Fantasy Football RB Rankings by Tier

Running back is the most position to get right in your fantasy team. You can find a late round Wide Receiver or Quarterback, but finding a pair of bell cow running backs is the key. Because you're trying to find the guys that will get 20-25 touches every game, they tend to break down quicker than the other positions. Forecasting wear and tear is far from an exact science, but there are some rules to follow. Guys over the age of 30 rarely perform at an elite level. Once the soft tissue injuries start, they tend to hang around. And touchdown dependent backs normally regress the following seasons. But like all fantasy football rankings, RB included, tiers matter.

The running back position keeps evolving at the NFL level, and knowing your league's scoring system is imperative. A guy like Austin Ekeler with the Chargers has way more value in PPR formats vs. non-PPR formats. For the most part, guys don't get 25 carries a game any more. Even a talented back like Ezekiel Elliot in Dallas split carries with a solid backup just a year after signing a massive contract.

Each of the last 9 top performing running backs in fantasy fit within a very specific framework. They were 25 years-old or younger, drafted in the top-12 ADP, and haven’t been back-to-back since 2007. Taking those data points, there are only 4 players to fit within that criteria. Najee Harris, DeAndre Swift, Saquon Barkley, and Jevonte Williams. I am not saying take these guys as your top 4 picks, but if it's close then lean with one of these guys. Here are the fantasy football RB rankings by tier.

1. Jonathan Taylor (Indianapolis Colts)
2. Austin Ekeler (Los Angeles Chargers)
3. Najee Harris (Pittsburgh Steelers)
4. Derrick Henry (Tennessee Titans)

These should be the first four picks of your draft. When healthy all of these guys are heavily featured in both the run and pass game.

5. Christian McCaffrey (Carolina Panthers)
6. Dalvin Cook (Minnesota Vikings)
7. D'Andre Swift (Detroit Lions)
8. Joe Mixon (Cincinnati Bengals)
9. Nick Chubb (Cleveland Browns)

When healthy CMC should be in tier 1. Unfortunately he hasn't been able to do that over the past 2 seasons. Cook, Swift and Mixon are all heavily featured backs, but aren't the level of backs in the tier above. Cook is the safest pick, Swift has the most upside, and Mixon is a blend of the 2. These guys should be taken in the 1st round, but not ahead of the tier 1 RB's, or the elite WR's.

10. Jevonte Williams (Denver Broncos)
11. Saquon Barkley (New York Giants)
12. Cam Akers (Los Angeles Rams)
13. Antonio Gibson (Washington Commanders)
14. Alvin Kamara (New Orleans Saints)

These are all guys with something to prove this season, but enter the year as the #1 back in their offense. There are some names that haven't been put in yet, but that's largely due to a backup that should get plenty of touches this season.

15. Aaron Jones (Green Bay Packers)
16. Leonard Fournette (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
17. Travis Etienne (Jacksonville Jaguars)
18. J.K. Dobbins (Baltimore Ravens)
19. James Conner (Arizona Cardinals)

These are your elite RB2's. Jones scares me a bit because of AJ Dillon's effectiveness las season. Fournette and Conner are the safe options on this list. Etienne and Dobbins have the most potential to break through to the top tier's of RB's.

20. Ezekiel Elliot (Dallas Cowboys)
21. Josh Jacobs (Las Vegas Raiders)
22. David Montgomery (Chicago bears)
23. Elijah Mitchell (San Francisco 49ers)
24. Clyde Edwards-Helaire (Kansas City Chiefs)
25. Breece Hall (New York Jets)
26. Devin Singletary (Buffalo Bills)
27. Rashaad Penny (Seattle Seahawks)

Zeke has real competition with Pollard in Dallas. Same story with Jacobs in Vegas with Kenyon Drake. Montgomery will be in a bad offense, but should get enough touches to have value. Mitchell, CEH, Hall, and Singletary should get plenty of touches, but there are question marks with either the offense they play in, or their touches per game.

28. Melvin Gordon (Denver Broncos)
29. AJ Dillion (Green Bay Packers)
30. Tony Pollard (Dallas Cowboys)
31. Damien Harris (New England Patriots)
32. Chase Edmonds (Miami Dolphins)
33. Kareem Hunt (Cleveland Browns)

Gordon, Dillon, Pollard, and Hunt are starting caliber backs in the NFL. They are in timeshares with the starters though, so they won't get enough volume to be a starter every week. Harris should start the season as the feature back in New England, but I'm fearful this offense will take a major step back this season. Edmonds is an intriguing fantasy player. If the Miami offense even closely resembles the San Francisco offense of the last few seasons, Edmonds could finish the season as a top 15 back.

34. Cordarrelle Patterson (Atlanta Falcons)
35. Miles Sanders (Philadelphia Eagles)
36. James Cook (Buffalo Bills)
37. Dameon Pierce (Houston Texans)
38. Rhamondre Stevenson (New England Patriots)
39. Tyler Allgeier (Atlanta Falcons)
40. Kenneth walker (Seattle Seahawks)

Patterson and Sanders are technically the lead backs in their offenses, but I fully expect that to not be the case by October. The rest of this tier is full of young backs who can take over the feature role by the middle of the season.

Fantasy Football drafts are just around the corner, and we want to help you win your league this season. The traditional Fantasy football QB ranking of numbering 1-20 is outdated and doesn't paint the full picture. What if the drop off from 9 to 10 is 50 points? They shouldn't be drafted back to back in that scenario. Russell Wilson is in a new location, but what does that mean for his fantasy outlook? Will the change in OC in Buffalo help or hurt Josh Allen? Can Joe Burrow build on his postseason success from last year? All that and more will be answered in our fantasy football QB rankings by tier.

There are 2 philosophies when drafting quarterbacks. 1) Go get your stud early. This is rarely the philosophy I deploy. Unless a guy like Josh Allen or Patrick Mahomes are available in the 4th or 5th round, I'll let someone else take that player. I prefer to deploy the 2 QB system with each player fitting into a different category. Those categories are proven vet that is steady, and a young player with huge upside. Think about the young QB's who have burst onto the scene over the last 5 years. Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts, Justin Herbert, and Joe Burrow. young guys are breaking into the league and putting up huge number. Usually in year 2 or 3.

For some context, the top 10 scoring Quarterbacks from 2021 were Josh Allen, Justin Herbert, Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes, Matthew Stafford, Aaron Rodgers, Dak Prescott, Joe Burrow, Jalen hurts, and Kyler Murray. Allen led the way with 417 points on the year, while Murray snuck in the top 10 with 310 points. That might seem like a big drop off in production, but it's only 2 points per game (Murray only played in 14 games).

1. Josh Allen
2. Justin Herbert
3. Patrick Mahomes

I think all of these guys will have a majority of their offenses placed on their shoulders. I put Herbert ahead of Mahomes because of the weapons the teams have surrounding the quarterback. I would target Josh in the early 3rd round with the other 2 guys in the 4th.

4. Joe Burrow

5. Lamar Jackson

I should have called this "tier 1.5". I would not be surprised if either one of these guys finish the season as the league's to scoring QB in 2022. Burrow should go somewhere around the end of the 4th or beginning of the 5th. Target Lamar at the end of the 5th or beginning of the 6th round.

6. Tom Brady

7. Kyler Murray

8. Russell Wilson

Tom Brady led the league in passing yards and passing touchdowns in 2021. We all need to stop thinking some sort of cliff is coming for Brady. It just isn't. he's going to continue to put up gaudy numbers. When healthy, Kyler is one of the premier fantasy QB's. If you take him, you'll need a solid backup because it's unrealistic to expect him to stay healthy for 17 games. Russ is the big question mark this season. He starts hot every year, then tails off. Maybe with an offensive minded coach, Russ will get to cook for all 17 games. I would target all of these guys in the late 7th/early 8th.

9. Jalen Hurts
10. Derek Carr
11. Dak Prescott
12. Aaron Rodgers

Jalen Hurts brings those added ground yards and the potential for rushing touchdowns every week. Hurts should be targeted in the late 8th/early 9th round. I would also target Derek Carr in this same spots. Carr threw for over 4,800 yards and added one of the best receivers in the game. Dak  2 of his top 3 receivers, but should still put up good numbers. Similar spot with Rodgers losing Adams to Vegas. He should be fin though.

13. Matthew Stafford
14. Kirk Cousins
15. Matt Ryan

These guys are all safe options, and if you don't get one of those top 3 tier guys, you can use these guys in a rotation. Stafford would be higher if not for the elbow injury. I could just see a few games this season where the Rams get up big and try to preserve the arm. Cousins is very efficient in a good offense. See similar numbers from last year. I think Matt Ryan will be reinvigorated now that he's back on a contender, and Michael Pittman should be a big beneficiary of that.

16. Trey Lance
17. Tua Tagovailoa
18. Jameis Winston
19. Trevor Lawrence
20. Justin Fields

These are all guys who have some serious upside. Trey Lance in the Kyle Shanahan offense could be explosive. Jimmy G was solid, but Lance brings the athleticism where his legs can be utilized more. Tua has 2 of the most explosive weapons on the outside in the league, so he should have a few games where opposing secondary's simply can't match what the Dolphins bring to the field. Jameis has put up numbers, but needs to do it consistently.  Lawrence and Fields will be the focal points of their offenses, and could be used when going up against the bottom half of the league defenses. It also doesn't hurt that they'll be trailing often and have to chuck the ball around to get back in games.