The Monastery's Official Fantasy Football Running Back Rankings (1-10)

It is finally time for fantasy football and if you're like many of us, you may have forgotten where the fantasy football landscape left off last season. If this is you, you're in luck because The Monastery has for you a ranking of the top 10 running backs. This ranking is for full point PPR scoring and a traditional re-draft league.

Derrick Henry, August 18th, 2022 via Yahoo Sports

10. Ezekiel Elliott

In 2021, Elliott was mostly consistent in putting up weekly double digit performances. Elliott finished as the RB7 with 251.06 fantasy points from 1289 all purpose yards and 12 total TDs. While Elliott is less involved the passing game than most other RBs on this list, he proves to be just as an important piece to the Cowboy's offense as any other running back you're drafting as your team's RB1. While Elliott is at veteran status, entering his 7th season in the NFL, he is still has been consistently finishing as a top 10 running back. The Cowboy's offense recently lost Tyron Smith, which is a factor that will inevitably have a negative impact on the Cowboy's rushing production and their offense as a whole, which is a factor as to why I can't put Elliott higher on this list despite him consistently proving to be a solid RB1 for any team.

9. Aaron Jones

With a developing AJ Dillon behind Aaron Jones, he will have to share some more time than most RBs his level would, but this strong Green Bay RB duo should lead to an efficient offense with plenty of red zone opportunities in 2022. With Devante Adams no longer on the roster, Jones could have a boost in targets this year as he's now the best offensive weapon the Packers have. Over the last 3 years, Jones has consistently finished as a top 12 running back, so clearly can be relied on. I think Jones makes for a great pick for the 2nd round of most league formats and has potential to be a reliable RB1 for your team. While Dillon might take some of Jones 3rd down and goal line rushing touches, Jones has proven value as a pass catcher, so I expect him to have enough flexibility to be the running back and offensive centerpiece that the Packers need this season.

8. Dalvin Cook

I think Cook is the RB8 this year, but not by much over Jones, and there is a steep skill gap between him and the RB7. I think he's in a tier with the last 3 names listed, and I put him just a hair above the rest, but honestly I think you can make an argument for RB8-10 being in any order. Last year, Cook finished as the RB16 in ppr by putting up 203.30 points, from 1383 all purpose yards and 6 total TDs. Now, these are really interesting stats when considering that Cook put up a staggering 1918 all purpose yards and 17 TDs to finish as the RB2 in 2020. While Cook still rushed the ball at an efficient 4.65 yards per carry in 2021, he also still put up a great rushing season, even though his yardage came back down to earth a bit. Though, something that sticks out is the Vikings change in Red Zone strategy from 2020 to 2021. Through the first half of 2020, the ball was nearly always being handed off to Cook as a first option in the red zone, which helped lead Cook to his 17 TDs but by 2021, this red zone usage slowed down a bit and the offense shifted to relying on Kirk Cousins arm a bit more. Going into the 2022 season, the Vikings offensive line is ranked 19th, jumping 3 spots over the offseason from 22nd at the end of the 2021 season. Because of this reason, I think Cook deserves a look for a mid to late round pick in the first round.

7. Joe Mixon

Mixon comes in at the RB7 this year, though I think he's a tough player to gage. Mixon is coming off of the best season of his career in 2021 when he finished as the RB4 in ppr, scoring 285.90 fantasy points from 1519 all purpose yards and 16 total TDs. Meanwhile, the Bengals offensive line finished 2021 ranked as the 22nd best offensive line, and jumped 14 spots this offseason to go into the season ranked 8th. This is as a result of revamping their OL personnel with acquisions of La'el Collins, Teddie Karras and Alex Cappa. While Mixon showed some inconsistencies in his play in 2021, particularly turning it on in the back half of the season, this OL upgrade should give Mixon bright potential this season and because of his inconsistencies, I think he's very polarizing. Because of this, I imagine Mixon to be a player susceptible to dropping past his ADP in many leagues. Mixon is a value at the end of the first round and if you're fortunate enough to be in a league where Mixon drops to the 2nd, I wouldn't hesitate to go for him. Overall I think he has a higher floor compared to RBs in this teir and I trust him a little more than guys like Dalvin Cook or D'Andre Swift.

6. Alvin Kamara

Perhaps one of the most consistently efficient running backs in the NFL, Kamara should have another finish among the top 10 running backs, which he's done every year of his 5 year career. Last year, Kamara played in 13 regular season games and finished as the RB8 (ppr) from putting up 234.70 fantasy points in standard scoring from 1337 all purpose yards and 9 total TDs. considering Kamara missed 4 games and the 18th ranked offensive line (PFF) struggles last season, these we're solid numbers. I feel almost like 2021 was the floor for a mostly healthy Kamara season, as he posted a career low 3.74 yards per carry, while his next lowest for a season is 4.55. So if Kamara still can finish as the RB8 during a season that his rushing efficiency is at a career low for reasons mostly outside of his control, he sounds like a pretty good deal with a high floor as a mid first round pick. In 2022, the Saints will be taking the field with a healthy Jameis Winston, throwing to an receiver core consisting of Michael Thomas, Chris Olave, Jarvis Landry and Tre'Quan Smith that has improved greatly from last year. Therefore I would not be surprised if this takes Kamara's targets away that he was getting from screen plays from Brees. However, I think if anything this upgrading passing game will make the Saint's offense more efficient and open up the running game more for Kamara. Kamara should be getting a massive load of touches in this roll, as well, as the Saint's don't have much depth at running back.

5. Najee Harris

In 2021 Harris finished as the RB3 in ppr; putting up 300.70 fantasy points from 1667 all purpose yards and 10 total TDs. Harris got an abundance of opportunity in 2021 because of Pittsburgh's sub-par passing abilities. Now I expect the Steelers to switch their system in 2022 with the new QB1 in Kenny Pickett, so there is some question on whether Harris will still see the same usage in an offense that could have more of a passing game. Factoring this in, I think Harris' carries, targets and yardage could go down a bit from his strong numbers last year, but have more touchdown opportunities since the offense hopefully will generate more red zone opportunities with Pickett replacing Big Ben. This touchdown dependency adds some risk to Najee Harris, but I still think his ceiling is high if he continues seeing a heavy workload in 2022.

4. Austin Ekeler

Ekeler is coming off of a remarkable season, finishing as the RB2 and putting up 339.80 fantasy points in standard scoring. He did this with 1558 all purpose yards and an absurd 20 total TDs, with a pretty balanced mix of rushing and receiving production. Ekeler and the Chargers offense proved their dominance last season. While II expect Ekeler to keep being the talented pass-catching RB that he's evolved into, touchdown regression is likely, and a lot of Ekeler's fantasy success hinged on TDs in 2021. I expect the Chargers offense to continue to develop with Justin Herbert, and I expect the opportunities to continue to be there in both the rushing and receiving game for Ekeler. Therefore, I expect a slight pullback in Ekeler's fantasy production but to still be around a top 5 RB or so, and well worth a mid 1st round draft pick.

3. Derrick Henry

Coming off of a foot injury and entering his 7th season in the NFL, taking Henry as an early 1st round pick is perhaps the riskiest options out of anyone on this list. The thing that makes this worth it, however, was Henry's sheer dominance in the 8 games he played in 2021 before his injury, as well as 2020 and 2019 when he finished as the RB3 and RB5 in ppr, respectively. At this point, fantasy players that when Henry is healthy, he is capable of top tier production and consistency, to the point where he can carry even the worst fantasy teams when he's playing at his best. Henry is just simply an unstoppable force of nature for defenses. Assuming he begins the season like his usual self, Henry should get a high amount of touches considering Tennessee's downgraded pass catching personnel. Henry has an extremely high ceiling and an extremely low floor going into the 2022 season. He is still as productive as he's ever been but the risk of injury associated with Henry's age, running style and workload cannot be ignored.

2. Christian McCaffrey

If you have the number 2 pick of your draft, I think McCaffrey's track record is strong enough that when he's healthy, he's nearly impossible to pass up. With McCaffrey's wr/rb hybrid skill set, he has proven to be so dominant that Carolina's offensive system is basically built around him. However, I think this pick comes with great risk and perhaps is more of a high ceiling/low floor pick than others in the first round. In 2020 and 2021 combined, McCaffrey was only healthy to play a total of 10 games, due to two ankle and a shoulder injury. Though when McCaffrey's healthy, he has the potential to be the most unstoppable running back for fantasy purposes in the NFL. In 2019, the last season McCaffrey was fully healthy, he finished as a distant RB1 with a staggering 470.20 fantasy points (ppr) from 2392 all purpose yards and 19 total TDs. Therefore, the risk of injury with McCaffrey comes from huge upside and I think this risk is worth taking as the 2nd overall running back.

1. Jonathan Taylor

I don't think this should be a surprise to many. Taylor is entering his third year in the NFL and has already established himself as the best running back in the league currently for fantasy purposes. In 2021, Taylor put up a staggering 369.10 fantasy points in standard ppr scoring. This came from an absurd 2,171 all purpose yards and 20 total touchdowns. These are downright unbelievable statistics for a player that was only in their sophomore year in the NFL. And if that isn't enough, Taylor was no slouch in his rookie year either, finding himself as RB6 in ppr leagues, after putting up 1468 all purpose yards and 13 total TDs. If Taylor can find even just a part of the success he had last year, he will have another dominant fantasy season and will be in the express lane for a generational talent status. I personally don't see any reason that Taylor couldn't continue on the path that he's started. The Colts offensive line has performed well and is ranked 10th among the league heading into this season according to PFF, and Matt Ryan replacing Carson Wentz very well end up making them more efficient this year.