After a couple seasons of non-RBs populating the first round, last season saw things even out a bit. Heading into this year, running backs should dominate the top picks and likely make up the majority of the first 12 players drafted in your league. There are four legitimate contenders for the top spot, with Elliott, Johnson, Bell, and Todd Gurley all having realistic claims. How you rank them likely comes down to how much concern you have for injuries and holdouts and how much you value receiving skills, but you really can’t go wrong with any of those four. Second-year studs Alvin Kamara, Kareem Hunt, and Leonard Fournette should also go in the first round of most drafts, and you can bet someone in your league is excited to take rookie Saquon Barkley around pick No. 10.
As much as those guys feel like sure things, it doesn’t take long for our rankings to get dicey. Committee members, unproven rookies, injury risks, and uninspiring veterans| are heavily featured in the RB2/flex range, and while we know several will have solid seasons, the odds are just as likely that players ranked 30 spots lower will break out. Balancing risk with stability is always key when putting together a running back corps.
DOMINATE YOUR DRAFT: Ultimate 2018 fantasy football cheat sheet
Once the season starts, matchups and workload trends will become much more important than any sort of season-long overview, so these rankings are more of a risk calculation than anything. Everyone has their favorite sleepers, especially when it comes to rookies, and if they can land a starting job early in the season, they will outperform our current ranking for them. Similarly, some of the boring, veteran backs that no one wants but are slated to start early on could easily fall out of favor and off fantasy rosters.
With so much uncertainty at this fickle position, it’s tough to really feel confident about anything after the top 10, so make sure to grab a little of everything when you’re filling out your depth chart.
These rankings will be updated frequently throughout the preseason, so check back often as we adjust players and add additional analysis to the rankings below.
2018 RANKINGS:Quarterback | Wide Receiver | Tight End | D/ST | Kicker | Top 200
Fantasy football rankings 2018: Running back
*Rankings based on standard, non-PPR leagues
