Welcome back RotoBallers. In case you've been living under a rock, here at RotoBaller we have been putting out tons of great fantasy football rankings & analysis throughout the entire preseason. Over the course of this week, we've been releasing our updated tiered fantasy football rankings. Grouping positions into draft tiers is a great strategy to prepare, and helps you to easily find players that should return similar fantasy football value.

Today we continue with our tiered running back standard rankings for 2015. You can also find our tiered running back PPR rankings, if that's your league format. These RotoBaller staff consensus rankings average the ranks of our top dogs, and chunk the players out into color-coded tiers so you can easily identify players to target during your drafts. Let's get to it.

Editor’s Note: RotoBaller's NFL Premium Subscriptions are your secret weapon. Sign up now and get access to our in-house developed tools including the DFS matchups tool, lineup sleepers/streamers tool, live expert Q&A chats, DFS lineups picks newsletter, ADP draft sleepers tool & much more. 

 

Tiered Standard Running Back Rankings - 2015 Fantasy Football

RotoBaller Rank	Rankings Tiers	Player Name (Team/BYE Week)	AVERAGE DRAFT POSITION BY PROVIDER
			Yahoo	ESPN	CBS	AVG
1	1	Eddie Lacy GB/7	4	3	3	3.3
2	1	Jamaal Charles KC/9	1	4	1	2
3	1	Le'Veon Bell PIT/11	5	2	4	3.7
4	1	Adrian Peterson MIN/5	2	1	2	1.7
5	2	Marshawn Lynch SEA/9	3	5	5	4.3
6	2	DeMarco Murray PHI/8	11	7	10	9.3
7	2	Matt Forte CHI/7	15	9	8	10.7
8	2	C.J. Anderson DEN/7	18	8	9	11.7
9	2	Jeremy Hill CIN/7	13	18	17	16
10	2	LeSean McCoy BUF/8	20	15	19	18
11	3	Justin Forsett BAL/9	24	32	22	26
12	3	Lamar Miller MIA/5	40	28	24	30.7
13	3	Frank Gore IND/10	29	38	33	33.3
14	3	Mark Ingram NO/11	38	26	34	32.7
15	3	Alfred Morris WAS/8	43	31	37	37
16	4	Jonathan Stewart CAR/5	76	42	65	61
17	4	Carlos Hyde SF/10	49	36	43	42.7
18	4	Melvin Gordon SD/10	31	39	26	32
19	4	Latavius Murray OAK/6	42	49	35	42
20	4	Joseph Randle DAL/6	55	57	49	53.7
21	4	Andre Ellington ARI/9	56	53	40	49.7
22	4	T.J. Yeldon JAC/8	81	66	56	67.7
23	4	C.J. Spiller NO/11	84	71	82	79
24	4	Isaiah Crowell CLE/11	130	83	99	104
25	4	LeGarrette Blount NE/4	91	75	87	84.3
26	4	Ameer Abdullah DET/9	77	79	58	71.3
27	4	Todd Gurley STL/6	69	47	61	59
28	4	Christopher Ivory NYJ/5	96	67	72	78.3
29	4	Shane Vereen NYG/11	142	99	110	117
30	5	Rashad Jennings NYG/11	102	72	50	74.7
31	5	Arian Foster HOU/9	61	54	57	57.3
32	5	Doug Martin TB/6	95	74	71	80
33	5	Giovani Bernard CIN/7	107	68	77	84
34	5	Devonta Freeman ATL/10	166	108	79	117.7
35	5	Bishop Sankey TEN/4	172	113	125	136.7
36	5	Joique Bell DET/9	108	56	54	72.7
37	5	Tevin Coleman ATL/10	109	105	83	99
38	5	Tre Mason STL/6	149	101	89	113
39	5	Reggie Bush SF/10	128	170	130	142.7
40	5	Fred Jackson FA
41	5	Ryan Mathews PHI/8	136	86	93	105
42	5	Denard Robinson JAC/8		183	216	199.5
43	5	Duke Johnson CLE/11	177	121	141	146.3
44	5	Danny Woodhead SD/10	157	112	145	138
45	6	Chris Polk HOU/9
46	6	Roy Helu OAK/6		197	193	195
47	6	Darren McFadden DAL/6	120	102	108	110
48	6	Alfred Blue HOU/9	129	111	94	111.3
49	6	Darren Sproles PHI/8	123	140	143	135.3
50	6	Andre Williams NYG/11	155	135	194	161.3
51	6	Charles Sims TB/6	175	144	128	149
52	6	David Cobb TEN/4	173	152	132	152.3
53	6	Terrance West CLE/11
54	6	Lance Dunbar DAL/6			250	250
55	6	David Johnson ARI/9		175	165	170
56	6	Jay Ajayi MIA/5			219	219
57	6	Matt Jones WAS/8			189	189
58	6	Knile Davis KC/9	183	151	133	155.7
59	7	Ronnie Hillman DEN/7	156	155	164	158.3
60	7	Cameron Artis-Payne CAR/5
61	7	Jonas Gray NE/4	154	176	118	149.3
62	7	DeAngelo Williams PIT/11	145	145	159	149.7
63	7	Theo Riddick DET/9			211	211
64	7	James Starks GB/7			205	205
65	7	Jerick McKinnon MIN/5		194	223	208.5
66	7	Stevan Ridley NYJ/5
67	7	Lorenzo Taliaferro BAL/9		195	247	221
68	7	Montee Ball DEN/7	138		177	157.5
69	7	Damien Williams MIA/5			248	248
70	7	Javorius Allen BAL/9
71	7	Daniel Herron IND/10		196	210	203
72	7	James White NE/4
73	7	Branden Oliver SD/10			230	230
74	7	Trent Richardson FA

 
 

Running Back (RB) Rankings Analysis

By Edward Gorelik (@EdwardGorelik)

I'm much lower than most analysts on the prospects of Le'Veon Bell this year. Although I recognize the talent, the 2 game suspension makes it hard to take him above the other elite running backs who don't have that kind of issue.

Not to mention, the Steelers recently lost Maurice Pouncey for at least the first few weeks of the season (and potentially longer, his injury is one that has in the past kept centers out for an entire year). The Center has been the most important facet of run game success. - in Bell's rookie year, Pouncey was also gone for the season and Bell averaged just 3.5 YPC.

Although obviously the mixture of being a rookie and other offensive woes hurt, losing one of the top run blockers on your team is not beneficial for your production. Mixed with two games that will definitely be missed, his ranking falls - even if he still has the chance to finish in the top 5.

Too many people have lost faith in DeMarco Murray's ability to put up numbers with the Eagles offense and to that, I ask why? The Eagles ran the ball 474 times last season, only 34 times less than the Cowboys (508). That's a lot of running, and even getting just 50% of those would result in 237 carries - or in other words the 10th most carries in the league last year. It's far from a downfall, and that's only if it's a strict 50%, since we all now it's more likely to err onto 60+. Even before last year, Murray had an RB6 season in 2013 on only 217 carries, and it's not like the Eagles offense scores less than the Cowboys (last season outscored them by 7 points on the season).

Some people have made the argument on the post-350 carry season. Well here are my thoughts on that. 55 RBs have had 350+ carry seasons and 35 have beat 1000/5 while 26 have beaten 1200/8. That doesn't even take into account how many of those players had 300+ carry years before that point or years with 349, 348, etc. carries. The myth is just a myth.

Justin Forsett is amongst my favorites of this year. Sitting behind one of the best offensive lines in the league under coordinator Marc Trestman is a recipe for high volume. Trestman's RBs (even before Matt Forte) regularly caught over 60 passes a year, with at least two players eclipsing 80. Forsett is starting on a team that is mostly trotting out first time starters (Kamar Aiken, Breshad Perriman, Maxx Williams, Crockett Gilmore), so might see even more volume as familiarity gives him an edge.

Some might point to Forsett's past, but it's hard to fault a player for being in the wrong place at the wrong time as he sat behind Marshawn Lynch, Maurice-Jones Drew, and Arian Foster all in their primes. In fact, Forsett's only two prior seasons with at least 100 carries both had him average over 4.8 YPC, so this is something that was within him all along. He comes a lot cheaper than my ranking.

The only reason for C.J. Anderson's diminished ranking is because there are still no concrete words about who is starting at the time of this writing. As much as I want to believe it is Anderson, I and most others have no way of saying that with 100% certainty. The #1 RB in Denver will be, without a doubt, one of the best performers this year. But without job security there's no reason to take that risk over some of the other potential greats.

Isaiah Crowell is a whole 10 spots higher in my ranking than his Expert Consensus rank. At the time of this writing, the entire Cleveland RB squad is injured minus Crowell. All of them sit behind a top 5 run blocking offensive line, and of them all Crowell is the one that the Browns coaches have said is the best at running on the ground (and many analysts would agree with that sentiment).

While Duke Johnson will take touches from Crowell eventually, they've already relegated him into more of a Giovani Bernard role by word of mouth, so this is likely to be a split backfield. But Crowell still stands to benefit greatly from the protection ahead of him, and especially with the early season work he'll get.

Devonta Freeman is a better fit for the zone scheme that Kyle Shanahan runs than Tevin Coleman, and that's the entire reason why he's ranked so much higher. Regardless of who's starting Week 1, I have trouble seeing a way that Freeman fails to become the lead in this backfield - especially since he's the only one of the two with passing game value. Zone scheme coaches like Shanahan are also notoriously adamant about the way their players fit within the scheme, and will rarely color outside of the lines. He's a potential 3-down starter who at worst will be relegated to change of pace with some catching.

Bishop Sankey isn't a flashy or even good name, but Ken Whisenhunt's history of keeping rookie players on the bench works to Sankey's favor. Sankey is almost a guaranteed Week 1 starter, and if he does play well  he has the chance to start all season long. At his worst, just like Freeman, he is the best passing down option on this team and becomes the second fiddle. For a player regularly falling into the 9th round that's a low impact price.

The last time Danny Woodhead was healthy, he finished the season as RB13 in PPR and RB19 in standard. He's a huge potential boom this year with the Chargers offense looking far better than it did in his 2013 year. Even with Melvin Gordon there, the Chargers ran the ball 470+ times in Woodhead's best year, and the moves to gain offensive lineman and trade up for Melvin Gordon suggest they want to get back to that number. Gordon's certainly not taking all those carries for himself, so it's safe to say that Woodhead will see some touches too in addition to taking over the main role in the passing game where Gordon isn't quite ready to take over.

This is the last time I'll write about Matt Jones, I promise - but the Redskins love Matt Jones. They've already talked about making him share carries with Alfred Morris as early as Week 1, and made him the guaranteed 3rd down back. This team drafted Jones with the intention of using him, and potentially replacing Morris with him (which is why Morris is also ranked so low on my rankings). He's a huge potential value as he comes amongst the cheapest in the draft.

The Redskins have not been afraid to take Morris off the field entirely when they are behind in games, and looking at their roster and schedule it should be obvious that they will see themselves behind often this year. That'll bring the pass catching back Matt Jones on the field quite often, giving him even more opportunities to show up Morris. He's a huge potential value as he comes amongst the cheapest in the draft.

 

NFL & Fantasy Football Chat Room

 

Check out all of RotoBaller's fantasy football rankings. Staff rankings are updated regularly for all positions and include standard formats, PPR scoring, tiered rankings and dynasty leagues.