Top 50 running back standard 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 RB5. 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 RB 14 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.

Week 10 is here. The season has flowed underground and you may find yourself managing a losing team and you may ask yourself, how did I get here? And you may repeat to yourself — same as it ever was — same as it ever was. But wait! There’s still time. A winning streak is on the horizon. Don’t let the days go by without spending that FAAB and setting the best lineup possible! Let’s get to it!

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 he 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

Christian McCaffrey is so far above the rest of the field that he should have a tier of his own, but for now, we’ll call him Tier 1A. He’s ethered good defenses of late and now gets a Packers defense that has been poor against running backs all season.

The rest of this tier has the usual suspects, with Saquon Barkley getting a great matchup against the collapsing Jets to hold down the No. 2 spot. Alvin Kamara should be back and shouldn’t have much trouble against the Falcons. He may lose a few carries to Latavius Murray in what could be a blowout, but he’ll get his.

Kareem Hunt will return from suspension this week, but he shouldn’t cut too much into Chubb’s workload in his first game back. The Bills are a nice matchup for Chubb, who needs a bounceback game.

Tier 2

Josh Jacobs head up Tier 2 in a good matchup against the Chargers, who are easier to run on than pass. His nagging shoulder injury could limit his touches on a short turnaround for Thursday night, but as long as he’s a go, he’s going to get his behind the Raiders excellent line.

Marlon Mack and Derrick Henry both get strong matchups and make for strong standard league plays. Henry’s workload is a little more worrisome if Patrick Mahomes plays and can push the Titans to move more to the pass.

Tier 2 is deep this week, as we get excellent matchups for Mark Ingram, Devin Singletary, and David Montgomery.

Tier 3

David Johnson looks to return this week and will face a tough Tampa Bay defense against the run. Johnson has looked much better as a receiver this season as it is, so he should have more luck in PPR leagues than standard.

Tevin Coleman sunk a lot of teams last Thursday night, but he will still be the lead back on a good rushing offense. I’ve dropped him into Tier 3, but he’s still a must-start.

Latavius Murray should see more work than he was with Kamara healthy, as he proved himself in his absence, and the Saints probably don’t want to overwork Kamara as they position themselves for the playoffs. Murray has a good shot at some goal-line looks and mop-up duty.

RB Streamers

Ronald Jones is worth a start this week at home against the Cardinals. He looked good in Seattle as the starter, and I expect he’ll keep that job for now.

Kalen Ballage isn’t very good, but there’s nobody else who’s going to see much work now that Kenyan Drake and Mark Walton aren’t there. His upside is low, but in a week with six teams on bye, he’s likely flex material.

Gus Edwards could be a useful standard streamer against the awful Bengals run defense. The Ravens should be able to trounce Cincinnati, and Edwards should see enough work to have value in that scenario.