2021 Fantasy Football Consensus Running Back Rankings (RB)

“Running backs don’t matter.” Zero-RB strategies?! Stop the crazy talk! Running backs matter and they matter a lot.

After the Running Back Massacre of 2020 — see Christian McCaffrey (ankle/shoulder), Saquon Barkley (ACL), Ezekiel Elliott (offensive line), Joe Mixon (foot), Austin Ekeler (hamstring), Leonard Fournette (cut) — more of your league mates than ever are embracing anti-RB conspiracies, but you shouldn’t.

Seasoned fantasy footballers recognize that every league winner, with rare exceptions, is built around a core of high-performing running backs. Historically speaking, no position has been more impactful. Leagues have often been won the night of the draft by the team that secures the privilege of drafting fantasy football legends, such as LaDanian Tomlinson, Marshall Faulk, Priest Holmes, Shaun Alexander and Adrian Peterson. Last season was unfortunate but not reflective of larger trends. Despite reports to the contrary, The Golden Age of Running Backs has not ended.

This year our five highest-ranked players (including our consensus No. 1) and 10 of the top 14 are RBs. Draft them early and draft them often.

The table below represents the collective efforts of Awesemo’s fantasy football brain trust to provide you the best fantasy football RB rankings available. To read more about our analysts and see consensus rankings for all players and positions go here: Top 200 Fantasy Football Consensus Rankings.

To create a printable cheat sheet of only RB rankings click on the PDF icon below. For more comprehensive cheat sheets including all players/positions follow this link: Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet Hub.

Legend

Avg – average rank of all Awesemo analysts

ADP Rank – positional rank by ADP

Auction – average auction value between Alex Baker and Steve Buzzard

High – highest rank among all Awesemo analysts (a good measure of upside)

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Half PPR

Name	Avg	ADP Rank	Auction $	Tier	Alex	Steve	Matt G	Loughy	Matt S	Nick	High
Christian McCaffrey	1.00	1	87	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Dalvin Cook	2.00	2	70	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
Alvin Kamara	3.30	4	56	1	3	4	3	3	4	3	3
Derrick Henry	3.70	3	59	1	4	3	4	4	3	4	3
Ezekiel Elliott	6.00	5	42	2	9	5	6	5	5	6	5
Saquon Barkley	6.30	6	46	2	5	6	5	8	7	7	5
Aaron Jones	6.50	8	41	2	6	8	8	6	6	5	6
Austin Ekeler	8.30	7	41	3	7	9	9	7	8	10	7
Nick Chubb	9.70	10	36	3	10	10	11	9	10	8	9
Jonathan Taylor	10.20	9	38	3	8	11	10	12	11	9	8
Joe Mixon	11.00	13	34	3	11	12	7	14	9	13	7
Clyde Edwards-Helaire	12.30	15	33	3	12	13	12	11	12	14	11
Najee Harris	12.50	14	33	3	17	7	13	13	13	12	7
Antonio Gibson	13.70	11	30	3	16	14	16	10	15	11	10
Chris Carson	14.70	18	30	3	13	16	15	15	14	15	13
David Montgomery	16.80	19	27	4	18	17	17	16	16	17	16
D'Andre Swift	18.20	16	24	4	19	18	18	19	17	18	17
Miles Sanders	19.20	20	22	4	21	20	14	17	18	25	14
James Robinson	19.30	33	30	4	14	15	26	18	27	16	14
Mike Davis	21.00	24	22	5	22	21	20	21	22	20	20
Josh Jacobs	22.00	23	23	5	20	19	22	23	24	24	19
Darrell Henderson	23.20	21	18	5	26	22	28	24	20	19	20
Myles Gaskin	23.20	25	15	5	25	26	25	22	19	22	19
Gus Edwards	24.50	41	22	5	15	27	34	20	30	21	15
Kareem Hunt	25.20	27	14	5	32	24	21	25	23	26	21
Raheem Mostert	26.00	31	12	5	27	29	23	26	21	30	21
Chase Edmonds	26.80	29	16	5	24	25	31	28	26	27	24
Javonte Williams	27.20	26	15	5	31	23	27	29	25	28	23
Damien Harris	27.80	30	17	5	23	28	35	30	28	23	23
Trey Sermon	30.50	28	9	6	42	30	24	27	29	31	24
Zack Moss	34.20	36	6	7	33	36	30	38	31	37	30
Leonard Fournette	34.30	40	6	7	30	41	32	36	32	35	30
Ronald Jones	34.70	35	6	7	28	39	43	31	34	33	28
Melvin Gordon	35.50	37	6	7	29	43	38	35	36	32	29
Michael Carter	35.80	32	5	7	43	33	37	32	41	29	32
James Conner	36.30	38	4	7	38	40	33	33	38	36	33
A.J. Dillon	36.30	34	9	7	36	31	39	40	33	39	31
Kenyan Drake	37.70	43	6	7	37	34	46	34	37	38	34
Tony Pollard	40.50	39	3	8	47	38	41	39	35	43	35
Jamaal Williams	42.00	45	7	8	41	32	51	44	44	40	32
David Johnson	44.00	44	2	9	51	50	45	41	43	34	41
Nyheim Hines	44.50	46	3	9	50	37	44	47	45	44	37
Alexander Mattison	44.80	48	3	9	44	44	42	43	48	48	42
Sony Michel	45.00	77	7	9	35	35	29	49	68	54	29
Devin Singletary	45.80	47	2	9	56	46	50	42	39	42	39
Tevin Coleman	46.50	54	2	9	48	53	40	48	40	50	40
J.D. McKissic	47.50	49	4	9	39	51	57	45	46	47	39
Phillip Lindsay	47.80	51	4	9	40	42	56	55	53	41	40
James White	48.30	53	5	9	34	47	63	46	54	46	34
Rashaad Penny	50.80	50	2	10	55	52	53	54	42	49	42
Carlos Hyde	54.80	56	2	11	54	49	65		47	59	47
Latavius Murray	55.00	42	1	11	90		36	37	67	45	36
Darrynton Evans	55.20	55	1	11	57	57	47		57	58	47
Darrel Williams	56.30	67	2	11	52	55	48	60	66	57	48
Marlon Mack	56.70	63	1	11	64			51		55	51
Damien Williams	57.00	59	1	11	63	45		56		64	45
Giovani Bernard	57.20	52	1	11	77	48		59	49	53	48
Chuba Hubbard	57.80	57	1	11	53	60	58		56	62	53
Kenneth Gainwell	58.20	58	1	11	69	66		52	52	52	52
Kyle Juszczyk	58.70	72	2	11	49	62	55	50	64	72	49

PPR

Name	Avg	ADP Rank	Auction $	Tier	Alex	Steve	Matt G	Loughy	Matt S	Nick	High
Christian McCaffrey	1.00	1	94	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Dalvin Cook	2.00	2	69	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
Alvin Kamara	3.00	4	61	1	3	3	3	3	3	3	3
Derrick Henry	4.30	3	52	1	6	4	4	4	4	4	4
Ezekiel Elliott	6.00	5	40	2	9	6	5	5	5	6	5
Saquon Barkley	6.50	6	45	2	5	7	6	6	7	8	5
Austin Ekeler	6.70	7	46	2	4	5	9	7	8	7	4
Aaron Jones	7.00	8	42	2	7	8	8	8	6	5	6
Jonathan Taylor	10.30	9	38	3	8	11	10	12	11	10	8
Joe Mixon	10.30	13	35	3	10	12	7	11	9	13	7
Nick Chubb	11.30	10	31	3	14	13	11	9	10	11	9
Clyde Edwards-Helaire	12.50	15	33	3	12	10	12	13	12	16	10
Najee Harris	12.70	14	31	3	18	9	13	14	13	9	9
Antonio Gibson	13.80	11	29	3	16	14	16	10	15	12	10
Chris Carson	14.20	18	31	3	11	16	15	15	14	14	11
David Montgomery	16.80	19	27	4	15	18	19	16	16	17	15
D'Andre Swift	18.00	16	27	4	17	17	17	20	17	20	17
Miles Sanders	19.00	20	22	4	21	19	14	17	18	25	14
Mike Davis	20.80	24	22	5	20	20	22	21	23	19	20
Myles Gaskin	21.30	25	18	5	23	25	18	22	19	21	18
Darrell Henderson	21.50	21	15	5	26	26	20	19	20	18	19
James Robinson	22.30	33	30	5	13	15	34	35	22	15	13
Josh Jacobs	23.00	23	21	5	22	21	24	23	25	23	21
Kareem Hunt	25.30	27	14	6	32	23	23	24	24	26	23
Raheem Mostert	26.30	31	13	6	27	28	27	25	21	30	21
Chase Edmonds	27.20	29	19	6	24	22	30	28	27	32	22
Javonte Williams	27.70	26	13	6	34	24	26	29	26	27	24
Gus Edwards	29.00	41	19	6	19	27	35	43	28	22	19
Damien Harris	30.20	30	14	6	25	29	43	30	30	24	25
Trey Sermon	31.30	28	8	6	42	31	28	27	29	31	27
Michael Carter	34.00	32	6	7	43	32	33	31	36	29	31
Leonard Fournette	34.20	40	6	7	29	43	31	36	32	34	29
Zack Moss	34.50	36	5	7	35	39	29	38	31	35	29
Ronald Jones	34.70	35	5	7	31	42	41	32	34	28	31
Melvin Gordon	36.00	37	6	7	28	41	37	40	37	33	28
James Conner	36.30	38	4	7	38	40	32	33	39	36	32
Kenyan Drake	37.80	43	6	7	39	33	46	34	38	37	33
A.J. Dillon	38.00	34	6	7	40	35	40	41	33	39	33
Tony Pollard	40.00	39	3	8	46	38	38	39	35	44	35
Jamaal Williams	42.00	45	8	9	41	30	54	46	43	38	30
Nyheim Hines	42.30	46	5	9	44	34	44	48	44	40	34
Phillip Lindsay	44.30	51	7	10	30	36	52	54	53	41	30
Alexander Mattison	44.50	48	3	10	45	44	39	45	47	47	39
David Johnson	45.20	44	2	10	48	51	45	42	42	43	42
J.D. McKissic	45.50	49	5	10	33	49	53	47	45	46	33
Devin Singletary	46.30	47	2	10	55	46	51	44	40	42	40
J.K. Dobbins	47.70	17	1	10	104		21	18			18
Tevin Coleman	48.80	54	2	10	47	53	42	49	49	53	42
Sony Michel	49.20	77	5	10	37	37	70	53		49	37
James White	50.00	53	4	10	36	48	64	50	54	48	36
Rashaad Penny	50.80	50	1	10	57	52	49	52	41	54	41
Latavius Murray	51.30	42	1	10	87		36	37		45	36
Carlos Hyde	54.60	56	2	11	53	50	73		46	51	46
Chuba Hubbard	54.60	57	1	11	54	57	56		56	50	54
Darrynton Evans	55.00	55	1	11	56	55	47		57	60	47
Darrel Williams	55.40	67	1	11	52	60	48	60		57	48
Travis Etienne	56.30	22	1	11	118		25	26			25
Damien Williams	58.00	59	1	12	64	47				63	47
Tarik Cohen	58.30	64	1	12	63		59	59		52	59
Giovani Bernard	59.20	52	1	12	74	45	75	58	48	55	45

Standard (No PPR)

Name	Avg	ADP Rank	Auction $	Tier	Alex	Steve	Matt G	Loughy	Matt S	Nick	High
Christian McCaffrey	1.20	1	84	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	1
Dalvin Cook	2.20	2	74	1	2	2	2	2	3	2	2
Derrick Henry	3.00	3	69	1	3	3	4	4	1	3	1
Alvin Kamara	4.80	4	49	2	4	5	3	3	9	5	3
Nick Chubb	6.70	10	49	3	6	4	11	9	4	6	4
Saquon Barkley	6.70	6	45	3	5	10	6	6	5	8	5
Ezekiel Elliott	6.70	5	44	3	8	7	5	5	8	7	5
Aaron Jones	7.50	8	41	3	9	9	8	8	7	4	7
Jonathan Taylor	8.70	9	42	3	7	8	10	12	6	9	6
Joe Mixon	10.30	13	36	4	12	11	7	11	10	11	7
Austin Ekeler	10.50	7	37	4	10	13	9	7	11	13	7
Najee Harris	12.50	14	36	5	17	6	13	14	13	12	6
Clyde Edwards-Helaire	12.80	15	35	5	13	12	12	13	12	15	12
Antonio Gibson	13.50	11	32	5	16	14	16	10	15	10	10
Chris Carson	15.00	18	32	6	15	17	15	15	14	14	14
David Montgomery	16.80	19	29	7	19	15	19	16	16	16	15
Miles Sanders	18.70	20	25	8	21	19	14	17	20	21	14
Darrell Henderson	19.80	21	20	8	24	22	20	19	17	17	17
Mike Davis	20.80	24	23	8	22	21	22	21	21	18	21
Josh Jacobs	21.00	23	27	8	20	18	24	23	19	22	18
D'Andre Swift	21.20	16	23	8	23	20	17	20	27	20	17
Myles Gaskin	22.20	25	16	8	29	27	18	22	18	19	18
James Robinson	25.30	33	32	9	14	16	34	35	22	31	14
Raheem Mostert	26.20	31	15	9	27	28	27	25	23	27	23
Gus Edwards	27.00	41	28	9	11	26	35	43	24	23	11
Javonte Williams	27.20	26	18	9	26	23	26	29	31	28	23
Kareem Hunt	27.30	27	15	9	35	24	23	24	34	24	23
Chase Edmonds	27.70	29	15	9	25	29	30	28	25	29	25
Damien Harris	28.20	30	23	9	18	25	43	30	28	25	18
Trey Sermon	32.30	28	9	10	40	30	28	27	32	37	27
Ronald Jones	33.30	35	9	10	28	37	41	32	30	32	28
Leonard Fournette	33.50	40	7	10	31	39	31	36	29	35	29
Michael Carter	34.30	32	5	10	43	34	33	31	39	26	31
Melvin Gordon	34.30	37	8	10	30	43	37	40	26	30	26
Zack Moss	34.50	36	8	10	34	36	29	38	36	34	29
James Conner	35.30	38	5	10	38	38	32	33	35	36	32
A.J. Dillon	36.50	34	10	10	36	31	40	41	33	38	31
Kenyan Drake	38.50	43	7	11	37	35	46	34	40	39	34
Jamaal Williams	41.80	45	8	12	39	32	54	46	38	42	32
Tony Pollard	42.00	39	3	12	49	40	38	39	43	43	38
David Johnson	43.50	44	2	12	52	52	45	42	37	33	37
Alexander Mattison	44.00	48	4	12	41	41	39	45	52	46	39
Tevin Coleman	46.50	54	3	13	48	48	42	49	44	48	42
Nyheim Hines	47.20	46	2	13	55	45	44	48	47	44	44
Sony Michel	47.20	77	9	13	33	33	70	53	41	53	33
James White	47.30	53	7	13	32	44	64	50	49	45	32
J.K. Dobbins	47.70	17	1	13	104		21	18			18
Devin Singletary	48.80	47	2	13	53	46	51	44	58	41	44
J.D. McKissic	49.20	49	3	13	42	59	53	47	45	49	42
Rashaad Penny	49.70	50	2	13	51	49	49	52	46	51	46
Phillip Lindsay	49.80	51	3	13	46	47	52	54	50	50	46
Latavius Murray	51.00	42	1	13	91		36	37		40	36
Darrel Williams	55.20	67	2	14	50	57	48	60	59	57	48
Darrynton Evans	56.00	55	1	14	57	61	47			59	47
Damien Williams	56.00	59	1	14	63	42				63	42
Travis Etienne	56.30	22	1	14	118		25	26			25
Carlos Hyde	57.40	56	2	14	56	50	73		48	60	48
Tarik Cohen	59.00	64	1	15	71		59	59		47	59
Marlon Mack	59.40	63	1	15	64		74	51	53	55	51
Chuba Hubbard	59.40	57	2	15	54	58	56		65	64	54

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2021 Fantasy Football Consensus Running Back Rankings and Cheat Sheet (Updated Daily)

Legend

Half PPR

PPR

Standard (No PPR)

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