RADIO
Our updated Week 1 fantasy football running back rankings for 2021. Nick Mariano was ranked 9th and 11th overall out of 130 experts, follow his RB ranks.
Welcome to Week 1 RotoBallers. Below are our updated consensus Week 1 running back rankings for fantasy football, including some running notes on relevant injuries, player news and rankings updates:
- Saquon Barkley Medically Cleared, Set To Return Week 1
- Austin Ekeler Expected To Play In Week 1
- Tests Confirm Torn ACL For Gus Edwards
- Le'Veon Bell Could Be Active In Week 1
- Latavius Murray Signs One-Year Deal With Baltimore
- Saquon Barkley Looks “Promising” Ahead Of Week 1
- Austin Ekeler Back At Practice
- Devonta Freeman Signs With Ravens Practice Squad
- Gus Edwards Feared To Have Suffered A Torn ACL
- Saquon Barkley Limited Wednesday
- Clyde Edwards-Helaire 100 Percent Healthy And Ready To Go
- Darrell Henderson Fully Recovered From Thumb Injury
- Rhamondre Stevenson Not On The Injury Report
- Rashaad Penny Dealing With Calf Injury
- Austin Ekeler Misses Practice Wednesday
- Alexander Mattison Practices In Full
- Rhamondre Stevenson Dealing With Dislocated Thumb
These rankings are a consensus from four of our lead fantasy football columnists - Nick Mariano, Pierre Camus, Brandon Murchison and Scott Engel - who have all analyzed the NFL matchups and game slates for Week 1.
And in case you weren't aware, our very own Nick Mariano was ranked #11 overall in 2018 out of ~120 industry experts, and was ranked #9 overall the year before. So be sure to follow his rankings every week!
Be sure to check all of our fantasy football rankings for 2025:- 2025 fantasy football rankings
- Running back (RB) fantasy football rankings
- Wide receiver (WR) fantasy football rankings
- Tight end (TE) fantasy football rankings
- Quarterback (QB) fantasy football rankings
- Defense (D/ST) fantasy football rankings
- NFL rookie fantasy football rankings
- Best ball fantasy football rankings
- Superflex fantasy football rankings
- Dynasty fantasy football rankings
Week 1 Fantasy Football Running Back Rankings
You can also see our full Week 1 ranks for PPR, Half-PPR and Standard scoring.
Last updated on Sunday 9/12 at 10:00 am ET:
| RB Rank | Player Name | Pos | Overall Rank |
| 1 | Christian McCaffrey | RB | 1 |
| 2 | Dalvin Cook | RB | 2 |
| 3 | Alvin Kamara | RB | 3 |
| 4 | Derrick Henry | RB | 4 |
| 5 | Aaron Jones | RB | 11 |
| 6 | Jonathan Taylor | RB | 12 |
| 7 | Antonio Gibson | RB | 13 |
| 8 | Najee Harris | RB | 14 |
| 9 | Joe Mixon | RB | 15 |
| 10 | James Robinson | RB | 18 |
| 11 | Nick Chubb | RB | 19 |
| 12 | Ezekiel Elliott | RB | 20 |
| 13 | Austin Ekeler | RB | 21 |
| 14 | Clyde Edwards-Helaire | RB | 24 |
| 15 | Saquon Barkley | RB | 26 |
| 16 | Chris Carson | RB | 29 |
| 17 | Mike Davis | RB | 30 |
| 18 | Raheem Mostert | RB | 32 |
| 19 | Miles Sanders | RB | 37 |
| 20 | Damien Harris | RB | 44 |
| 21 | David Montgomery | RB | 48 |
| 22 | Kareem Hunt | RB | 50 |
| 23 | Darrell Henderson | RB | 53 |
| 24 | Myles Gaskin | RB | 55 |
| 25 | Josh Jacobs | RB | 57 |
| 26 | D'Andre Swift | RB | 61 |
| 27 | Ronald Jones II | RB | 63 |
| 28 | Chase Edmonds | RB | 67 |
| 29 | Javonte Williams | RB | 78 |
| 30 | Ty'Son Williams | RB | 79 |
| 31 | Melvin Gordon III | RB | 83 |
| 32 | Trey Sermon | RB | 93 |
| 33 | James Conner | RB | 98 |
| 34 | Jamaal Williams | RB | 103 |
| 35 | Kenyan Drake | RB | 108 |
| 36 | Nyheim Hines | RB | 109 |
| 37 | Zack Moss | RB | 114 |
| 38 | Leonard Fournette | RB | 115 |
| 39 | David Johnson | RB | 118 |
| 40 | J.D. McKissic | RB | 122 |
| 41 | James White | RB | 127 |
| 42 | Sony Michel | RB | 130 |
| 43 | Tevin Coleman | RB | 133 |
| 44 | AJ Dillon | RB | 135 |
| 45 | Devin Singletary | RB | 136 |
| 46 | Michael Carter | RB | 138 |
| 47 | Ty Johnson | RB | 140 |
| 48 | Carlos Hyde | RB | 141 |
| 49 | Tony Pollard | RB | 142 |
| 50 | Giovani Bernard | RB | 145 |
| 51 | Tony Jones Jr. | RB | 148 |
| 52 | Phillip Lindsay | RB | 152 |
| 53 | Mark Ingram II | RB | 158 |
| 54 | Malcolm Brown | RB | 159 |
| 55 | Kenneth Gainwell | RB | 160 |
| 56 | Wayne Gallman Jr. | RB | 174 |
| 57 | Alexander Mattison | RB | 181 |
| 58 | Damien Williams | RB | 183 |
| 59 | Rashaad Penny | RB | 186 |
| 60 | Darrel Williams | RB | 187 |
| 61 | Boston Scott | RB | 189 |
| 62 | Devontae Booker | RB | 195 |
| 63 | Salvon Ahmed | RB | 210 |
| 64 | Marlon Mack | RB | 211 |
| 65 | Mike Strachan | RB | 213 |
| 66 | Justin Jackson | RB | 214 |
| 67 | Jaret Patterson | RB | 216 |
| 68 | Jerick McKinnon | RB | 220 |
| 69 | Rhamondre Stevenson | RB | 221 |
| 70 | Alex Collins | RB | 224 |
| 71 | Chuba Hubbard | RB | 225 |
| 72 | Larry Rountree III | RB | 230 |
| 73 | Samaje Perine | RB | 236 |
| 74 | Le'Veon Bell | RB | 239 |
| 75 | Latavius Murray | RB | 244 |
| 76 | Joshua Kelley | RB | 247 |
| 77 | Benny Snell Jr. | RB | 248 |
| 78 | Duke Johnson Jr. | RB | 250 |
| 79 | Jeremy McNichols | RB | 251 |
| 80 | Jordan Howard | RB | 253 |
| 81 | DeeJay Dallas | RB | 255 |
| 82 | Chris Evans | RB | 256 |
| 83 | La'Mical Perine | RB | 258 |
| 84 | Eno Benjamin | RB | 262 |
| 85 | Matt Breida | RB | 265 |
| 86 | J.J. Taylor | RB | 267 |
| 87 | Kalen Ballage | RB | 268 |
| 88 | Jake Funk | RB | 271 |
| 89 | Elijah Mitchell | RB | 273 |
| 90 | Rex Burkhead | RB | 274 |
| 91 | Kylin Hill | RB | 275 |
| 92 | Dare Ogunbowale | RB | 277 |
| 93 | Khalil Herbert | RB | 283 |
| 94 | Trayveon Williams | RB | 286 |
| 95 | Travis Homer | RB | 287 |
| 96 | Jordan Wilkins | RB | 288 |
| 97 | Ke'Shawn Vaughn | RB | 289 |
| 98 | Kyle Juszczyk | RB | 290 |
| 99 | Devine Ozigbo | RB | 291 |
| 100 | JaMycal Hasty | RB | 294 |
| 101 | Ty Montgomery | RB | 296 |
| 102 | C.J. Ham | RB | 300 |
| 103 | Jermar Jefferson | RB | 307 |
| 104 | Corey Clement | RB | 310 |
| 105 | Royce Freeman | RB | 313 |
| 106 | Patrick Ricard | RB | 316 |
| 107 | Trey Ragas | RB | 317 |
| 108 | Alec Ingold | RB | 321 |
| 109 | D'Ernest Johnson | RB | 324 |
Download Our Free News & Alerts Mobile App
Like what you see? Download our updated fantasy football app for iPhone and Android with 24x7 player news, injury alerts, rankings, starts/sits & more. All free!
More Weekly Lineup Prep
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.
