Fantasy Football Week 2 Rankings: Top 40 Running Backs

Potential injuries currently have these rankings in flux, but let’s take a look at how things currently stand for Week 2.

We will update them later in the week:

1. Chris Johnson - Tennessee Titans (vs. Pittsburgh)
2. Adrian Peterson - Minnesota Vikings (vs. Miami)
3. Steven Jackson - St. Louis Rams (at Oakland)
4. Maurice Jones-Drew - Jacksonville Jaguars (at San Diego)
5. Ray Rice - Baltimore Ravens (at Cincinnati)
6. Frank Gore - San Francisco 49ers (vs. New Orleans)
7. LeSean McCoy - Philadelphia Eagles (at Detroit)
8. Pierre Thomas - New Orleans Saints (at San Francisco)
9. Michael Turner - Atlanta Falcons (vs. Arizona)
10. Rashard Mendenhall - Pittsburgh Steelers (at Tennessee)
11. Arian Foster - Houston Texans (at Washington)
12. DeAngelo Williams - Carolina Panthers (vs. Tampa Bay)
13. Jamaal Charles - Kansas City Chiefs (at Cleveland)
14. Ryan Mathews - San Diego Chargers (vs. Jacksonville)
15. Knowshon Moreno - Denver Broncos (vs. Seattle)
16. Shonn Greene - New York Jets (vs. New England)
17. Ahmad Bradshaw - New York Giants (at Indianapolis)
18. Cedric Benson - Chicago Bears (vs. Baltimore)
19. Ronnie Brown - Miami Dolphins (at Minnesota)
20. Jonathan Stewart - Carolina Panthers (vs. Tampa Bay)
21. Matt Forte - Chicago Bears (at Dallas)
22. Darren McFadden - Oakland Raiders (vs. St. Louis)
23. Jerome Harrison - Cleveland Browns (vs. Kansas City)
24. Tim Hightower - Arizona Cardinals (at Atlanta)
25. Jahvid Best - Detroit Lions (vs. Philadelphia)
26. Carnell Williams - Tampa Bay Buccaneers (at Carolina)
27. Fred Taylor - New England Patriots (at New York Jets)
28. Brandon Jackson - Green Bay Packers (vs. Buffalo)
29. Clinton Portis - Washington Redskins (vs. Houston)
30. Felix Jones - Dallas Cowboys (vs. Chicago)
31. C.J. Spiller - Buffalo Bills (at Green Bay)
32. Ryan Grant - Green Bay Packers (vs. Buffalo)
33. Reggie Bush - New Orleans Saints (at San Francisco)
34. Joseph Addai - Indianapolis Colts (vs. New York Giants)
35. Justin Forsett - Seattle Seahawks (at Denver)
36. Thomas Jones - Kansas City Chiefs (at Cleveland)
37. Ricky Williams - Miami Dolphins (at Minnesota)
38. Brandon Jacobs - New York Giants (at Indianapolis)
39. Marion Barber - Dallas Cowboys (vs. Chicago)
40. Beanie Wells - Arizona Cardinals (at Atlanta)

Thoughts:

• Those who had not yet begun to believe in Arian Foster are now looking for room on the bandwagon. Clearly, it’s impossible to expect him to repeat his torching of the Colts (231 rushing yards, 3 TD). Still, he is quickly emerging as one of the better options in the league.
• Speaking of torching the Colts, the Giants running game looked decent in Week 1 (Bradshaw - 76 yards, 1 TD; Jacobs - 44 yards) and now get to go head-to-head with the Colts. I wouldn’t expect them to come close to Foster’s numbers, but seeing Bradshaw approach 100 yards would not be shocking.
• The Buccaneers allowed over 100 yards in limited carries to the Cleveland Browns in Week 1. Don’t be concerned for the down game the Panthers showed, except for the fact that Matt Moore looked terrible in the process. If defenses can key on the run, it’s going to be tough for DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart, but don’t downgrade them quite yet.
• Before you get too excited over the big numbers for Matt Forte in Week 1, the majority of it came in the passing game. He actually only rushed for 50 yards and had 151 receiving yards and 2 TD. Can we really expect him to duplicate that type of success? It’s hard to imagine, and until he shows more in the running game (he averaged less then three yards per carry), he’s a borderline RB2.
• Will the Colts ever turn more towards the run? Addai only got 10 carries in Week 1, and until they prove that they will feed him the ball, he’s a tough play in all formats.
• It was a tough first week for Michael Turner, rushing for just 42 yards, but it is just one game. Don’t get too worked up quite yet.
• Jamaal Charles is a tough player to rank definitively, as we still haven’t seen how the Chiefs will split things up with Thomas Jones. Still, with Charles’ talent, it’s tough to see him not putting up big numbers against the Browns.
• So much for Correll Buckhalter sharing carries with Knowshon Moreno, huh? Moreno had 15 carries for 60 yards and a touchdown in Week 1, while Buckhalter had just 6 carries for 15 yards. That came despite injury concerns for Moreno, as well. Moreno should be a solid RB2 in all formats.
• Wasn’t C.J. Spiller supposed to be the main back in Buffalo? He had seven carries, with Fred Jackson getting four and Marshawn Lynch getting three. At this point, you probably want to avoid this situation all together until it plays itself out.
• Darren McFadden looked good (18 carries for 95 yards, as well as 6 receptions for 55 yards and 1 TD), faces the St. Louis Rams and injury concerns for Michael Bush continue. At this point, you can consider him a borderline RB2 for Week 2. If Bush does play, he’ll also come in on these rankings, but time will tell.
• Beanie Wells’ injury keeps him as a low-end option, at best. Of course, if the news changes later in the week, things will change dramatically. Keep a close eye on this and we’ll have an update if necessary.
• Ryan Grant’s injury could have a major impact on things, as his sprained ankle could easily limit his role in Week 2. In fact, there’s a very good chance that he doesn’t play. For now, he’s not a recommended option in any format, though that could change as the week progresses. We’ll update these rankings later in the week, but plan to have him on your bench at this point.
• Felix Jones (39 yards) and Marion Barber (38 yards) each had just eight carries in Week 1. I still believe Jones is the better option (he added 26 yards receiver vs. 1 yard for Barber), but neither is more then a RB3 unless they are going to get more opportunities.

Make sure to check out the rest of our Week 2 Rankings:

• Top 25 Quarterbacks
• Top 60 Wide Receivers
• Top 20 Tight Ends 
• Top 15 Kickers (coming soon)
• Top 15 Defenses (coming soon) 

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