Editor’s update: Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera announced Cameron Artis-Payne will be the starting running back over Fozzy Whittaker vs. the Minnesota Vikings.
Fantasy football rankings, Week 3: 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 3.
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Yes, the rankings we produce for running backs are a vital part of every fantasy player’s preparation for the upcoming week. And we take pride in providing them to you on a weekly basis. But as we take a look at running backs in standard leagues for Week 3, parsing over which back is more likely to gain more yards or score more touchdowns takes a backseat to a simple truth. If you have two quality backs on your roster that are actually playing this weekend, it really doesn’t matter where they are ranked -- you are probably already way ahead of the game.
Adrian Peterson, Jonathan Stewart, Arian Foster, Ameer Abdullah, Danny Woodhead, Doug Martin. It’s so bad, Ki-Jana Carter re-tore his ACL while reading the injury report!
Even the healthy guys are hurting. Are you jumping off the Todd Gurley bandwagon yet? If you are, please, don’t hurt yourself. It’s dangerous out there.
You know who’s really hurting against the run? Indianapolis has allowed 125 yards per game and three rushing touchdowns after two weeks. That sounds like fantastic news for Melvin Gordon, who is already off to a strong start this season and will really carry the load for the Chargers this week with Woodhead out and Dexter McCluster just getting fitted for a uniform. With Philip Rivers still as dangerous as ever, even without Keenan Allen, and the Colts still depleted at the back end, there won’t be any loading the box for Gordon to contend with. Expect the second-year back to be first in fantasy production this week.
You know who’s been even worse against the run with the worst rushing defense in the entire league? The Cincinnati Bengals. Their vaunted defense has been anything but, allowing an average of 138 rushing yards after two weeks. That means plenty of C.J. Anderson in Week 3. Anderson has been on fire to open the season. We saw what he did to the Colts last week (74 rushing yards, three catches for 19 yards, one TD). Did we mention the Bengals have actually been worse against the run than the Colts? Yes, we did.
Looking for that No. 2 back, or the RB flex in a week when good RBs are so hard to find? How about Isaiah Crowell. The Browns should be looking to lean on the running game with Cody Kessler under center. Good thing the Browns are playing Miami. The Dolphins are right there with Indy and Cincinnati for worst run defenses in the league, allowing 136.5 yards per game on the ground. Crowell got more than half of that on one play last week. Imagine what he might do as the Browns’ primary offense this week.
One more play to consider (if you actually have enough backs to consider more than two): Washington is another team giving up big chunks of yards to running backs early this season. DeAngelo Williams ran wild in the season opener and Ezekiel Elliott was solid last week despite his fumbles. And when Elliott got benched, former Washington back Alfred Morris got in on the fun.
In total, Washington has allowed five rushing touchdowns. No other team has allowed more than three. Rashad Jennings is nicked up himself, but is expected to play, and apparently, expected to score.
Needless to say, keep your eyes on the injury report all the way up to Sunday morning. Some of the walking wounded might try to give it a go, and that would heal many broken hearts across the fantasy landscape.
Running backs (standard), Week 3
(ZS: Zach Senvisky, JM: Jason Marcum, AP: Adam Patrick, SK: Scott Kaliska, JG: Jeff Goldberg, KB: Kyle Bennett, DG: Derek Gordon)
| Rk | Consensus | Tm | Opp. | ZS | JM | AP | SK | KB | JG | DG |
| 1 | David Johnson | ARI | @ BUF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | DeAngelo Williams | PIT | @ PHI | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| 3 | Ezekiel Elliott | DAL | vs. CHI | 7 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 2 |
| 4 | C.J. Anderson | DEN | @ CIN | 5 | 4 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 5 |
| 5 | Lamar Miller | HOU | @ NE | 8 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 4 |
| 6 | Todd Gurley | LA | @ TB | 9 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 5 | 9 | 3 |
| 7 | Melvin Gordon | SD | @ IND | 1 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 18 |
| 8 | Matt Forte | NYJ | @ KC | 3 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 17 | 6 | 11 |
| 9 | Mark Ingram | NO | vs. ATL | 11 | 12 | 3 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 12 |
| 10 | Eddie Lacy | GB | vs. DET | 20 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 8 | 11 | 9 |
| 11 | LeSean McCoy | BUF | vs. ARI | 10 | 10 | 11 | 14 | 16 | 14 | 8 |
| 12 | DeMarco Murray | TEN | vs. OAK | 6 | 19 | 12 | 9 | 11 | 8 | 19 |
| 13 | Latavius Murray | OAK | @ TEN | 12 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 13 |
| 14 | Devonta Freeman | ATL | @ NO | 13 | 15 | 18 | 12 | 10 | 13 | 14 |
| 15 | Spencer Ware | KC | vs. NYJ | 21 | 6 | 30 | 16 | 13 | 15 | 10 |
| 16 | Ryan Mathews | PHI | vs. PIT | 14 | 14 | 21 | 18 | 14 | 17 | 15 |
| 17 | Jeremy Langford | CHI | @ DAL | 16 | 27 | 15 | 19 | 19 | 18 | 17 |
| 18 | Rashad Jennings | NYG | vs. WAS | 15 | 16 | 22 | 20 | 18 | 21 | 23 |
| 19 | Frank Gore | IND | vs. SD | 18 | 21 | 14 | 15 | 29 | 19 | 21 |
| 20 | LeGarrette Blount | NE | vs. HOU | 17 | 28 | 17 | 17 | 20 | 16 | 24 |
| 21 | Charles Sims | TB | vs. LA | 19 | 17 | 20 | 24 | 30 | 25 | 20 |
| 22 | Thomas Rawls | SEA | vs. SF | 34 | 18 | 24 | 31 | 27 | 22 | 7 |
| 23 | Isaiah Crowell | CLE | @ MIA | 25 | 30 | 16 | 25 | 21 | 23 | 26 |
| 24 | Carlos Hyde | SF | @ SEA | 23 | 24 | 31 | 27 | 24 | 23 | 16 |
| 25 | T.J. Yeldon | JAC | vs. BAL | 33 | 20 | 33 | 26 | 26 | 24 | 22 |
| 26 | Jerick McKinnon | MIN | @ CAR | 29 | 22 | 28 | 30 | 31 | 28 | 27 |
| 27 | Theo Riddick | DET | @ GB | 26 | 26 | 19 | 23 | 32 | 32 | 38 |
| 28 | Giovani Bernard | CIN | vs. DEN | 24 | 23 | 34 | 28 | 33 | 30 | 29 |
| 29 | Matt Jones | WAS | @ NYG | 32 | 25 | 25 | 34 | 38 | 26 | 25 |
| 30 | Tevin Coleman | ATL | @ NO | 27 | 33 | 26 | 21 | 36 | 31 | 31 |
| 31 | Jeremy Hill | CIN | vs. DEN | 35 | 31 | 32 | 29 | 28 | 27 | 28 |
| 32 | Christine Michael | SEA | vs. SF | 28 | 38 | 27 | 22 | 34 | 33 | 37 |
| 33 | Fozzy Whittaker | CAR | vs. MIN | 31 | 49 | 29 | 32 | 15 | 29 | -- |
| 34 | Justin Forsett | BAL | @ JAC | 36 | 40 | 37 | 33 | 25 | 35 | 42 |
| 35 | Derrick Henry | TEN | vs. OAK | 44 | 32 | 35 | 40 | 37 | 34 | 30 |
| 36 | Chris Thompson | WAS | @ NYG | 39 | 41 | 42 | 48 | 22 | 36 | 39 |
| 37 | James White | NE | vs. HOU | 45 | 36 | 44 | 36 | 49 | 37 | 32 |
| 38 | Alfred Morris | DAL | vs. CHI | 37 | 35 | 45 | 43 | 42 | 41 | 36 |
| 39 | Duke Johnson | CLE | @ MIA | 46 | 34 | 46 | 35 | 35 | 40 | 50 |
| 40 | Darren Sproles | PHI | vs. PIT | 47 | 39 | 39 | 42 | 50 | 42 | 40 |
| 41 | Terrance West | BAL | @ JAC | -- | 43 | 38 | 38 | 40 | 38 | -- |
| 42 | Chris Johnson | ARI | @ BUF | 49 | 37 | 41 | -- | -- | 39 | 33 |
| 43 | Kenyan Drake | MIA | vs. CLE | 30 | -- | 43 | 44 | 39 | 45 | -- |
| 44 | Dwayne Washington | DET | @GB | -- | 29 | -- | 47 | 23 | -- | -- |
| 45 | Jay Ajayi | MIA | vs. CLE | 42 | 44 | -- | 39 | 48 | 49 | 34 |
| 46 | Shane Vereen | NYG | vs. WAS | 38 | -- | 36 | 37 | -- | -- | -- |
| 47 | Cameron Artis-Payne | CAR | vs. MIN | 50 | -- | 49 | 50 | 44 | 44 | 35 |
| 48 | Bilal Powell | NYJ | @ KC | 48 | 46 | 47 | 46 | 47 | 47 | 44 |
| 49 | Devontae Booker | DEN | @ CIN | -- | 45 | -- | -- | 41 | 43 | 43 |
| 50 | Matt Asiata | MIN | @ CAR | -- | 42 | 50 | 41 | 46 | 46 | -- |
| -- | Doug Martin | TB | vs. LA | -- | -- | 23 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| -- | Chris Ivory | JAC | vs. BAL | 41 | 48 | 48 | 45 | -- | 50 | 46 |
| -- | James Starks | GB | vs. DET | 40 | 50 | 40 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| -- | Charcandrick West | KC | vs. NYJ | -- | -- | -- | -- | 43 | 48 | 48 |
| -- | C.J. Prosise | SEA | vs. SF | -- | 47 | -- | 49 | -- | -- | 45 |
| -- | Shaun Draughn | SF | @ SEA | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 41 |
| -- | Kenneth Farrow | SD | @ IND | -- | -- | -- | -- | 45 | -- | -- |
| -- | Jordan Howard | CHI | @ DAL | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 47 |
| -- | DeAndre Washington | OAK | @ TEN | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 49 |
