Week 15 PPR RB fantasy football rankings including injury news, sleepers, more

Welcome to Week 15 of the NFL and fantasy football season. The fantasy playoffs start in earnest this week, and hopefully your team is up to the task. If you made it this far, you probably have a running back that set the tone for your team. This has been a good year of running backs, as two free agents, Derrick Henry and Saquon Barkley, are dominating with their new teams.

Running backs overall have done great, as 12 have topped 200 PPR points this season, while only five wide receivers have hit that number. We’ll likely see fantasy players on average move back toward running backs next season as early picks versus wide receivers, but if that happens, I’ll probably continue to draft wide receivers early, as they should have more value if people gravitate toward running backs.

Thankfully, none.

Walker missed last week against the Cardinals due to a calf injury. His status for this week is still up in the air, but there is a real chance Zach Charbonnet gets another start. And Charbonnet was without a doubt a smash start last week, as he led the league in running back fantasy points. At this point it sure appears that Seattle would be better off starting Charbonnet against the Packers.

Hall didn’t practice last week due to his knee injury and ended up sitting. This week would appear to be iffy as well, but we’ll need to learn more during the week. Whoever does get the start will have a favorable matchup with the Jaguars. Brealon Allen is the lead back when Hall misses, but Isaiah Davis did take over on passing downs, which hirt Allen’s overall upside. But, in a matchup against the Jaguars, I still feel like Allen is easily a good start if Hall is out.

The 49ers running backs have all taken up residence in the blue medical tent for the time being. After Christian McCarthy and Jordan Mason went down, Guerendo got the start against the Bears last week and played very well for fantasy. Unfortunately he suffered a sprained foot and couldn’t re-enter the game. They have a short turnaround as they play the Rams on Thursday night. If Guerendo can’t go, Patrick Taylor would likely take over the lead back duties in a good matchup.

Brooks has once again suffered a torn ACL and will need to go through the long rehab to recovery. That again keeps Chuba Hubbard as the main back, who should continue to be a fantasy asset, especially this week versus the weak defense of the Cowboys.

Johnson missed last week with a concussion. If he can be cleared this week against the Vikings, he will hurt De’Andre Swift’s upside due to his usage at the goal line.

Ekeler is on I.R. due to his concussion, which should help Brian Robinson this week in a good matchup.

Mattison was close to returning last week, so he should have a better chance of doing so this week against the Falcons on Monday Night Football. But, he most-likely wouldn’t get the start, as Sincere McCormick appears to have taken over the lead job at this point.

The Raiders placed White on injured reserve due to his quad injury. It was a very bad sign that he couldn’t beat out Alexander Mattison this season for the starting job. He’s lost almost all of his dynasty value at this point.

McCormick has grabbed his chance and is making a case to continue to find opportunities as a NFL running back next year. So far he’s ran the ball 32 times for 175 yards in four games. The Falcons aren’t an easy team to run on, but they do allow 4.5 yards per carry along with the third-most receptions to running backs. McCormick isn’t a smash play, but if you are lacking a flex play, he’s a useful plug and play this week.

Allen likely disappointed some people last week as he split touches with Isaiah Davis, who managed to run in a touchdown from 17 yards out. The good news is that Allen is still very much the lead back and he is even going to see passing game work despite Davis’ usage there. With Mac Jones as the starter now, there is a good chance the Jets can get a lead in this one and give Allen a shot at some late game clock-killing runs. As long as Hall is out again, Allen is a strong start.