The best two weeks of the fantasy football season have finally arrived. It is full-on playoff time across the fantasy landscape, and whether you are in your league’s semifinals or finals (or quarterfinals for you Week 17 championship masochists), it doesn’t get any better, or more nerve-wracking, than right now.
Fantasy football rankings, Week 15: 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 15.
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Be assured, as you put your lineups together in standard leagues, that the top-end running backs remain as they have been for many weeks now. According to our consensus standard league running back rankings, David Johnson, Le’Veon Bell, Ezekiel Elliott, LeSean McCoy, and DeMarco Murray round out our top five, but there is some movement in the bottom half of our top 10 after Sunday’s injury to San Diego’s Melvin Gordon.
One name now appearing in our top 10 was a player many thought would have been a top pick all season long. But injuries to Seattle’s Thomas Rawls scuttled those plans right from the start of the season. That’s all water under the bridge now. It’s winning time and Rawls has reestablished himself as a premier play, coming in at No. 9 in our rankings and looking extremely solid for a Thursday night matchup with the lowly Rams.
Devonta Freeman just faced those same Rams this past weekend, but gets the best of all matchups this week against San Francisco, vaulting Freeman to No. 6 on our list. Only an early injury last week kept Matt Forte from taking advantage of the worst run defense in the league. Now it’s Freeman — and to a lesser extent, Tevin Coleman — who get to feast on the 49ers matador style.
Of course, the Falcons are hardly the 1985 Bears when it comes to defensive proficiency, and that is good news for our No. 7 back, Carlos Hyde, who utterly destroyed what was a fairly robust Jets defense last week to the tune of 193 yards on just 17 carries. If you are a Hyde owner, you have a chance to compete with the big boys at the position this week, which is all you can ask for in Week 16.
As for other backs lower on our list that could win a playoff game for their owners this week, none sits better than New England’s LeGarrette Blount, who comes in at No. 11 on our list and takes on a Denver defense that has been getting gashed by running backs on a weekly basis late in the season. Blount scored again for the Patriots on Monday night and is a strong bet to reach the end zone again this week in this critical AFC showdown.
Two teams going nowhere in 2016 are the Bills and Browns, and while McCoy is an even more obvious play this week taking on the winless Browns, it should be noted that the Bills have become a bottom-five defense themselves against the run — Jay Ajayi can attest to this — and that makes our No. 23-ranked back, Isaiah Crowell, a potential sleeper for the playoff owner in a desperate spot.
Running backs (PPR), Week 15
(ZS: Zach Senvisky, SK: Scott Kaliska, JG: Jeff Goldberg, KB: Kyle Bennett)
| Rk | Consensus | Tm | Opp. | ZS | SK | JG | KB |
| 1 | David Johnson | ARI | vs. NO | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Le'Veon Bell | PIT | @ CIN | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | LeSean McCoy | BUF | vs. CLE | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| 4 | Ezekiel Elliott | DAL | vs. TB | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| 5 | Devonta Freeman | ATL | vs. SF | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 |
| 6 | DeMarco Murray | TEN | @ KC | 6 | 5 | 5 | 6 |
| 7 | Carlos Hyde | SF | @ ATL | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| 8 | Latavius Murray | OAK | @ SD | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| 9 | Thomas Rawls | SEA | vs. LA | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| 10 | Jordan Howard | CHI | vs. GB | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| 11 | LeGarrette Blount | NE | @ DEN | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 |
| 12 | Lamar Miller | HOU | vs. JAC | 13 | 12 | 12 | 13 |
| 13 | Jay Ajayi | MIA | @ NYJ | 12 | 13 | 13 | 12 |
| 14 | Spencer Ware | KC | vs. TEN | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 |
| 15 | Jeremy Hill | CIN | vs. PIT | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 |
| 16 | Robert Kelley | WAS | vs. CAR | 17 | 16 | 16 | 17 |
| 17 | Jonathan Stewart | CAR | @ WAS | 18 | 17 | 18 | 18 |
| 18 | Bilal Powell | NYJ | vs. MIA | 16 | 20 | 20 | 16 |
| 19 | Doug Martin | TB | @ DAL | 20 | 18 | 17 | 20 |
| 20 | Tevin Coleman | ATL | vs. SF | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 |
| 21 | Frank Gore | IND | @ MIN | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 |
| 22 | Todd Gurley | LA | @ SEA | 22 | 23 | 22 | 22 |
| 23 | Isaiah Crowell | CLE | @ BUF | 24 | 22 | 23 | 24 |
| 24 | Kenneth Farrow | SD | vs. OAK | 23 | 25 | 25 | 23 |
| 25 | Mark Ingram | NO | @ ARI | 25 | 24 | 24 | 25 |
| 26 | Kenneth Dixon | BAL | vs. PHI | 26 | 26 | 26 | 26 |
| 27 | Rashad Jennings | NYG | vs. DET | 27 | 27 | 27 | 27 |
| 28 | Jerick McKinnon | MIN | vs. IND | 29 | 28 | 28 | 29 |
| 29 | Ryan Mathews | PHI | @ BAL | 28 | 31 | 29 | 28 |
| 30 | Terrance West | BAL | vs. PHI | 32 | 29 | 30 | 32 |
| 31 | Mike Gillislee | BUF | vs. CLE | 31 | 30 | 31 | 31 |
| 32 | T.J. Yeldon | JAC | @ HOU | 30 | 33 | 32 | 30 |
| 33 | Dion Lewis | NE | @ DEN | 34 | 32 | 33 | 34 |
| 34 | Theo Riddick | DET | @ NYG | 33 | 36 | 36 | 33 |
| 35 | Tim Hightower | NO | @ ARI | 35 | 35 | 34 | 35 |
| 36 | Matt Asiata | MIN | vs. IND | 36 | 34 | 35 | 36 |
| 37 | Duke Johnson | CLE | @ BUF | 38 | 37 | 37 | 38 |
| 38 | Justin Forsett | DEN | vs. NE | 37 | 41 | 38 | 37 |
| 39 | Devontae Booker | DEN | vs. NE | 39 | 39 | 39 | 39 |
| 40 | Dwayne Washington | DET | @ NYG | 41 | 38 | 40 | 41 |
| 41 | Darren Sproles | PHI | @ BAL | 40 | 40 | 41 | 40 |
| 42 | James White | NE | @ DEN | 42 | 43 | 43 | 42 |
| 43 | Charles Sims | TB | @ DAL | 44 | 42 | 42 | 44 |
| 44 | Derrick Henry | TEN | @ KC | 43 | 44 | 44 | 43 |
| 45 | Matt Forte | NYJ | vs. MIA | 45 | 45 | 45 | 45 |
| 46 | Rex Burkhead | CIN | vs. PIT | 47 | 46 | 46 | 47 |
| 47 | Melvin Gordon | SD | vs. OAK | 46 | 49 | 49 | 46 |
| 48 | Jalen Richard | OAK | @ SD | 48 | 48 | 47 | 48 |
| 49 | Christine Michael | GB | @ CHI | 49 | 47 | 48 | 49 |
| 50 | Chris Ivory | JAC | @ HOU | 50 | -- | -- | 50 |
| -- | Chris Thompson | WAS | vs. CAR | -- | 50 | 50 | -- |
