Week one of the fantasy football season is behind us! No matter if you’re 1-0 or 0-1, there’s a lot of football left to be played. Now that we have a little information to go off, these rankings will have some shake-ups for the first time this year. That said, I’ve constructed my top 24 running back rankings & tier list based on statistical analysis, matchup data, sportsbook data, and film. On top of all that, I’ve included a start of the week that I believe the fantasy community is sleeping on.
If you want to check out my full free list of top 48 WRs/RBs you can click the first link below. If you have any sit/start questions or want team advice click that same link and shoot me a message on Discord. Anyone in that channel will be given access to my top 48 WR/RB rankings and top 24 QB/TE rankings each week. Let’s dive into the rankings!
Tier 1
1. Bijan Robinson @ PHI
2. Breece Hall @ TEN
3. Saquon Barkley vs ATL
Tier 2
4. Jahmyr Gibbs vs TB
5. Jonathan Taylor @ GB
6. Kyren Williams @ ARI
Tier 3
7. Derrick Henry vs LV
8. Isiah Pacheco vs CIN
9. Jordan Mason @ MIN
10. Travis Etienne vs CLE
11. De'Von Achane vs BUF
Tier 4
12. Rachaad White @ DET
13. Kenneth Walker @ NE
14. Joe Mixon vs CHI
15. James Cook @ MIA
16. Josh Jacobs vs IND
17. Alvin Kamara @ DAL
18. James Conner vs LAR
Tier 5
19. Rhamondre Stevenson vs SEA
20. Aaron Jones vs SF
21. Tony Pollard vs NYJ
22. David Montgomery vs TB
23. J.K. Dobbins @ CAR
24. D'Andre Swift @ HOU
Must Start: Running Back
Tony Pollard vs NYJ
For anyone new here, the FTR start of the week can’t be ranked in the top 24 according to FantasyPros ECR. When will they learn? Stop betting against Tony Pollard, saying that this article is trash just to watch him score 18.4 fantasy points in week one. I know it’s early, but he was the start of the week for week one and I received a ton of unjust hate.
Pollard was clearly the primary back carrying the ball 16 times versus Tyjae Spears with four. It’s not like Pollard wasn’t used in the passing game, as they both recorded four targets, and Spears only ran four more routes. Looking at the film, too, Pollard passed the eye test and looked much more explosive than last season.
Diving into some deeper statistics, Pollard is 18th in Expected Fantasy Points based on his rushing and receiving usage (Fantasy Points), and the Jets just allowed 31.2 points to running backs in week one. While this should be a relatively low-scoring game, the Titans are only 3.5 points underdogs, so they should still be able to run the ball for the majority of the game. Bottom line, don’t hate on Pollard.
