If you have your fantasy football draft on Labor Day weekend, I wish you luck! If you've already drafted and are waiting for the season to start, I'm in the same boat as you. To help prepare you for your draft or make some last-minute trades, today we're going to be ranking and putting the top 46 running backs in tiers for 2024 fantasy football. 

Tier 1 (Game Breaker)

1. Christian McCaffery

When healthy, Christian McCaffery stands head and shoulders above every other player in fantasy football. Last season, if you made it to your league’s championship game, you likely either had him on your team or faced the guy who did. Health isn’t guaranteed, but from a production standpoint, CMC stands alone in tier 1.

Tier 2 (RB1 Upside)

2. Breece Hall

3. Bijan Robinson

The other two sure-fire first-round selections are Hall and Robinson. Both are young players with a lot of upside and, even in limited time in the league, have proven what they can do. Last year, Breece Hall was coming off an injury and expected to be eased back into action, and Bijan Robinson was stuck in Atlanta’s dreadful Arthur Smith offense. Even still they were both top 10 guys at their position.

Tier 3 (Top 3 Upside with Questions)

4. Jonathan Taylor

5. Saquon Barkley

6. Jahmyr Gibbs

7. Kyren Williams

Each of these guys has had success to some degree, and all of them have top 3 upside if things go their way. Still, each has a question mark or two. For Taylor and Barkley, the question is whether they will get enough goal-line work with the rushing quarterbacks in their respective offenses.

For Gibbs, it’s a similar question, but David Montgomery is likely to get looks at the goal line. Kyren needs to stay healthy and fend off rookie Blake Corum but is still in line for a sizeable workload. All of these guys fit the bill of good players on good offenses.

Tier 4 (Discount Tier 3)

8. Derrick Henry

9. Isiah Pacheco

10. De’Von Achane

11. Travis Etienne

Tiers 3 and 4 could have been combined. These four guys have similar profiles in a lot of ways but have an additional set of question marks. For Henry his age is a factor in addition to Lamar Jacksons rushing. Pacheco’s situation looks great on paper but hasn’t finished higher than RB15.

Achane has a lot of competition in the running back room in Miami and has to stay healthy. Etienne was tremendous last year, but the offensive line wasn’t giving him the best opportunities, which led to a lower efficiency year than expected last year.

Tier 5 (Last Chance to Grab an RB1)

12. James Cook

13. Rachaad White

14. Kenneth Walker

15. Joe Mixon

In my mind, this tier represents the last of the guys with a good shot of finishing top 10 at their position. Cook loses many rushing attempts to Allen, White was very inefficient last year but did well due to large volume, Walker has Charbonnet in the backfield and a passing offense, and Mixon is an unknown in a new offense with Dameon Pierce and a gunslinger at QB. Nevertheless, I would not be shocked to see anyone from this tier finish in the top 10 at their position.

Tier 6 (RB Dead Zone)

16. Alvin Kamara

17. Josh Jacobs

18. David Montgomery

19. James Conner

20. Raheem Mostert

21. Zamir White

People disagree on exactly how to determine or define the running back dead zone. For me, this is the thick of it. These are guys you’re still drafting as starters on your roster but without a lot of confidence. Kamara is aging and highly dependent upon reception volume, Jacobs is in Green Bay, who also drafted a rookie to pair with him, and Montgomery is the RB2 on his team. Conner and Mostert both are top 10 backs when healthy, but have a track record of missing time. White is talented but on a sub-par offense.

Tier 7 (Flex Plays)

22. Rhamondre Stevenson

23. Devin Singletary

24. Aaron Jones

25. Jaylen Warren

26. Najee Harris

27. Brian Robinson Jr

28. D’Andre Swift

29. Jonathan Brooks

30. Tony Pollard

31. Zack Moss

Rather than making comments on each player, I’ll give some categories for the guys from here on out. These guys are back-end RB2 or flex plays on your roster. They generally fit into one of the following categories: They’re on a bad offense (Stevenson, Singletary, Robinson, Brooks), they are aging and on a new team (Jones, Pollard), or they have other players who seem in line to steal significant carries (Warren, Harris, Moss, Swift).

Tier 8 (Need Things to Go Their Way)

32. Javonte Williams

33. Rico Dowdle

34. Ezekiel Elliott

35. Tyler Allgeier

36. Tyjae Spears

37. Austin Ekeler

38. Jerome Ford

39. Gus Edwards

40. Chase Brown

41. Blake Corum

42. Trey Benson

43. Jaleel McLaughlin

44. Zach Charbonnet

45. Nick Chubb

46. Chuba Hubbard

This tier is mostly bench players. They’re all guys who will likely put up modest numbers but won’t be viable starters on a weekly basis unless something breaks right for them. For some, it may be an injury to the guy in front of them; for others, it may be winning the favor of the coaching staff. For others, it may be that they simply end up with big touchdown numbers that prop them up. But if those things don’t happen, they aren’t going to make a big impact.