Fantasy Football – The Top 5 Running-backs To Watch For

Fantasy Football – The Top 5 Runningbacks To Watch For

Welcome back ladies and gentlemen for another install of “The Top 5” for fantasy football! This week, we will be covering the running-back position. One of the main targets for season long fantasy football leagues and the one position that can lead to huge payout in daily fantasy football. Just like last week, the first article is all about the top 5 running-backs to watch for and then to end the week, we’ll target the top 5 running-backs to avoid. Lets dive in and get ready for the NFL season!

5. Christian McCaffrey (Carolina Panthers)

The Carolina Panthers are a team that seem to have it together but don’t actually know how to translate that in to wins or a deep playoff run. Having Cam Newton as the quarterback is always a good thing but with Christian McCaffrey in the back field, it boosts up the offense tremendously. His sophomore season showed that he is no joke and needs to be taken as a serious threat in that Panthers backfield. He will most likely go early on in season long leagues and be one of that main backs targeted each week in daily fantasy football.

McCaffrey had a strong showing even with Newton getting shut down at the end of the season which had some worried that McCaffrey would get beaten up and stopped. He finished the season with 7 touchdowns and barely missed the 2,000 yard mark with 1,965 yards. He was also able to put up 867 yards receiving with 6 touchdowns. He averaged 5 yards per carry and 69 yards per game. He was the duel threat running-back that every team wish they could have coming out of their backfield.

Fantasy Football – The Top 5 Running-backs To Watch For (#4)

4. Melvin Gordon (Los Angeles Chargers)

The 5 year vet has done nothing but show he is a main focal point of this Los Angeles Chargers offense and he needs to be on your squad.  He may not be looked at like Todd Gurley, Alvin Kamara, or Ezekiel Elliott but the man knows how to put up stats. Coming up as the number 4 back to watch for, he may even end this season ahead of Todd Gurley who has some strange injury history from the 2018-2019 season.

Melvin Gordon started out the season as overlooked and really getting the job done while Gurley and Kamara took the spotlight. Gordon does have the yardage like Christian McCaffrey but he knows how to find the end-zone out of the backfield and as a receiver. He finished with 885 rushing yards while find the end-zone 10 times. He was also also able to find the end-zone 4 times as a “receiver”, going for 490 yards. He finished the season with a total of 1,375 yards total while averaging 5 yards per carry and 73 yards per game.

The Los Angeles Chargers finished last year with a 12-4 record which somewhat shocked the league. With Phillip Rivers running the offense once again, they come in with a very similar squad. Having Keenan Allen as the main receiver helps out Rivers and Gordon pressure wise. Antonio Gates return to the 2019 season may be up in the air but if the veteran tight end returns, defenses will still have to give him some attention, opening up Hunter Henry for some looks also. This Los Angeles Chargers squad will once again be in line to gun it for the playoffs and hopefully go deeper this time around.

Fantasy Football – The Top 5 Running-backs To Watch For (#3)

3. Alvin Kamara (New Orleans Saints)

You would have thought with the return of Mark Ingram late last season (due to a suspension) that Alvin Kamara would have cooled down. He didn’t, except for just one game. Now we get to see Kamara as the only featured back this time around unless Sean Payton keeps with the duel threat schemes. Kamara could arguably be the top back to some fans around in the league. It’s a Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers time situation though. With a featured back look once again but for a full 16 games, Kamara is here to terrorize every defense he faces.

Kamara was very family with the end-zone this past season and I’m sure they’ll be best friends once again. He rushed for 883 yards while receiving for 709 yards on the season. He averaged 59 yards per game with 4.6 yards per carry while finding the end-zone 14 times out of the backfield. As a receiver, Kamara was able to find the end-zone just 4 times but averaged 47 yards per game, averaging 5 yards per catch. But Kamara is one of the “luckier” running-backs (not taking anything away from his game) due to his quarterback being Drew Brees. We know the looks will be there out of the backfield and we know Kamara will get the job done.

The receiving core in New Orleans is one to fear as the Saints are marching in to the 2019 season with the same starting receivers with Michael Thomas, Ted Ginn Jr., and Tre’Quan Smith plus Jared Cook. Now with Mark Ingram leaving the Saints, it leaves Latavius Murray picking up what scraps are left from Alvin Kamara. We shouldn’t expect anything different from last year as the Saints were able to finish 13-3 and will look to repeat that process once again.

Fantasy Football – The Top 5 Running-backs To Watch For (#2)

2. Saquon Barkley (New York Giants)

HEY! A New York Giants player has made the Top 5 list and it’s actually for something great! Saquon Barkley was one of my favorite running-backs last season but he was held hostage with a crappy coaching staff but with a new looked coaching staff, Barkely may actually get the workload that he deserves. He put up good numbers in his rookie year but will that sophomore slump actually hold true for Barkley? Lets hope not as things may get better for the running-back moving forward.

Barkley got a lot of crap for being stuck in a crappy offense while others blame went overlooked. Barkley put up over 2,000 yards total in his rookie season with a total of 2,028 in a crappy offense. He rushed for 1,307 yards while finding the end-zone 11 times. He averaged 81 yards per game and 5 yards per carry. On the receiving end, he put up 721 yards while finding the end-zone 4 times. He averaged 45 receiving yards per game and 6 yards per catch. With a newer looked offense, more responsibilities and workload will fall on Barkley.

The New York Giants kicked off their off-season with a huge trade of sending Odell Beckham Jr. to the Cleveland Browns which no one expected. We heard the rumors leading up to it and then it finally happened. The Giants showed how bad their team really was with finishing the season with a 5-11 record. The receiving core finally has no one to truly rely on with it just being Golden Tate with a beat up Sterling Sheperd. Eli Manning still mans it behind the center position but it honestly just leaves Saquon Barkley, the man who will be key in season long fantasy football leagues.

Fantasy Football – The Top 5 Running-Backs To Watch For (#1)

1. Ezekiel Elliott (Dallas Cowboys)

Once again, you can argue Todd Gurley is the top running-back to watch for but let us review the end of the Los Angeles Rams Superbowl run. Todd Gurley was basically non-existent and we didn’t know why. Speculation was that he was injured and it finally came out but in a subtle way this off-season. The Rams announced that we wouldn’t see the same work-horse Todd Gurley anymore but Gurley keeps claiming it’s small. It turns out to be arthritis which could create a long term issues for the back. This pushes Ezekiel Elliott as the top running-back leading in to the 2019 fantasy football season.

Ezekiel Elliott finished last season pretty strong, capping off his 2018 season with 1,434 rushing yards while finding the end-zone 6 times. He’s not the type of player that sleeps in the end-zone like other running-backs but he does get the carries and the looks which we love to target. He added 567 yards through the air while finding the end-zone 3 times. He barely broke the 2,000 total yard mark by 1 yard but we won’t complain. He averaged 95 rushing yards per game and 4.7 yards per carry. He also averaged 38 yards receiving per game and 5 yards per catch. The Cowboys know they can trust the running-back either as a rusher or a receiver and that will not change any time soon.

The Dallas Cowboys may have to put up some money to keep their receiving core in place as Amari Cooper is demanding some money while promising 2,000 receiving yards this season. Dak Prescott is the young manager behind the center and he is hoping to have all of his weapons, especially Jason Witten who just came out of retirement (thank God, that booth stint was not good). Which leaves Ezekiel Elliott as the main focal point as the running-back once again but that shouldn’t worry anyone in Dallas. The Cowboys did finish 10-6 and they’ll be looking to improve on that record once again.