It’s a must-win week (again) in most of our fantasy leagues as we’ve now reached the illustrious “money rounds” of the playoffs. Tough start and sit decisions will haunt us for the entire offseason if we choose incorrectly, and it costs us the win. While we can’t help you in this brief article on whether you should start the likes of Audric Estime or Jawhar Jordan this weekend (I would wait to see Nick Chubb’s status before answering that), we can lay out the top 10 running back rankings for Week 16. If you have these players, you’re starting them, and you don’t need me to tell you that, but it is nice to know which players should rank amongst the league’s best when this week is played to help you when making your other roster decisions.
If you have one or more of these backs, and you need to make a tough decision for your third running back or flex spot, you can stay conservative and play somebody like Jordan Mason, Blake Corum, or Tyler Allgeier, who have solid roles in their respective offenses but have limited upside. If your best running back or two are the likes of Ashton Jeanty, Omarian Hampton, and Jaylen Warren, then you should go ahead and play that unproven guy like Michael Carter that you just plucked off waivers. Whichever way you decide to go, just remember this is supposed to be fun. So, let’s all have some fun admiring a list of the top 10 running backs for Week 16.
Week 16 Running Back Rankings
1) De’Von Achane vs. Bengals
While the top spot has changed here and there over the course of the season, Achane has been a weekly fixture on this list. He has not had a single week this season where he has finished lower than the overall RB16, and currently sits at the 5th-highest scoring back in the league. Now he gets a rookie QB under center and a matchup against the worst run defense in the league. The Dolphins are going to make sure he touches the ball on about half of their snaps, so let’s all pray Achane can stay healthy. The only way he doesn’t finish the week as a top 3 scorer is if he only plays half the game, as he did two weeks ago against the Jets (where he still scored 17 points).
For more help with your fantasy football playoff lineups, check out our Week 16 Start’Em Sit’Em!
2) Bijan Robinson vs. Cardinals
Bijan has had a great year, despite the fact that it feels a bit underwhelming. It really only feels that way because Tyler Allgeier has scored the same 8 touchdowns that Bijan has. It’s sort of like the inverse of “It’s a Wonderful Life,” because every time Tyler Allgeier scores a touchdown, a Bijan Robinson owner loses his wings. Robinson has more than made up for the lack of touchdowns by piling up over 1,700 combined yards and 64 receptions to go with those 8 touchdowns, so let’s not shed a tear for the Bijan owners. This week, he should cruise to a 20+ point day against an Arizona defense that is ranked 28th against the running back position in fantasy points allowed.
