There are a few fantasy football running backs who draw special attention in point-per-reception leagues every NFL season. Matt Forte caught what seemed like a million passes last season, but he would have been an elite performer regardless of what credit he got for catching passes.
Fantasy football rankings 2015: Consensus running backs for PPR leagues, Preseason Week 4
The top tier of running backs will be the top tier, PPR or not. But later on, some guys see their values shoot way up when they get credit for catching passes. We break down the PPR running backs rankings for your 2015 fantasy football league.
No, the interesting guys are the ones whose value depends on PPR. In a standard fantasy league, you aren’t really getting near, for example, Darren Sproles, but in PPR, well, dude’s caught at least 40 passes a year for six years running, for three different teams.
There are some obvious names when considering PPR contributors
Danny Woodhead: He missed much of last year, but he became a clear pass-catching option the two years prior to that, and in a San Diego backfield that has a rookie in Melvin Gordon, Woodhead is likely to serve as a little bit of a security blanket.
Shane Vereen: There’s something about those Patriots and ex-Patriots. Vereen caught 52 passes last year in New England, and 47 in only eight games the year before. With the Giants this year, he’s likely to fill a similar role, spelling Rashad Jennings and being Eli Manning’s little dump-off buddy, which Manning will likely need to overcome a spotty offensive line.
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C.J. Spiller: I’m on the record as not really trusting Spiller this year, as he’s miles away from trustworthy from a health standpoint, and if I’m investing in a health risk, I want it to be for mega-elite talent, not a change-of-pace guy. That said, we do know Spiller has talent, and he would likely have caught even more passes during his Buffalo tenure had he not been paired with Fred Jackson.
Marcel Reece: This is a super-deep dive, but Reece has found his way into almost 35 catches a year for five years running in Oakland. Every year, it seems he has a game or two where he pops and leads the way, as Oakland running backs always manage to get hurt. With Roy Helu Jr. in the fold, Reece might not get as many opportunities this year, but if we’re looking super deep, he still intrigues me.
On to our fantasy football PPR running back rankings for the 2015 NFL season, through Week 3 of the preseason.
Running backs — PPR
(DK: Daniel Kelley; DC: Dan Ciarrocchi; AM: Andrew Miller; JD: John Daigle; SK: Scott Kaliska)
| Rank | Consensus | Team | DK | DC | AM | JD | SK |
| 1 | Le'Veon Bell | PIT | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Jamaal Charles | KC | 1 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 3 |
| 3 | Eddie Lacy | GB | 2 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 4 | Adrian Peterson | MIN | 8 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| 5 | C.J. Anderson | DEN | 5 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 7 |
| 6 | Marshawn Lynch | SEA | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 6 |
| 7 | Matt Forte | CHI | 4 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 5 |
| 8 | Jeremy Hill | CIN | 6 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 10 |
| 9 | DeMarco Murray | PHI | 9 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 9 |
| 10 | Justin Forsett | BAL | 10 | 11 | 12 | 9 | 8 |
| 11 | LeSean McCoy | BUF | 12 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 11 |
| 12 | Lamar Miller | MIA | 14 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 12 |
| 13 | Mark Ingram | NO | 13 | 13 | 19 | 14 | 14 |
| 14 | Frank Gore | IND | 22 | 21 | 14 | 15 | 13 |
| 15 | Melvin Gordon | SD | 23 | 15 | 20 | 13 | 19 |
| 16 | Alfred Morris | WAS | 16 | 20 | 17 | 18 | 20 |
| 17 | Carlos Hyde | SF | 11 | 19 | 13 | 28 | 22 |
| 18 | Jonathan Stewart | CAR | 19 | 18 | 23 | 16 | 17 |
| 19 | Latavius Murray | OAK | 20 | 17 | 15 | 25 | 18 |
| 20 | Andre Ellington | ARI | 21 | 14 | 27 | 19 | 15 |
| 21 | Ameer Abdullah | DET | 27 | 28 | 18 | 23 | 21 |
| 22 | C.J. Spiller | NO | 37 | 16 | 35 | 21 | 16 |
| 23 | Chris Ivory | NYJ | 25 | 26 | 22 | 24 | 28 |
| 24 | Joseph Randle | DAL | 33 | 32 | 21 | 17 | 25 |
| 25 | Joique Bell | DET | 18 | 22 | 26 | 33 | 31 |
| 26 | T.J. Yeldon | JAC | 34 | 27 | 24 | 22 | 24 |
| 27 | Rashad Jennings | NYG | 15 | 30 | 33 | 26 | 32 |
| 28 | Todd Gurley | STL | 32 | 25 | 25 | 30 | 26 |
| 29 | Doug Martin | TB | 42 | 23 | 16 | 31 | 27 |
| 30 | Giovani Bernard | CIN | 28 | 29 | 28 | 35 | 23 |
| 31 | LeGarrette Blount | NE | 30 | 24 | 31 | 29 | 30 |
| 32 | Arian Foster | HOU | 17 | 49 | 29 | 20 | 33 |
| 33 | Danny Woodhead | SD | 29 | 36 | 30 | 36 | 34 |
| 34 | Tevin Coleman | ATL | 40 | 35 | 32 | 27 | 36 |
| 35 | Isaiah Crowell | CLE | 24 | 31 | 42 | 40 | 37 |
| 36 | Shane Vereen | NYG | 36 | 33 | 40 | 37 | 29 |
| 37 | Tre Mason | STL | 31 | 40 | 36 | 38 | 42 |
| 38 | Devonta Freeman | ATL | 39 | 41 | 41 | 32 | 35 |
| 39 | Duke Johnson | CLE | 38 | 37 | 46 | 39 | 38 |
| 40 | Darren McFadden | DAL | 26 | 42 | 38 | 48 | 46 |
| 41 | Ryan Mathews | PHI | 35 | 38 | 43 | 44 | 40 |
| 42 | Bishop Sankey | TEN | -- | 39 | 37 | 34 | 41 |
| 43 | Alfred Blue | HOU | -- | 34 | 34 | 41 | 47 |
| 44 | David Cobb | TEN | 41 | 44 | 39 | 47 | 49 |
| 45 | Reggie Bush | SF | 44 | 43 | 44 | -- | 39 |
| 46 | Charles Sims | TB | 43 | 46 | -- | 42 | 43 |
| 47 | David Johnson | ARI | -- | 45 | 45 | 46 | 48 |
| 48 | Knile Davis | KC | 45 | -- | 47 | 43 | -- |
| 49 | Roy Helu Jr. | OAK | -- | 48 | -- | 45 | 44 |
| 50 | Darren Sproles | PHI | 47 | 47 | -- | -- | 45 |
| -- | Cameron Artis-Payne | CAR | 46 | -- | 49 | -- | -- |
| -- | Matt Jones | WAS | -- | -- | 48 | -- | 50 |
| -- | Ronnie Hillman | DEN | 48 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| -- | Jerick McKinnon | MIN | 49 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| -- | Theo Riddick | DET | -- | -- | -- | 49 | -- |
| -- | Andre Williams | NYG | -- | 50 | 50 | -- | -- |
| -- | Khiry Robinson | NO | 50 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| -- | Lance Dunbar | DAL | -- | -- | -- | 50 | -- |
