2015 Fantasy Football Running Back Rankings (Standard Leagues)

Below are RotoBaller’s 2015 fantasy football running back rankings for standard (non-PPR) leagues. These staff consensus rankings take the average ranks of three RotoBallers: Edward Gorelik (@edwardgorelik), Zach Wilkens (@LopsidedTrades) and Adam Sabol, and they also covered PPR league running back rankings in part two of this rankings list.

Be sure to also check out our 2015 fantasy football ranking dashboard which includes tiered positional ranks, dynasty/keeper league rankings, NFL rookie rankings, and lots more great rankings analysis.

Our awesome team of NFL contributors has been churning out lots of great content to help you dominate, and you can find it all in one place. Over the next few weeks, our best and brightest will continue to bring you tons of awesome draft rankings analysis to help you prepare for your fantasy football drafts, so stay tuned. Now let’s get to it.

Dynasty tiered rankings: Quarterbacks, Running Backs (Tier 1), Running Backs (Tier 2), Running Backs (Tiers 3, 4), Running Backs (Tiers 5, 6), Wide Receivers (Tier 1), Wide Receivers (Tier 2), Wide Receivers (Tiers 3, 4), Wide Receivers (Tiers 5, 6), Wide Receivers (Tiers 7, 8), Tight Ends (Tiers 1, 2), Tight Ends (Tiers 3, 4), Top 200 (PPR), Top 200 (Standard), Rookie Rankings (1-12), Rookie Rankings (13-18)

Fantasy Football Running Back Rankings

Standard League Scoring (Top 75)

Running Back (RB) Rankings Analysis

By Zach Wilkens (@LopsidedTrades)

I am notably high on DeMarco Murray at RB4. I’ve made my case on him here. I’m one of just 4 experts that has Murray ahead of Adrian Peterson who is my RB5.

I don’t hate Peterson but at age 30 he will have to defy age to finish as the RB1. I get that he is a generational talent but the last RB age 30+ to finish as the RB1 was Priest Holmes and he had far fewer career carries at that point in his career. Peterson should be good just not the best.

Frank Gore is another guy I am low on at RB18. I am very comfortable getting him on my team but I see him as a high floor low ceiling guy. Just three RBs age 32+ have exceeded 1000 rushing yards since 2000 and they were all exactly 32. Gore has been awesome for about a decade but his time is running out.

I’m high on Tevin Coleman at RB24 and low on Devonta Freeman at RB40. I’ve taken a strong stance on the Falcons RB battle. I believe Coleman is the superior back and will win the starting job with ease. If I’m wrong I can always adjust if it becomes clear that it’s a committee / Freeman will be the starter, but I’d rather take a strong stance on Coleman at this point.

In Detroit I am liking Ameer Abdullah more and more and while I don’t feel confident about a starter there just yet, I like Abdullah enough to be low on Joique Bell at RB31. There is a very real chance Abdullah fills more than just the Reggie Bush role, which seems to be the general thinking right now.

By Edward Gorelik (@EdwardGorelik)

Justin Forsett is going to receive much larger article explaining his top 10 ranking in my list, but to keep it short, Forsett plays behind a good offensive line, is one of the few returning starters for the skill positions on a team that has multiple threats across the field (Steve Smith, Breshad Perriman, Maxx Williams), and is able to catch out of the backfield. That last bit is the most important, as Marc Trestman running backs have regularly caught over 60 balls in a season, and have twice caught over 90. Forsett's looking like a high floor back with the potential to have over 2000 total yards receiving and rushing.

I'm way low on Alfred Morris this year and that begins with looking at the offense. With the passing game just barely alive, Morris finished with career lows in YPC and total yards. The entire coaching staff is no longer connected to Morris the way that Mike Shanahan was and that's a concerning thought considering they were the ones that managed the scheme that made him thrive. With a new rookie Matt Jones in the mix ready to take passing downs away from Morris again (and amongst my sleepers this year), he's already looking to be shorted the 3-down work. On top of that, the Redskins defense is amongst the worst in the league and going to face the high power offenses in the NFC West, NFC South, and the up and coming AFC East. That's a lot of times where the Redskins are going to be behind and they're likely to ask for more of the passing back than the ground one.

I'm highest about Ameer Abdullah amongst the RotoBaller staff and there's good reason for it. Abdullah is far more talented than any of his competition, and both of the players he's competing with are far too limited to deserve the field over him. On top of that, the only one who can take carries from Abdullah is Joique Bell, who's missed all of OTAs and is currently looking like a lock to miss training camp and potentially some of preseason. All this has given Abdullah more time with the first team and is going to result in him getting more work during the regular season. Don't be surprised if Abdullah becomes the full time starter by the end of the year.

Finally, the Falcon's running backs are where me and the other rankers are most different. Tevin Coleman is supremely gifted as an athlete but simply does not fit the Kyle Shanahan zone scheme at all. So far he's been playing with the second team in training camp and in OTAs, while Devonta Freeman has had the main role of taking up all the first team carries and is likely to continue that. Why? Because he is an actual fit for the zone scheme. Despite that, Freeman's still likely to lose some work to Coleman as he will see some power/gap runs mixed in to take advantage of his severe athleticism, but unless he develops a zone running mentality within the next month or Kyle Shanahan decides to abandon the scheme that's brought him so much success (both very unlikely), Devonta Freeman is currently the man for the Falcons RB job.

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