Week 1 Running Back Rankings with Tiers for Fantasy Football

Intro what's going on man welcome back to the basement I'm Ron we have NFL football happening in two days here which means it's time to set your line up and today we are going to talk through my top 35 running back rankings for week one of the fantasy football season we're going to cut straight to it no fluff no intro leave a like if you enjoy subscribe if you're new we will be doing rankings videos just like this every single week of the NFL season now here we have our tier list right I feel much stronger about the tiers themselves I do the 1 Christian Mccaffrey Vs NYJ individual rankings and I didn't have time right so mcaffry is are rb1 here I didn't have time to write one mcaffrey the rankings themselves with like every match up will be in the description so you can see okay number one is mcaffrey at home versus the Jets and so on so we have the start your studs tier these are guys I do not need to explain to you why you're starting Christian mcaffrey he is my rb1 at home versus the Jets Bree Hall 2 Breece Hall @ SF in that same game is my rb2 then you have bejon Robinson at home versus the 3 Bijan Robinson Vs PIT Steelers Jonathan Taylor at home versus 4 Jonathan Taylor Vs HOU Houston we've seen I think that his last game last year he went crazy against Houston but regardless it should be two really good offenses that have a high pace of play going at it inside of the division and then you have saquin 5 Saquon Barkley Vs GB Barkley as our rv5 at or no I was going to say at home it's listed as at home but they're going to be in Brazil doesn't really change much for me they are projected for the fifth most points this week by Vegas now I will say disclaimer I usually throw a lot of stats at you guys a lot of Graphics it's week one so I got nothing right like there is nothing to go off of you have last year's stats which are murky uh right everybody is changing teams things are happening here um so I really what I'm using is Vegas right they have their projected team total so how much they think teams are going to score and then also their projected uh you know over unders of the entire game they have the projected receiving yards and rushing yards and then like anytime touchdown odds so a lot of these rankings are based off of that as we get more info we will have more stuff to share we can make better educated guesses here so some of this is even based on where you drafted them right your start your studs section here you drafted all of these guys potentially inside of the top 15 picks right mcaffrey Bree beon JT saquin do not get cute do not you know throw in Drome Ford over one of these guys or get crazy I don't care who they're playing I don't care what the weather is in week one you start your studs then we have our second tier here which is just my our rb1s and these guys are pretty much start your studs times two uh where you 6 Jahmyr Gibbs Vs LAR also drafted them early right so first up at rb6 we have jir Gibbs if you drafted jir Gibbs inside of the top 20 picks or so you put him in your lineup he is at home versus the Rams who have the highest team total in terms of implied points at 27.5 this week they're going to score a lot of points they are at home so give me Jamir Gibbs they also have the best offensive line in the league the Rams don't have Aaron Donald and Gibbs should be explosive and looking fine I will say the only thing that kept him out of start your studs is just like the hamstring stuff and then also the potential of David Montgomery kind of relieving him a bit with the hamstring stuff but I don't know that's that's all really speculation from my end of things then at rb7 we have Devon 7 De’Von Achane Vs JAX Anan at home versus the Jaguars they are projected to score the third most points in the NFL this week the Dolphins and if you drafted Devon hen you want high-scoring environments and you want explosive plays that should be available to him at home versus the Jaguars in the 8 Travis Etienne @ MIA other side of this game at rb8 you have Travis etn as well who's going to be traveling to Miami and they are underdogs here and what could be a potential shootout right the Dolphins is going to score a lot of points the Jaguars are going to play fast and uptempo and you can get a spot where etn catches like four or five balls scores a touchdown so he's in a really good spot here Travis etn against the Miami Dolphins you have to remember as well they do not have Christian Wilkins I believe what Jaylen Phillips's out with his injury same thing with uh chub so it's just not a great situation for the defensive line I they grabbed like Kus Campbell th this week one stuff has me like reaching deep in my bag of trying to find what new signings happened on defensive lines and stuff but still not all that good and then honestly my must start of the week of like a guy that you didn't draft inside of the top 20 picks that isn't a start your stud guy uh is James Cook James Cook is in a smash spot 9 James Cook Vs ARZ as my rb9 he is at home versus the Cardinals they are five and a half Point favorites at home they are the second highest implied points team by Vegas so they're going to score a lot of points they're going to be favorites so it's going to be a game script that favors the running game they're going to run a lot as we saw with Joe Brady last year and this is a cardinal team that allowed the most points to opposing running backs last year in terms of fantasy football but they didn't really change anything established the runs preseason defensive line ranking still had them at like 302 on their list which is brutal soft run defense should be plenty of points for the bills they should have a lead and James Cook should have a bunch of touches then at rb10 we have Kiren 10 Kyren Williams @ DET Williams this is a little bit of a tough game uh he's going to be in Detroit Detroit last year actually had one of the best Rush defenses in the NFL we'll see if that sticks the ram should have a pretty good offensive line though and this is a team that is tied for the ninth most implied points and if you drafted Kiran Williams High you got to start him right this is a really high overunderwear but I highly doubt it he'll get his touches he'll get his snaps uh so rb10 Kiren Williams for me 11 Isiah Pacheco Vs BAL then our rb1 here is going to be Isaiah Pacho they are three-point favorites at home the Chiefs versus the Baltimore Ravens Baltimore should be a pretty good defense we'll see how it goes but the Chiefs have a good offensive line they have the eighth highest team total and if you drafted him you start him he should be a really good bet to score a touchdown here then at rb2 you have Josh Jacobs who's going to be in Brazil vers 12 Josh Jacobs At PHI the Eagles we'll see how that goes but the fun part here is the Packers are kind of kind of balanced but the Eagles are going to play really fast under Kell Moore and if the Eagles find themselves behind we could see a little bit of a shootout potential here regardless though no Marshon Lloyd Josh jobs will be the bcow here the only thing keeping him behind like Kiren Williams and beo and James Cook is that the Packers are projected for the 15th most points this week it's not a ton right like we're kind of nitpicking here between like Peko having the eighth most versus Josh Jacobs the 15th most but that's kind of what we do on these tier lists anyways but Eagles have like a top 10 defensive line on paper uh Josh Jacobs like I said should be a three down back here and it's like a neutral environment where he could pretty easily score a touchdown which is kind of we looking for with running backs in general then we have rb13 derck Henry if you drafted Derrick 13 Derrick Henry @ KC Henry you're putting him in your lineup this is what you drafted him for but he's my rb13 he's going to be in KC on the opener and I imagine they're going to want to use him I will say the reason that he's the lowest RB in this tier is this is like half in full PPR and then also they are implied for the tied for 19th I don't know why I said that so weird but they're implied for the 19th highest team total by Vegas so not like the most points in terms of their projection and he could get a weird situation here where as a road Underdog the Ravens could just go out here throw the ball around the yard and like have to come back against the Chiefs and then all of a sudden Derrick Henry is not out there for you know your third down passing situations and two minute drill stuff and all of a sudden all he is is just a goal line back which is still fine I think that he still has a great chance to score a touchdown and even I would go as far as checking it out over on Underdog fantasy they actually have a bunch of promos going on right now they have a crazy thing happening over on Underdog fantasy where they are doing a vulture protection which is crazy vulture protection which means if you have higher. five touchdowns for derck Henry in week one and let's say Lamar Jackson scores a touchdown instead you get vulture protected on that pick them so it's a pretty cool setup that they have they have a bunch of promos happening for week one it's going to be happening like this all season so make sure you check out Underdog fantasy use promo code Ron they match your first deposit up to $1,000 I'll have a links in the description and the comment section down below for Underdog fantasy we've been drafting on there every single day pretty much now after that we have our high-end rb2 tier this is you know guys I still feel absolutely fine about uh Rashad white we're going to put 14 Rachaad White Vs WAS at rb1 14 here he's actually in a really nice spot he is a home favorite versus Washington Washington has Cliff Kingsbury and Cliff Kingsbury plays at such a high Pace that he's not going to go down easy so even though they're home favorites you're still going to have Cliff Kingsbury coming back and you know boosting the total play volume here and getting a bunch of possessions in which is really good for Rashad white because Washington allowed the six most points two opposing running backs last year again we'll see if stuff like that holds but home favorite versus a underdog that's going to keep trying to get themselves in this game maybe spark a shootout and Rashad white should eat here and get plenty of points and Tampa Bay is actually projected for the ninth most points this week by Vegas so there should be touchdown opportunity there should be a good game scpt for Rashad 15 Kenneth Walker Vs DEN white all of that is in the cards then we have Kenneth Walker at rb5 um the only reason he's not higher uh is really just because we don't know what this Seahawks offense is going to look like we don't know what the Back Field slip is going to look like or the split but we have a pretty damn good idea and this is a Seahawks team at home versus Denver where they are projected for the 12th most points by Vegas and the Broncos defensive line last year was brutal they allowed the second most fantasy points to opposing running backs and of course we don't know what that looks like this year but Denver did rank 28th on established the runs preseason defensive line ranking so it should be more of the same home favorites that does really favor Kenneth Walker we'll see if he can break one off for a long touchdown then at rb1 16 we have Joe Mixon I actually really 16 Joe Mixon @ IND like this environment uh they are projected for the fourth highest total points this week in terms of uh the Houston Texans it should be a high scoring Affair where it's the third highest over under overall on the Slate here where it's the Colts it's the Texans you have styen who's going to run Up Tempo you have SLO who's going to run Up Tempo both teams were top 10 in Pace last year there's going to be points there's going to be a lot of plays and Mixon is a pretty good bet to score a touchdown get some yards between the 20s and be a nice rb2 for you this week then we have RB 17 Alvin Kamar and this is just a pretty tough spot for Kamar to be 17 Alvin Kamara Vs CAR his usual PPR scam because he's at home versus the Panthers projected for the 15th most points was actually pretty good for the Saints offense but as a four and a half Point favorite at home it's not going to be so many dump offs to Kamar I'm sure he'll still get his share of work in the receiving game right now over on Underdog their higher lowers hasn't projected for 87 a half total yards and four receptions so that's pretty good right we're talking like 12ish points per game if you want to factor in a little bit of a touchdown upside we're talking like 12 to 15 and a half PPR that is really really strong we'll see how Carolina looks revamped with Dave Canales I think that you know maybe maybe he could get some PPR uh if Carolina comes out strong here then at rb18 we have David Montgomery who's just 18 David Montgomery Vs LAR in a really good spot here again Rams defensive line without Aaron Donald the lions are projected for the most points in the NFL this week and in a situation where again Gibbs is coming off the hamstring stuff from the off Seas we don't know how much is that's going to affect his week one workload home favorites weak defensive line strong offensive line he could very easily punch in a touchdown I want to say he has the highest odds to score a touchdown among all lions in this game as well so big big week for David Montgomery if you have him I think that I would be trying to fire him up then we have just our normal rb2 tiers with these guys are fine right fine rb2s but I'm not stoked to start any of them Aaron Jones first up at rb19 he's going 19 Aaron Jones @ NYG to be on the road against the Giants and I think this is actually going to be a fun game dble wants to play Fast Kevin okell wants to play Fast both have you know Sam darnold to Daniel Jones there should be like interceptions and a lot of plays and maybe a lot of scoring we'll see if this can shoot out a little bit but it's a good environment for Fantasy scoring regardless and you have a spot where yes the Giants defensive line is actually really good right they bring in Brian Burns they have K Kevin I was going to say Kevin Tibido but it's Kavon Tibido uh and then they also have Dexter Lawrence up front as well so the Giants Rush defense is good but we're just hoping for receptions and touchdown opportunities for Aaron Jones like usual in terms of his Red Zone usage then at 20 James Conner @ BUF rb20 we have James Connor in Buffalo as a underdog not a great environment but if you draft him inside the top six rounds you can only put him so low he's going to get volume it's going to be a game where the Cardinals have to try and keep up he has some touchdown opportunities as well so again it it gets tough as we go along these are not going to be smash plays we're talking rb2s here but James Conor should get volume another running back that should get volume at RB 21 is niji Harris this 21 Najee Harris @ ATL is an interesting matchup they're going to be in Atlanta Arthur Smith's Revenge game I guess you could call it and this is very inter the Falcons have a bad offensive line they're ranked 30th by establish the Run preseason rankings in terms of their D line they were rumored to get Leu latu or one of the defensive line players early on in the draft of course they take penck instead and this is going to be interesting is it a is it a situation where Arthur Smith knows the Tendencies and the Personnel of his old team does he just get trampled the Steelers are currently three-point Underdog expected for the 28th most points across the league so that's not great at all but I do think especially with the Jaylen waren hamstring scare that happened in the off season there could be a chance that Arthur Smith just wants to establish his will against this defensive line he runs it down their throat this is actually one of the games where I kind of disagree with Vegas I kind of think that this is where Arthur Smith is going to run the ball down Atlanta's throat and win this game we'll see how it goes uh but niji Harris should be a nice start this week as a nice rb2 that you drafted him to be then we have DeAndre Swift and this one was actually surprising to me that he was so low in a lot of these rankings but at 22 D’Andre Swift Vs TEN rb22 here he's at home versus Tennessee they home favorites and on top of that they're projected for the six most points by Vegas this is going to be a Chicago team that scores a lot of points here they're favorites I know you might think like well Swift isn't that better to be behind in a game and get dump off passes I mean sure but I would assume after the contract they gave him he's going to be the lead back in this offense the lead goal line back the lead back in pretty much every situation is like a 65% type of guy in terms of his snapshare and in a situation like this where they should score points I mean he's a great bet to get some touches get some yards get a touchdown uh so I think 23 Raheem Mostert Vs JAX if you drafted DeAndre sson like the what sixth or seventh round you can certainly fire him up in week one then at rb23 we have Raheem moer they're going to be playing at home versus Jacksonville as we said with aan and of course they are home favorit protected for the third most points in the NFL and that's just where where moster thrives if he still has this goal line back back role like he had last year he is a great play to score a touchdown in this game now moving on from that we have our Fringe rb2s I don't feel great about these guys are like rb2 rb3 is right on the fringes but these are a lot of the guys that if you watch this channel you took as your rb2 and a hero RB build and 24 Rhamondre Stevenson @ CIN first up we have rre Stevenson this one is tricky this should scream ra Andre Stevenson gam script right they're going to be in Cincinnati n and 1 Half Point Underdog so they're projected to get blown out here and that should help rre Stevenson as a good pass catching running back right should be a lot of checkdowns a lot of PPR points but the issue is that we don't know how this backfield is going to shake out and if Antonio Gibson has any share of the third down longdistance snaps if he has any share of the two miniatur stuff then all of a sudden that gets murky and there's a split there so I just didn't want to get too ahead of myself until we saw what the split looks like but this is a spot where if he was going to rack up like six catches in a game and get to like you know 15 PPR points because of that this would be the game script for it at rb24 ra Andre then at rb25 we have zamir white on the road versus the Chargers not a great environment they're 25 Zamir White @ LAC projected for the 29th most points in the NFL they are three-point underdogs on the road but according to DraftKings in a lot of these Vegas sports books zamir white his rushing and receiving yard total is at like 70 plus and he actually has better odds to score a touchdown than a guy like James Conor he's actually when you look at the projections he's really not that far off of James Connor by a lot of these books we know he's going to get volume in this offense we'll see how much of it but for now if you drafted jir white you should play him uh then we have javante Williams here he is going to be on the 26 Javonte Williams @ SEA road versus the Seahawks five and a half Point Underdog the Seahawks allowed the third most fantasy points to opposing running backs last year but again we don't know if that's going to stick they did bring in Mike McDonald or McDonald from the Ravens he should be a much better Coach there to sort of scheme up the defense we'll see how that goes but we do know that Shawn pyton is going to get a lot of targets fed to his running backs and if javante has the lead back role plus a bunch of the passing down reps then we're looking at a guy that could definitely get four to five catches be the lead back on a goal line situation and be a fine fringy rb2 this week then we have Deon single ter again in that 27 Devin Singletary Vs MIN game that I really like with Aaron Jones he's the rb27 for me this week and it should be again a weird environment where I do think that this game could shoot out it has one of the lower over under this week but with dble with Kevin oconnell with the chaotic QB play I think that there could just be some weird stuff that happens in this game and Devin singer is going to have like a 70% plus snap share he's going to play in All Phases and if the Giants get down early to Minnesota he'll get some PPR upside if they get a goal line chance he could get a touchdown there single ter should get volume he should get goal line Looks he should get reception so in this game that could be uptempo and surprise people in terms of scoring I think sing is actually a nice play here then we have our two fill in zero RB type of guys at rb28 you have Jerome Ford the Browns are projected at home 28 Jerome Ford Vs DAL versus the Dallas Cowboys for the 18th most points this week it is a tough defense in Dallas but he is a really strong play to just get 15 touches in a touchdown so Drome Ford I think if you drafted him you drafted these guys to start them early so throw them in your lineup same thing with chuba Hub that's 29 Chuba Hubbard @ NO why I keep saying these guys uh but chuba Hub the same thing RV 29 this week at New Orleans four and a half Point Underdog so hbert should be the passing down back he should get the reception benefits and I will say too his projections are pretty crazy he is projected for 70 plus receiving and rushing yards on DraftKings and his touchdown prop is actually higher than guys like uh James Connor higher than Aaron Jones like they have him really pumped up there now I didn't want to get over my skis I don't think that you want to draft truba hubard and then throw him in your RB spot over guys you drafted higher and guys that you felt strongly about so I don't want to get too cute we did get some quotes that this is going to be a rotation with mil Sanders being involved more than we think we'll truly see uh I wouldn't get too too crazy until we see how this shakes out but Chupa hubard really nice Fringe rb2 and if you buildt your team the correct way where you punted rb2 you can throw him right in there and feel pretty good about it then at rb30 we have Zach Moss 30 Zack Moss Vs NE at home against New England we don't really have any kind of clue uh how this Bengals backfield will shake out here again we're I mean we're trying to just stick the pieces together here um but we do know they're nine and a half Point favorites at home versus New England and Zach Moss is the favorite to be the goal line back here and in a game script like this where they should score a lot of points are projected for the six most this week Zach Moss should be a nice between the 20s grinder with some touchdown upside in this game then we have our rb3 tier which are like these guys are fine again in my more like zero RB hero RB builds you can certainly put these guys in your rb2 spot but guys that I would have you know we're talking rb31 now is Tony Pard now we don't know 31 Tony Pollard @ CHI what the split will look like between him and Tai Spears a lot of this is going to be like ambiguous backfield in terms of who's in this rb3 slot but four and a half Point dogs on the road to Chicago my key concern is that in a game strip where they underdogs that's actually going to be Tai Spears as the uh third down back and two- minute drill back where Tony par is more of your between the tackles grinder but they could certainly do something where they rotate drives and then all of a sudden they're both eating into those kinds of snaps so lots of uncertainty we'll see where it goes the Bears defense shouldn't be all that great in terms of stopping the Run uh there should be a lot of plays here but they are going to be going coming from behind probably throwing the ball a lot versus the Bears then at RB 32 we have Chase brown right in that same game as 32 Chase Brown Vs NE Zach Moss we don't know how this going to shake out but we do know that the Bengals are projected for the six most points this week this is about as low as you can put Chase Brown then we have Austin Eckler uh shockingly here but at rb33 I don't think that you could do 33 Austin Ekeler @ TB terrible with Austin ekler in your rb2 spot they are three and a half Point underdogs in Tampa Bay we know that if they get down we're going to see Cliff Kingsbury run a lot of plays they're not going to run the ball a ton and this means like there should be a lot of PPR checkdowns for Alon ekler he also has better touchdown odds than Brian Robinson we'll see if that holds over an entire season but if he is going to get a bunch of receptions then also project better to score touchdowns than Brian Robinson to me I'll put him at rb33 and then I'll also put Brian Robinson right next to him at RB 34 he is fine if you 34 Brian Robinson @ TB drafted him it was a conviction play on him being better than Eckler and being the lead running back so he should be good here again just not a great matchup and the Bucs do have v as well in the defensive line so we'll see how that goes in terms of rushing between the tackles but Brian Robinson RB 3 this week and then at RB 35 we have Jaylen 35 Jaylen Warren @ ATL Warren he's a tough start for me uh again the hamstring stuff his he also has no projections on DraftKings FanDuel whatever like he does not have rushing or receiving lines right now there's a lot of uncertainty with him and I think that there is some downset that you start him and then he gives you like a zero or he gives you like four points so I would shy away for now you drafted Jaylen Warren to come on you know midseason maybe carve out a roll between him and Naji Harris and be this receiving down back I would just wait and see how it works first before I throw Jaylen Warren in the lineup but if you have to there's certainly a way here where he's going to be on the road in Atlanta as an underdog and if the Steelers have to come from behind and Jaylen warr's a third down back and not Naji Harris and he can certainly get you know four to five catches and gets like 10 PPR points at minimum if he's in that role but I would be skeptical betting on that in week one now as always if you want my complete rankings I will have an updated set on the patreon check out patreon.com Ron Stewart you can find the link in the description the comment section I was going to say something else but you can just find that in the description in the comment section down below pinned at the top and I have my weekly rankings on there every single week I have my rest of season rankings on there every single week so you can make trades I have my weekly waiver wire wire article as well so you can go out there and get the correct Fab recommendations for every single player all of that is there but if you can't support there just leave a like subscribe and I will see y all in the next one [Music] DSes like this fr