The best fantasy football running backs are the best fantasy football running backs, regardless of league structure. Point-per-reception? The most targets through four weeks belong to Jamaal Charles; Mark Ingram has the most catches.
Fantasy football rankings 2015: Running backs for PPR leagues, Week 5
There’s a sweet spot of good-not-elite fantasy option who catch passes and it makes a big difference for fantasy. Let’s look in there. We’ve got fantasy football running back rankings for Week 5 PPR leagues.
But the next tier of running backs gets much more variable. The Darren Sproles/Shane Vereen types have been covered ad nauseam, but above that, you see guys like Devonta Freeman, who (other than the last two weeks) isn’t one of the superstars of the position but is in the conversation for a starter in standard leagues. And then you look at his receptions, and you see that he has 17 catches on 23 targets. Players ranked around him, like Frank Gore and Chris Ivory, aren’t catching passes at anywhere near that rate.
That’s the sweet spot of PPR value. Sproles and Vereen catch passes, but most weeks, they aren’t doing enough to help even with the added help. Charles, Ingram, those players start every week in every style of league. The top ones who don’t catch a lot of passes, like Eddie Lacy, are still theoretically valuable enough without the receptions to still be top-ranked guys.
But the second tier of running backs, the ones like Freeman, Gore and Ivory, that’s where the PPR format really has an impact. That’s where you need to look the closest in PPR rankings.
Which is what we have here! It’s the Week 5 running backs for PPR leagues. The wild card in this week’s rankings is Karlos Williams. Williams is dealing with a concussion, bringing his Week 5 status into question. Concussions are more binary than other injuries; if Williams is cleared, he’s playing. If he isn’t cleared, he won’t play at all. There’s no “he’s playing, but at less than full strength” there. And there’s no way from here for us to guess at his concussion recovery. So our approach is to go at the rankings as though he’s playing.
Running backs for PPR leagues, Week 5
(DK: Daniel Kelley; AM: Andrew Miller; JD: John Daigle; SK: Scott Kaliska; Dan Ciarrocchi has the week off. Carolina, Miami, Minnesota and the New York Jets are on bye)
| Rk | Consensus | Tm | Opp. | DK | AM | JD | SK |
| 1 | Le'Veon Bell | PIT | @SD | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Jamaal Charles | KC | CHI | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | Matt Forte | CHI | @KC | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| 4 | Eddie Lacy | GB | STL | 6 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
| 5 | Devonta Freeman | ATL | WAS | 9 | 5 | 7 | 4 |
| 6 | Arian Foster | HOU | IND | 5 | 8 | 9 | 6 |
| 7 | Justin Forsett | BAL | CLE | 7 | 11 | 5 | 7 |
| 8 | Mark Ingram | NO | @PHI | 4 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| 9 | Todd Gurley | STL | @GB | 10 | 13 | 6 | 9 |
| 10 | Karlos Williams** | BUF | @TEN | 8 | 7 | 11 | 13 |
| 11 | Dion Lewis | NE | @DAL | 21 | 6 | 8 | 8 |
| 12 | Jeremy Hill | CIN | SEA | 15 | 9 | 13 | 14 |
| 13 | Marshawn Lynch** | SEA | @CIN | 11 | 12 | 16 | 17 |
| 14 | Frank Gore | IND | @HOU | 17 | 16 | 15 | 11 |
| 15 | Joseph Randle | DAL | NE | 12 | 18 | 12 | 19 |
| 16 | Latavius Murray | OAK | DEN | 18 | 23 | 14 | 15 |
| 17 | Danny Woodhead | SD | PIT | 16 | 15 | 28 | 12 |
| 18 | T.J. Yeldon | JAC | @TB | 19 | 21 | 17 | 16 |
| 19 | Doug Martin | TB | JAC | 25 | 14 | 18 | 18 |
| 20 | Ronnie Hillman | DEN | @OAK | 20 | 20 | 20 | 26 |
| 21 | Carlos Hyde | SF | @NYG | 14 | 22 | 30 | 22 |
| 22 | Giovani Bernard | CIN | SEA | 27 | 17 | 22 | 23 |
| 23 | DeMarco Murray | PHI | NO | 13 | 30 | 24 | 24 |
| 24 | LeGarrette Blount | NE | @DAL | 23 | 28 | 19 | 27 |
| 25 | Ameer Abdullah | DET | ARI | 26 | 24 | 26 | 28 |
| 26 | Chris Johnson | ARI | @DET | 43 | 19 | 21 | 25 |
| 27 | Melvin Gordon | SD | PIT | 31 | 33 | 25 | 20 |
| 28 | C.J. Spiller | NO | @PHI | 39 | 32 | 23 | 21 |
| 28 | C.J. Anderson | DEN | @OAK | 22 | 35 | 29 | 29 |
| 30 | Duke Johnson | CLE | @BAL | 32 | 27 | 27 | 30 |
| 31 | Alfred Morris | WAS | @ATL | 34 | 26 | 31 | 31 |
| 32 | Andre Ellington** | ARI | @DET | 28 | 25 | 39 | 34 |
| 33 | Isaiah Crowell | CLE | @BAL | 30 | 29 | 38 | 38 |
| 34 | Rashad Jennings | NYG | SF | 24 | 46 | 32 | 35 |
| 34 | David Johnson | ARI | @DET | 35 | 34 | 35 | 33 |
| 36 | Charles Sims | TB | JAC | 29 | 38 | 33 | 43 |
| 37 | Antonio Andrews | TEN | BUF | 37 | 31 | 43 | 39 |
| 37 | Matt Jones | WAS | @ATL | 38 | 42 | 34 | 36 |
| 39 | Darren Sproles | PHI | NO | 40 | 39 | 44 | 32 |
| 40 | Darren McFadden | DAL | NE | 42 | 37 | 42 | 42 |
| 41 | Ryan Mathews | PHI | NO | 49 | 41 | 40 | 40 |
| 42 | Shane Vereen | NYG | SF | 44 | 49 | 41 | 37 |
| 43 | Theo Riddick | DET | ARI | 36 | 36 | 50 | -- |
| 44 | Chris Thompson | WAS | @ATL | 41 | -- | 37 | 50 |
| 45 | Bishop Sankey | TEN | BUF | 45 | 43 | 47 | 47 |
| 46 | Khiry Robinson | NO | @PHI | 33 | 50 | -- | -- |
| 47 | Anthony Dixon | BUF | @TEN | -- | -- | 36 | 48 |
| 48 | Lorenzo Taliaferro | BAL | CLE | -- | 44 | 48 | 44 |
| 48 | Andre Williams | NYG | SF | -- | 45 | 46 | 45 |
| 50 | Dexter McCluster | TEN | BUF | -- | 40 | -- | -- |
| 50 | Fred Jackson | SEA | @CIN | 46 | -- | 45 | -- |
| -- | Thomas Rawls | SEA | @CIN | -- | -- | -- | 41 |
| -- | Reggie Bush | SF | @NYG | -- | -- | 49 | 46 |
| -- | Marcel Reece | OAK | DEN | 47 | -- | -- | -- |
| -- | Charcandrick West | KC | CHI | -- | 47 | -- | -- |
| -- | Chris Polk | HOU | IND | 48 | -- | -- | -- |
| -- | Alfred Blue | HOU | IND | -- | 48 | -- | -- |
| -- | James Starks | GB | STL | -- | -- | -- | 49 |
| -- | Tre Mason | STL | @GB | 50 | -- | -- | -- |
SB Nation presents: NFL Week 5 sit/start fantasy football advice
