Fantasy football 2019: Running back tier rankings
By Bill Pivetz
Fantasy Football 2019 Running Back Tier Rankings
This tier features some backend RB1s that will be drafted at the end of the first round or beginning of the second round.
Cook hasn’t played a full season in his first two years in the league. In his 15 games, he’s rushed for 969 yards and four touchdowns on 207 attempts. With an upgraded offensive line and a great passing game, Cook should be able to perform well, if healthy.
Even without seeing Cook play a full season, fantasy owners are still willing to draft Cook before the third round. The potential is definitely there but it does come with some risk.
The Vikings drafted Alexander Mattison this year as well as bringing in Ameer Abdullah for depth. I would not draft Cook in the second round, I’d rather go with a wide receiver if I was able to draft a running back in the first round.
The Browns went young last year at both quarterback and running back and it worked. In his rookie season, Chubb rushed for 996 yards and eight touchdowns on 192 attempts. He started just nine of the 16 games.
Now that he’ll have a full season of playing time ahead of him and no Johnson taking away snaps, Chubb will have nothing to worry about. Hunt is serving an eight-game suspension, so he won’t be a factor.
If you draft Chubb, you start him every week. The Browns invested a second-round pick in him. He’s going to play.
Gordon continues to sit out while he and the Chargers front office work out a new contract. He’s had three good years with a combined 2,987 yards and 28 touchdowns on 713 attempts. The Chargers have solid weapons in both the passing and rushing games.
Philip Rivers will have no trouble throwing the ball 550 times with Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, Travis Benjamin and Hunter Henry at his disposal. If Gordon’s holdout goes into the regular season, Austin Ekeler and Justin Jackson will take over rushing duties.
In my 12-team, 13-round draft, I was able to draft Gordon as my RB3 in the fifth round. I can keep him on my bench until he’s back with the team. If you have the chance to do the same, I would. He is a top-10 running back when he’s on the field.
Bell’s holdout worked as he’s away from Pittsburgh. But the result was him going to the Jets. The offensive line, quarterback and supporting cast are all worse. He will be relied upon a lot, so he’ll get 250-plus carries.
The scoring opportunities will not be there. Adam Gase is the new head coach for the Jets. In their last two seasons, the Dolphins scored 10 rushing touchdowns combined. I don’t like those odds, especially as a potential first-round pick.
Bell is guaranteed plenty of touches but the scoring is a question mark.
In his first full season, Mixon rushed for 1,168 yards and eight touchdowns on 237 rush attempts. He wasn’t used all that much in the passing game, catching 43 passes for 296 yards and another score.
Now that Marvin Lewis is out and Zac Taylor is in, we should see Mixon catching a few more passes. Taylor came from the Rams under Sean McVay. So, involving some of their playbook into the Bengals’ makes this offense a bit more exciting. Though, I don’t think Andy Dalton is the best fit but that remains to be seen.
Mixon has Giovani Bernard behind him, but I’m not worried about that. The fact the Bengals drafted two running backs should raise an eyebrow. If he suffers an injury, expect one of the rookies to see some playing time.
The Cardinals also underwent a coaching change as well as a quarterback change. With Kliff Kingsbury taking over playcalling duties and Kyler Murray under center, we should see more of Johnson in the passing game.
Johnson caught 80 passes for 879 yards and four touchdowns in 2016. He caught 50 for 446 and three last season. Larry Fitzgerald and Christian Kirk are the top two receiving options for Murray. I expect Johnson to be the security blanket for the rookie quarterback.
I drafted him in fourth overall in my 12-team league. With the obvious top three gone, I liked him over Ezekiel Elliott and the others in this tier.