2018 Bloggin Hood Fantasy Football Preview – RB Preview, Tiers and Rankings

The 2018 Bloggin Hood Positional Previews is our second series of the NFL preseason and sets itself up like a Summer Blockbuster. It features overpaid celebrities, gaping logic holes and little to no satisfactory conclusions. If you expected more than a fluff piece that rehashes on the team previews, you’ve clearly come to the wrong blog.

After reviewing all 32 rosters, and yes, we are counting the Bills as a roster, this merges all the opinions and research into 4 compact lists of players, tiered off from where I see a moderate to severe talent and opportunity gap. Ultimately, this series will end with a complete set of ranks, based on the top 200 or so players. Defenses and kickers are excluded from this exercise. I can barely review and judge a running back… Do you really want me to predict defensive rankings based in interior lineman play? So no, we’ll be sticking with the positions featured in fantasy football, thank you very much.

I know everyone is clamoring for the RB rankings. And who wouldn’t? This is the glamorous position for fantasy. Certainly not in real life. Sure, the TDs and the attention is great and all, but imagine getting tackled by 1,500 pounds of man every time you touched the ball. It’s not what I’d call a good time, but I don’t know your life and what you’re into. While I wouldn’t want my children playing Running Back, I sure want a bunch of them in fantasy.

Because it was such an anticipated position, I was extremely tempted to start by pretending to discuss RB, then shift to Tight End. There would have been riots in the streets. It would have been hysterical. Unfortunately, I realized I hate talking and writing about Tight Ends, so this actually will be the running back preview. I know, I’m disappointed in my lack of trolling too. Ah well, maybe next season.

Back in the days before teams starting caring about things like player safety, concussions, and short careers, over half of the NFL teams employed a single RB who will handle 300+ touches. Backs weren’t as involved in the passing game, and running was more of a focal point league wide. In fantasy, the only option you had was to go RB-RB with your first two picks to keep pace. Going in another direction was fantasy death. Had I been blogging back then, I probably would have preached the value of positional scarcity and maybe suggested taking a top flight wide receiver since RB touches were far less volatile. Maybe I would be making a mint blogging too, but I digress.

Today, there’s only a handful of teams who give the majority of touches to one back. The workhorse RB role is nearly extinct. This is great for extending careers, but hurt the predictability of the fantasy game. The viability of WRs rose, although this was coupled with the mainstream appeal of rewarding receptions, and RB value took a hit overall. They were no longer a lock for your first two, or even three picks, and some players adopted strategies avoiding RBs for as long as possible.

Yet there is no question that RB is the most important position in all of fantasy. However, I don’t think anyone has ever really explained this, at least in the articles I read. There’s three main reasons I see it.

1). Consistency – Obviously, touches are a lot more sporadic than they used to be, however, most teams do give at least one back with somewhere in the range of 15-20 touches a game. They won’t be this involved every game, and some teams give top backs more work than this, but they are a part of every gameplan. While a hand off is not as valuable as a reception, it’s still a touch. This may surprise you, but players need the ball in their hands to score points. No player has ever led a fantasy team to victory by “being a great decoy” or “blocking a blitzing linebacker”.

While the top WRs are heavily involved most weeks, they can get shut down or disappoint pretty easily, and this includes your first round WRs. A running back can certainly have a bad game, but usually with a good number of touches, it’s difficult for a back to be a nonfactor (a disappointment sure, but not a non factor). It’s these touches that make backs so important.

2). Touchdowns – While playbooks have opened up for more spread offenses and pass attempts, many coaches get conservative around the goal line. It’s much easier for a running back to put up 8-10 TDs than it is for a receiver. Even the so called scat backs have an easier time scoring, because they run safe, easy to complete routes where they can make one move and score. WRs are certainly capable of double digit TDs, but it’s rarer. Even the top, elite WRs have fluctuating TDs totals while running backs tend to stay somewhat consistent, assuming they play on a decent offense.

3). Tradition – I do think some of it is just not bucking the trend. Points from a WR count just as much as points from a running back, and you have to start at least two of both. Some people have been slow to adapt to the chance, and honestly, when I’m deciding between a WR and RB and it’s close, the RB usually gets the tie breaker. Whether that’s part of tradition, being hard headed, or bias, I think in most situations, it’s the right play. You can never have too many running backs.

This season, it’s crucial to get a top RB in the first two rounds. It’ll be too difficult to win without going some combination of RB-RB, RB-WR, or WR-RB. Sure, I’m not saying you lose if you take two WRs to start the draft, or a WR and Gronk, but it’ll be a lot tougher. To me, there’s 13.5 RBs who have the potential to be RB1s (the 14^th depends on your scoring format).

Now, 13 or 14 RB1s sounds pretty great and it is more than we’ve had in the past year, but remember, fantasy is never that easy. A few of these guys will bust for a variety of reasons – injuries, poor line play, ineffectiveness, whatever. If you can avoid that minefield, you’ll be off to a great start. You might even be able to minimize this potential downward spiral with two of these players. Other than injury, it’s rare for a top RB to completely fall off the map. Sure, if you’re first round pick ends up 19^th at their position, it stinks, but that’s still an RB2. You can do worse.

The main reason grabbing an RB early is so essential is the next few tiers at the position. There’s plenty of interesting players – rookies, upside picks, veterans with a large time share, and a ton of players could be very good this season. But would you want any of them as your first RB? I don’t think so. While they’re interesting, they have warts. There’s no cream covering these warts up. Sure, you can get by with a stacked WR core and a stable of RB2s, but it is harder.  With 1, or maybe 2 RB1s, you can still land a top flight WR in the 3^rd round. The position is significantly deeper with sure(ish) players. So yeah, don’t leave the first two rounds without a top RB, unless you’re confident in the later round backs, or the receiver value is insane.

Ranking running backs, especially with the all specialization out there now, is difficult. I don’t know how other people do it, but this is, in order, how I usually evaluate backs.

Opportunity – Sounds obvious, but playing time and touches are the most important factor in a running back. This trumps talent – it doesn’t matter what we think of a player if the coaches love him. Being the main back on a team is what leads to fantasy success, and you want to draft people with that role established, or players who have an easy path to become the bell cow. Opportunity has a couple of subsets beyond carries too.

Pass catching role – I don’t think you can be a sure fire RB1 without being able to catch a lot of passes. In today’s NFL, 300 carries is a dream for almost every back. Instead, the elite players catch the ball in space and make plays. A catch almost always leads to more points than a carry, and more importantly, having this role keeps a back on the field in a lot of scoring situations, two minute drills, and garbage time. You can draft and play RBs that can’t catch (hello Jordan Howard) but their ceiling is typically RB2, with the exception of a huge TD total.

Goal Line Role – While this is a little less important to me because Touchdowns are unpredictable, the goal line role can be a huge boon to your team. The touchdown is the most valuable result of a play, and having a player with the potential to score double digits is huge. Typically, the goal line back will be a bruiser who can’t really catch, but that’s not always the case. The best backs have all three of these boxes checked, but having 2 or even one means the player will have some value.

Talent – It seems low, but it’s this low to serve as a reminder that opportunity matters more. Christine Michael, one of the hallmark players of this blog, and might explain while every article is very free, has all the talent in the world. But outside of a brief month, he never got a chance to carry the ball. Even after that decent month, Seattle was incredibly excited to cut him at the first chance they got. Taking a talented back with a clear path to opportunity is smart. Taking a supremely talented back in a log jam is not. Consider the situation first.

Team Expectations – I think this is an underrated concept, but it can actually help some backs. When a team is trailing, the running back take a backseat as play calling will shift to passing in an effort to catch up. Naturally, any bruising backs will lose value on bad teams, such as Isaiah Crowell the past few seasons. It doesn’t matter how much the coach wants to run – when you’re down by 17 in the second half, you’ll have to throw. The inside runner on any teams projected to be bad need to be downgraded a bit, though not too much as we don’t really know how good or bad teams will be.

However, keep the inverse in mind. Using the Browns as an example of losing because hey why not, Duke Johnson had a lot of value as the pass catcher. Since the team was down a lot, he received a bunch of opportunity. I wouldn’t rush to draft Duke this year, but you get the idea. For backs, you need to consider a bunch of factors as opposed to “This guy is good.”.

Make sure you leave the draft with more running backs than any other position, regardless of the format. Ever year, backs develop out of nowhere. A decent amount of backs that will be started for multiple weeks won’t be on anyone’s radar. Injuries happen all the time. You could start the league with Bell and Gurley (somehow) and lose because one gets hurt and you have no depth. No matter how set you think you are at running back, you’re not. While filling in your team with WRs, and a I suppose TE and QB, keep clicking on RB. I have no problem having multiple backs on my bench before taking a TE or QB and neither should you. Don’t neglect WR, but make sure you keep hammering the mid round RBs, where you can get a lot of the rookies, starters nobody wants, and the high end specialty backs or upside backups that could carve out a significant role. At the end of the draft, take a few lottery shots. These players will likely be cut, but so be it. There’s a chance you hit a star player here, and that makes winning so much easier. If you miss your late round guesses, shrug your shoulders, cut them by week 2, and go for the next big things.  In a standard 15-16 player roster, you want 6-8 RBs. Yes, they should be about half your roster. You’ll thank me for it later.

Finally, handcuffs are a popular topic everybody has an opinion on. I used to go out of my way to handcuff my first RB, but over the years, I don’t think that’s the best move. Rather than handcuffing your own back, you’re better off just taking the best available upside back at the end of your draft. You want value, not tying your roster to one position. In an odd way, by drafting your handcuff, you’re almost rooting for an injury to your star to justify the pick. Instead draft some other talent – it could be someone else’s handcuff. Heck, it could even be your own if he’s good enough. Just go ahead and grab people who have a prayer to be useful – it’s the best play you can make.

Today’s rankings assume standard scoring with one twist – providing .5 points per catch. To be, this is the perfect balance for scoring – rewarding catches but not making them overpowered. If you play in a full point per reception league, or no points per catch, adjust these ranks accordingly.

 

Top 4 Pick Tier

Le’Veon Bell

Todd Gurley

David Johnson

 Ezekiel Elliott

 

As incredible as Antonio Brown is, I don’t think you can justify taking him over these four running backs this year. The upside on the quartet is too high. Brown is an overqualified #5 pick, and in a full point PPR, I see an argument over Elliott, but typically, this is your top four.

Bell vs Gurley depends on how much you fear Bell missing real games with a holdout vs how much you think Gurley’s TDs regress. I think Bell is the league’s best back, so I’ll have him #1 for now. For the safer player, Gurley’s more than worthy for 1.01.

Johnson hurt his wrist, and not his leg, so there really shouldn’t be durability concerns. I’m surprised there’s not more push for him as the top pick. Sure the Cardinals offense is somewhat meh, but it was also meh two years ago and look what he did. Remember, he is the driving force in the offense, and his stated goal of 1,000 rushing and 1,000 receiving isn’t that crazy. The more I think about it, the more I like #3 as the best draft slot. Take whichever the top three backs falls and profit.

Elliott is a tick below the top three, but I grouped him here because of the Brown draft slot. Even on a bad team, Elliott’s too good not to go early, should get some passing work, and is a bruiser. The Dallas line isn’t supreme elite anymore, but it’s still really good. Dak’s legs should also help open up lanes. He’ll need 10+ TDs to justify this spot since his receptions will be low, but I think he will.

 

Surefire #1 Backs Tier

Alvin Kamara

Kareem Hunt

Saquon Barkley

 

Kamara will never duplicate his insane production last year, but he should get an increase workload on a team looking to run. Mark Ingram could be in the doghouse when he returns, so Kamara might get the passing work and maybe the goal line work, making his value sky high.

Mock Andy Reid as you should, but he does have a resume of making stars out of his running backs. I don’t worry about Spencer Ware taking some work – all it does is free Hunt for receiving work where big plays can happen.

I also hate drafting rookies in the first round, but I’ll make an exception for Barkley. He might be the first pick next year and there’s weapons around him to avoid people stacking the box. Just hope the Giants don’t give Jonathan Stewart goal line carries. That’s an actual sentence by the way.

 

Some questions tier

Melvin Gordon

Dalvin Cook

 

Gordon’s efficiency deserves to be questioned, especially with the outside talent the team has, but he’ll get plenty of volume and goal line touches. For fantasy purposes, you could probably move him up, but talent tie breakers put him here, safely in the first round.

Cook is coming off an ACL tear which occurred during week 4 last year. The turnaround is a little quick, but he should be healthy for the start of the season. Assuming he is, he could finish as a top five back. He did everything you could ask for last season. Watch the preseason here carefully.

 

Last change RB 1 Tier

DeVonta Freeman

LeSean McCoy

Leonard Fournette

Jerick McKinnon

Christian McCaffrey

 

Nobody wants to touch Freeman this year, but he’s not old busted yet. Freeman put up 1200 yards dealing with injuries. He’s still young, in a good offense, and while he splits touches, there’s enough to go around. If you snag Freeman as your 1, it’s fine, but if he’s your 2, that’s an excellent start to the draft.

The McCoy rank assumes no legal action or suspension but he’s the only game in town. Few players have such a workload locked in but few players have such a career carry total in today’s NFL. He’ll hit a cliff eventually.

I’m kind of down on Fournette but it’s more due to his injury concerns. You have to consider his foot issues and expect him to miss time. He’s also not a pass catcher like the other backs at this level. He needs TDs to return value even more than Elliott

I’m still not sure on McKinnon this year but in the Shanahan system, only injury keeps him out of the top 20. There’s little chance of the role being taken. I really need him paired with another back though. The upside is immense but he’s never done it for long stretches.

McCaffrey is difficult to have in non PPR leagues. He might just eclipse 100 carries again and there’s a chance his targets go down. However, he’s the most dynamic playmaker the team has, and it would be criminal to give him less touches than C.J. Anderson. I still see an RB 2 here.

 

 RB 2s? Tier

Joe Mixon

Jordan Howard

Alex Collins

 

See what I mean about needing on the top 13.5 guys? It gets sketchy quick.

Mixon has the talent to emerge as a perennial top 10 option but he must do so on a bad team, a bad line and a bad coach. For the record, three wrongs don’t make a right.

Jordan Howard is much better in standard scoring as he has hands of stone. There’s a lot of buzz about Tarik Cohen stealing work but an improved offense should actually help Howard. He will get work, and hopefully the TDs with it.

I can’t believe I have Alex Collins in my top 20. Jesus Christ. In his defense, the man played very well as the lead back and even got involved in the passing game at the end of the season. He might not be mis ranked after all… maybe.

 

Upside RB 2 Tier

Derrius Guice

Dion Lewis

Kenyan Drake

 

If Guice can be just mediocre in the passing game, he could be a top 10 guy because the inside runners around him are no threat. Chris Thompson’s health is the barometer to measure Guice’s upside.

I think I like Lewis a tad too much this season. I do think he has more upside than Henry because the big guy can’t catch. Lewis is a do it all back teams fall in love with. I just hope he stays up right as I’m likely having a lot of shares…

Not only can Drake carry a tune, he could be a value if the Dolphins aren’t stupid. I would have no issue if he concedes 35-40% of the snaps if he’s guaranteed passing game work but until I see the Dolphins in the 3rd preseason game, I’m not sure. Drake will likely move a tier depending.

 

 Boring Vets and Penny Tier

Derrick Henry

Lamar Miller

Rashaad Penny

Marshawn Lynch

Jay Ajayi

 

All those pictures of Henry and Lewis, like the one posted for the Titans preview, made me reconsider my rank. Is Henry a Giant or is Lewis an agent of the Wonka factory? Recent reports are Henry may get some passing work. I’ll believe it when I see it. He’s a two down back, capping his ceiling.

Miller is a gross, awful pick nobody wants to make. But he’s been a top 20 back two straight years and he was an RB1 with Deshaun Watson. If D’Onta Foreman was healthy we wouldn’t have to do this but Miller is (Gulp) a value right now. I need a drink to wash down this gross feeling overpowering me.

I had Penny above Guice until the Chris Carson news, so for now I have to lower him. Shucks. Now I’ll get him later and have another back before I draft him. I still think Penny gets the majority of work before September ends.

Nobody wants Marshawn Lynch except for Jon Gruden. And that’s the only person who matters. Even Mr positivity has to see Lynch was good and Doug Martin is terrible. This could be a value pick.

I think Ajayi is pretty good but his work load is not guaranteed. You have to figure Clement will be on the field a lot and it wasn’t like the Eagles wanted to unleash him last year. There’s upside for how well he played but the Eagles might just run a full on time share.

 

Rookie Bonanza Tier

Ronald Jones

Royce Freeman

Sony Michel

 

Jones’s athletic ability is unquestioned but his football skills have been. I don’t know how he’s not an elite pass catcher. If he can figure out that aspect, he could be lethal.

Freeman remains stuck in a timeshare with Booker and while I’d expect him to win the job, it’s not going to be as a bell cow, especially early. His ADP will determine how interested I am in finding out.

Currently, Michel has a sketchy knee injury that he doesn’t seem over concerned with burn it makes me nervous. But I actually had him ranked here before, so I didn’t move him since I’m low on him anyway. The old Dion Lewis role is nice, but who says it goes to Michel. Also, his fumbling history means Belicheat will bench him early and often.

 

*Shrug* Tier

Aaron Jones

Tevin Coleman

Marlon Mack

Kerryon Johnson

 

I think Jones is the best back on the Packers and I’m betting on the other Green Bay options not impressing during his two game suspension. The starting back in Green Bay is very valuable so I’d snag him up if you have an established backfield. He could be a top 15 option as early as week 4.

Next year, Coleman will sign somewhere as a lead back and it’ll be great, but until then, he’s the weak side of a timeshare. Coleman is still useable and a big play threat, but one has to wonder how involved he’ll be. It’s a yearly discussion.

Mack is the best bet for the lead role in Indy, but there’s a lot of mediocre options there and none of it matters if Luck is hurt. I don’t think the Colts really like Mack but he’s the most complete option they have. Logically he should lead the team in touches and has big play ability. The Colts aren’t logical though.

Johnson has the most upside in the Lions backfield and a complete skill set, but the team has specialists abound. I can’t get too excited until I see the role he’s carved out for himself. This could be Ameer Abdullah 2.0

Abdullah’s still on the roster by the way.

 

Technically the Starter Tier

Issiah Crowell

Carlos Hyde

Rex Burkhead

CJ Anderson

Jamaal Williams

Chris Carson

 

Crowell was hyped to no end last year, did nothing, and still ended up with a starter role. It must be nice. I think Crowell is now undervalued, which is pretty funny. The Jets aren’t world beaters, but they’ll stay in games longer than they should to crush the fans when they lose. Crowell will be involved until the inevitable 2 score deficit in the 4th quarter.

Despite popular opinion, Hyde is the starter in Cleveland and caught a bunch of passes last year, albeit not well. The Browns could/might/hope to be decent this year, and that could make Hyde relevant. Plus nobody wants him.

Burkhead might not actually be the starter but does it matter in New England? The dream is he’s an all around back but you know he’ll be shuffled in and out all the time. More of a home run pick than a reliable back.

Anderson is terrible, but he’s going to get a lot of work. He might even double McCaffrey’s carries. The problem is he won’t catch any passes and Newton will take a lot of goal line TDs away. In theory, he’s a value but in practice he’s more likely a dud.

Williams in the de facto starter in Green Bay, and has a chance to run away with the job. I think Jones is better, but Williams was the back catching passes last year. He’s a potential steal here.

Carson went from meh rookie to fantasy darling and I don’t understand why. Cause he has a good game and a half? Peter Carroll likes him as he’s currently the #1 so keep it in mind. I don’t think he’s that great of talent though

 

 Believe the hype Tier

Tarik Cohen

Nick Chubb

D’onta Foreman

 

There’s been so much smoke blown up Cohen’s ass this off season he might float away. If the new regime in Chicago are creative, Cohen might outscore Howard. I don’t see his use being elevated too highly though. There’s a lot of moving pieces here. He’s a better play in a full PPR league since he won’t score TDs from less than 15 yards out.

If you think the Browns will be decent and can’t stand Carlos Hyde, why not use a late pick on Chubb? He can’t catch worth a lick though, so even if the pick hits, I think you have a mid tier RB2 at best. Not that RB2s are bad of course.

Foreman is this high because Lamar Miller stinks. He probably won’t play till week 7, but if he avoids the PUP list, look out.  If he doesn’t, drop him 20 spots.

 

Suspended for cheating Tier

Mark Ingram

 

I have no idea what to do with Ingram. Will he regain his spot when he returns? Does he go to the dog house? It’s not like Sean Payton likes the guy anyway. I think I’ll let somebody else deal with the headache. I do see the potential homerun here but I also see an angered coaching staff keeping his touches capped.

 

NFL Teams are dumb Tier

Corey Clement

Peyton Barber

LaGarrette Blount

Devontae Booker

 

After being a super bowl hero, Clement must be locked into more work, right? There’s a chance 76 year old Daren Sporles gets the receiving work, which would be insane. In a perfect world, Clement gets spell carries, goal line work on an awesome offense and the pass catching role. I’m banking on the upside this year.

Barber sure did fill in for Doug Martin. With all the mediocre runs, you would have sworn Martin never left the line up. He’ll be the lead back if Jones falters, and reports are very mixed on him.

The Lions are one of the dumber organizations in sports so I expect Blount to lead the team in touches at least for September. The goal line work is unquestionably his. Oh, he’s not that good at the goal line either. He has value and it’s depressing that he does.

Booker’s resume confirms he’s not very good at football, but the Broncos want to have a messy time share. Until Booker flames out, Freeman is not starting caliber.

 

Great Hands Tier

Ty Montgomery

Chris Thompson

Nyheim Hines

Theo Riddick

Bilal Powell

 

I like Montgomery, and commend him for switching positions for playing time, but he can’t handle the grind of being a workhorse. He’s not built for it. He will be the pass catching back but I think ideally the Packers want some combo of Jones and Williams, preferably all Jones. Monty would work better as a slot receiver and occasional back, a la Percy Harvin. Hey, they’re both hurt all the time so it fits perfect.

Thompson says he doesn’t think he’ll be 100% until November. While he’ll play, it makes me feel better about Guice getting more snaps. Thompson’s hallmark is receiving and explosive plays, so any limitations on his health will cap his upside. Follow the reports here.

Hines would be the best receiver in the Colts’ backfield, but he doesn’t project to much of a between the tackles runner. Mack would be the better choice for the role as he can run too, but the Colts drafted Hines for a reason. Most of that reason is they hate Mack.

Nothing has changed for Riddick, who’s like a worse McCaffrey. At least McCaffrey gets carries. Riddick should just grab a new number starting with an 8. A smart organization would give this role to a player who can run between the tackles, but it’s the Lions so they won’t.

Powell is a pretty good player who’s earned more playing time than a strict complimentary role, but the Jets strongly disagree. If Lizzie Elijah McGuire didn’t get hurt, Powell might have gotten cut. Somehow, he matters in fantasy every year so a late pick makes sense to me. You know what he can do.

 

Premium Handcuff Tier

Chris Ivory

Latavius Murray

Matt Breida

Giovani Bernard

Kenneth Dixon

Spencer Ware

 

Ivory matters until we have more McCoy info. There’s scenarios where he’s the starter week 1. Ivory tends to start great and slow down as the season goes on, so he could be a great play for a few weeks, and then an amazing trade chip. Then again, even if he gets the role, he’ll be facing 10 in the box and can’t catch.

Murray could be involved early as Cook gets back to speed, but Cook is better in every facet of the game. Murray might get goal line work, which would suck, but he’s no threat beyond that.

Everyone tried to make Breida a thing last year, and he wasn’t. He will still be involved as McKinnon can’t handle 300+ carries but ask yourself what did he do last year? His situation is 100 times worse now and he didn’t leave any great impression.

Bernard was a spark whenever he got on the field but he can’t handle a full workload. He’s a classic limbo player – supremely annoying for the starter, but not good enough to ever play in fantasy. A better real life player.

Dixon could very well be the starter if not for  injuries and suspensions. He’s still on the roster, which means the Ravens must like him. Seems like a sleeper candidate to me. Be careful though, as he started off camp a bit hobbled.

Ware isn’t healthy yet and I’m starting to think he might be limited this year. Until the reports change, leagues passing on Hunt  until the turn might see the drafters choosing at 11th and 12th taking home a lot of hardware.

 

Pretty good hands tier

TJ Yeldon

Kalen Ballage

Austin Ekeler

 

When Yeldon subbed in for Fournette, the team didn’t really lose much. This isn’t a knock on Fournette, but I’m just saying. Maybe using real life top 10 picks on backs isn’t that smart? Yeldon is good enough to start if Fournette suffers another injury.

Ballage could have a significant role but it depends how the Dolphins view Drake. Currently, I’m thinking they hate him as if he was Marlon Mack.

Ekeler picked up steam as the year went on, but remember he fumbled in consecutive games, got hurt and is Darren Sporles size. I’ve never been huge of Gordon, but this is his team. Stop trying to make Ekeler a thing.

We’ve reached the point in the rankings where everyone is pure flier or super old. I’ll write briefly on specific players when appropriate but this is mostly a list of what’s left.

Old Busted Tier

Frank Gore

Terrance West

Jonathan Stewart

Rob Kelley

 

Gore could be involved more than we think. Again, the Dolphins hate Drake. I think Pusha T is a special consultant.

Stewart is totally getting goal work on the Giants, and it’ll be hilarious.

Rob Kelley is probably more of a cut candidate than fantasy option.

 

New Busted Tier

CJ Prosise

Duke Johnson

Darren Sproles

James White

 

Johnson lost his safety valve role to Landry. I couldn’t see him being involved for how much Landry made, but then Johnson got paid too. I want nothing to do with either unless there’s a significant discount. I mean, he’s behind Stewart for Christ sake.

 

 Dice Roll Handcuff Tier

Jordan Wilkins

Jonathan Williams

Corey Grant

Wayne Gallman

 

If I’m gambling on a Saints back to fill in for  Ingram, it’s Williams. Remember how talented he is. If his head is screwed on straight, he might keep the role as Sean Peyton HATES Ingram.

 

Double Busted Tier

Doug Martin

Ameer Abdullah

Charcandrick West

 

Remember when Doug Martin was a thing?

Remember when Ameer Abdullah was a thing? Actually, I don’t remember that one…

 

First 4 pick Caddy Tier

James Connor

Malcolm Brown

Chase Edmonds

Rod Smith

 

Obviously, this matters mostly if you have a top four pick. I ordered them based on the first four backs, but their value varies according to your team. Connor and Edmonds have the most stand alone value as their teams would likely use them heavily based on the offensive systems.

 

CHRISTINE MICHAEL!!!!! Tier

Alfred Blue

Buck Allen

Christine Michael

 

Michael is ranked last only so he’s easier to find on your cheat sheets when you draft him in the third round where he belongs. I’m looking out for you readers.