Top 90 fantasy football PPR running backs for Week 1

The 2025 NFL season is upon us! That means it is time to look closely into the Week 1 matchups. As usual, the start of the season can be tough to predict. Teams don’t want to give away too much in preseason, while also getting up to speed with new coaches and new players. But that doesn’t mean we can’t piece together our knowledge and put together informed projections.

Mixon is on the NFI list and will miss at least the first four games. Nick Chubb appears to be the starter headed into Week 1. Chubb won’t be in the best position, as the Rams are favorites in Houston. If the Texans get behind, Chubb would lose work to Dare Ogunbowale and Woody Marks.

Spears will miss the first four games due to an ankle injury. Tony Pollard will see an uptick in work and should have a strong fantasy floor with his likely workload.

Harris is recovering from an eye injury and may be able to play Friday night against the Chiefs. This is good news for his availability moving forward, but first round pick Omarion Hampton has a leg up on him to start the year. We’ll need to see him win work before feeling good about starting him in fantasy.

Achane is dealing with a calf injury, but was able to return to practice. He appears set to return for Week 1.

Wright looks like he’ll miss Week 1 with a leg injury. His absence would help rookie Ollie Gordon see more work against the Colts.

When looking at running backs and odds, you want big favorites with high point totals. That allows the lead back to handle more work, as the team won’t need to throw the ball to make up points in the fourth quarter. If your rostered back only sees work on passing downs, then you’ll likely want his team to trail or at least be in a position where they’ll need to throw the ball more than hand it off.

Ravens at Bills (-1.5) — 52.5
Lions at Packers (-2.5) — 47.5
Bengals (-5.5) at Browns — 47.5
Cowboys at Eagles (-7.5) — 47.5

Eagles 27.5, Bills 27, Bengals 26.5, Commanders 26, Ravens 25.5, Packers 25

Steelers (-2.5) at Jets —37.5
Titans at Broncos (-7.5) —41.5
Cardinals (-5.5) at Saints — 42.5
Raiders at Patriots (-2.5) —43.5
Vikings (-1.5) at Bears —43.5

Titans 17, Jets 17.5, Saints 18.5, Giants 19.5, Cowboys 20, Steelers 20

Cowboys at Eagles (-7.5)
Titans at Broncos (-7.5)
Giants at Commanders (-6.5)

Ford took a pay cut to stay with the team this offseason, while watching the team draft two running backs, but Ford appears to be set to take the lead role to start the season. He had his best game of the season last year against the Bengals in Week 16, rushing 11 times for 92 yards and a touchdown, while catching five passes for 39 more yards. He should remain a safe flex play to start the year,

Mason could end up being the lead back while Aaron Jones is used more in passing down situations, but we don’t know exactly how this situation will split going into Week 1. I like Mason’s ability enough to give him a flex start though. Things change of course, but the Bears run defense was ranked 29th in fantasy points allowed to running backs last year.