- Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco 49ers
- Bijan Robinson, Atlanta Falcons
- Breece Hall, New York Jets
- Jonathan Taylor, Indianapolis Colts
- Jahmyr Gibbs, Detroit Lions
- Travis Etienne, Jacksonville Jaguars
- Derrick Henry, Baltimore Ravens
- Kyren Williams, Los Angeles Rams
- Saquon Barkley, Philadelphia Eagles
- Isiah Pacheco, Kansas City Chiefs
———— - De’Von Achane, Miami Dolphins
- James Cook, Buffalo Bills
- Kenneth Walker, Seattle Seahawks
- Rachaad White, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Rhamondre Stevenson, New England Patriots
- Joe Mixon, Houston Texans
- Josh Jacobs, Green Bay Packers
- Raheem Mostert, Miami Dolphins
- David Montgomery, Detroit Lions
- Alvin Kamara, New Orleans Saints
- Aaron Jones, Minnesota Vikings
- Jonathan Brooks, Carolina Panthers
- Devin Singletary, New York Giants
- D’Andre Swift, Chicago Bears
- Najee Harris, Pittsburgh Steelers
- James Conner, Arizona Cardinals
- Zamir White, Las Vegas Raiders
———— - Tony Pollard, Tennessee Titans
- Jaylen Warren, Pittsburgh Steelers
- Javonte Williams, Denver Broncos
- Gus Edwards, Los Angeles Chargers
- Chase Brown, Cincinnati Bengals
- Tyjae Spears, Tennessee Titans
- Brian Robinson Jr, Washington Commanders
- Ezekiel Elliot, Dallas Cowboys
- Austin Ekeler, Washington Commanders
- Nick Chubb, Cleveland Browns
- Zack Moss, Cincinnati Bengals
- Jerome Ford, Cleveland Browns
- Rico Dowdle, Dallas Cowboys
- Khalil Herbert, Chicago Bears
- Blake Corum, Los Angeles Rams
- Antonio Gibson, New England Patriots
- JK Dobbins, Los Angeles Chargers
———— - Ray Davis, Buffalo Bills
- Bucky Irving, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Zach Charbonnet, Seattle Seahawks
- Ty Chandler, Minnesota Vikings
- Chuba Hubbard, Carolina Panthers
- Trey Benson, Arizona Cardinals
- Braelon Allen, New York Jets
- Tyler Allgeier, Atlanta Falcons
- MarShawn Lloyd, Green Bay Packers
- Jaylen Wright, Miami Dolphins
- Dameon Pierce, Houston Texans
- Jaleel McLaughlin, Denver Broncos
- Tank Bigsby, Jacksonville Jaguars
- Justice Hill, Baltimore Ravens
- Jordan Mason, San Francisco 49ers
- Kendre Miller, New Orleans Saints
I will start my fantasy columns with the same two statements. Know your league rules! Rankings change based on scoring so all my rankings will be half point PPR, 6 points all touchdowns, 10 yards receiving / rushing a point and 25 yards throwing a point. Fantasy Football is not real football! Sometimes opportunities outweigh talent.
The workhorse running back is becoming less common as the years go on which is why I am not a fan of waiting on running back this year. Many mock drafts have a few wide receivers coming off the board early, but my first three picks would be McCaffrey, Bijan, Breece. I think these three paired with a receiever in the 2nd round will give you an advantage over a CeeDee or Ty Hill in the top half of the first round. Running backs 4 and 5, and 6-10 really feel interchangeable. I’m a little lower on Saquon Barkley then most. Two of his last three seasons he was under 4 ypc, and yes he gets an OLine upgrade, but he also goes to a team where he might not be the goal line running back, with Jalen Hurts there. I’d rather last year’s RB #3 in Travis Etienne, who has back to back 1000 yard rushing seasons, and went from 35 to 58 catches. Monitor Jahmyr Gibbs hamstring. He’s super talented and efficient, but hammy’s can linger.
What to do with De’Von Achane. He averaged 8 yards a carry last season!! He was also often injured. But when only 1 team wins out of 12, shouldn’t you shoot for the upside? I won’t reach for Achane, I won’t avoid him, but my word of caution is that the Dolphins traded a 2025 3rd round pick for running back Jaylen Wright. Achane will win you weeks, but sounds like the Dolphins don’t expect him for all of 2024. I’m excited for Kenneth Walker and Rhamondre Stevenson this season. Both of these running backs are off of a disappointing 2023 season, but both feel prime bounce back candidates at a now discount. Ken Walker had basically the same season he had his first two seasons. But, 2023 he played often injured so I am giving him a pass there. Speaking of pass, the new coaching staff wants to utilize him in the passing game moving forward. Walker’s floor looks to be a repeat of the last two seasons where he finished RB18 and RB19, and he is being drafted as such. But let him get more involved in the pass game and we are talking a top10 RB. Rhamondre’s Patriots lack weapons, and he should return to the 1000 yard 70 catch back due to dependence. The Cardinals and the Bills are two of the worst run defenses in the NFL, and that just happens to be two of Rhamondre’s three fantasy playoff defenses he faces. Joe Mixon, Josh Jacobs, and Aaron Jones are three names us fantasy veterans are well aware of, but all three move to a new team this season. Joe Mixon has one season out of seven where he averaged more than 4.2 yards per carry. Three of Josh Jacobs five seasons are 4.0 or worse. Aaron Jones has been efficient, I cannot smear his yards per carry, but he turns 30 this season and goes from the Packers to the Vikings. I believe all three are reallllly close to being over the hump, and I just prefer backs with fresher legs. The running back on a new team I do prefer is Devin Singletary. He reunites with Brian Daboll where he had 188 carries and 40 catches for the Bills. The New York Giants offer little running back competition, do not have the best receivers, and Singletary’s volume should be high.
Tier 3 is full of running backs in committees, who will give you flex level product, but might not get you the preferred volume of touches. If you can crack the committee code for the Titans, Steelers, Chargers, Bengals, Commanders, Browns, and or the Cowboys, then you can strike gold here. Tony Pollard thrived as the change of pace back, sort of like how Tyjae Spears is thriving now. But Pollard goes to Tennessee to be the lead back, letting Spears play the “Pollard” role. I’ll trust Pollard to make more of an impact as he has back to back top 15 seasons. In Cincinnati we have the speedster Chase Brown, who’s season high last year was 11 carries, and Zack Moss, who comes from Indianapolis and had four top10 weeks while Jonathan Taylor was injured. Brown has Moss beat on pass protection and I think his breakaway speed will help separate him from Moss. Ezekiel Elliot is a declining running back, but he did spend six seasons as a top12 back, and his worst finish in 8 years is RB30. He is going late in drafts, and has some good touchdown upside going back to the Cowboys. Nick Chubb will not be ready for the start of the season it looks like, so Jerome Ford will be a workhorse in the first few weeks. Nick Chubb’s worst rushing season was 5.0 yards per carry, where he got the ball 298 times. I don’t know when he will be back, I don’t know how much this injury effected him, but I’m betting on talent and at this late in the draft, where I already most likely have 3 running backs, I want Chubb every time.
We got a lot of rookies and handcuffs in tier 4. This is also a tier that I won’t envision playing these guys as starters, but depth is always nice for the regular season. Four starting running backs that I think are weak are Rachaad White, Joe Mixon, Aaron Jones, and James Conner. So four tier 4 guys I will target are Bucky Irving, Dameon Pierce, Ty Chandler, and Trey Benson. I see the path for them to gain snaps as the season goes on, and if I can be patient with them on my bench, it can pay off the back end of the season. This tier is in a way a waste of a roster spot your first half of the season as I keep alluding to. If I spend a top5 pick on someone like Breece Hall, why wouldn’t I “waste” a bench spot on Braelon Allen, the Jets rookie backup running back. If anything happens to Breece, I still have a starting RB in the case of injury. Bench roster construction is personal preference, but I do not see a need for low ceiling bench flex guys, so give me a back up RB or two to cover myself from injury.
If you get blessed with a top3 pick in your fantasy drafts, run don’t walk at the opportunity to take one of McCaffrey, Bijan, or Breece. Target two backs in my tier 2 and have three strong guys all together, especially in a 2rb 1flex league. Receivers are deep, find value there, and lock up high volume RBs.
Please click the highlighted links below for positional rankings.
Quarterbacks
Wide Receivers
Tight Ends
Defense and Kickers
Draft Day Tips
Thank you,
Goose
Kowal's Korner 
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