Welcome to Week 7 of the fantasy football season. Week 6 gave us a couple of hot new names at the running back position. Well, one hot new name and one hot old name. Kimani Vidal slid in as the Chargers’ top rusher in place of the injured Omarion Hampton, and he looked great, totaling 138 combined yards and a score in the Chargers‘ win over Miami. Meanwhile, Rico Dowdle doubled down on his Week 5 breakout game against those same Dolphins, by shredding his former team, the Cowboys, to the tune of 183 rushing yards with an additional 56 receiving yards and a score. Do either of these backs appear in our Top 10 Running Back Rankings for Week 7? Read on to find out.
It just so happens that the Cowboys and Dolphins rank in the bottom three of the league against the run, so we will be sure to take note when ranking our running backs for this week. We will have to make do without Derrick Henry and James Cook as they enjoy their bye weeks, but there are plenty of other options available. Let’s take a look at our top ten for this week.
Week 7 Running Back Rankings
1) Jonathan Taylor @ The Chargers
He’s the top back in the league, period. He ranks first in total points as well as rushing yards and rushing touchdowns, and has been the focal point in the offense of a Colts team that currently sits atop the AFC with a 5-1 record. The Chargers defense can be run on as they have allowed consecutive 100+ yard days to Bill Croskey-Merritt and De’Von Achane, and currently ranks 21st in the league against the run. Taylor has gotten no less than 20 touches in every game so far this season, and that volume will continue as long as he stays healthy. Play him as your RB1 and continue to enjoy his success.
2) Bijan Robinson @ The 49ers
This game should be fun to watch as we will see two of the most exciting backs in the league lock horns. Bijan was drafted as the top back in many fantasy drafts, and last week, he showed us all why. He exploded for a career-high 238 combined yards en route to his best fantasy day of the season with a total of 38.8 PPR points against the Bills. While that partly may have been due to a soft matchup against Buffalo’s bottom 3 run defenses, it also says a lot about this kid’s ability.
The 49ers have allowed backs like Travis Etienne and Alvin Kamara to have big days against them so far this year, and they will have their hands full trying to stop Robinson. The beauty of Bijan is that he’s matchup-proof. If they manage to stop him on the ground, he will get you fantasy points with his receiving ability. Even if you’re in a two-team league, you’re starting Bijan.
3) Christian McCaffrey vs. the Falcons
Speaking of backs who can beat you with their receiving ability, here is this year’s king. CMC has actually been a mediocre running back when you look at his rushing stats. Through six games, he has a total of 336 rushing yards on 108 attempts with just 1 touchdown, for a total of 39.6 fantasy points, or about 6.6 per game. Luckily, the story doesn’t end there, as he has also tacked on 46 receptions on 60 targets for 444 receiving yards and an additional three scores.
Those receiving numbers alone total 108.4 PPR fantasy points, which would rank him as a top 10 WR ahead of somebody like Drake London, who has a total of 34 catches for 427 yards and 2 scores so far. The bottom line here is that McCaffrey is doing it all for San Francisco as well as his fantasy owners. If you have him, you don’t need me to tell you to put him in.
Click below for more of our Week 7 Running Back Rankings
