work or just splitting work with Jaylen Warren, who's honestly going to be taking all of the passing down work. So, you're going to see like these are all players that I'm not really crazy about. That's why I think at RB27, I give you honestly my blessing to take J.K. Dobbins as high as like the eighth round if you'd like to. I just think all of these guys aren't super clear.
RB29, we have Tyrone Tracy, who I like Scatabo so much that I think he's just an early season producer, which a lot of these profiles represent. And you guys know I'm not really a big fan of these guys. And I will say when you are building out your running back room, I wouldn't listen directly to how I have players ranked or how others have players ranked. I would try and mesh archetypes, right? Like if you draft a Tony Pollard, you can afford a Breece Hall on your bench because you don't need him to start early, right? Like R.J. Harvey, same thing. Like if you need someone that you feel better about starting early on, then you can go Tyrone Tracy. But if you go, let's say a high floor Alvin Kamara play, you can then pair him with a Breece Hall later on. So definitely something just like a note here of once you get to the later rounds, it's really more of like meshing archetypes of early season producers versus late season producers and kind of trying to marry those two archetypes. Tyrone Tracy to me is a more early season producer. I just think by the time that Scatabo gets acclimated to this offense and that he's fully healthy, he is a bigger back. He has passing upside himself where we could see Scatabo be the passing down back and the goal line back where Tyrone Tracy had fumbling issues last year. They wouldn't commit to him full time. He also got stuffed at the goal line in the preseason, and they brought in Deon Jackson to punch it in. I think that there is a lot wide open for Scatabo. So Tyrone Tracy to me is somebody that I wouldn't really bet on as a startable RB2 option longer than the first six or so weeks.
Similar deal with Jaylen Warren. Again, like a lot of these guys fit into this category where Jaylen Warren, similar deal. You can start him as your RB in week one, but I think eventually Caleb Johnson will be an issue for him.
Then we have Zach Charbonnet, who is not someone you can start, really more of like a very premium handcuff, but I like him for all the same reasons we like Kenneth Walker. I really like this Clint Kubiak rushing offense, but Kenneth Walker has definitely been injury-prone in his career. And in eight games without Kenneth Walker, Charbonnet has averaged 17.7 points per game. That is an RB1 pace that you can get if Walker goes down. Or honestly, Charbonnet also has the upside to just outright win the job. I think that he's a huge underdog to do it, but he could potentially do that. Similar archetype as Tyrone Tracy and Warren.
Here we have J.K. Dobbins, who is in the Sean Payton rushing environment where he is going to have a lot of fantasy points dictated towards the running back position. J.K. Dobbins was pretty solid last year, and I think Dobbins will get the bigger workload early on in the season. So you can definitely start him out the gate.
Similar deal with Travis Etienne. I think that he's going to be the RB1 in week one for the Jaguars. Him and Travis or not Travis, but Trevor Lawrence have a connection going back to Clemson. And I think he'll get some favoritism there, but there's also downside that he could get traded. Like he is truly a trade candidate at this point. He could go to the Browns or somewhere really nasty. But he is something that you can definitely put in your lineup in week one if you need to.
Then we have more of a handcuffish style running back, though. Something that he can just be the RB1 on the Vikings. That's not really where I'm coming from at this point. He had a strong start last year, but I've seen a million of these undrafted free agents just kind of fizzle out between Miles Gaskin and Mike, I guess like Mike Davis would even fall in there, or like UDFA day three guys of like Matt Brieda or Jeff Wilson. Very rarely do they stick around for a while. I would doubt that this guy's like the next Mike Tolbert where he's going to come in and vulture Aaron Jones at every opportunity. But some people really like Jordan Mason. Some guys I really respect love Jordan Mason. So I have him here at RB34, but I can't say I've really drafted him much at all this summer.
Then we have our depth pieces. These are guys that I'm not really trying to put in my lineup. They are just guys that I am stashing on my bench for fantasy. Actually, some of these guys you can start early on, but it's not as pretty.
First, we'll go Cam Akers. I love his upside. We talked about with Tracy. I just really like what he can give you. 45 catches, 600 plus yards, three receiving touchdowns in his final year at Arizona State. 219 pounds. Super explosive. Had a great vertical jump for a guy who looks like Cam Akers. He is somebody that I think by season's end could be a league winner on that Giants team.
Similar deal with Bijan Robinson. Rookie upside on the Jaguars. If Etienne gets traded or he's not effective early on, I think Robinson has a lot of juice. He also has favor from this coaching staff where this is a new regime who handpicked him for this offense.
Then you have Austin Ekeler. If you want to say, Ron, you're out of your mind for this Bijan ranking, you could put Austin Ekeler up here if you wanted to. I have Ekeler as my RB37 here. He had like 11 points per game last year. I think that he is probably going to have a similar role in a good offense and could just give you a nice PPR floor of like 11 to 12 points in your RB2 spot if you get desperate or if you miss the running back window in this area. I think Ekeler paired with some upside swings here is a decent way to play like a very extreme hero RB style build.
Then at RB38, we have Braelon Allen. I love this Jets environment, right, where you have a rushing quarterback which should give you some efficiency. This offensive line is the best it's been in like a decade for the Jets at this point. And Breece Hall could get traded. You know, like Breece Hall is not safe to be on the Jets until the trade deadline is over. At this point, there's a chance that Braelon Allen just overtakes Breece Hall by mid-season as well. He is a very good player. Interesting build, too. 240 pounds. Super young player.
RB39, Tank Bigsby. I just want to take stabs at this Jaguars backfield. I like this Liam Cohen, Trevor Lawrence offense. I think one of these guys pops in a big way. Tank Bigsby could be one of those guys.
Then we have Dylan Sampson. As of right now, Quinshon Judkins has not signed a deal. The only other running back is Jerome Ford. Dylan Sampson was the RB1 in the final preseason game as well. He could run away with this job. And with Joe Flacco at quarterback, this Browns offense shouldn't be as bad as advertised.
And we have Javonte Williams, who, it's funny, he is the RB1 right now on his depth chart. He should probably be higher, but we already saw last year under four yards per carry. He was the RB1 for the Broncos, and he was unstartable. I kind of assume the same thing on the Cowboys, especially with they love the fullback Lupkey. They love Turpin as well. I just don't think he's going to be startable every week, but he's going to finish as like the RB32 in points per game. So maybe RB41's too low.
Now at RB42, I do like his backfield mate, Jaden Blue, but he did just twist his ankle in a preseason game, but he does represent a fun rookie upside swing. He caught a ton of passes at Texas. He runs like a 4.340. He is a very interesting archetype there.
Then we have Ray Davis. A lot of these guys, like we're getting to the spot now, like RB43. We're just really talking about handcuffs. If James Cook goes down, Ray Davis is a monster on a good team with a good offensive line. Similar deal with Trey Benson. Some seem to think that he can overtake James Conner. I'll believe it when I see it. But James Conner is somebody who has been injury-prone in the past, and if he goes down, Trey Benson would be an every-week high-end RB2.
After that, you have Rhamondre Stevenson. He falls in a similar bucket as your Ekeler, as your Javonte, as guys that I think you can start early season for maybe like 10 plus points per game. And you know, buy some time until you can get somebody to pop off of waivers or one of these guys like Tyjae Spears or Cam Akers to pop off on your bench. But I think before long, Henderson will kind of put him into a role where you can't really start him every week.
Then we have Ollie Gordon, who I think is going to be one of the like true league winners of this season. He is somebody who popped a ton in the preseason, really fun prospect where he was probably unrightfully so a day three pick in a really strong class. He had a monster 2023 down, 2024 slid in the draft, but 226 pounds. He's the biggest back on this offense. Hunt is banged up. Jaylen Wright is banged up, and Ollie Gordon has himself in a prime opportunity in Miami.
Then you have Nick Chubb, who finds himself as like the RB1 for the Texans in week one. Similar to you know, guys like Rhamondre. I think that over the course of a season, Mixon could come back, Dameon Pierce could emerge, Woody Marks could emerge, but Chubb could be a guy who is really strong in fantasy football this year.
We're going to zoom out just a little bit to fit a couple more running backs here. After Chubb, so Chubb was RB47, we have RB48, Tyler Allgeier. That's just very simple. Bijan's handcuff. If Bijan went down, Allgeier would be a top 10 option.
Then you have Rachaad White. He's somebody who maybe has some standalone upside in Tampa Bay where last year him and Bucky were startable in fantasy football. If you aren't a fan of Bucky Irving, you could definitely talk yourself into Rachaad White being. Can I do this? Actually, no. You could actually talk yourself into Rachaad White being a like high-end RB3. You could start every week if you don't think that Bucky Irving is going to get those kinds of touches.
And then we have Najee Harris, who I'm not the biggest fan of. I think at this point he's already kind of lost the role to Amari and Hampton, but maybe not. Maybe he's going to get a ton of volume early on. Maybe they absolutely love him. Maybe the eye stuff is completely overblown and he's fine. But that is going to do it for us today. That is our top 50 running back rankings for the 2025 fantasy football season, broken down by tiers. And again, if you want access to my entire top 200 rankings, I'm telling you, it is the best resource you can possibly have for your drafts this weekend. It is only $10 on Patreon. You get my top 200 rankings, cheat sheet, tiers, my target round for every player, my targets, my fades, all of that good stuff. So, if you want to know, you know, I like Saquon, but do you like him more than Justin Jefferson or CD Lamb? That is all there on the Patreon. Patreon.com/ronstewart, you can find that in the description and the comment section down below. But if you can support there, just leave a like, subscribe if you're new, and I will see you guys in the next one.
This sounds right.
[Music]
Around my body like I'm frozen.