Fantasy Football: Week 2 RB Rankings
Kevin Hanson joins SI for the 2019 season. His fantasy rankings have placed him in the Top 20 in each of the past two seasons among all the industry experts tracked by FantasyPros.com, and he has been in the Top 25 in six of the past eight years.
Check out more of Kevin’s rankings: QB,WR, TE, flex, DST and kicker.
RB Start of the Week: Sony Michel, New England Patriots
Without a doubt, you were disappointed by the production you received from New England’s Sony Michel if you started him last week.
After all, it’s never good when a running back’s yards per carry starts with a “0.” Not targeted in the passing game, Michel gained just 14 yards on his 15 carries for 1.5 fantasy points.
In a 30-point blowout victory, New England’s running back touches were fairly evenly split—Michel (15), Rex Burkhead (13) and James White (nine). Both were more productive than Michel as Burkhead and White accounted for 85 and 82 scrimmage yards, respectively.
While both Burkhead and White will still be involved, positive game script—New England is favored by close to 20 points—gives Michel enormous upside this week. No team is projected to score more points than the Patriots (33.0) in Week 2 based on implied totals from Vegas odds. In other words, few running backs, if any, have as high of a probability for a multiple-score game as Michel in Week 2.
Despite last week’s disappointing performance, start Michel with confidence in any format this week.
RB Sit of the Week: Phillip Lindsay, Denver Broncos
Reports in the preseason indicated that the Broncos wanted to split the workload evenly between running backs Phillip Lindsay and Royce Freeman.
Lindsay (34, 53%) played four more snaps than Freeman (30, 47%) and ended up with four more touches (15 to 11). As productive as Lindsay was last season, the presence of Freeman in a more prominent role caps Lindsay’s upside as the duo shares playing time and volume.
Making matters worse this week, the Broncos face the stingy Bears run defense. Perhaps that leads to a few more snaps and targets in Lindsay’s favor, but the matchup is clearly not favorable.
The Bears limited Aaron Jones and the Green Bay Packers to just 47 rushing yards (2.1 YPC) in Week 1 after ranking as the league’s toughest run defense (80.0 YPG allowed) in 2018.
In many weeks, Lindsay is a low-end RB2, but he’s not much more than a mid-level flex option this week.
Below are my Week 2 fantasy football running back rankings (half-PPR scoring):
• RB1: Christian McCaffrey, CAR vs TB
• RB2: Saquon Barkley, NYG vs BUF
• RB3: Alvin Kamara, NO @ LAR
• RB4: Ezekiel Elliott, DAL @ WAS
• RB5: Nick Chubb, CLE @ NYJ
• RB6: Dalvin Cook, MIN @ GB
• RB7: Le'Veon Bell, NYJ vs CLE
• RB8: James Conner, PIT vs SEA
• RB9: Austin Ekeler, LAC @ DET
• RB10: Chris Carson, SEA @ PIT
• RB11: Mark Ingram, BAL vs ARI
• RB12: David Johnson, ARI @ BAL
• RB13: Derrick Henry, TEN vs IND
• RB14: Leonard Fournette, JAC @ HOU
• RB15: Todd Gurley, LAR vs NO
• RB16: Sony Michel, NE @ MIA
• RB17: Josh Jacobs, OAK vs KC
• RB18: Marlon Mack, IND @ TEN
• RB19: Damien Williams, KC @ OAK
• RB20: Kerryon Johnson, DET vs LAC
• RB21: Matt Breida, SF @ CIN
• RB22: Devonta Freeman, ATL vs PHI
• RB23: Aaron Jones, GB vs MIN
• RB24: Duke Johnson, HOU vs JAC
• RB25: James White, NE @ MIA
• RB26: Devin Singletary, BUF @ NYG
• RB27: LeSean McCoy, KC @ OAK
• RB28: Phillip Lindsay, DEN vs CHI
• RB29: Adrian Peterson, WAS vs DAL
• RB30: Miles Sanders, PHI @ ATL
• RB31: Giovani Bernard, CIN vs SF
• RB32: David Montgomery, CHI @ DEN
• RB33: Tarik Cohen, CHI @ DEN
• RB34: Chris Thompson, WAS vs DAL
• RB35: Latavius Murray, NO @ LAR
• RB36: Ronald Jones II, TB @ CAR
• RB37: Kenyan Drake, MIA vs NE
• RB38: Royce Freeman, DEN vs CHI
• RB39: Justin Jackson, LAC @ DET
• RB40: Joe Mixon, CIN vs SF
• RB41: Rex Burkhead, NE @ MIA
• RB42: Carlos Hyde, HOU vs JAC
• RB43: Malcolm Brown, LAR vs NO
• RB44: Mike Davis, CHI @ DEN
• RB45: Jordan Howard, PHI @ ATL
• RB46: Raheem Mostert, SF @ CIN
• RB47: C.J. Anderson, DET vs LAC
• RB48: Nyheim Hines, IND @ TEN
• RB49: Peyton Barber, TB @ CAR
• RB50: Kalen Ballage, MIA vs NE
• RB51: Darren Sproles, PHI @ ATL
• RB52: Dion Lewis, TEN vs IND
• RB53: Rashaad Penny, SEA @ PIT
• RB54: Ito Smith, ATL vs PHI
• RB55: Gus Edwards, BAL vs ARI
• RB56: Justice Hill, BAL vs ARI
• RB57: Jaylen Samuels, PIT vs SEA
• RB58: Frank Gore, BUF @ NYG
• RB59: Dare Ogunbowale, TB @ CAR
• RB60: Jamaal Williams, GB vs MIN
• RB61: Alexander Mattison, MIN @ GB
• RB62: Jalen Richard, OAK vs KC
• RB63: Darrell Henderson, LAR vs NO
• RB64: Tony Pollard, DAL @ WAS
• RB65: Darwin Thompson, KC @ OAK
Below are my Week 2 fantasy football running back rankings (non-PPR scoring):
• RB1: Christian McCaffrey, CAR vs TB
• RB2: Saquon Barkley, NYG vs BUF
• RB3: Alvin Kamara, NO @ LAR
• RB4: Ezekiel Elliott, DAL @ WAS
• RB5: Nick Chubb, CLE @ NYJ
• RB6: Dalvin Cook, MIN @ GB
• RB7: Chris Carson, SEA @ PIT
• RB8: James Conner, PIT vs SEA
• RB9: Le'Veon Bell, NYJ vs CLE
• RB10: Mark Ingram, BAL vs ARI
• RB11: Austin Ekeler, LAC @ DET
• RB12: Derrick Henry, TEN vs IND
• RB13: Sony Michel, NE @ MIA
• RB14: Leonard Fournette, JAC @ HOU
• RB15: Todd Gurley, LAR vs NO
• RB16: David Johnson, ARI @ BAL
• RB17: Marlon Mack, IND @ TEN
• RB18: Josh Jacobs, OAK vs KC
• RB19: Damien Williams, KC @ OAK
• RB20: Kerryon Johnson, DET vs LAC
• RB21: Matt Breida, SF @ CIN
• RB22: Devonta Freeman, ATL vs PHI
• RB23: Aaron Jones, GB vs MIN
• RB24: Duke Johnson, HOU vs JAC
• RB25: Devin Singletary, BUF @ NYG
• RB26: Adrian Peterson, WAS vs DAL
• RB27: Phillip Lindsay, DEN vs CHI
• RB28: LeSean McCoy, KC @ OAK
• RB29: James White, NE @ MIA
• RB30: Miles Sanders, PHI @ ATL
• RB31: David Montgomery, CHI @ DEN
• RB32: Latavius Murray, NO @ LAR
• RB33: Giovani Bernard, CIN vs SF
• RB34: Tarik Cohen, CHI @ DEN
• RB35: Ronald Jones II, TB @ CAR
• RB36: Royce Freeman, DEN vs CHI
• RB37: Chris Thompson, WAS vs DAL
• RB38: Kenyan Drake, MIA vs NE
• RB39: Joe Mixon, CIN vs SF
• RB40: Justin Jackson, LAC @ DET
• RB41: Carlos Hyde, HOU vs JAC
• RB42: Malcolm Brown, LAR vs NO
• RB43: Jordan Howard, PHI @ ATL
• RB44: Mike Davis, CHI @ DEN
• RB45: Rex Burkhead, NE @ MIA
• RB46: C.J. Anderson, DET vs LAC
• RB47: Raheem Mostert, SF @ CIN
• RB48: Peyton Barber, TB @ CAR
• RB49: Kalen Ballage, MIA vs NE
• RB50: Gus Edwards, BAL vs ARI
• RB51: Rashaad Penny, SEA @ PIT
• RB52: Nyheim Hines, IND @ TEN
• RB53: Ito Smith, ATL vs PHI
• RB54: Frank Gore, BUF @ NYG
• RB55: Justice Hill, BAL vs ARI
• RB56: Dion Lewis, TEN vs IND
• RB57: Darren Sproles, PHI @ ATL
• RB58: Jaylen Samuels, PIT vs SEA
• RB59: Jamaal Williams, GB vs MIN
• RB60: Alexander Mattison, MIN @ GB
• RB61: Dare Ogunbowale, TB @ CAR
• RB62: Darrell Henderson, LAR vs NO
• RB63: Darwin Thompson, KC @ OAK
• RB64: Tony Pollard, DAL @ WAS
• RB65: Jalen Richard, OAK vs KC
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