{"id":188253,"date":"2024-09-04T15:30:13","date_gmt":"2024-09-04T19:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=188253"},"modified":"2024-09-04T13:22:23","modified_gmt":"2024-09-04T17:22:23","slug":"fantasy-football-week-1-running-back-rankings-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/09\/04\/fantasy-football-week-1-running-back-rankings-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Fantasy Football Week 1 Running Back Rankings"},"content":{"rendered":"

The NFL season is finally back! Your drafts are over and now comes the all-important decision of who to start. What matchups to take advantage of? Well, drum roll, <\/span>please<\/span>. Here are the week 1 running back rankings.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read More:\u00a0<\/em>Week 1 Quarterback Rankings<\/a><\/p>\n

Fantasy Football Week 1 Running Back Rankings<\/h2>\n

Tier 1: Lineup Locks<\/span><\/h3>\n

1. Christian McCaffrey<\/a> vs. New York Jets<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Bijan Robinson vs. Pittsburgh Steelers<\/span><\/p>\n

3. Saquon Barkley vs. Green Bay Packers<\/span><\/p>\n

4. Jonathan Taylor<\/a> vs. Houston Texans<\/span><\/p>\n

5. Breece Hall<\/a> vs. San Francisco 49ers<\/span><\/p>\n

For week 1 running back rankings, this is going to be fairly chalky. These are the running backs you would have drafted round one. These five are the ones who will never see the bench except on a bye week, no matter the matchup.<\/span><\/p>\n

The only player I am concerned about is Breece Hall and that is because he faces the toughest matchup. The 49ers were the No.4 team against fantasy running backs last season. The defense up front looks nearly identical and will remain a tough matchup for running backs in 2024.<\/span><\/p>\n

The other four will safely be on the field on almost all offensive snaps. They will also see significant rushing and receiving work with little shared workload.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tier 2: Solid RB1<\/span><\/h3>\n

6. Jahmyr Gibbs vs. Los Angeles Rams<\/span><\/p>\n

7. James Cook<\/a> vs. Arizona Cardinals<\/span><\/p>\n

8. De\u2019Von Achane vs. Jacksonville Jaguars<\/span><\/p>\n

9. Alvin Kamara vs. Carolina Panthers<\/span><\/p>\n

10. Rachaad<\/span> White vs. Washington Commanders<\/span><\/p>\n

11. Joe Mixon vs. Indianapolis Colts<\/span><\/p>\n

12. Josh Jacobs vs. Philadelphia Eagles<\/span><\/p>\n

13. Derrick Henry<\/a> vs. Kansas City Chiefs<\/span><\/p>\n

14. Kenneth Walker vs. Denver Broncos<\/span><\/p>\n

The solid RB1s are those you would have drafted in the second or third round in your drafts. In other cases, they are those running backs lined up with good matchups.<\/span><\/p>\n

James Cook is a favorite to earn a significant workload in a Buffalo Bills offense that looks very different in the receiving game. He gets a juicy matchup to start the season against a Cardinals team that was the worst against fantasy running backs last season. Cook has upside as both a rusher and receiver which could lead to multiple big weeks in 2024.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

James Cook could have a favorable matchup this week \ud83d\udc40<\/p>\n

Cook ranked 9th in receiving yards per route run last season, while the Cardinals defense ranked 27th in receiving yards allowed per pass play to RBs. pic.twitter.com\/LZvp7i60NO<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 PFF BUF Bills (@PFF_Bills) September 3, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Kamara, White, and Walker also have <\/span>nice matchups against teams that ranked in the bottom ten against fantasy running backs last season. Despite it being a new year, these teams continue to rank very low in power rankings and don’t look poised to take significant steps forward.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mixon, Jacobs, and Henry will be frequent flyers in this category as the solid RB1s <\/span>with the right matchups will be lineup locks. For this week, the matchups just weren’t there. However, opportunity galore and likely members of top-12 scoring offenses in the NFL should help these aging vets find success.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tier 3: RB2<\/span><\/h3>\n

15. Aaron Jones vs. New York Giants<\/span><\/p>\n

16. Travis Etienne vs. Miami Dolphins<\/span><\/p>\n

17. Isaiah Pacheco vs. Baltimore Ravens<\/span><\/p>\n

18. Kyren Williams vs. Detroit Lions<\/span><\/p>\n

19. D\u2019Andre Swift vs. Tennessee Titans<\/span><\/p>\n

20. Rhamondre Stevenson vs. Cincinnati Bengals<\/span><\/p>\n

21. James Conner vs. Buffalo Bills<\/span><\/p>\n

22. Zamir White vs. Los Angeles Chargers<\/span><\/p>\n

23. Jerome Ford vs. Dallas Cowboys<\/span><\/p>\n

24. David Montgomery vs. Los Angeles Rams<\/span><\/p>\n

Aaron Jones has a great matchup that has him teetering on RB2 and solid RB1 territory. The issue is the rest of the offense. Or just the quarterback in Sam Darnold. We have seen volume be enough to trump the situation and Jones certainly has the talent to do so.<\/span><\/p>\n

On any given week the RB2 category will see the first three to four running backs in it be very capable of delivering top-ten fantasy showings <\/span>for that week<\/span>. Names like Etienne and Pacheco with Jones this week seem like those <\/span>types<\/span> who will make a living in this tier.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kyren Williams by average draft position should be higher on a chalky week like week one. However, he has a tall order against the Detroit Lions defense who was top-three against fantasy running backs last season.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tier 4: RB3\/Flex Picks<\/span><\/h3>\n

25. Raheem Mostert vs. Jacksonville Jaguars<\/span><\/p>\n

26. Najee Harris vs. Atlanta Falcons<\/span><\/p>\n

27. Zack Moss vs. New England Patriots<\/span><\/p>\n

28. Devin Singletary vs. Minnesota Vikings<\/span><\/p>\n

29. Tony Pollard vs. Chicago Bears<\/span><\/p>\n

30. Chuba Hubbard vs. New Orleans Saints<\/span><\/p>\n

31. Brian Robinson Jr vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers<\/span><\/p>\n

32. Javonte Williams vs. Seattle Seahawks<\/span><\/p>\n

This is where the rankings become all about the boom or bust players. A guy like Raheem Mostert is a multi-touchdown game from dropping 30 to 40 points and being a top-three fantasy running back for the week. So attempting to peg the boom games is going to be fun. <\/span>Even<\/span> attempting<\/span> to figure out if he <\/span>can<\/span> repeat such a performance as last season heading into the season at <\/span>the age of<\/span> 32 years old <\/span>at<\/span> such a demanding and physical position.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\ud83d\udea8NEW ARTICLE\ud83d\udea8<\/p>\n

2024 Bargain Bin League Winners\ud83d\ude80<\/p>\n

Raheem Mostert\ud83d\udca5<\/p>\n

10 RBs scored 18 rushing TDs in a season & returned to the same team. The next year those RBs still scored on avg. over 11 TDs.<\/p>\n

See the rest of the league winners on @Razzball<\/a>.com\ud83d\udc47https:\/\/t.co\/uTOazwmhPu<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Bobby LaMarco (@BobbyLamarco) September 3, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I also have positioned in this RB3 or flex zone, <\/span>several<\/span> running backs <\/span>in<\/span> projected to be poor offenses with competition closely pursuing and threatening their workload. Names that stand out for this reason <\/span>include<\/span> Tony Pollard, Najee Harris, Zack Moss, <\/span>and<\/span> Javonte Williams. As the season progresses we may see these talented running backs escape their situation and stand above the competition. However, the ambiguity makes them more of a flex option in the week 1 running back rankings.<\/span><\/p>\n

Main Photo: [Bob Donnan] – USA Today Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The NFL season is finally back! Your drafts are over and now comes the all-important decision of who to start. What matchups to take advantage of? Well, drum roll, please. Here are the week 1 running back rankings. Read More:\u00a0Week 1 Quarterback Rankings Fantasy Football Week 1 Running Back Rankings Tier 1: Lineup Locks 1. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4903,"featured_media":188302,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[349,2236],"class_list":["post-188253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fantasy","tag-fantasy-football-rankings","tag-running-backs"],"modified_by":"Michael Zimmelman","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4903"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=188253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188253\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/188302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=188253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=188253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=188253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}