Fantasy football rankings, Week 4: 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 4.

Sep 28, 2016, 12:28 PM UTC

Pittsburgh Steelers v Kansas City Chiefs

Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images

For a countless number of fantasy football players across the globe, even though it says Week 4 on the schedule, this is truly the start of the season.

Welcome back, Le’Veon Bell.

There’s going to be another moment like this at quarterback next week in New England – and on the other side of the ball in that game at wide receiver – but the first of the Suspended Superstars to return to action is Bell. The Pittsburgh Steelers take on the Kansas City Chiefs looking to rebound from the pounding they took across state against the Eagles.

If just having Bell back on the field isn’t huge enough news for anxious Bell owners, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin upped the expectations to lunar levels on Tuesday, announcing that far from a snap-count restriction in his first game back, Bell should carry a major load against Kansas City.

And if history is a guide, Bell is likely to be up for the challenge and his owners are likely to see a big number.

This will be the third time in four seasons that Bell’s first game comes in the final weekend of September. In his rookie season of 2013, after missing the first three games because of injury, Bell debuted against the Vikings and ran the ball 16 times, gaining 57 yards and scoring twice while also catching four passes for 27 yards.

Last season, Bell was suspended for two games to start the season, then rushed for 62 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries in his season debut along with seven catches for 70 yards.

That’s roughly 20 points in each of those games, numbers that Bell owners would gladly sign for in a year riddled with injuries to prominent backs.

Speaking of which – and speaking of the Steelers-Chiefs game, don’t be surprised if the Sunday night showdown is all about the runners. Jamaal Charles is likely to miss his fourth straight game to start the season, and Spencer Ware dominated the snaps over Charcandrick West last week against the Jets. After seeing what Darren Sproles did to the Steelers, Ware could be in for a big night trying to keep up with Bell.

Another back to focus on due to injury to the starter is Jordan Howard in Chicago. Howard was already pushing Jeremy Langford for touches even before Langford went down Sunday night. Now Howard has the job all to himself – the Bears are scrambling just to get a healthy backup on Sunday. Howard makes for a very attractive add in every league with a date against Detroit on Sunday.

Running backs (standard), Week 4

(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	vs. LA	3	1	2	1	2	1	2
2	Ezekiel Elliott	DAL	@ SF	1	2	3	3	3	3	1
3	Melvin Gordon	SD	vs. NO	2	4	1	4	1	4	10
4	Le'Veon Bell	PIT	vs. KC	5	3	6	2	8	2	3
5	C.J. Anderson	DEN	@ TB	7	5	8	5	5	5	6
6	Lamar Miller	HOU	vs. TEN	9	8	5	6	4	6	5
7	Todd Gurley	LA	@ ARI	4	7	7	11	9	7	4
8	Mark Ingram	NO	@ SD	14	10	4	8	6	8	11
9	LeSean McCoy	BUF	@ NE	10	9	10	10	10	9	7
10	DeMarco Murray	TEN	@ HOU	6	11	18	7	7	11	17
11	LeGarrette Blount	NE	vs. BUF	12	7	9	9	11	10	19
12	Matt Forte	NYJ	vs. SEA	8	12	14	12	12	12	13
13	Christine Michael	SEA	@ NYJ	18	14	12	14	17	14	8
14	Carlos Hyde	SF	vs. DAL	20	13	15	13	13	13	15
15	Jeremy Hill	CIN	vs. MIA	17	15	11	15	15	15	18
16	Frank Gore	IND	@ JAC	19	16	13	16	14	19	16
17	Latavius Murray	OAK	@ BAL	15	17	21	17	19	16	12
18	Charles Sims	TB	vs. DEN	13	20	16	18	16	17	22
19	Devonta Freeman	ATL	vs. CAR	11	21	19	19	18	18	21
20	Tevin Coleman	ATL	vs. CAR	16	24	25	24	22	22	14
21	Spencer Ware	KC	@ PIT	24	19	29	21	26	26	9
22	Isaiah Crowell	CLE	@ WAS	30	18	22	20	20	20	24
23	Theo Riddick	DET	@ CHI	21	22	17	22	21	21	39
24	Matt Jones	WAS	vs. CLE	23	27	20	27	23	23	20
25	Jerick McKinnon	MIN	vs. NYG	26	25	23	25	24	24	25
26	Giovani Bernard	CIN	vs. MIA	22	26	24	26	25	25	26
27	Jordan Howard	CHI	vs. DET	35	23	26	23	31	30	27
28	Dwayne Washington	DET	@ CHI	33	29	31	29	27	27	23
29	Cameron Artis-Payne	CAR	@ ATL	34	30	26	28	28	28	28
30	T.J. Yeldon	JAC	vs. IND	25	32	27	32	29	28	32
31	Duke Johnson	CLE	@ WAS	32	31	30	31	30	31	37
32	Chris Ivory	JAC	vs. IND	45	28	32	30	32	29	30
33	Derrick Henry	TEN	@ HOU	38	35	38	35	33	32	31
34	Justin Forsett	BAL	vs. OAK	31	33	33	33	38	33	42
35	Kenyan Drake	MIA	@ CIN	28	34	40	34	44	38	43
36	Rashad Jennings	NYG	@ MIN	--	41	28	41	34	34	33
37	Fozzy Whittaker	CAR	@ ATL	27	40	35	40	37	35	--
38	DeAngelo Williams	PIT	vs. KC	--	38	41	38	35	36	29
39	Terrance West	BAL	vs. OAK	41	42	36	42	40	37	36
40	Chris Thompson	WAS	vs. CLE	39	46	34	46	36	39	40
41	Alfred Morris	DAL	@ SF	29	45	43	45	43	41	38
42	James White	NE	vs. BUF	40	50	39	44	39	40	34
43	Orleans Darkwa	NYG	@ MIN	37	36	42	36	46	45	47
44	Matt Asiata	MIN	vs. NYG	44	39	37	37	41	42	--
45	Jay Ajayi	MIA	@ CIN	42	37	--	39	--	43	44
46	Jamaal Charles	KC	@ PIT	40	49	45	43	42	44	--
47	DeAndre Washington	OAK	@ BAL	36	43	--	47	47	49	50
48	Chris Johnson	ARI	vs. LA	50	44	50	--	--	--	35
49	Bilal Powell	NYJ	vs. SEA	43	--	49	48	49	48	46
50	Charcandrick West	KC	@ PIT	46	47	48	49	48	47	49
--	Devontae Booker	DEN	@ TB	48	--	44	--	50	46	45
--	Dexter McCluster	TEN	@ HOU	47	--	46	50	45	50	--
--	Shaun Draughn	SF	vs. DAL	49	48	--	--	--	--	41
--	Ka'Deem Carey	CHI	vs. DET	--	--	47	--	--	--	--
--	C.J. Prosise	SEA	@ NYJ	--	--	--	--	--	--	48