0:00It is a great day to break down my week four fantasy football running back rankings and tiers. I'll be going through my top 48 running backs with a
0:06note or two on each. And at the end of every tier, we're going to be approaching a bigger picture question such as who has the best advantages in
0:12the trenches this week. Looking at on paper matchups, what running back should you be looking to stash as lower own handcuffs on the bench? Who is way
0:20overdue for a big play andor touchdown?
0:22All that and much much more. So with that guys, let's get things started with the top seven in the tier one led off by
0:28RB1 Jir Gibbs who has nearly 20 PPR points more in the next closest fantasy running back this year and he has gone
0:36174 touches since his last 25 plus yard gain. I'm not trying to smirk the guy.
0:40I'm just saying Jir Gibbs hasn't even been ripping off big plays and he is still easily fantasy football's RB1. Get your popcorn ready guys. We could be
0:48looking at a 30 plus PPR point per game stretch here if and when Gibbs starts getting those big plays going again.
0:54That said, RB2 Bejan Robinson, if the aliens invaded the planet and forced us to play a football game to defend basically the human race, kind of like
1:03Space Jam style, you know, I think we have to go Bejon as Planet Earth RB1.
1:07All right, Gibbs is really good, too, but putting my money and my, you know, trying to keep the human race alive hat
1:13on. Give me Bejon. The only thing I could think here was he had two targets in that incredible Thursday night game.
1:18And I wondered, does he get less targets when Michael Penn is under center because he's always throwing it downfield to Drake London instead.
1:23Answer, no, he actually gets more. 5.4 career targets per game with Michael Penn, five with any other QB. Got to love us some bean. RB3, I got Derrick
1:32Henry against the Titans, guys. Ravens are big time and 11 and a half point favorites. I will be using them in my
1:37Survivor League that I am very, very lucky to still be alive in. Probably jinxed it. Good freaking going Ian.
1:42Anyway, for wins for his career, Dererick Henry is averaging 104 rushing yards and 1.1 touchdowns per game. And losses, that drops to 61 yards and.5
1:50touchdowns. Again, bull call of the week. Yeah, I think the Ravens are going to beat the Titans. Not actually a bull
1:56call. Please don't yell at me. RB4, Christian McCaffrey against the Broncos.
2:00Remember when everyone was all mad about Christian McCaffrey after week one? Back to an elite 82% snap rate in week three.
2:06Averaging a stellar 4.7 yards per pop.
2:09Two. Does not look wash. does not look like last season's Montro workload is holding them down. And now with all these injuries going to the wide
2:15receivers, the target ceiling is really the roof here for CMC despite the tough match up against the Broncos. RB5, I got
2:22Kenneth Walker. If you want to move him up, man, to what? RB3, RB2, RB1, whatever. We're starting all these guys anyways, but hats off to Kenneth Walker.
2:31I'll literally take my hat off for the guy. PPR RB3, RB2, RB8 finishes the season. He's number one among running backs and tackles avoided per carry and
2:38yards after contact per carry. But what's really cool for me is his rushing success rate. Okay, rushing success rate is where he's usually struggled. And
2:45success rate differs from yards per carry because it's basically asking did you get I believe it's 40% in need yardage on first down, 60% on second
2:53down, then 100% on third and fourth down. He's been good this year in this.
2:57He's not been taking the typical losses.
2:59He's 14th among 36 qualified running backs in success rates. So kudos to Kenneth Walker and old dog learning some new tricks. RB6, I got James Cook, guys.
3:08I know, I know it's annoying that Josh Allen is vulturing the goal line touchdowns. All right, it really has been. He's only got three of the team's
3:15eight rush attempts inside the five yard line talking about James Cook. He's also done nothing as a receiver. Four catches for 16 scoreless yards this year. And
3:23still the RB 12 and PPR points per game.
3:25Not just points per game, overall PPR points. James Cook, Kings say Kings.
3:29Next up is a Patriots defense that last time we saw this matchup, Cook racked up 111 total yards and not one, not two,
3:35but three scores. RB7, I got Jonathan Taylor. Little bit of a tough matchup against the Commanders. It will be in London. So, get those lineups right by
3:439:30 a.m. ET or face the consequences.
3:47But yeah, the Commanders defense guys been pretty solid, you know, against running backs. Jamonte Williams couldn't get anything going. Saquon had 83
3:53scoreless yards and the Seahawks last week 44 rushing yards on just on 18 carries. So, when you do look at this
3:59Colts offense, we kind of saw it, you know, have our worst nightmares come to fruition in a tough match up against the
4:04Texans last week, but man, when you don't have Alec Pierce stretching the field, when you don't have Daniel Jones being very mobile at this point in time,
4:10you can just put so much more attention on Jonathan Taylor. So, look, those two things were also true in weeks one and
4:15two and he was perfectly fine. I do not think the Washington Commanders are quite as good as the Houston Texans out
4:20here or anything like that. Just something to keep an eye on with JT.
4:23Still going to be in a rock solid RB1 in your fantasy lineup as the season goes on. Takes us to our key question for
4:29this tier, guys. Who are the league's true workhorse RBs at the moment? I will be giving you guys a cool week three
4:35usage chart here. Blue means you got a lot of snaps, rushes, or targets. Red means you did not. So yeah, I'm looking
4:41across again all these different teams.
4:42Our club 75 features nine running backs who posted a snap rate of at least 75% in week three. Jaylen Warren all the way
4:49up there at 90% with no Rico Dattle.
4:51Jonathan Taylor business per usual.
4:53Chuba Huard 84% with no Jonathan Brooks.
4:56Ashton Genty. Olly Gordon 82% with unfortunately Devon Achan knocked out for the season. Albeit that did come with Jaylen Wright also sidelined. So
5:04let's not get too over our heads with Oi Gordon. I'll be talking about him much later in this video if that's you know
5:10any sort of indication about where I have him ranked.
5:13Christian McAffrey 82%. Aaron Jones 82% continues to be a workhorse without Jordan Mason in the picture. Cam Scatteriboo real nice bump up to 78%.
5:22Again, really does seem like the workhorse in that offense. And with no Devin Singleary even being active last week, Scataboo is actually getting his
5:29routes in the right place as well. If only the offense could, you know, not suck. And then finally, Javvonte Williams is up there as well. Again,
5:35Gordon is the only one I should really expect to slip if we do see Jaylen Wright uh getting back in the picture.
5:40And then also, yeah, feeling good about Cam Scataboo, Saquon, Kenneth Walker, Bejon, Chase Brown, Kairen, Derrick Henry, Gibbs, Swift, and James Cook all
5:49had snap rates of at least 67%. Not quite cool enough to be in club 75.
5:53Still guys who should be in fantasy lineups of all shapes and sizes with a similar sentiment to Jeremiah Love as well, who had a nice little boost in
5:59overall touches. I'll be at the Cardinals Ram like 81 plays last week, so that's why his overall numbers look a little bit better than the actual snap
6:07percentages.
6:08Tier two, I got top 15 ballers and shot callers led off by RB8 Chuba Hubard.
6:14That's right. We're doing it, guys.
6:15Going up against the Lions on Sunday Night Football. It's a great matchup.
6:19It's a player who whenever he's been healthy in his career has at least been a solid professional running back. He's averaging four and a half yards per
6:24carry this year. It was really just last year playing through the calf issue that we had any sort of reason to believe
6:29that Trouba wasn't good at football. 23 touches, elite 84% snap rate last week without Jonathan Brooks. And the matchup Lions are 31st in the EPA allowed per
6:38play and allowed per rush in the game total guys. Second highest over under of the week at 50 and a half points.
6:45Trouba's fine as a talent. His offense is projected to be in second highest scoring game out there. We love the matchup and he could have 25 plus
6:53touches and nobody would blank. Trouba Hubard my RB8. RB9 slightly less optimistic given some of the matchup and I would say the overall offensive
7:02upside, but give me Jaylen Warren guys.
7:04a 90% snap rate in this economy. I can't believe it, man. It honestly should have been even bigger game for him. If you
7:10guys have been checking out my Monday beyond the box score video, first of all, thank you. I appreciate it. But second of all, 87 yard run call back on
7:17what I didn't think was exactly the most egregious holding call in the world on DK Mechaf. Also later had a 32-y
7:23touchdown. Unfortunately, not come to fruition because the turf monster reached out and grabbed Jaylen Moore out about the 15 yardd line. actually got
7:31asked after the game about it and Jaylen Warren said, "I wasn't tired. My body was tired. What a freaking bar from an
7:37absolute legend." But look, Jaylen Warren over the years, I've certainly been someone that's tried to I don't I don't I want to say defend him. I don't
7:43think there's a bunch of Jaylen Warren haters out there, but he's always had the efficiency and the per carry and the
7:49per target numbers of a truly elite top five running back, and now he's got the workload to go along with it. So, I'm
7:55not totally convinced that the week three version of the Steelers is always going to be that high scoring. Again, Truth is probably somewhere in the
8:00middle between that and what we saw in the first two weeks of the year, but Browns don't overly scare me and just
8:0590% well 90% snaps for a running back that I really do think is pretty special. Jaylen Morton, RB9 RB10, I got Saquon Barkley. He looks
8:15good. 5.1 yards per carry. That's an extra yard over what we saw last season.
8:19He's also up there. Best RBs, yards after contact, tackles avoided per carry. Saquon looks fine. It's just kind of the James Cook problem except we're
8:27not even getting any touchdowns here.
8:28Okay, zero scores on the season, just three receptions for six scoreless yards as a receiver. It's been rough, man.
8:35It's been rough, but you know, can you blame Philly? Can you blame the Bills?
8:41Saquon has been the most inefficient rusher inside the five yard line in football. And that stat is probably skewed a little bit because he's having
8:48to always do this, you know, from the two, three, or four. He's not getting the one- yard plunges like other running
8:53backs. He's only converted one of his last 11 carries inside the five yard line into touchdowns going back to the beginning of last season. Guys, we saw a
9:01play out on Monday Night Football. I would have been pissed pissed if the Eagles actually used Andy Dalton on the tush push there and they didn't do it,
9:08but I don't know, maybe they should have. Certainly don't think Saquon earned himself any future ones now. Jon Herz is alive and well. So, going up
9:16against the Rams hopefully that again he just sees those familiar Rams colors, gets back to pounding his helmet, doing really cool Saquon things. Still set up
9:23for a bunch of touches though, right?
9:24The underlying usage is fine. Just unfortunately, guys, the two lowest games that the Eagles have had in terms of lowest time of possession over these
9:32past two seasons, both against the Bears getting bullied out there. RB1, I got Chase Brown going up against the Jaguars. 21 23 15 touches to start the
9:41season. Bengals can put up 30 points on anyone. I know it's been a little bit disappointing for Chase Brown, but guess
9:46what? Bengals, Jaguars, single highest overunder of the week at 51 and a half points. It's a matter of when, not if.
9:52Chase Brown is back to booming and putting up RB1 numbers. I am not concerned. RB12 for me. Kron Williams going up against the Eagles. Guys, look,
10:01he's not getting force-fed rush attempts necessarily. They're still keeping Blake Corin plenty involved, but it's usually Kiran around the goal line. And as a
10:08receiver, man, he looked good out there.
10:10Career-high 70 yards against the Broncos. And without Pukanakua seemingly without Terren Ferguson as well, I do think they're going to continue throwing
10:18Kron the ball far more than we are used to seeing. So, if we did get Puka back in the picture, maybe I would drop Kiron
10:24a spot or two. But on the other hand, man, we just saw Case Keenum and company go up and down the field against this
10:29Eagles defense. I am not worried. Kron Williams sitting pretty as a true RB1 in fantasy land and you know, real life as
10:35well. This dude's really good at football. I mentioned success rate earlier, guys. The number one RB in the NFL in success rate in 2023, Kron
10:43Williams. 2024, Bejian Robinson. 2025 and through three weeks of 2026. Kron Williams, RB13, I got Javvante Williams going up against the Texans. Tough
10:53matchup. We just saw what they did against Jonathan Taylor and company. But hey, at least the Cowboys finally got something going on the ground. He
10:59actually almost picked up uh it was I think he finished with 98 rushing yards there against a Baltimore Ravens defense that we do believe to be pretty good in
11:06their own right. So 5.2 yards per pop in that one. PPR RB1 on the season. Look, I mean again, is Dvonte a top five real
11:13life talent? Probably not. But are the Cowboys a top five real life offense?
11:17You bet your ass there are. Only the Bills and Lions have actually scored 30 plus points in more games than the
11:22Cowboys since week one of last season.
11:25Again, Javvante can have a bad real life game falling to the end zone two or three times inside the 5 yard line and
11:30none of us would be surprised. RB14, I got Ashen Genty going up against the Chiefs guys.
11:36He can't be healthy, right? This is rough. Gonna be asking some hard hard questions, man, if this keeps on going.
11:43So, the lowest high ankle sprint we've ever seen in training camp. He comes out in week one, looks great. Caught the two
11:51touchdowns, over 100 rushing yards. It has been rough since then, man. His last 40 carries have produces 104 yards. And I don't think the Raiders O line is a
12:01strength necessarily. They're 20th in RB yards before contact per carry. A lot better than last year when they were 31st. And when Mike Washington is out
12:09here, averaging 6.8 8 yards per carry to just 3.3 for Genty. It's something, man.
12:15It's not nothing.
12:17Only Kath Walker per NextGen stats, more rushing yards over expected per carry than Mike Washington this season. Again, so far Washington's big preseason
12:28and draft capital had nothing to do with Gent's role, but real NFL games stacked up one after another of Washington
12:38outperforming Genty objectively could be a problem. Not saying this could be a problem in week four. Usage was great last week. It's been great all
12:46season for Genty. We just got to do something with it. Not loving the boom potential against the Chiefs, but I am
12:53loving the 3 and 0 Raiders. Kurt Cousins tied for the league lead in passing touchdowns. Should be better days ahead.
12:59Ashley Genty, RB14, RB15. Jeremiah Love going up against the New York Giants defense that was already pretty bad and now lost stud edge Brian
13:08Burns for the season due to a torn ACL.
13:10Look, love career-high 26 touches last week, but that did come in large part because the Cardinals just kept allowing the 49ers to score so quickly that they
13:20actually end up running 81 plays on the week. It was a nice bump up in the underlying uses as well, but Tyler is
13:27still involved, guys. Don't shoot the messenger. I swear. All right, be hard for you to shoot me. I'm on your computer or whatever. But anyway, snaps
13:3463% versus 37% last week in favor of love. routes 41% versus 37%. Alier is running pretty much the same number of
13:42routes as Jeremiah freaking love still.
13:45But man is Jeremiah Love 100% healthy. Another guy that had the preseason ankle injury.
13:52My comp for love coming out of Notre Dame was the guitar riff from Money or Nothing. This dude was a walking big
13:59play. Pure electricity. The hurdles, the spin moves, just ripping off 90 yard touchdown runs against whoever and everyone. Indiana, Boston College.
14:09So much fun.
14:11He trails Chase Brown, no Marin Hampton when it comes to the most touches without 20 plus yard gain this season.
14:17Over 50, guys.
14:20I don't think the Cardinals offensive line is doing a ton of favors. I don't think Jeremiah Love turned bad at football, but come on, man. Let's see
14:26some big plays. I think he gets one here this Sunday against the Giants. Again, it's a great matchup. And speaking of
14:32great matchups, key question for this tier guy is who has the best matchups in the trenches this week. As always, I
14:37like to combine some of these metrics.
14:39So, we're not doing, well, the offense ranks this and the defense ranks this. I took every offense's RB rush yards before contact per carry with the
14:46defenses same metric allowed. And I got this handy dandy chart here where blue is good for the offense, a higher number, red is bad. Cool. Cool. Okay.
14:54So, looking at this guys, the best on paper matchups ahead of week four belong to the Bills, the Panthers. One of the
15:00reasons why Chuba is so high in my ranks, the Rams, Lions, Jets, and Broncos, your starting Cook, Chuba, Kairen, Gibbs, fantasy leagues of all shapes and
15:09sizes. We're going to talk about Brill Allen in a second, but he is a guy who I have ranked inside, I think, my top 20
15:15overall, but honestly, there is a path and there is a, you know, rational, I think, just mindset to rank him even
15:21higher. We'll talk about him more in a second. And then JK Dobbins, he's been dominating the rush attempts. I think he's got 35 this year and R.J. Harvey's
15:28only got five and I know Harvey missed one of those games, but it's been the Dobin show. He just has not been able to
15:34pick it up. Hopefully this week they're able to do so to a better level against a 49ers defense that without Nick Bosa
15:39certainly not as intimidating as usual in the worst on paper matchups for week four. Colts, Chargers, and the Buccaneers. Again, it's Jonathan Taylor,
15:48guys. But Marian Hampton, Bucky Irving, bad matchups on paper, also in offenses that are implied to score bottom four point totals this week. If you if you're
15:57an especially blessed fantasy team, you're three and 0, you got a lot of options, close star sit decision, I'm fine benching Hampton and Bucky Irvin
16:04this week. Tier three, the last running backs to reasonably feel good about.
16:08Okay, RB 16, I got Aaron Jones going up against the Dolphins, guys. I know he hasn't been killing it. 10.5 and 14.2
16:16PPR points these last two weeks, but the usage, the usage. The man cried out as his family packed the last of their
16:24belongings in the car and drove off. The usage is great, guys. We got snap rates north of 80%. We're talking 20 plus
16:30touches firmly on the table for a home 11 and a half point favorite against the single worst defense and PPR points per
16:39game allowed to running backs. I haven't ranked RB 16.
16:44I don't think I'm blowing you away by having Aaron Jones ranked this high. I would guess, maybe I'm wrong, but I
16:50would guess you're thinking Aaron Jones is ranked that high. But if I didn't tell you it was Aaron Jones and I just
16:55described that 20 plus touches, 80% snaps, 11 and a half point home favorite, facing the 32nd ranked defense in fantasy points, a lot of running
17:03backs. That's Aaron Jones. That's him.
17:06Didn't love what we saw from Kyler.
17:08Still looking good for Aaron Jones, my RB 16. RB 17. Bashaw Tuton, guys. Look at pretty much any stat out there that
17:15we're trying to measure running back effectiveness and efficiency with, you know, yards after contact, tackles avoided, all that stuff. Tuton's going
17:22to be up there probably right behind Kenneth Walker. But my favorite stat I found with Bashaw Tuton this year despite still not ripping off pretty
17:28much any monster plays or anything like that. He's got 18 carries where he's reached at least 15 miles per hour per
17:35nextgen stats. Jir Gibbs is at 13.
17:37That's the only guy over 11. It's going to happen. Not a matter of if, a matter of when. He's got 16, 15, and 17 touches
17:46as the clear lead RB inside a Jaguars offense that looks really good out there. He's winning a tiebreaker for me over some of these other running backs
17:53who I just do not trust the offenses nearly as much as I do Trevor Lawrence and company in what should again
17:58potentially be the highest scoring game of the week. RB18 I got DeAndre Swift going against going up against the Jets Jets Jets Jets 1921 22 touches 134 99
18:09and 88 total yards. Case Keenan and company look good and the one issue I thought we would have with DeAndre Swift
18:14this year is when they get around the goal line Kungai would probably more so be the hammer. hasn't been the case.
18:20Four running back carries for the Bears inside the five yard line. DeAndre Swift in this point has all four. Jets defense
18:25isn't bad. They've actually, I think, improved a good amount from last year.
18:28Bar wasn't high. I get it. And it'd be nice to see them get an interception at some point in my lifetime. But yeah,
18:34guys, also just got absolutely fleeced by Jir Gibbs. So, DeAndre Swift, top 18 running back for your boy RB19. I'm going Cam Scataboo, guys. 186 most
18:44recently 23 touches. And I mentioned it before, 78% snap rate with a 65% route rate. Now, Jameus Winston looks horrible. He is statistically the worst
18:53quarterback in the NFL right now. And we could also get JJ McCarthy sooner rather than later, who also statistically is one of the worst quarterbacks in the
19:00NFL. So, I don't think we're going to be getting a ton of goal line touches for Cam Scataboo pretty much regardless of
19:05the matchup. But the one way that we have seen running backs overcome bad offensive environments before is as a receiver. We know Scott is a capable
19:15enough one on his own. And the fact that he's now getting the routes, really, really good sign here for me. So, Cam
19:20Scataboo, again, my RB19, maybe the Giants can impress and improve on offense. I highly, highly, highly doubt it, but you can imagine what it' be like
19:28if they did. RB20, I got Brown Allen going up against the Bears, guys. We saw them get absolutely fleeced by Saquon
19:35Barkley. And again, in terms of RB rush yards before contact per carry, which I think is a great indicator of offensive
19:41line performance or a really bad front seven, the Bears on defense rank dead last in this metric. So, look, I don't
19:48know if we're going to get an 80% snap rate from Brillin or a 60% snap rate.
19:52But, he's the only running back in the Jets, not named Bree Hall, to play an offensive snap and receive a touch this
19:57year. And that's been with Isaiah Davis active. He's only been playing on special teams. He had the knee injury in training camp.
20:04Historically before this last month honestly I would have viewed it as closer to 5050.
20:12Brillin being the early down back.
20:13Isaiah Davis being the pass down back and a probably bad Jets offense. But hey Gome company I don't know if they're
20:20great but they're not horrible and that's enough if you're going to be a running back getting 15 20 touches to be
20:25a lowend RB2. So again, the matchup is great and if this sticks of what we've seen of Isaiah Davis being a complete
20:33afterthought, I mean, hell, I don't know how high I can move him up, but if you were just like, Ian, I hear
20:43what you're saying. I have Bron Allen as my RB10 ahead of Saquon. That's why I have Jaylen Warren and Chuba up there.
20:51You know, I'm hedging a little bit cuz we aren't for sure what the role is going to be, but it's looking all right. Brown Allen,
21:00he's only 22 years old still, guys, which I'm not saying is necessarily a positive for fantasy. Who knows? But he's run harder than Bruce Hall this
21:07year. And this is what's fun. I like finding the under under radar stats that help quantify what we're seeing with our
21:15eyes. Right? Both these guys, I believe, are at 3.2 yards per carry this year.
21:19But the one stat I really like for Yak.
21:22All right, because yards after contact, you break a tackle at the line of scrimmage. Trayvon Henderson does that and he runs for 60 yards. That's 60
21:28yards after contact. And okay, that's what you're trying to measure. Fine. I like looking at yards after contact as who's pushing the piles, right? So I
21:35take the percentage of carries that a running back got at least three yards after contact. Brilen Allen this year is tied for 10th. Bree Hall dead last, man,
21:44among 51 qualified running backs.
21:47Bron Allen, he's built like a freaking tank. He's about to get a lot of touches. His offense doesn't suck. The Bears rush defense does suck. That's
21:55enough to be a top 20 running back here in week four. RB21. I got to Cory Kroski Merritt in London going up against a
22:02Colts defense. That's one of only four teams allowing 30 plus fantasy points per game. Two opposing running backs.
22:08Need to see some big plays. But in the artist known as Bill's defense, guys, he actually did rip off a 48- yard
22:13touchdown run against those Seattle Seahawks, that was completely unhindered by the penalty that happened. Okay, shift before a snap. Antonio Williams,
22:24freaking rookies, am I right? Says someone who's never will never play at snap at the NFL level. Antonio Williams did not actually move up and go on the
22:32line of scrimmage. He was on the other side of the field. Bill busted over left end, scores a touchdown, it comes back.
22:38So he looked good. Rashad White's banged up with a shoulder injury presumably enough to warrant the team bringing back Austin Eckler who's old and coming off
22:46the torn Achilles.
22:48We haven't seen Kron Allen out there.
22:50There's a chance depending on how ready they feel like Austin Eckler is. There's a chance that Cory Krosky Merritt has a
22:57workhorse role out there in a commander offense that's trending up. Hasn't sucked with Marcus Mariota under center.
23:03And the Colts have not been good. Man, I'm going to curse him now and say my bull call for week four is at the
23:10Cororey Cross Americas for 120 plus total yards and not one but two touchdowns in front of the London faithful. Also, side note, don't you
23:18love the international games when there's just all the fans in random jerseys out there? I love it. But yeah, Bill Kroskit RB21. I think he could
23:26score a hell of a lot higher than even that. RB22, I got David Montgomery going up against the Dallas Dallas Cowboys.
23:32Texans RBs this year dead last in yards per carry at 2.8. And the 31st ranked team, the Cleveland Browns, man, they're
23:39at 31st at 3.2. All right, so we have a sizable gap between how bad the Texans running backs have been and even the
23:46second worst team out there. That said, it's basically like, well, be the expression, a stoppable force is meeting a movable object. There we go. Nailed
23:54it. The Cowboys join the Panthers as the only two defenses allowing north of 500 rushing yards this year. In my mind,
24:00maybe it is because I am a sad sad Cowboys fan, which that changes the way you guys look at me. I completely
24:06understand. But yeah, I thought the Quinnon Williams and stuff, yeah, maybe the Cowboys were actually decent against the run. They have not been at all. So
24:13yeah, the only concern here for Deont similar to, well, not similar, but Woody Marx is really a one and not this like
24:22pass down only running back.
24:24I know week one was awesome for Demon, but last week down the stretch it was a Woody Marks drive because they're in
24:30their two-minute, but they got down the one yard line and then there was a timeout on the field and they still
24:36tried to Woody Marks back out there and he went ahead and got the goal line touchdown. So something to keep an eye
24:40out on. But yeah, normally Monty against the Cowboys, like if you had asked me back in before the season started, I'd
24:47be like, "Oh, okay. That's got to be a smash bot. Must be ranking him top 12."
24:50Not saying he couldn't finish top 12.
24:52I've been wrong before, ladies and mostly gentlemen. RB22 for me because that's how freaking bad this Texans offense has been. If we get Nico Collins
24:59back, I don't think I'm gonna bump him up. I'm not going to do it. Show me something.
25:04Texans run game, please. Anything.
25:07Herby 23. Bucky Irving. We've been giving him his flowers here. Awesome first two weeks of the season. It's not like he was bad against the Vikings, but
25:14we got Jaylen Daniels under center, guys. Tied for the third lowest team implied total. And Daniels is a sort of quarterback who he's going to run around
25:20a lot. So, I do worry about Bucky's targets drying up and the rare circumstances where they actually get to the goal line, which I don't think
25:27they've even done this year.
25:31The Buccaneers have zero carries inside the five yard line as running backs already. And now we have Jaylen Daniels at quarterback. But if they happen to
25:40get down there, now he's a threat to actually score the rushing touchdown.
25:42So, yeah, it's not you Bucky, it's Jaylen Daniels. RB24, Amaran Hampton.
25:48It's actually kind of you, Amaran Hampton. We had the fumbles to start the year. Week three clearly seemed to impact that. Keaton Mitchell all of a
25:55sudden getting a lot more work. Okay.
25:57Could have been a bigger day for Hampton. He got tackled at the one-yd line not once but twice on separate drives and did not get a future chance
26:03to score a touchdown on those occasions.
26:06Season low marks and snap rate, rush attempt share, and route rate.
26:12Not looking good, guys. If you got a decent wide receiver two, wide receiver three, I get going with them. this matchup will any of us be shocked if the
26:19Chargers are down what 24 nothing at halftime and then who knows it could just be mostly Keen Mitchell in the second half man Hampton RB 24 that feels
26:29high honestly I wanted to rank them lower but wait till you see the other guys that we got coming up but first the
26:33key question for this tier is what offense have actually provided the most and least fantasy friendly opportunities for their running backs so far in 2026
26:41I'm looking at targets which we obviously love in full PPR scoring and again running back carries inside the 5yard yard line. So, got this handy
26:48dandy chart I put together on True Media. Best offense have been the Chiefs, the 49ers, and the Lions. The Chiefs are behind the 49ers logo. If
26:55you're hanging out with me on YouTube, the problem for the Broncos, who are also up in that top right corner. Do has
27:01gotten three carries inside the 5 yardd line. He has scored on zero of them. And then most of the targets are going to RJ
27:06Harvey. So, I'd like to think we see better things from Denver in the future because there is opportunity out there.
27:11Running backs have been up in the task so far. Meanwhile, Vikings, Jaguars, Bills Colts Commanders Titans and Packers stand out as the offenses that
27:18just given their given their running backs the least amount of opportunities so far that we would consider especially fantasy friendly. I'm least worried
27:25about Jacksonville and Buffalo because these are still two really good offenses that we will expect big things from in the future.
27:32Tier four, I've called this one I've seen better RB3 tiers because I have RB25, Trayvon Henderson, RB26, Raandre Stevenson. In two games together,
27:41Trayvon has a slight lead in snaps, a decent lead in rush attempts, and a small loss in the routes. The problem
27:47is, who cares? The Patriots freaking suck balls, guys. All right, they are tied in total points scored with the Miami Dolphins. The Tennessee Titans in
27:56the year 2026 have scored one more point than Drake May and the New England Patriots.
28:02You know how sad that is? Be better.
28:04RB27 Jarian Price against the Chargers got doghouse last week after the fumble.
28:09his second one of the season. As Ulissiz Sgrant once said, "Guys, ball security is job security and Price needs to get
28:15that through his head because he's clearly been the best running back for Seattle and normally I want to buy low on this situation." You know,
28:23the problem is the Zack Sharp size elephant in the room that's coming back eventually. And the more that price struggles to separate from even a manual
28:30Wilson and George Helani, the more I worry if he's even going to have a Kenneth Walker sort of role behind Zack
28:36Sharet. So, it's early. It's been three weeks, but it's been a bad three weeks.
28:40Come on, Jarium. RB28, Quinn Sean Judkins against the Steelers. Thought we had good things. I mean, it sucks seeing Dylan Samson go down. It seemed like for
28:49one week that Judkins would at least get more pass down work. No, we got Rocket Sanders instead getting more routes. The
28:56good news, Judkins, guys, last week he actually posted his second best yards per carry mark in his last 13 games. The
29:04bad news was that yards per carry mark was 3.9 yards. I mentioned the Buccaneers not having a single carry inside the five yard line. At least
29:11their running backs. Neither do the Browns, Steelers, or Packers. This is a dead zone running back right here. RB29.
29:19I got JK Dobbins against the 49ers. Kind of talked a good amount about the Broncos already. So, I'm not scared about the 49ers defense, particularly
29:26not without uh particularly without I should say Nick Bosa in the picture, but yeah, just with JK Dobbins, need him to
29:32be scoring the touchdowns. The offense hasn't looked good at all to start the season until they're down multiple touchdowns in the second half. And at
29:38that point, you know, you kind of got RJ Harvey out there as a receiver. RB30, Tony Pard, we gave him a bump up the
29:44ranks last week. Why not? Taj Spears was banged up. We're looking at a bad Giants defense weather game. And Pard got
29:51season high marking touches 21. He got you 96 yards. He got you 13.6 PPR points. RV 16 on the week. Wouldn't be
30:00surprised if that his best game of the season. 11 and a half point road dog against Kyle Hamilton and company. I'm
30:05good. RB31. I got Olly Gordon now.
30:08Presumed Dolphins RB1 going up against the Vikings.
30:13I don't think Ollie Gordon's bad. All right. He's got the sub three yards per carry. But you know what? Devon Han is
30:19averaging 3.5 yards per carry this season. So, can we really say that Gordon sucks when Han can't even make anything behind the line? The problem is
30:27even if Gordon doesn't suck, let's say Gordon's even good, Devon Achan's great, he couldn't do anything here as the featured undisputed workhorse running
30:35back.
30:37This rank is if Jaylen Wright is also on the field and active. I don't even know if I can move him up though otherwise
30:44against the Vikings.
30:46The Dolphins are implied to score per Vegas. Again, we're taking the spread and the overunder for every game. So, you can go ahead and calculate the exact
30:53scores that Vegas is implying. That's what I'm talking about here.
30:57The Dolphins are implied to score 13 and a half points.
31:01The freaking Titans are implied to score nearly three additional points. The Vikings have been a top two defense in EPA per play and EPA allowed per rush.
31:12I wouldn't be shocked if they shut out.
31:15It's in Minnesota.
31:17The only Dolphin I somewhat want in my fantasy lineups is Malik Washington, who is probably going to take a lot of the
31:23pass down work here. They've actually used Malik Washington for 13 snaps in the back field. We already weren't getting much. I don't think Ole Gordon's
31:31going to get it. If Jaylen Wright is out there, I'll give Ole Gordon a projected like 6040 lead and that's not going to
31:37be enough inside a horrible offense that's probably going to be throwing the ball to Malik Washington instead.
31:43RB32, I got Alvin Chimera. I like to move forward, guys. But man, I I had that freaking Travis Etchm Bo nailed
31:52until he got hurt, and I didn't. First seven snaps of the game. He got hurt midway through the third quarter. We
32:00already had 15 combined carries and targets, 63% snap rate. We had nothing going from the other guys. And that actually looked good out there until he
32:08didn't. So, sucks to suck. We'll continue to watch the film and get better. But anyway, after Travis got hurt, Alvin Chimera led the way in snaps
32:17with 14 over Kendrick Miller with nine.
32:19CJ Donaldson with six. That's not ideal though, guys. Kendrick Miller and CJ Donaldson combined played more snaps than Alvin Chimera during the stretch.
32:26It was Chimera leading the way in rush attempts and routes, but not dominant stuff. I mean, if I'm sitting here with
32:32Dwayne McFarland on Sunday night breaking down the Saints backfield and Kendrick Miller had more touches than Chimera, I wouldn't be shocked. I like
32:39the offense. Tough matchup, though.
32:42Falcons got some freaking goons in that front seven. Number one in pressure rate without three of their top guys. It's amazing. I can't explain it. Football. I
32:50love it.
32:52Alvin Chimera, RB32. I'd rather not start room if I can help it. RB33, RJ Harvey. He has been better on the ground
32:59this year because that was the thing last year. Everyone's like, "Oh, get Dobbins out of here. We want RJ Harvey because we're obsessed with rookies as a
33:05bunch of fancy nerds out here." But Harvey on five carries, so smallest of sample sizes. Harvey's averaging 4.8 yards per carry and Domin's at 3.5. It's
33:14like flip from last year. Is that going to change Davis Webb andor Shawn Payeyton's mindset? I don't know. Can't rely on it happening this week. Third on
33:22the targets though. Third on the Broncos and targets with 11 despite missing a game. I'm holding RJ Harvey. Like don't cut him because the thing is Dobbins as
33:29we know maybe the most injury-prone running back in the NFL. Jonah Coleman is already on IR one injury away from probably losing more working prefer
33:37Tyler Bedet. But let's stay optimistic somewhat for a second.
33:41RB34 common guy exactly 10 rush attempts in every game. Just tough to get him too much higher when again he's not even
33:47getting forcefed the ball near the goal line. Also probably not expecting the Bears to be scoring nearly 30 points per week with Case Keenum under center. They
33:54did Monday night though. So good for them. RB35 Blake Cororm 10, 13 and 10 combined carries and targets in his last
34:01three games. Actually got four targets last week. Caught two of them for zero yards. I think he also had a drop out
34:07there as well. So Karen Williams show for now. Cororum though remains arguably the highest upside handcuff in fantasy football. So make sure you keep him nice
34:15and comfy on that bench. And RB36 Rash White, make sure you keep an eye on that shoulder injury. Not really going out of
34:20my way to start him though, even if healthy given the fact that he is dealing with the shoulder injury.
34:25Key question for this tier guys, what running backs have actually stood out as the biggest candidates do for positive regression in terms of touchdown and or
34:33big plays? I went ahead and looked at again running backs who have had the most touches without a 20 plus yard gain
34:38this season and there have been five of them with at least 50. In first place, the speedy Chase Brown guys, 59 touches,
34:45zero have gone for 20 plus yards. In second place, Omaran Hampton with 52.
34:49Not exactly saying the most out of this Mike McDaniel led a run game that many alleged fantasy experts such as myself
34:55hyped up all summer long. Quinnshaw Jugens and Jeremiah Love have 51 man and then Bill Crossro 50. Again though mentioned the long touchdown run last
35:03week got called back by penalty and that really didn't influence the play. Then also we've seen the following players rack up the most combined carries and
35:10targets and still have not found the end zone yet. In first place Judkins with 42. Second place Tony Pard and Jaylen
35:17Warren with 38. We got JK Dobbins with 35 and Saquon Barkley with 34. Again, would like to expect bigger and better
35:25things and positive aggression to come for all parties involved, particularly guys like Squan who are really damn good at the game and we love the offense, but
35:34Quinshon Pard, that's tough. We hate those offenses. I don't see them necessarily getting way better anytime soon. Similar sentiment for Hampton at this point. Honestly,
35:44Jeremiah Love too good to be this bad for too long. Not that he's this bad.
35:48All right, you have a 19 yard carry.
35:49Like, I get it. But come on, big play, guys. We want it. Hey, got a few more running backs to talk about. But first,
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36:55All right guys, we are on to the handcuffs and backups and guys that please for the love of God do not put in
37:00your starting fantasy lineup if you can at all help it. RB37 Woody Marks still good enough handcuff. Again, we saw him
37:06get the goal line stuff. We know he can catch passes. We just hate the offense.
37:10RB38 Kendrick Miller. Again, good speculative ad in case the in case the Saints do something wonky this week.
37:16That said, I don't see Kendrick completely taking over the backfield. I could just see it being pretty much like a three-way split, probably rendering
37:23all parties as useless. RB39, Katon Mitchell had the 11 touches for 47 yards and the short touchdown last week. This feels even a little low. If you want to
37:32move them up a few spots, that's fine.
37:34But either way, guys, Chargers against the Seahawks. Let's find someone else for this week. Caleb Johnson, Marshon Lloyd, RB 40, RB41. If the Buccaneers
37:42went with a 155 defense and their only down lineman was Vita Vea, do you guys think the Packers could average three
37:48yards per carry? I'm honestly not sure.
37:52Packers RBs this year, they're dead last and fantasy points were gained from rushing with 4.2 and 24th in PPR points from receiving. That's not a good combo.
38:04Didn't even have to ask Chat GP chat GPT to figure that out. It's not good. Since the pandemic, no team has had fewer
38:11rushing yards in the first three weeks than the 2026 Green Bay Packers. RB42, Jaylen Wright, probably the 1B of this miserable run game. RB43, Brian
38:21Robinson. Hey, Brian Robinson, guys, doing good things again for the second straight year, leading all running backs in percentage of carries to gain at least three yards
38:31after contact. I tweeted out a graph, yards after contact, tackles avoided per carry. Bejon and Brian are right next to each other. Beans is way more
38:40impressive. He is a million times better than Brian Robinson. Doesn't mean Brian Robinson hasn't been looking good on his carries this year. RB44 Chris Rodriguez.
38:48He's been good getting a short yardage.
38:50Bashaw Tun has been much better. We've only seen Crock get one of the three carries inside the 5yard line. That's not enough to manfully trust, but hey,
38:58maybe could fall into the end zone in his potential shootout. RB45, Kaylin Black, he got vultured by Christian McAffrey last week at the one yard line.
39:06Ah, how the turntables my friend. But yeah, he's just a high-end handcuff for the time being. RB46, Taj Spears playing through an ankle issue with an offense
39:13that insists on keeping Tony Per thing.
39:16RB47, Tyler Alier, he's just this whole like, oh man, if only Tyler Alier had a full-time job. Who are these people?
39:24Have you ever woken up on a Sunday and said, "If only I could watch Tyler Alier run the football more often." He's fine.
39:30All right. He's a good pass protector.
39:33Doesn't fumble the football. I don't even know if he's a high-end handcuff though. James Connor could be back by week five.
39:41Like if Jeremiah Love was out, I don't I don't need to waste time with this.
39:44Tyler Alier. Yeah, whatever. I48, Kenneth Gainwell. 16 touches for 43 scorers yards. Step it up, Kenny. Not expecting him to do so this week. Last
39:52question for everyone, guys. Who are the Premier handcuffs that you should be putting on your on your bench as Stash plays? I went sub 35%, okay, as I'm
40:00recording this on Tuesday afternoon.
40:02Sorry Tank Bixby and Emtt Johnson. You guys just missed the cut. They do remain great handcuffs though. Tank Bixby that fumble didn't love it. Will Shipley
40:10would be involved. I also didn't include Brillon Allen, Kendrick Miller or the Dolphins RBs. Expectation they are going to be scooped up on the waiver wire but
40:18Kendrick maybe not. That said, Raiders running back Mike Washington, Chargers running back Katon Mitchell, Falcons running back Brian Robinson, Bills running back Ray Davis, Bengals running
40:28back Samaji Perine, Giants running back Naji Harris at this point, Tracy's Doghouse, Singleary's inactive. I guess it's Naji behind the guy who rams his
40:36head into a wall for fun. Then Colts running back Seth Mcgo behind Jonathan Taylor. Those were the names that stuck out to me. Order is pretty much correct.
40:43All right, because again, giving Genty struggles, maybe Washington can start to carve out not standalone value, but I don't know. It's moving in a good
40:50direction for him and obviously the handcuff upside is skyhigh. Katon Mitchell similar sentiment with Hampton.
40:55Brian Robinson, it's a good Falcons offense. I think Robinson like if you are in a deeper league, I'm in a 14amer.
41:02You got to start three wide receivers.
41:04You got three flexes. If I put Brian Robinson in as one of my flexes, like I don't want to necessarily unall alive
41:10myself as much as I would maybe, you know, with some of these other guys we're talking about. Like I said Mone,
41:14you know what I'm saying? So that said, Ray Davis, guys, still 10% Yahoo, 6% ESPN. Ray Davis is Tank Bigie with a
41:22horrible PR team at this point. So, I like keeping him strapped on the bench.
41:28That's going to do it for me. I appreciate you guys tuning in. If you like the video, please like the video.
41:32Hitting that subscribe button always helps as well. We'll be back with wide receivers and tight ends before Thursday night football kickoff. And then Friday,
41:38back with my guy Billy to break down all the injuries you need to know ahead of the week. So anyway, I am off to walk on
41:44a treadmill for 30 minutes, get my waiver wires done, and then go get some buy one get one wings at Buffalo Wild
41:50Wings, and then may watch some playoff baseball. My team's got to buy pretty much. What a time to be alive. So
41:55anyway, good luck in the fantasy football matchups, everyone. I'm Ian Hard. Until next time, take care everybody.
