Fantasy football rankings, 2017: Running backs for PPR leagues, Week 2

Editor’s update: Lamar Miller and Joe Mixon got the most rushing work for their respective teams on Thursday Night Football, but the big emergence was D’Onta Foreman, who had 12 carries for 40 yards. With TNF in our rear view mirror, we have struck through Bengals and Texans players to clear up the rankings for you a little bit.

And just like that, the debate over who is the top PPR fantasy running back in 2017 is finished after just one week.

A moment of silence for our fellow David Johnson owners, who saw their dreams of fantasy dominance washed away when Johnson was placed on injured reserve with a dislocated wrist that requires surgery. The team is talking about Christmas for a return, which is Week 16, and likely not at all if the Cardinals fall out of playoff contention.

And so the deck is cleared for Le’Veon Bell to claim the top overall spot in SB Nation’s consensus rankings for running backs in point-per-reception leagues. Bell was certainly underwhelming by his lofty standards in Week 1 against the Browns, but he got off the field in one piece, and that’s more than good enough after the stunning news about DJ.

Bell looks to rebound in a tough matchup against Minnesota, as Ezekiel Elliott, who saw his fortunes go the total other way last week, now occupies the No. 2 spot in our rankings and prepares to face the Broncos coming off a short week in a game where fellow second-year back Melvin Gordon looked strong against the Denver defense during Week 1.

LeSean McCoy, who threw his own scare into owners by briefly leaving Sunday’s win over the Jets with an apparent injury — and lost a sure touchdown to Mike Tolbert in the process — checks in at No. 3 on our list, followed by Gordon and Devonta Freeman.

Now, some of you are going to look at my rankings and think maybe I had a typo. No, I really did rank Chicago’s Tarik Cohen No. 5 on my list, and I am confident the rest of my fine fellow prognosticators will follow suit after Cohen shows his Week 1 breakout performance was no fluke. If you followed Cohen’s rise up the depth chart this preseason, you know the role he fulfilled last week is exactly how the Bears want to deploy their rookie every week, with comparisons to Darren Sproles thrown around quite liberally. If you were like me, and you used a late-round draft pick on Cohen, or even better got him on your waiver wire, take the next step and get him into your lineups and thank me later.

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