Fantasy football: Early 2019 running back PPR rankings

Tier 6

Kenyan Drake, Miami Dolphins

James White, New England Patriots

Tarik Cohen, Chicago Bears

David Montgomery, Chicago Bears

Lamar Miller, Houston Texans

D’Onta Foreman, Houston Texans

Rashaad Penny, Seattle Seahawks

Jerick McKinnon, San Francisco 49ers

Tevin Coleman, San Francisco 49ers

Latavius Murray, New Orleans Saints

LeSean McCoy, Buffalo Bills

Peyton Barber, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

If you missed out on a back in the top-five tiers, that is bad news. These are not the players you want to depend on to take you to a fantasy title. That said, if you have to draft a few of these players and hope one of them hits, you could do worse. Most of these players have potential paths that would catapult them up into the higher tiers, mostly depending on how their team chooses to utilize them in the offense. The Bears, Texans and 49ers all have two backs in this group, because it is unknown how those backfields will shake out, and all of the backs involved have a high potential ceiling.

Tier 7

Royce Freeman, Denver Broncos

Jordan Howard, Philadelphia Eagles

Darrell Henderson, Los Angeles Rams

Ronald Jones, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Carlos Hyde, Kansas City Chiefs

Jaylen Samuels, Pittsburgh Steelers

Devin Singletary, Buffalo Bills

Alexander Mattison, Minnesota Vikings

Kareem Hunt, Cleveland Browns

Matt Breida, San Francisco 49ers

Ito Smith, Atlanta Falcons

Darwin Thompson, Kansas City Chiefs

Bruce Anderson, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

This list mostly includes backs with a path to work, but with other backs in front of them currently on the depth chart. These players’ potential for touches is limited until they are able to break through and prove they are worthy of a larger workload. I really like the rookies in this tier as late-round fliers with huge upside (Darrell Henderson, Devin Singletary, Alexander Mattison, Darwin Thompson and Bruce Anderson). None of these backs will excite you when you draft them, but any could turn into a lottery ticket that pays off.

Tier 8

Dion Lewis, Tennessee Titans

Nyheim Hines, Indianapolis Colts

Damien Harris, New England Patriots

Austin Ekeler, Los Angeles Chargers

Duke Johnson, Cleveland Browns

Mike Davis, Chicago Bears

Chris Thompson, Washington Redskins

Adrian Peterson, Washington Redskins

Kalen Ballage, Miami Dolphins

Justice Hill, Baltimore Ravens

These are late-round fliers who could grab a role on their teams. Some are passing down backs who should garner a few targets each week and will have value, while others would need an injury to factor in significantly. They should at least be on your radar near the end of your drafts.

Kevin Scott is a fantasy football veteran, who plays in over 30 leagues per year and has made a profit in 10 years running. He can be followed @champofantasy.