Running back is always a critical but difficult position to figure out for fantasy football, and that riddle is even trickier to solve in Week 18 of the NFL regular season when teams have such conflicting motivations in play. If your fantasy league uses the final week of the season–don’t worry! DK Network will have coverage all week long with all the news and analysis you’ll need to make the right lineup decisions for the last week of the regular season.
Due to the added risk in playing running back, most playoff teams will take it easy on their star running backs if at all possible this week, and many will rest entirely. For the purposes of this week’s rankings, I’m assuming Kyren Williams, Joe Mixon, Josh Jacobs, J.K. Dobbins, James Cook, Isiah Pacheco and Brian Robinson Jr. will have limited workloads or rest entirely, so I’m leaving them out of my rankings.
The one very interesting exception to that general rule is Saquon Barkley ($8,600; 21.9 FPTS), who needs 101 yards to break the single-season rushing record. Since the Eagles are locked in as the No. 2 seed, there’s no real reason for Barkley to play aside from the record, so expect plenty of discussion and opinions on the decision all week long. I included him in my rankings, but wouldn’t be surprised if he opts to sit out this week.
In Week 17, Barkley was the No. 4 RB, following Jonathan Taylor ($7,900), Bucky Irving ($6,700; 26 FPTS) and Bijan Robinson ($8,200; 24.8 FPTS). Ameer Abdullah ($5,100; 20.7 FPTS) rounded out the top five and was the only other running back with over 20 fantasy points headed into Monday night’s matchup.
Looking ahead to Week 18, here are my top 25 RBs to start based on what we know on Monday:
- Bijan Robinson (vs. CAR)
- Jahmyr Gibbs (vs. MIN)
- Derrick Henry (vs. CLE)
- De’Von Achane (at NYJ)
- Saquon Barkley (vs. NYG)
- Bucky Irving (vs. NO)
- Jonathan Taylor (vs. JAX)
- Zach Charbonnet (at LAR)
- Chase Brown (at PIT) — if healthy
- Aaron Jones Sr. (at DET) — if healthy
- Isaac Guerendo (at ARI)
- James Conner (vs. SF) — if healthy
- Rico Dowdle (vs. WAS)
- Alvin Kamara (at TB) — if healthy
- Tyrone Tracy Jr. (at PHI)
- Tony Pollard (vs. HOU) — if healthy
- Breece Hall (vs. MIA)
- Rachaad White (vs. NO)
- Jaylen Warren (vs. CIN)
- D’Andre Swift (at GB)
- Ameer Abdullah (vs. LAC)
- Jaleel McLaughlin (vs. KC)
- Najee Harris (vs. CIN)
- Blake Corum (vs. SEA) — if Kyren Williams sits
- Kimani Vidal (at LV) — if J.K. Dobbins sits
These rankings are based on news and information available as of Monday evening. Stay tuned to DraftKings Network throughout the week for ongoing coverage as matchups and situations develop.
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