Top 50 running back PPR rankings for Week 10 fantasy football

Update

The Panthers disastrous run game of late pushed me to push Aaron Jones up a bit in the rankings to RB6. The possibility of Matthew Stafford not playing or playing hurt has me even more in on David Montgomery, who shouldn’t have much trouble putting up numbers as long as he gets the touches. I’ve moved him to RB13, but he’s firmly in the second tier. James Conner is officially out, so Jaylen Samuels gets a boost to RB18 in standard and RB14 in PPR. Devonta Freeman didn’t get much of a change, but I feel better about him now that Ito Smith is on I.R. and have him at RB23 now.

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Welcome to Week 10 of the fantasy football season. You’ve made it. You didn’t give up. You’ve lost some close games. You’ve score more points than the rest of the league but you’re sitting on the edge of a playoff birth. This is your time to shine. Don’t give up! Never surrender! Set those lineups!

Bye Weeks

Denver Broncos, Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars, New England Patriots, Philadelphia Eagles, Washington

RBs on bye: Phillip Lindsay, Royce Freeman, Carlos Hyde, Duke Johnson, Leonard Fournette, Sony Michel, James White, Jordan Howard, Miles Sanders, Adrian Peterson

Injury Report

Alvin Kamara: Kamara missed the two games before the Saints Week 9 bye due to an ankle injury. He appeared close to suiting up in Week 8 and should be able to play in Week 10 against the Falcons.

Le’Veon Bell: Bell had another MRI on his knee, but Adam Schefter says his source told him Bell is “good.” His knee is not 100 percent at this point, though. Bilal Powell has served as his direct backup of late.

Josh Jacobs: Jacobs continues to play and play well through an injured shoulder but does have a quick turnaround against the Chargers on Thursday Night Football. He is expected to play in this favorable matchup.

James Conner: Adam Schefter said last week that Conner was in jeopardy of not playing Week 10 against the Rams. If he can’t go, Trey Edmonds and Jaylen Samuels will likely split work against the L.A., with Samuels as the preferred fantasy play.

David Johnson: Kliff Kingsbury expects David Johnson to play this week against Tampa Bay. Kenyan Drake showed well in his stead, so could see run, but Johnson remains the starter while healthy.

Chase Edmonds: Edmond’s hamstring injury looks like it will keep him out a “few weeks,” according to Kingsbury. His absence would help Drake see more work.

Mark Walton: Walton is suspended for four games, which pushes Kalen Ballage up to starting reps and a flex spot on your team.

Malcolm Brown: Brown’s status isn’t well known after coming off a bye week. We should know more once practice reports come out.

Ito Smith: Smith should be ready to return after getting the bye week to rest his brain injury.

RB Ranking Tiers

Tier 1

At this point, we ink Christian McCaffrey into the top slot and go about our day. After McCaffrey, there are your Saquon Barkleys and Dalvin Cooks, well, just the one of each, but you get the picture. Backs who get every down work and lots of it, live up here near the top.

There is some worry that Alvin Kamara might not see workloads as robust as he was before his injury, but in PPR, you should be more than safe to play him as a high-upside Tier 1 back against a cupcake defense like Atlanta’s.

Ezekiel Elliott gets a tough matchup against the Vikings, but he usually gets his, as long as they don’t forget about him in the passing game.

Tier 2

Aaron Jones continues to show some inconsistency, but his upside games have been out of this world. Tevin Coleman put up four touchdowns on the Panthers, and Jones is better than Coleman. Keep running him out there.

Chris Carson is a Tier 1 stud in a tough matchup at San Francisco. The 49ers aren’t invulnerable to running backs, as we saw with Kenyan Drake last week, so play Carson with confidence.

Todd Gurley gets a tough matchup against the Steelers run defense, but he is also coming off the bye and should be the healthiest he’s been in a while. His range of outcomes is extensive in this matchup, but his touchdown prowess continues to be on full display this year.

Le’Veon Bell had another MRI on his knee but appears to be okay. The injury is worrisome, but as long as he’s playing, he’s a start in a good matchup with the Giants, especially in PPR.

Tier 3

Melvin Gordon continues to eat away Austin Ekeler’s upside, but the Chargers’ new OC gave Ekeler 12 carries and four targets, which he turned into 93 yards against the Packers last week. Oakland just lost one of their best run defenders, so this could be another week you can play both Gordon and Ekeler without much consternation.

James Conner might be able to play this week against the Rams, but if he can’t, Jaylen Samuels should again have a high PPR floor and ceiling. Trey Edmunds took away some rushing attempts, but for Samuels, we rather have him catching passes for fantasy.

Ito Smith should return this week, which will hurt Devonta Freeman, but Freeman has upped his game as a receiver of late, and there’s a good chance the Falcons will trail the Saints, pushing more targets Freeman’s way.

RB Streamers

Hopefully, we’ll hear more about how the Cardinals’ running back situation will shake out, but for now, I don’t see Arizona pushing Kenyan Drake to the bench entirely. In a game where passing will be essential, I expect Drake to get run as a receiver and flirt with useful PPR numbers after his huge debut last Thursday.

The Bears are tough on the run but can give up receptions and yards to receiving backs. This week they take on two, with Ty Johnson and J.D. McKissic coming to town. Choosing between the two is difficult, but Johnson leads in snaps and touches, so he’s the guy to give a shot this week.