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Our updated Week 1 fantasy football running back rankings for 2021. Nick Mariano was ranked 9th and 11th overall out of 130 experts, follow his RB ranks.
Welcome to Week 1 RotoBallers. Below are our updated consensus Week 1 running back rankings for fantasy football, including some running notes on relevant injuries, player news and rankings updates:
- Saquon Barkley Medically Cleared, Set To Return Week 1
- Austin Ekeler Expected To Play In Week 1
- Tests Confirm Torn ACL For Gus Edwards
- Le'Veon Bell Could Be Active In Week 1
- Latavius Murray Signs One-Year Deal With Baltimore
- Saquon Barkley Looks “Promising” Ahead Of Week 1
- Austin Ekeler Back At Practice
- Devonta Freeman Signs With Ravens Practice Squad
- Gus Edwards Feared To Have Suffered A Torn ACL
- Saquon Barkley Limited Wednesday
- Clyde Edwards-Helaire 100 Percent Healthy And Ready To Go
- Darrell Henderson Fully Recovered From Thumb Injury
- Rhamondre Stevenson Not On The Injury Report
- Rashaad Penny Dealing With Calf Injury
- Austin Ekeler Misses Practice Wednesday
- Alexander Mattison Practices In Full
- Rhamondre Stevenson Dealing With Dislocated Thumb
These rankings are a consensus from four of our lead fantasy football columnists - Nick Mariano, Pierre Camus, Brandon Murchison and Scott Engel - who have all analyzed the NFL matchups and game slates for Week 1.
And in case you weren't aware, our very own Nick Mariano was ranked #11 overall in 2018 out of ~120 industry experts, and was ranked #9 overall the year before. So be sure to follow his rankings every week!
Be sure to check all of our fantasy football rankings for 2025:- 2025 fantasy football rankings (redraft)
- Dynasty fantasy football rankings
- 2025 NFL rookie fantasy football rankings
- Best ball fantasy football rankings
- Quarterback fantasy football rankings
- Running back fantasy football rankings
- Wide receiver fantasy football rankings
- Tight end fantasy football rankings
Week 1 Fantasy Football Running Back Rankings
You can also see our full Week 1 ranks for PPR, Half-PPR and Standard scoring.
Last updated on Sunday 9/12 at 10:00 am ET:
| RB Rank | Player Name | Pos | Overall Rank |
| 1 | Christian McCaffrey | RB | 1 |
| 2 | Dalvin Cook | RB | 2 |
| 3 | Alvin Kamara | RB | 3 |
| 4 | Derrick Henry | RB | 4 |
| 5 | Aaron Jones | RB | 11 |
| 6 | Jonathan Taylor | RB | 12 |
| 7 | Antonio Gibson | RB | 13 |
| 8 | Najee Harris | RB | 14 |
| 9 | Joe Mixon | RB | 15 |
| 10 | James Robinson | RB | 18 |
| 11 | Nick Chubb | RB | 19 |
| 12 | Ezekiel Elliott | RB | 20 |
| 13 | Austin Ekeler | RB | 21 |
| 14 | Clyde Edwards-Helaire | RB | 24 |
| 15 | Saquon Barkley | RB | 26 |
| 16 | Chris Carson | RB | 29 |
| 17 | Mike Davis | RB | 30 |
| 18 | Raheem Mostert | RB | 32 |
| 19 | Miles Sanders | RB | 37 |
| 20 | Damien Harris | RB | 44 |
| 21 | David Montgomery | RB | 48 |
| 22 | Kareem Hunt | RB | 50 |
| 23 | Darrell Henderson | RB | 53 |
| 24 | Myles Gaskin | RB | 55 |
| 25 | Josh Jacobs | RB | 57 |
| 26 | D'Andre Swift | RB | 61 |
| 27 | Ronald Jones II | RB | 63 |
| 28 | Chase Edmonds | RB | 67 |
| 29 | Javonte Williams | RB | 78 |
| 30 | Ty'Son Williams | RB | 79 |
| 31 | Melvin Gordon III | RB | 83 |
| 32 | Trey Sermon | RB | 93 |
| 33 | James Conner | RB | 98 |
| 34 | Jamaal Williams | RB | 103 |
| 35 | Kenyan Drake | RB | 108 |
| 36 | Nyheim Hines | RB | 109 |
| 37 | Zack Moss | RB | 114 |
| 38 | Leonard Fournette | RB | 115 |
| 39 | David Johnson | RB | 118 |
| 40 | J.D. McKissic | RB | 122 |
| 41 | James White | RB | 127 |
| 42 | Sony Michel | RB | 130 |
| 43 | Tevin Coleman | RB | 133 |
| 44 | AJ Dillon | RB | 135 |
| 45 | Devin Singletary | RB | 136 |
| 46 | Michael Carter | RB | 138 |
| 47 | Ty Johnson | RB | 140 |
| 48 | Carlos Hyde | RB | 141 |
| 49 | Tony Pollard | RB | 142 |
| 50 | Giovani Bernard | RB | 145 |
| 51 | Tony Jones Jr. | RB | 148 |
| 52 | Phillip Lindsay | RB | 152 |
| 53 | Mark Ingram II | RB | 158 |
| 54 | Malcolm Brown | RB | 159 |
| 55 | Kenneth Gainwell | RB | 160 |
| 56 | Wayne Gallman Jr. | RB | 174 |
| 57 | Alexander Mattison | RB | 181 |
| 58 | Damien Williams | RB | 183 |
| 59 | Rashaad Penny | RB | 186 |
| 60 | Darrel Williams | RB | 187 |
| 61 | Boston Scott | RB | 189 |
| 62 | Devontae Booker | RB | 195 |
| 63 | Salvon Ahmed | RB | 210 |
| 64 | Marlon Mack | RB | 211 |
| 65 | Mike Strachan | RB | 213 |
| 66 | Justin Jackson | RB | 214 |
| 67 | Jaret Patterson | RB | 216 |
| 68 | Jerick McKinnon | RB | 220 |
| 69 | Rhamondre Stevenson | RB | 221 |
| 70 | Alex Collins | RB | 224 |
| 71 | Chuba Hubbard | RB | 225 |
| 72 | Larry Rountree III | RB | 230 |
| 73 | Samaje Perine | RB | 236 |
| 74 | Le'Veon Bell | RB | 239 |
| 75 | Latavius Murray | RB | 244 |
| 76 | Joshua Kelley | RB | 247 |
| 77 | Benny Snell Jr. | RB | 248 |
| 78 | Duke Johnson Jr. | RB | 250 |
| 79 | Jeremy McNichols | RB | 251 |
| 80 | Jordan Howard | RB | 253 |
| 81 | DeeJay Dallas | RB | 255 |
| 82 | Chris Evans | RB | 256 |
| 83 | La'Mical Perine | RB | 258 |
| 84 | Eno Benjamin | RB | 262 |
| 85 | Matt Breida | RB | 265 |
| 86 | J.J. Taylor | RB | 267 |
| 87 | Kalen Ballage | RB | 268 |
| 88 | Jake Funk | RB | 271 |
| 89 | Elijah Mitchell | RB | 273 |
| 90 | Rex Burkhead | RB | 274 |
| 91 | Kylin Hill | RB | 275 |
| 92 | Dare Ogunbowale | RB | 277 |
| 93 | Khalil Herbert | RB | 283 |
| 94 | Trayveon Williams | RB | 286 |
| 95 | Travis Homer | RB | 287 |
| 96 | Jordan Wilkins | RB | 288 |
| 97 | Ke'Shawn Vaughn | RB | 289 |
| 98 | Kyle Juszczyk | RB | 290 |
| 99 | Devine Ozigbo | RB | 291 |
| 100 | JaMycal Hasty | RB | 294 |
| 101 | Ty Montgomery | RB | 296 |
| 102 | C.J. Ham | RB | 300 |
| 103 | Jermar Jefferson | RB | 307 |
| 104 | Corey Clement | RB | 310 |
| 105 | Royce Freeman | RB | 313 |
| 106 | Patrick Ricard | RB | 316 |
| 107 | Trey Ragas | RB | 317 |
| 108 | Alec Ingold | RB | 321 |
| 109 | D'Ernest Johnson | RB | 324 |
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