The fantasy football playoffs are approaching fast, making any move you make going forward even more critical to your hopes of a league championship.
Fantasy football rankings 2016: Running backs for PPR leagues, Week 12
Are Wendell Smallwood and Rex Burkhead finally ready to break out? That and more in this week’s fantasy football rankings for PPR running backs.
Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
For the most part, the playoffs will begin without too much fantasy drama, and most of the pickups you will make are just for added depth. One such example is Rex Burkhead, who now becomes a viable PPR back with Giovani Bernard out for the year with a torn ACL.
Bernard was getting a heavy dose of catches in the Cincinnati Bengals’ offense, and Burkhead is easily the next-best pass-catching back on the roster. Cincinnati has been reluctant to give incumbent starter Jeremy Hill too many touches, so Burkhead should be in for a nice workload going forward, especially in the passing game with star receiver A.J. Green sidelined indefinitely with a hamstring strain.
Elsewhere, injuries to Ryan Mathews (knee sprain) and Darren Sproles (ribs) has Wendell Smallwood possibly becoming the Philadelphia Eagles’ top back. We have seen flashes of Smallwood being a solid runner this season, but Matthews and Sproles have gotten nearly every touch in this offense.
Depending on their availability this week and going forward, Smallwood could go from third-stringer to starter vs. the Green Bay Packers, who are getting gashed by running backs.
Running backs (PPR), Week 12
(ZS: Zach Senvisky, JM: Jason Marcum, SK: Scott Kaliska, JG: Jeff Goldberg, KB: Kyle Bennett, DG: Derek Gordon)
| Rk | Consensus | Tm | Opp. | ZS | JM | SK | JG | KB | DG |
| 1 | Le'Veon Bell | PIT | @ IND | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 2 | David Johnson | ARI | @ ATL | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 3 | Ezekiel Elliott | DAL | vs. WAS | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| 4 | DeMarco Murray | TEN | @ CHI | 4 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| 5 | Melvin Gordon | SD | @ HOU | 6 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| 6 | Jay Ajayi | MIA | vs. SF | 5 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 |
| 7 | Todd Gurley | LA | @ NO | 7 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 10 |
| 8 | Lamar Miller | HOU | vs. SD | 15 | 6 | 15 | 7 | 7 | 6 |
| 8 | Devonta Freeman | ATL | vs. ARI | 8 | 11 | 7 | 11 | 10 | 12 |
| 10 | Spencer Ware | KC | @ DEN | 10 | 9 | 14 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| 11 | Thomas Rawls | SEA | @ TB | 9 | 15 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 16 |
| 11 | Jonathan Stewart | CAR | @ OAK | 19 | 8 | 19 | 13 | 13 | 8 |
| 13 | Matt Forte | NYJ | vs. NE | 14 | 13 | 11 | 16 | 15 | 17 |
| 14 | LeSean McCoy | BUF | vs. JAC | 12 | 23 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 21 |
| 15 | Jordan Howard | CHI | vs. TEN | 23 | 14 | 21 | 14 | 14 | 14 |
| 16 | Theo Riddick | DET | vs. MIN | 16 | 24 | 10 | 15 | 16 | 23 |
| 17 | Robert Kelley | WAS | @ DAL | 13 | 20 | 16 | 19 | 19 | 20 |
| 17 | Latavius Murray | OAK | vs. CAR | 20 | 16 | 25 | 17 | 17 | 13 |
| 19 | Terrance West | BAL | vs. CIN | 22 | 12 | 26 | 20 | 22 | 11 |
| 20 | Frank Gore | IND | vs. PIT | 11 | 29 | 9 | 23 | 20 | 24 |
| 21 | Devontae Booker | DEN | vs. KC | 24 | 18 | 20 | 22 | 21 | 18 |
| 22 | Doug Martin | TB | vs. SEA | 32 | 17 | 23 | 18 | 18 | 15 |
| 23 | Mark Ingram | NO | vs. LA | 29 | 19 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 19 |
| 24 | Jeremy Hill | CIN | @ BAL | 21 | 21 | 29 | 21 | 23 | 25 |
| 24 | Carlos Hyde | SF | @ MIA | 31 | 22 | 17 | 27 | 26 | 22 |
| 26 | Rashad Jennings | NYG | @ CLE | 18 | 36 | 18 | 25 | 25 | 36 |
| 27 | LeGarrette Blount | NE | @ NYJ | 17 | 31 | 22 | 33 | 33 | 31 |
| 28 | James Starks | GB | @ PHI | 25 | 26 | 34 | 31 | 31 | 26 |
| 29 | Wendell Smallwood | PHI | vs. GB | 30 | 33 | 30 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| 30 | Chris Ivory | JAC | @ BUF | 26 | 34 | 27 | 32 | 32 | 32 |
| 31 | Isaiah Crowell | CLE | vs. NYG | 34 | 30 | 31 | 30 | 30 | 30 |
| 32 | Mike Gillislee | BUF | vs. JAC | 33 | 27 | 44 | 29 | 28 | 27 |
| 33 | Tevin Coleman | ATL | vs. ARI | 47 | 25 | 40 | 28 | 29 | 29 |
| 34 | Tim Hightower | NO | vs. LA | 28 | 38 | 33 | 34 | 34 | 33 |
| 35 | James White | NE | @ NYJ | 27 | 39 | 36 | 35 | 36 | 44 |
| 36 | Bilal Powell | NYJ | vs. NE | 40 | 35 | 41 | 36 | 35 | 35 |
| 37 | Duke Johnson | CLE | vs. NYG | 35 | 38 | 38 | 37 | 37 | 42 |
| 38 | Jerick McKinnon | MIN | @ DET | 38 | 41 | 32 | 39 | 37 | 41 |
| 39 | Dion Lewis | NE | @ NYJ | -- | 32 | 39 | 40 | 39 | 34 |
| 40 | Matt Asiata | MIN | @ DET | 37 | 45 | 28 | 42 | 38 | 45 |
| 41 | Kenneth Dixon | BAL | vs. CIN | -- | 37 | 37 | 38 | 38 | 37 |
| 41 | Paul Perkins | NYG | @ CLE | 39 | 44 | 42 | 41 | 40 | 39 |
| 43 | T.J. Yeldon | JAC | @ BUF | 36 | 43 | -- | 43 | 41 | 43 |
| 44 | Dwayne Washington | DET | vs. MIN | 50 | 42 | 46 | 44 | 42 | 38 |
| 45 | Chris Thompson | WAS | @ DAL | -- | 46 | 35 | 46 | 44 | 50 |
| 46 | DeAndre Washington | OAK | vs. CAR | -- | 40 | -- | -- | 43 | 40 |
| 47 | Alfred Morris | DAL | vs. WAS | 48 | 47 | 47 | 45 | 46 | 46 |
| 48 | Jalen Richard | OAK | vs. CAR | 41 | -- | 50 | 48 | 49 | -- |
| 49 | Peyton Barber | TB | vs. SEA | -- | 49 | -- | 47 | 45 | 49 |
| 50 | Kapri Bibbs | DEN | vs. KC | 49 | 48 | -- | -- | 47 | 47 |
| -- | Ryan Mathews | PHI | vs. GB | 42 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| -- | Damien Williams | MIA | vs. SF | -- | 50 | -- | 49 | 48 | 48 |
| -- | Darren Sproles | PHI | vs. GB | 43 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| -- | Rex Burkhead | CIN | @BAL | -- | -- | 43 | -- | -- | -- |
| -- | DeAngelo Williams | PIT | @ IND | 44 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| -- | DuJuan Harris | SF | @ MIA | 45 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| -- | Benny Cunningham | LA | @ NO | -- | -- | 45 | -- | -- | -- |
| -- | Derrick Henry | TEN | @ CHI | 46 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| -- | Robert Turbin | IND | vs. PIT | -- | -- | 49 | 50 | 50 | -- |
| -- | Alex Collins | SEA | @TB | -- | -- | 48 | -- | -- | -- |
