{"id":258531,"date":"2025-12-12T09:00:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-12T14:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=258531"},"modified":"2025-12-11T20:05:41","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T01:05:41","slug":"fantasy-football-rankings-top-running-backs-for-week-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/12\/12\/fantasy-football-rankings-top-running-backs-for-week-15\/","title":{"rendered":"Fantasy Football Rankings: Top Running Backs for Week 15"},"content":{"rendered":"

Congratulations! You’ve made the fantasy playoffs! Either that, or you’re in a league that is still playing regular-season games in week 15. Or you’ve been eliminated, and you’re still reading fantasy articles in order to try and put a DFS band-aid on your fresh fantasy football boo-boo. Whatever the case, we’re here for you, and we’re excited about 0ur running back rankings for this week. If for no other reason than we’d like to move on after a rough week in Week 14.<\/p>\n

Our top 10 list was feeling pretty good after Thursday’s game when our #2-ranked Jahmyr Gibbs went ahead and put up 33.5 fantasy points against the Cowboys<\/a>. Then the weekend came, and just two of the remainder of our list were able to finish the week as top-10 options in the league. Ironically, the two players were De’von Achane (RB8, 17 pts) and Kyren Williams (RB9, 16.7 pts), who both had teammates also finish in the overall top 10 for the week.<\/p>\n

While Jaylen Wright’s big day was a direct result of Achane leaving Miami<\/a>‘s game with a rib injury, Blake Corum’s big day was a bit of a surprise as Sean McVay rode the young back in the second half to close out the Rams<\/a>‘ win over the Cardinals<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There is no reason to worry, as these things will happen from time to time, and we don’t want to overreact and leave points on our bench for the fantasy football playoffs. While it might be tempting to bench a player who has had a couple of down weeks in a row, like Derrick Henry or even Javonte Williams, many times fantasy owners will overreact and chase last week’s points. No worries, we’re here to help. There is a very good chance that De’von Achane will miss this week’s game against the Steelers<\/a>, so we are going to omit him from this week’s list. If he plays, you should play him.<\/p>\n

Let’s take a look at the rest of this week’s top 10 options at the running back position.<\/p>\n

Week 15 Running Back Rankings<\/h3>\n

1) Jaymyr Gibbs vs. Rams<\/h3>\n

\"Week<\/p>\n

He’s at the top of our list since he’s the best back in the game right now. This matchup isn’t ideal, as I think the Rams<\/a> will beat Detroit<\/a> when they meet in L.A. this Sunday, but Gibbs is matchup-proof at this point. When the Lions are losing, it actually helps keep Gibbs on the field for a higher percentage of the team’s snaps and keeps him heavily involved in the Detroit passing game. If he’s on your roster, he’s in your lineup.<\/p>\n

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For more help with your fantasy football lineups, check out our Week 15 Start\/Sit<\/a>!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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2) Christian McCaffrey vs. Titans<\/h3>\n
\"\"
Photo Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

CMC had the week off last week, and it’s probably why his owners need him this week. A Week 14 bye is tough for teams that need to win to make the playoffs or to secure a first-round bye. If you have CMC, you’re probably in the playoffs, and you’re definitely playing him no matter who the 49ers<\/a> are matched up against. It just so happens that this week they are matched up at home against a Titans<\/a> team that just won their second and possibly their final game of the season. The game script is primed for it to be a run-heavy day for CMC and San Francisco.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

3) Derrick Henry vs. Bengals<\/h3>\n
\"Lamar
Photo Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He doesn’t really deserve to be this high based on his fantasy point totals from the last 2 weeks, but I think this is an opportunity for John Harbaugh to correct a major error from two weeks ago. The last time the Ravens<\/a> and Bengals<\/a> met, Henry had just 60 rushing yards on 10 carries in a game that the Ravens ended up losing. How can you not feed your big back when he’s averaging 6 yards per carry against the league’s worst run defense? He’s going to get more than 10 carries this week, and he’s going to score a touchdown.<\/p>\n

4) Travis Etienne Jr. vs. Jets<\/h3>\n
\"Travis
Photo Credit: Corey Perrine\/Florida Times-Union<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Etienne had us a bit worried after seeing his touches reduced for a second straight week back in Week 13 against the Titans. As it turned out, the Jaguars<\/a> just didn’t need their top back to handle Tennessee, and he bounced back last week against the Colts<\/a> with 20 carries and two rushing scores to finish as the overall RB4 for the week. There is some risk that a similar situation awaits them this week against a weak Jets<\/a> run defense, but it feels like Jacksonville is trying to set the tone in these last four games to establish what kind of team they will be come playoff time. They are a defense-first team that is going to try to establish the run each week, and this is a great matchup to prove that.<\/p>\n

5) Saquon Barkley vs. Raiders<\/h3>\n
\"Saquon
Photo Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As bad as Jalen Hurts was on Monday night, Saquon had one of his best games of the season. He should be able to follow up on that 122-yard and a score rushing game with an even better game against a Raiders<\/a> team that is ranked #22 in the league against the running back position in fantasy. Fire him up and expect at least 100 yards and a score.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

6) Bijan Robinson vs. Buccaneers<\/h3>\n
\"\"
Photo Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bijan had a solid enough game last week if you consider the opponent and circumstances for the Falcons<\/a>. Atlanta was absolutely creamed by Seattle<\/a>, yet Robinson still managed to get 20 carries and two receptions for a combined 94 yards. We can forgive the lack of a score since the Falcons as a team were held to just three field goals. The Buccaneers<\/a> are fairly stout against the run, but Bijan can make his day as a pass catcher, much like he did back in Week 1 against Tampa with six grabs for 100 yards and a score. There’s no way you can consider benching Bijan if you’ve made it this far with him.<\/p>\n

7) Bucky Irving vs. Falcons<\/h3>\n
\"Bucky
Photo Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Coming right back in that same game, I love Bucky Irving this week against the Falcons. Bucky looks like he’s fully healthy, as last week he was able to take 15+ touches for the second week in a row for the Bucs. This week, he will get to do it against a Falcon defense that is ranked 24th in the league against the run in a game I fully expect Tampa to win handily. If you drafted Bucky and somehow managed to make the playoffs, you are in great shape since the rest of your team is likely very good. Get Irving in there and enjoy.<\/p>\n

8) James Cook vs. Patriots<\/h3>\n
\"James
Photo Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We were super high on Cook last week in a prime matchup against the Bengals, and we came away from that game feeling a bit underwhelmed. In the real world, an 80-yard rushing game is actually really good. Add in another 31 receiving yards, and we are talking about a player who is on pace to total almost 1,900 total scrimmage yards on the season. The problem with last week was the lack of a touchdown as Josh Allen wasn’t sharing with his top back last week. This week, they take on a Patriots<\/a> team that is not only ranked #2 in the league against running backs in fantasy points allowed but also held Cook to just 49 yards on 15 carries in their first meeting. This isn’t a great matchup, but Cook is way too good to leave on your bench. You aren’t benching him for somebody like Trey Benson or Kyle Monangai.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

9) Jonathan Taylor vs. Seahawks<\/h3>\n

\"Colts<\/p>\n

Well, things went from great to awful pretty quickly in Indianapolis, didn’t they? Just a few weeks ago, JT owners were doing victory laps as their second-round pick was leading the league in yards, touchdowns, and fantasy points. Now, just three weeks later, he is coming off of his third straight game with less than 15 fantasy points, and now the Colts might be forced to start a quarterback who’s been retired for five years. Add to that the fact that this week they play a Seattle team that is ranked #4 in the league against the run, and they have to do it on the road in one of the toughest places in the league to play. If you have JT, you have to roll him out there, but it’s going to be a tough day. The entire offense is going to have to run through him, so the volume will be there. I just doubt that he will be able to put up anywhere close to the 20+ points we have come to count on from him in any given week.<\/p>\n

10) Chase Brown vs. Ravens<\/h3>\n

\"Chase<\/p>\n

With Higgins out, Brown becomes the Bengals’ #2 receiver. That’s how it played out two weeks ago when these two teams met, and I expect much of the same this weekend. Brown is also coming off a two-touchdown game against Buffalo<\/a>, so let’s hope he can combine the yards and catches from two weeks ago with the scoring of last week to give us a real bonanza of a day. He has been a steady force for both the Bengals and his fantasy managers over the last seven games, ranking inside the top 20 in every week since week 7. If you are in a shallower league, I would play him over other options like Ashton Jeanty, Omarian Hampton, and even Josh Jacobs.<\/p>\n

For more great fantasy football analysis, check out DrRoto.com<\/a>!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Congratulations! You’ve made the fantasy playoffs! Either that, or you’re in a league that is still playing regular-season games in week 15. Or you’ve been eliminated, and you’re still reading fantasy articles in order to try and put a DFS band-aid on your fresh fantasy football boo-boo. Whatever the case, we’re here for you, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5637,"featured_media":258544,"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":[59,33912],"tags":[2320,33805],"class_list":["post-258531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fantasy","category-fantasy-rankings","tag-nfl-schedule","tag-running-back-rankings"],"modified_by":"Doug Henderson","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258531","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\/5637"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258531"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258531\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":258547,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258531\/revisions\/258547"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/258544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}