Fantasy Football Running Backs

Fantasy football rankings, Week 13: Consensus running backs for standard leagues

The SB Nation fantasy team reveals which running backs rank in the top 50 for standard leagues heading into Week 13.

Nov 30, 2016, 1:56 PM UTC

Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports

It might be Week 13 of the fantasy season, and the key number this week in our standard-league running back rankings is definitely 14.

By now, the top of our rankings have become fairly entrenched. David Johnson is almost always the consensus No. 1 selection by our list of experts, and his followed, in varying order, by Le’Veon Bell, Ezekiel Elliott, and LeSean McCoy. The only reason DeMarco Murray doesn’t round out the top five this week is because the Titans are on a bye.

For those guys, there is no need for discussion. They are in your lineup week in and week out, along with other top-10 regulars like Melvin Gordon and Lamar Miller. The key at this time of year, with playoff berths very much at stake, is who best to utilize in that RB2 slot that in deeper leagues is not an automatic play.

For this week, we would like to direct you to a running back who ended up outside our top 10, but whom could hold the key to victory at the most opportune time.

The Chicago Bears are in the final weeks of a nightmare season, crippled by injuries on both sides of the ball. But if there is a lone bright spot for the Bears in 2016, it is the emergence of Jordan Howard as their lead back. Howard’s inspired play early this season earned him the starting job over Jeremy Langford and he remains in that role even with Langford back from his early season injury.

Howard carried 18 times last week against the Titans, racking up 84 yards rushing and 127 total yards. That came against a Tennessee defense ranked in the middle of the pack against the run. Chicago’s opponent on Sunday is the 49ers, and San Francisco is as far from the middle as you can get, allowing 171.8 yards rushing per game, a full 30 yards worse than the 31st-ranked Browns.

With Matt Barkley likely drawing another start at quarterback, the Bears are almost certain to lean on Howard one more time. And with San Francisco playing their up-tempo style, the Bears can be expected to run considerably more plays than usual, which could push Howard closer to a 25-carry day. If Howard usually sits on your bench, this is the week to dust him off and let him lead you to the promised land.

At the other end of the spectrum is our consensus No. 9 pick this week, Jay Ajayi. For his owners, this season has been an unexpected joy, with those back-to-back 200-yard games at midseason. But in his past three games, Ajayi has 201 yards combined, failing to exceed 80 yards in any one game and scoring just one touchdown.

And this week just gets worse. Miami’s opponent, the Ravens, have allowed the fewest rushing yards per game (74.9) and four rushing touchdowns overall. If you are an Ajayi owner, it might be worth seeking a replacement this week, especially if your season depends on it.

Running backs (standard), Week 13

(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	David Johnson	ARI	vs. WAS	1	1	1	1	1	1
2	Le'Veon Bell	PIT	vs. NYG	2	2	2	2	2	2
3	Ezekiel Elliott	DAL	@ MIN	4	3	3	3	3	3
4	LeSean McCoy	BUF	@ OAK	3	4	4	4	4	4
5	Melvin Gordon	SD	vs. TB	5	5	5	5	5	5
6	Lamar Miller	HOU	@ GB	9	6	10	6	6	6
7	Devonta Freeman	ATL	vs. KC	7	7	8	9	9	9
8	Spencer Ware	KC	@ ATL	8	10	7	8	8	13
9	Jay Ajayi	MIA	@ BAL	14	8	13	7	7	7
10	Doug Martin	TB	@ SD	12	11	11	11	10	12
11	Matt Forte	NYJ	vs. IND	11	16	12	13	13	14
12	Jordan Howard	CHI	vs. SF	6	17	6	17	17	17
13	Mark Ingram	NO	vs. DET	17	12	15	14	12	10
14	Carlos Hyde	SF	@ CHI	10	21	9	10	11	20
15	Robert Kelley	WAS	@ ARI	13	13	23	12	14	11
16	Latavius Murray	OAK	vs. BUF	16	14	16	15	15	16
17	Todd Gurley	LA	@ NE	18	15	19	16	16	15
18	Jonathan Stewart	CAR	@ SEA	24	9	24	20	20	8
19	Theo Riddick	DET	@ NO	21	18	18	18	18	21
20	Thomas Rawls	SEA	vs. CAR	20	19	17	21	21	18
21	Devontae Booker	DEN	@ JAC	22	20	21	19	19	19
22	LeGarrette Blount	NE	vs. LA	15	24	14	26	23	27
23	Frank Gore	IND	@ NYJ	23	22	22	22	22	22
24	Jeremy Hill	CIN	vs. PHI	19	29	20	25	24	26
25	Tevin Coleman	ATL	vs. KC	25	25	28	24	26	23
26	Kenneth Dixon	BAL	vs. MIA	33	23	29	23	25	25
27	Tim Hightower	NO	vs. DET	28	27	27	27	27	24
28	Terrance West	BAL	vs. MIA	26	26	32	28	28	28
29	James Starks	GB	vs. HOU	27	28	30	29	29	29
30	Rashad Jennings	NYG	@ PIT	30	30	25	31	31	32
31	Wendell Smallwood	PHI	@ CIN	31	32	26	32	30	30
32	James White	NE	vs. LA	29	33	37	35	35	31
33	Dion Lewis	NE	vs. LA	40	31	31	30	32	40
34	Paul Perkins	NYG	@ PIT	41	35	40	34	33	34
35	Jerick McKinnon	MIN	vs. DAL	39	37	34	36	36	37
36	Matt Asiata	MIN	vs. DAL	38	38	36	37	37	36
37	Dwayne Washington	DET	@ NO	34	34	47	39	38	33
38	Chris Ivory	JAC	vs. DEN	36	40	35	38	39	38
39	Darren Sproles	PHI	@ CIN	32	46	33	42	42	41
40	T.J. Yeldon	JAC	vs. DEN	37	41	39	40	40	39
41	DeAndre Washington	OAK	vs. BUF	--	36	--	33	34	35
42	Bilal Powell	NYJ	vs. IND	42	42	38	41	41	42
43	Kapri Bibbs	DEN	@ JAC	35	43	43	46	44	44
44	Chris Thompson	WAS	@ ARI	50	39	41	43	43	47
45	Alfred Morris	DAL	@ MIN	44	44	--	47	47	43
46	Robert Turbin	IND	@ NYJ	45	45	--	45	45	45
47	Damien Williams	MIA	@ BAL	46	47	50	44	46	46
48	Mike Gillislee	BUF	@ OAK	43	49	48	48	48	48
49	Jalen Richard	OAK	vs. BUF	47	--	44	--	--	--
50	Rex Burkhead	CIN	vs. PHI	--	--	42	--	--	--
--	Jeremy Langford	CHI	vs. SF	--	--	46	49	49	--
--	Charcandrick West	KC	@ ATL	--	--	45	--	--	--
--	Peyton Barber	TB	@ SD	49	48	--	--	--	--
--	Christine Michael	GB	vs. HOU	--	--	49	50	50	50
--	Ryan Mathews	PHI	@ CIN	48	50	--	--	--	--
--	Andre Ellington	ARI	vs. WAS	--	--	--	--	--	49