Pat Fitzmaurice shares his weekly tiers and rankings to help you set your fantasy football lineups. Here is the full article including all positions. Below, Fitz dives into the running back position for the week.
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Fitz’s Fantasy Football Week 2 Tiers & Rankings
RUNNING BACKS
Tier 1
Tier 2
Tier 3
Tier 4
- Najee Harris
- Breece Hall
- Alexander Mattison
- Aaron Jones
- James Cook
- David Montgomery
- Dameon Pierce
- Jamaal Williams
- Miles Sanders
- Rachaad White
- Joshua Kelley
- Isiah Pacheco
- Brian Robinson
- Javonte Williams
- James Conner
- A.J. Dillon
- Raheem Mostert
Tier 5
- Tyler Allgeier
- D’Andre Swift
- Gus Edwards
- Samaje Perine
- Zack Moss
- Khalil Herbert
- Kyren Williams
- Justice Hill
- Dalvin Cook
- Deon Jackson
- Jalen Warren
Tier 6
- Tyjae Spears
- Tank Bigsby
- Rashaad Penny
- Zach Charbonnet
- Cam Akers
- Antonio Gibson
- Chuba Hubbard
- Jerick McKinnon
Tier 7
- Ezekiel Elliott
- Elijah Mitchell
- Roschon Johnson
- Damien Harris
- Jerome Ford
- De’Von Achane
- Devin Singletary
- D’Onta Foreman
- Clyde-Edwards Helaire
- Ty Chandler
- Sean Tucker
- Boston Scott
Start Najee Harris, who was done in by a bad matchup and bad game script in Pittsburgh’s blowout loss to San Francisco in Week 1. The setup for Najee is much better in Week 2. The Steelers will be without WR Diontae Johnson (hamstring), and offensive coordinator Matt Canada may try to hide Kenny Pickett after his poor performance vs. the 49ers. It sets up for a run-heavy Week 2 gameplan against the Browns, who allowed the fifth-most rushing yards and sixth-most fantasy points to RBs in 2022. In two games against the Browns last year, Najee had 15-56-1 and 23-80-1 rushing, with four combined catches. The first of those games was in Week 3, when Najee was clearly still dealing with a Lisfranc injury. He’s a solid fantasy play this week.
Breece Hall had a 32% snap share in Week 1, but would you really consider keeping him on your bench after the show he put on Monday night against the Bills? The kid is magical. So much for any worries that he wouldn’t have the same juice he had before tearing his ACL last October. Hall is miles better than Dalvin Cook. With Aaron Rodgers out for the season, the Jets have to figure out a way to move the ball despite substandard quarterbacking. Hall is a much better solution to that problem than Cook is.
I’ve seen some people rank David Montgomery just outside of RB1 range following his productive Week 1 performance against the Chiefs (21-74-1 rushing). Monty is certainly playable most weeks unless he runs into a prohibitive matchup, but ranking him as a top-15 RB for Week 2 seems like an overreaction to a solid but unspectacular first game. Yes, he has an attractive Week 2 matchup against a Seattle run defense that was bad in 2022. But Montgomery isn’t getting 20-plus carries every week with a back as talented as Jahmyr Gibbs around, and Monty had zero involvement in the passing game in Week 1, failing to draw a single target.
I know James Conner‘s usage is appealing. He had 14 carries and five receptions in Week 1. But his efficiency is bound to be substandard in the anemic Arizona offense. Conner’s 19 touches in Week 1 netted him 60 yards. He averaged 1.6 yards per catch. And we know the Cardinals aren’t scoring many touchdowns this year. The promise of reliable volume props up Conner’s floor, but he has the low-hanging ceiling of a basement rec room.
Justice Hill scored two touchdowns last week, but his eight carries netted nine yards. Hill has been in the league since 2019 and hasn’t been able to get any serious traction as a worthwhile fantasy contributor. I’m skeptical we see it happen now just because J.K. Dobbins is out for the season. I have Hill ranked as a high-end RB4 this week and have more faith in Gus Edwards, who’s ranked as a midrange RB3.
With Austin Ekeler dountful for Week 2, Joshua Kelley slides into low-end RB2 range. I can’t go any higher than that with Kelley, a modestly talented RB going up against a tough Tennessee run defense.
Don’t be fooled by the 22 carries that Cam Akers had last week against the Seahawks. Kyren Williams out-snapped Akers 26-4 in the first half of that game, but Akers still wound up with a boatload of carries because Sean McVay let him salt the game away when the Rams were leading in the fourth quarter. This week, the Rams play the 49ers, who are a skull-and-crossbones matchup for running backs — especially running backs who aren’t prominently featured in the passing game. Don’t start Cam Akers this week. You probably shouldn’t start Williams either (though he’d be a better play than Akers).
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