Fantasy football rankings 2015: Running backs for standard leagues, Week 4
With so many unknowns through three weeks, let’s focus on what we do know.
Theoretically, the deeper you go into a season, the more you feel like you know. In practice, at least for the 2015 NFL football season, predicting fantasy football outcomes has been ... well, an exercise in trying to know the unknowable.
Take running backs for Week 4. We think we’re getting Arian Foster back from injury. We think we might have Marshawn Lynch healthy. We don’t know how Matt Forte will handle having Jimmy Clausen at quarterback, or how Le’Veon Bell will do with Michael Vick at the helm.
What do we know, then, as we enter Week 4?
- We know Adrian Peterson has looked strong in his return. One thing that many expected that hasn't turned out to be true, though, is his involvement in the passing game. Part of the appeal of Peterson in his return was supposed to be Norv Turner, who has historically had his running backs heavily targeted through the air. Instead, through three games, Peterson has been targeted only five times. He's still been good, but that part of the game hasn't really panned out.
- We know we're increasingly seeing split workloads. Karlos Williams has looked good enough that he'll be involved in the Buffalo Bills' running game even when LeSean McCoy is healthy — whenever that is. Tevin Coleman and Devonta Freeman are both going to be heavily used in Atlanta. Giovani Bernard is rising; Jeremy Hill is falling. The triumvirate in Philadelphia. NFL teams can mix and match and have good results; fantasy owners just have to hope they can pick the right side of a timeshare.
- We know there have been a frustrating number of disappointments so far. Hill, I named. But C.J. Anderson, Lamar Miller, Rashad Jennings, DeMarco Murray, Justin Forsett. What we don't know (see how I turned that around?) is which ones are going to recover. Murray and Anderson have had garbage offensive lines holding them back. Jennings has seen some of his touches go to Shane Vereen and Andre Williams. Miller ... he's just been bad. At some point you have to give up on some guys. That number will start to increase soon.
What else do we know? Well, I know that we have the Week 4 running back rankings for standard leagues:
Running backs for standard leagues, Week 4
(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 | Le'Veon Bell | PIT | BAL | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| 2 | Jamaal Charles | KC | @CIN | 1 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | Matt Forte | CHI | OAK | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| 4 | Eddie Lacy | GB | @SF | 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| 5 | Adrian Peterson | MIN | @DEN | 4 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 4 |
| 6 | Latavius Murray | OAK | @CHI | 12 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 |
| 7 | Marshawn Lynch | SEA | DET | 11 | 7 | 4 | 12 | 7 |
| 8 | Mark Ingram | NO | DAL | 7 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 10 |
| 9 | Frank Gore | IND | JAC | 9 | 11 | 10 | 14 | 8 |
| 10 | Joseph Randle | DAL | @NO | 8 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 9 |
| 11 | Karlos Williams | BUF | NYG | 6 | 9 | 16 | 9 | 16 |
| 12 | Carlos Hyde | SF | GB | 10 | 10 | 18 | 11 | 12 |
| 13 | Devonta Freeman | ATL | HOU | 16 | 15 | 11 | 10 | 11 |
| 14 | Jeremy Hill | CIN | KC | 13 | 14 | 8 | 17 | 15 |
| 15 | Justin Forsett | BAL | @PIT | 18 | 12 | 15 | 19 | 14 |
| 16 | Chris Ivory | NYJ | @MIA | 15 | 17 | 13 | 18 | 18 |
| 17 | Jonathan Stewart | CAR | @TB | 19 | 16 | 17 | 22 | 17 |
| 18 | Melvin Gordon | SD | @CLE | 33 | 19 | 14 | 15 | 13 |
| 19 | Danny Woodhead | SD | @CLE | 21 | 21 | 19 | 20 | 20 |
| 20 | C.J. Anderson | DEN | MIN | 17 | 18 | 21 | 25 | 22 |
| 21 | Giovani Bernard | CIN | KC | 25 | 20 | 32 | 16 | 19 |
| 22 | T.J. Yeldon | JAC | @IND | 23 | 25 | 24 | 21 | 23 |
| 23 | Matt Jones | WAS | PHI | 29 | 24 | 20 | 23 | 24 |
| 24 | Isaiah Crowell | CLE | @SD | 20 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 26 |
| 25 | Arian Foster | HOU | @ATL | 14 | 30 | -- | 7 | 29 |
| 26 | DeMarco Murray | PHI | @WAS | 22 | 29 | 22 | 24 | 36 |
| 27 | Alfred Morris | WAS | PHI | 31 | 23 | 30 | 26 | 25 |
| 28 | Lamar Miller | MIA | NYJ | 40 | 26 | 23 | 29 | 27 |
| 29 | Ryan Mathews | PHI | @WAS | 36 | 22 | 25 | 42 | 21 |
| 30 | Doug Martin | TB | CAR | 32 | 28 | 31 | 34 | 28 |
| 31 | Ameer Abdullah | DET | @SEA | 30 | 32 | 31 | 31 | 30 |
| 32 | Andre Ellington | ARI | STL | 34 | 35 | 29 | 30 | 33 |
| 33 | Chris Johnson | ARI | STL | 28 | 31 | 48 | 33 | 32 |
| 34 | Ronnie Hillman | DEN | MIN | 24 | 43 | 36 | 36 | 38 |
| 34 | Lance Dunbar | DAL | @NO | 26 | 36 | 37 | 43 | 35 |
| 36 | Darren Sproles | PHI | @WAS | 27 | 33 | 38 | -- | 31 |
| 37 | Todd Gurley | STL | @ARI | 44 | 34 | 39 | 32 | 34 |
| 38 | Rashad Jennings | NYG | @BUF | 35 | 37 | 40 | 38 | 37 |
| 39 | David Johnson | ARI | STL | 37 | 40 | 34 | 40 | 43 |
| 40 | Alfred Blue | HOU | @ATL | 48 | 38 | 34 | 45 | 42 |
| 41 | Shane Vereen | NYG | @BUF | 46 | 41 | 35 | 47 | 39 |
| 42 | C.J. Spiller | NO | DAL | 45 | 39 | 47 | 37 | 41 |
| 43 | Thomas Rawls | SEA | DET | 38 | 47 | -- | 28 | 47 |
| 44 | Tre Mason | STL | @ARI | 43 | 48 | 44 | 41 | 46 |
| 45 | Darren McFadden | DAL | @NO | 39 | 46 | 46 | 48 | 45 |
| 46 | Charles Sims | TB | CAR | 49 | 50 | 45 | 35 | 48 |
| 47 | LeSean McCoy | BUF | NYG | -- | -- | 26 | -- | -- |
| 48 | Joique Bell | DET | @SEA | 41 | -- | 42 | 49 | 50 |
| 49 | Bilal Powell | NYJ | @MIA | -- | 42 | 50 | -- | 40 |
| 50 | Duke Johnson | CLE | @SD | -- | 45 | -- | 46 | 44 |
| -- | Andre Williams | NYG | @BUF | -- | -- | 49 | 39 | -- |
| -- | DeAngelo Williams | PIT | BAL | -- | 49 | 41 | -- | 49 |
| -- | Khiry Robinson | NO | DAL | 42 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| -- | Fred Jackson | SEA | DET | -- | -- | 43 | -- | -- |
| -- | Theo Riddick | DET | @SEA | 50 | -- | -- | 44 | -- |
| -- | Chris Polk | HOU | @ATL | -- | 44 | -- | -- | -- |
| -- | Jonas Gray | MIA | NYJ | 47 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| -- | Josh Robinson | IND | JAC | -- | -- | -- | 50 | -- |
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SB Nation presents: Who to start and sit on your fantasy team in Week 4
