Let’s talk about some year-to-year comparisons. I think, if we thought about it, we’d all agree that running backs at the top of the position aren’t scoring at the same rate as they did a year ago. It just feels accurate, right?
Fantasy football rankings 2015: Running backs for standard leagues, Week 16
It’s been a battle of attrition among the guys at RB1 this year. Here are our fantasy football running back rankings for standard leagues for Week 16.
Well, I wanted to check this. I tallied the totals for all running backs through 15 weeks of the last two seasons and sorted them. Of the top 10 running back performances in that chart, eight of them were from 2014. Here’s the chart:
| Rank | Player | Year | Fantasy points |
| 1 | DeMarco Murray | 2014 | 253 |
| 2 | Le'Veon Bell | 2014 | 250 |
| 3 | Marshawn Lynch | 2014 | 217 |
| 4 | Matt Forte | 2014 | 209 |
| 5 | Devonta Freeman | 2015 | 204 |
| 6 | Arian Foster | 2014 | 199 |
| 7 | Eddie Lacy | 2014 | 191 |
| 8 | Jamaal Charles | 2014 | 191 |
| 9 | Adrian Peterson | 2015 | 188 |
| 10 | Justin Forsett | 2014 | 175 |
Of course, if you extend it to the top 20, it balances out: nine of the top 20 have been this year. Someone had to be scoring the points, and the next group of 10 features the best guys of this year, guys who would have been borderline fantasy starters a year ago.
What's the takeaway? Well, unless you drafted Adrian Peterson, or maybe Doug Martin, you haven't started the same guy all year long (bye aside, of course). Last year, if you drafted Murray or Bell or Forte or Lacy or any number of guys, you were totally justified in using them in every game all year. This year, you've had to work some magic. Between injuries, ineffectiveness and mere attrition, this year has been hard on fantasy owners.
I’m using my team as an example, because heck, I think it’s a story. The following guys have started at least one game for me at running back this year (this league has no flex, just two RB slots, so this is two guys a week):
| Player | Times used |
| Rashad Jennings | 6 |
| T.J. Yeldon | 6 |
| Arian Foster | 4 |
| Chris Ivory | 3 |
| Tim Hightower | 2 |
| Karlos Williams | 2 |
| Javorius Allen | 1 |
| Antonio Andrews | 1 |
| Joique Bell | 1 |
| Alfred Blue | 1 |
| Chris Johnson | 1 |
| Dion Lewis | 1 |
| Denard Robinson | 1 |
This doesn't even include occasions like my Week 4 trade for Lance Dunbar as my No. 1 backup, right before he tore his ACL, or my stashing of Khiry Robinson for much of the season before his injury, or the 147 times (approximately) I stashed Christine Michael, or any number of things. And I never even had Le'Veon Bell, Jamaal Charles or any of the non-Foster big-name guys who went down. That team made it to the semifinals before losing this past week, and even that couldn't be put on my running backs. It was Aaron Rodgers' awful game Sunday that did me in.
The moral of the story? If you’re still alive in your playoffs, you either drafted Peterson or have been a waiver-wire master this year. And that makes running-back rankings (like ours!) all the more important, because you’ve been using them all year long.
Which brings me to our Week 16 running back rankings for standard leagues:
Running backs for standard leagues, Week 16
(DK: Daniel Kelley; DC: Dan Ciarrocchi; AM: Andrew Miller; JD: John Daigle; SK: Scott Kaliska)
| Rk | Consensus | Tm | Opp. | DK | DC | AM | JD | SK |
| 1 | David Johnson | ARI | GB | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| 2 | Adrian Peterson | MIN | NYG | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 3 | DeAngelo Williams | PIT | @BAL | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| 4 | Doug Martin | TB | CHI | 2 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 4 |
| 5 | Devonta Freeman | ATL | CAR | 6 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 6 |
| 6 | Charcandrick West | KC | CLE | 9 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 5 |
| 7 | Matt Forte | CHI | @TB | 7 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 7 |
| 8 | Latavius Murray | OAK | SD | 11 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 8 |
| 9 | Todd Gurley | STL | @SEA | 5 | 13 | 10 | 9 | 9 |
| 10 | Darren McFadden | DAL | @BUF | 8 | 12 | 6 | 13 | 12 |
| 11 | Denard Robinson | JAC | @NO | 16 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 10 |
| 12 | James White | NE | @NYJ | 13 | 8 | 15 | 17 | 18 |
| 12 | Lamar Miller | MIA | IND | 17 | 9 | 24 | 10 | 11 |
| 14 | Karlos Williams | BUF | DAL | 27 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 13 |
| 15 | Eddie Lacy | GB | @ARI | 15 | 16 | 17 | 16 | 17 |
| 16 | Tim Hightower | NO | JAC | 21 | 20 | 14 | 14 | 14 |
| 17 | Christine Michael | SEA | STL | 12 | 25 | 18 | 20 | 20 |
| 18 | Chris Ivory | NYJ | NE | 24 | 19 | 20 | 18 | 16 |
| 19 | Frank Gore | IND | @MIA | 33 | 17 | 19 | 15 | 15 |
| 20 | Buck Allen | BAL | PIT | 18 | 18 | 21 | 23 | 21 |
| 21 | Bilal Powell | NYJ | NE | 23 | 23 | 11 | 22 | 24 |
| 22 | Jeremy Hill | CIN | @DEN | 19 | 24 | 23 | 19 | 19 |
| 23 | Danny Woodhead | SD | @OAK | 20 | 15 | 26 | 27 | 23 |
| 24 | Giovani Bernard | CIN | @DEN | 26 | 22 | 16 | 24 | 25 |
| 25 | Ryan Mathews | PHI | WAS | 14 | 27 | 30 | 21 | 22 |
| 26 | Rashad Jennings | NYG | @MIN | 10 | 29 | 29 | 31 | 30 |
| 26 | Cameron Artis-Payne | CAR | @ATL | 22 | 30 | 22 | 29 | 26 |
| 28 | Ronnie Hillman | DEN | CIN | 25 | 34 | 25 | 30 | 29 |
| 29 | Shaun Draughn | SF | @DET | -- | 21 | 27 | 28 | 31 |
| 29 | Matt Jones | WAS | @PHI | -- | 26 | 28 | 25 | 28 |
| 31 | Ameer Abdullah | DET | SF | 34 | 28 | 47 | 26 | 27 |
| 32 | Jeremy Langford | CHI | @TB | 31 | 37 | 34 | 34 | 33 |
| 33 | James Starks | GB | @ARI | 28 | 39 | 42 | 32 | 32 |
| 34 | Brandon Bolden | NE | @NYJ | 45 | 31 | 38 | 33 | 35 |
| 35 | Darren Sproles | PHI | WAS | 39 | 32 | 45 | 35 | 37 |
| 36 | Alfred Morris | WAS | @PHI | 46 | 40 | 31 | 36 | 36 |
| 37 | C.J. Anderson | DEN | CIN | 32 | 41 | 40 | 39 | 38 |
| 38 | Theo Riddick | DET | SF | 40 | 35 | 43 | 38 | 40 |
| 39 | Mike Gillislee | BUF | DAL | 35 | 42 | 33 | 44 | 43 |
| 40 | Duke Johnson Jr. | CLE | @KC | 48 | 33 | 37 | 42 | 42 |
| 41 | Charles Sims | TB | CHI | 41 | 36 | -- | 40 | 39 |
| 42 | Jay Ajayi | MIA | IND | 29 | -- | 32 | 48 | 48 |
| 43 | Alfred Blue | HOU | @TEN | 44 | 43 | -- | 37 | 34 |
| 43 | Bryce Brown | SEA | STL | 36 | 45 | 46 | 41 | 41 |
| 45 | Spencer Ware | KC | CLE | 38 | -- | 39 | 43 | 44 |
| 46 | Joique Bell | DET | SF | 30 | -- | 44 | -- | 50 |
| 47 | Antonio Andrews | TEN | HOU | 42 | -- | 36 | -- | 49 |
| 48 | Shane Vereen | NYG | @MIN | -- | 38 | 49 | 47 | 47 |
| 49 | DeMarco Murray | PHI | WAS | -- | -- | 41 | 45 | 45 |
| 50 | Donald Brown | SD | @OAK | 50 | -- | 35 | -- | -- |
| -- | Mike Tolbert | CAR | @ATL | 37 | 49 | -- | -- | -- |
| -- | Isaiah Crowell | CLE | @KC | -- | 50 | 48 | 46 | 46 |
| -- | Jerick McKinnon | MIN | NYG | 43 | 47 | -- | 50 | -- |
| -- | Kerwynn Williams | ARI | GB | -- | 44 | -- | -- | -- |
| -- | Fozzy Whittaker | CAR | @ATL | -- | 48 | 50 | 49 | -- |
| -- | C.J. Spiller | NO | JAC | -- | 46 | -- | -- | -- |
| -- | Terrance West | BAL | PIT | 47 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| -- | DuJuan Harris | SF | @DET | 49 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
* * *
SB Nation presents: The most impressive teams of Week 15
