Ranking the top 50 running backs in standard leagues

The SB Nation crew ranks the top 50 running backs in standard leagues heading into the 2018 season. Check out our full 2018 Fantasy Football Draft guide!

by Jason Marcum

Updated Aug 10, 2018, 6:43 PM UTC

Editor’s update: Derrius Guice suffered a knee injury in his preseason debut. Initially reported as an MCL sprain, Washington has since announced that the injury is a torn ACL. This injury ends Guice’s rookie season before it begins. Samaje Perine is likely to get more of Washington’s rushing work, while Chris Thompson will be the primary pass catcher.

The 2018 NFL season is upon us with training camp in full swing and the preseason schedule getting started. And that means fantasy football drafts are underway or soon to start for most leagues.

The running back landscape looks a lot different than it did this time last year, when David Johnson was widely viewed as the top fantasy player here. However, a wrist injury wiped out his 2017 season, and he now enters 2018 with an ADP in the No. 3-5 range of Round 1. Seeing what Johnson did in 2016, it’s not hard to see him becoming the best fantasy back again this season.

As for the top spot, it’s a tight race between Le’Veon Bell and Todd Gurley in your fantasy league. You can’t go wrong with either back, though Bell has a little more incentive to ball out since he’s once again playing under the one-year franchise tag.

And don’t sleep on the second-year studs who could rise to the top of the mountain in 2018. Guys like Alvin Kamara, Kareem Hunt, and Leonard Fournette took the league by storm in 2017. Now, they all could take their games to another level in 2018 and make a push for the fantasy scoring title for running backs this year.

Standard league running back rankings, preseason

(JM: Jason Marcum; DG: Derek Gordon; SK: Scott Kaliska; AW: Alex Welch)

RB standard rankings

Rk	Consensus	Tm	JM	DG	SK	AW
1	Todd Gurley II	LAR	1	1	1	1
2	Ezekiel Elliott	DAL	2	2	3	4
3	Le'Veon Bell	PIT	4	4	2	2
4	David Johnson	ARI	3	3	4	3
5	Alvin Kamara	NO	5	5	5	7
6	Leonard Fournette	JAC	6	8	9	6
7	Kareem Hunt	KC	8	6	7	9
8	Saquon Barkley	NYG	11	9	6	5
9	Melvin Gordon	LAC	7	7	8	10
10	Dalvin Cook	MIN	14	10	10	8
11	Devonta Freeman	ATL	9	12	11	11
12	Jordan Howard	CHI	13	11	12	13
13	Jerick McKinnon	SF	16	18	13	12
14	LeSean McCoy	BUF	10	15	17	18
15	Christian McCaffrey	CAR	12	13	15	20
16	Kenyan Drake	MIA	15	14	20	16
17	Derrius Guice	WAS	19	16	16	15
18	Alex Collins	BAL	20	22	18	14
19	Joe Mixon	CIN	22	20	14	19
20	Jay Ajayi	PHI	18	17	19	21
21	Derrick Henry	TEN	21	23	21	24
23	Lamar Miller	HOU	24	21	22	23
24	Rex Burkhead	NE	17	19	31	31
22	Rashaad Penny	SEA	28	33	23	17
25	Dion Lewis	TEN	23	24	27	29
26	Marshawn Lynch	OAK	27	26	29	26
27	Isaiah Crowell	NYJ	25	25	33	32
28	Tevin Coleman	ATL	30	32	30	30
29	Ronald Jones II	TB	44	30	28	22
30	Royce Freeman	DEN	40	39	25	25
31	Chris Thompson	WAS	26	31	38	36
32	Kerryon Johnson	DET	36	29	34	34
33	Carlos Hyde	CLE	29	28	37	40
34	C.J. Anderson	CAR	33	27	36	39
36	Mark Ingram	NO	43	44	24	27
35	Sony Michel	NE	45	43	26	28
37	Marlon Mack	IND	38	41	32	33
38	Duke Johnson Jr.	CLE	31	37	40	41
39	Jamaal Williams	GB	41	40	35	35
40	Tarik Cohen	CHI	35	34	39	43
41	Ty Montgomery	GB	32	38	44	45
42	Giovani Bernard	CIN	34	35	45	47
43	Nick Chubb	CLE	49	36	41	37
44	Aaron Jones	GB	39	46	42	38
45	Bilal Powell	NYJ	37	50	46	42
46	Latavius Murray	MIN	42	42	49	--
47	Devontae Booker	DEN	--	--	43	44
48	LeGarrette Blount	DET	48	47	--	46
49	Chris Carson	SEA	47	48	47	--
50	Doug Martin	OAK	50	45	--	--
--	Theo Riddick	DET	46	49	--	--
--	D'Onta Foreman	HOU	--	--	50	48
--	Corey Clement	PHI	--	--	48	50
--	James White	NE	--	--	--	49