Fantasy football rankings, 2017: Running backs for PPR leagues, Week 7

Here are our fantasy football running back rankings for PPR leagues entering Week 7.

Oct 18, 2017, 12:53 PM UTC

Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images

The Atlanta Falcons have been waiting eight months for this moment. For eight months, the Falcons have lived with the torment of their epic Super Bowl collapse against the Patriots. And in their hearts, the Falcons players and coaches have to know that a few more running plays in the second half might have stopped the bleeding and secured the victory.

And while we are well into a new season, one thing remains true: The Patriots cannot stop the run. This time, on Sunday night in Foxboro, the Falcons get to apply the lessons they learned in February.

Our experts at SB Nation certainly expect the Falcons to run their demons into the ground. Devonta Freeman garnered the most first-place votes in our rankings of the top PPR running backs heading into Week 7. Although Freeman has struggled in his past two games, he draws a Patriots defense ranked 29th in DVOA against running backs and 18th against pass-catching backs. With Mohamed Sanu still out and Bill Belichick likely to focus his defensive game plan on stopping Julio Jones, Freeman could go off as the Falcons look for Super Bowl revenge and a key victory after two bad losses.

Pittsburgh’s Le’Veon Bell, Kansas City’s Kareem Hunt, LeSean McCoy of the Bills, and Jacksonville’s Leonard Fournette round out our top five, but on the heels of Tuesday’s news that his suspension will not begin this weekend, perhaps the best PPR back in Week 7 is Ezekiel Elliott against the 49ers. San Francisco is dead last in DVOA rankings against the run and against pass-catching backs, and Elliott should be fresh coming off the bye week. Elliott had his fewest targets (2) and receptions (1) against the Packers in Week 5, but the 49ers should get Elliott back on track as a pass-catcher.

Another PPR back to keep in mind this week is Matt Forte, who was the beneficiary of the Patriots’ bad run defense last week in his return to the Jets’ lineup. Forte caught all eight of his targets last week, and draws a Miami defense on Sunday that ranks 25th in DVOA against the run and 24th against pass-catching backs.

Running back (PPR) rankings, Week 7

(SK: Scott Kaliska; JG: Jeff Goldberg; DG: Derek Gordon; KB: Kyle Bennett; ZS: Zach Senvisky; JM: Jason Marcum)

RB (PPR) rankings, Week 7

Rk	Consensus	Tm	Opp	SK	JG	DG	KB	ZS	JM
1	Le'Veon Bell	PIT	vs. CIN	1	3	3	1	1	3
2	Kareem Hunt	KC	@ OAK	2	2	2	2	2	2
3	Devonta Freeman	ATL	@ NE	6	1	1	3	8	1
4	LeSean McCoy	BUF	vs. TB	5	5	4	4	4	4
5	Todd Gurley	LAR	vs. ARI	4	6	6	6	6	6
7	Leonard Fournette	JAC	@ IND	3	7	8	8	3	8
8	Ezekiel Elliott	DAL	@ SF	19	4	5	5	5	5
8	Melvin Gordon	LAC	vs. DEN	7	8	7	7	7	7
10	Doug Martin	TB	@ BUF	16	9	9	9	10	9
11	Carlos Hyde	SF	vs. DAL	13	10	10	12	9	10
11	Jay Ajayi	MIA	vs. NYJ	9	12	12	10	11	11
13	Jerick McKinnon	MIN	vs. BAL	10	11	11	11	12	12
14	Mark Ingram	NO	@ GB	8	13	13	13	13	13
15	Christian McCaffrey	CAR	@ CHI	12	15	15	15	15	15
16	Jordan Howard	CHI	vs. CAR	11	16	16	16	14	16
17	Adrian Peterson	ARI	@ LAR	20	14	14	14	16	14
17	DeMarco Murray	TEN	@ CLE	17	18	18	18	18	17
19	Marshawn Lynch	OAK	vs. KC	26	17	17	17	22	18
20	C.J. Anderson	DEN	@ LAC	18	21	21	20	21	20
21	Joe Mixon	CIN	@ PIT	23	19	20	19	20	22
22	Chris Thompson	WAS	@ PHI	15	25	22	21	17	28
23	Alvin Kamara	NO	@ GB	14	27	25	24	25	26
24	Ty Montgomery	GB	vs. NO	27	23	24	23	23	24
24	Frank Gore	IND	vs. JAC	33	24	26	26	28	19
26	Matt Forte	NYJ	@ MIA	31	22	23	25	32	25
27	Alex Collins	BAL	@ MIN	39	20	19	22	36	23
28	Aaron Jones	GB	vs. NO	35	26	28	27	24	21
29	Tevin Coleman	ATL	@ NE	22	30	29	29	29	30
30	LeGarrette Blount	PHI	vs. WAS	28	29	27	28	26	32
31	Buck Allen	BAL	@ MIN	25	35	30	30	19	36
32	Dion Lewis	NE	vs. ATL	32	28	31	31	31	27
33	Orleans Darkwa	NYG	vs. SEA	29	31	32	32	27	34
34	Derrick Henry	TEN	@ CLE	37	34	35	35	33	35
35	Duke Johnson Jr.	CLE	vs. TEN	21	38	37	37	40	38
36	Eddie Lacy	SEA	@ NYG	--	32	34	33	35	31
37	Thomas Rawls	SEA	@ NYG	49	33	33	34	34	33
38	Jonathan Stewart	CAR	@ CHI	43	36	38	41	30	29
39	Tarik Cohen	CHI	vs. CAR	30	37	36	36	45	37
40	James White	NE	vs. ATL	24	41	41	40	41	42
41	Isaiah Crowell	CLE	vs. TEN	36	40	40	38	38	40
41	Chris Ivory	JAC	@ IND	38	39	39	39	48	39
43	Latavius Murray	MIN	vs. BAL	46	42	42	42	42	41
44	Giovani Bernard	CIN	@ PIT	44	46	45	45	37	48
45	Elijah McGuire	NYJ	@ MIA	--	43	43	43	43	44
46	Samaje Perine	WAS	@ PHI	50	44	44	44	44	43
47	Marlon Mack	IND	vs. JAC	42	47	48	48	39	45
48	Jamaal Charles	DEN	@ LAC	48	45	46	46	46	46
49	Darren McFadden	DAL	@ SF	41	--	47	47	47	--
50	Andre Ellington	ARI	@ LAR	34	--	--	--	--	--
--	Mike Gillislee	NE	vs. ATL	45	48	49	49	50	49
--	Wendell Smallwood	PHI	vs. WAS	47	49	--	50	--	47
--	Bilal Powell	NYJ	@ MIA	40	--	--	--	--	--
--	C.J. Prosise	SEA	@ NYG	--	50	50	--	--	--
--	Wayne Gallman	NYG	vs. SEA	--	--	--	--	49	--
--	Jalen Richard	OAK	vs. KC	--	--	--	--	--	50