Here is my top 10: 1. Atlanta to tack on more money to their cap savings in 2023 with the release of the veteran quarterback. He barely played in three games a season ago and still scored 6 total touchdowns. The Cowboys may wind up losing two key defenders this offseason. 1 back in the second half of last season on their Super Bowl run. Hyde returns to the NFC West, having begun his NFL career with the San Francisco 49ers. Wayne Gallman, a 27-year-old running back, was waived by the NFC South franchise on Saturday afternoon, according to reports. The Panthers' overall rushing production dropped in 2019 because of the loss of QB Cam Newton and an offensive line that struggled. Josh Jacobs has eclipsed the 1,000-yard plateau in each of his first two seasons with the Raiders. Coleman returns to the 49ers as part of their running back committee. NFL Players By Position - Running Back. Sony Michel, Los Angeles Rams For the newest installment of Fantraxs fantasy running back depth charts series, were going to delve into the NFC South. NFL footage NFL Productions LLC. Continuing my NFC South position group rankings, I've dug into each team's current crop of running backs to determine how they stack up. A quality running back is a scarce fantasy asset. Your email address will not be published. Ty Montgomery He rushed for 772 yards on a whopping 5.6 yards per attempt last season. Copyright 2019-2023. Drake has yet to put together a great full season, but will get his chance as the Cardinals No. But Kamara is the prize of the group. 50-41? The Panthers crown jewel. For his career, the bruising back out of Ohio State now has 6,384 rushing yards and another 1,957 receiving yards with 56 total touchdowns. Hubbard was a solid mid round choice and could prove to be a capable #2but hes just that right now: an unproven mid-round rookiebasically their version of KeShawn Vaughn last season. Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 7. The sky is the limit for Jones as the clear No. Further, Mike Evans, Antonio Brown, and Chris Godwin deserve their fair share of targets too. Derrick Ward, Tampa Bay. Hell turn a routine carry into a long touchdown within the simplest crease in the offensive line. Episode 8 of the "Top 100 Players of 2022" airs on Sunday, revealing notable NFL siblings in the players' list between Nos. With multi-team trades, designated commissioner/league managers, and drag/drop easy click methods, Fantrax is sure to excite the serious fantasy sports fan sign up now for a free year at Fantrax.com. I don't think the Seahawks get close to the playoff team they've been the past two seasons without him. A lot has changed since the end of the 2020 season, when Watson led the league in passing yards (4,823). Ranking the top six running backs in the NFC North division, entering the 2021 NFL season. Odds & lines subject to change. Kamara, a 3rd-round pick from Tennessee in the 2017 draft, beat out McCaffrey for 2017 Offensive Rookie of the Year honors and is a vital part of the New Orleans offense. Dillon is waiting in the wings in the Green Bay running backs room. Dwayne Washington Ekeler is tied to Justin Herbert for what should be the remainder of his career. FILE - Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Leonard Fournette sprints to the end zone to score on a 27-yard touchdown run during the second half of the NFL Super Bowl 55 football game against. FantraxHQ - The Home of Fantasy Sports Analysis, 2021 Fantasy Running Back Depth Charts: NFC South, Top 500 Fantasy Baseball Dynasty Rankings, Fantasy 101: How to Play Rotisserie Baseball, 2023 Fantasy Baseball Position Eligibility, Fantasy EPL 101 How to Play Draft Premier League, 2023 Fantasy Baseball: Points Leagues Sleepers Hitters, Canadian Baseball Prospects and Team Canada World Baseball Classic Roster. Dominating the game's top defensive backs with ease week in and week out, Metcalf is becoming the gold standard at the receiver position. I expect RB26 and RB28 this year with a full year together. So far, there are has been a wide array of veterans (and rookies) electing to take advantage of this new rule. Saints then Panthers, because of the depth. The NFL voted this offseason to relax its restrictions on what number positional players can wear and folks are wasting no time calling dibs on a new look heading into 2021. If Mostert has his way, he might not even begin the season in the division. He's a fullback, but he belongs on this list. NFC South Bucs Falcons Panthers Saints NFC West Cardinals 49ers Rams Seahawks Colleges ACC Clemson UNC Big Ten Iowa Michigan Michigan St. Nebraska Ohio St. Penn St. Rutgers Wisconsin Big 12. Who was the top rookie? His on-field play has been exceptional throughout his career, which is why he's in the No. All Rights Reserved. You could argue that if you individually compare Saquon Barkley and Ezekiel Elliott, Barkley is the better runner. Expect more usage from the powerful Latavius Murray after his second offseason in the team's system along with a big rebound in performance from Alvin Kamara. Number one fumbling the ball, Elliott said when asked what his No. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. With that in mind, NFL Network analyst Maurice Jones-Drew provides his own ranking of the league's top 10 players 25 and younger heading into the 2021 regular season. We'll continue our NFC South positional rankings today with running backs. Love they guys commitment and work ethic. Who is the best? TEMPE, ARIZONA - JUNE 02: Runningback James Conner #6 of the Arizona Cardinals participates in an, TEMPE, ARIZONA - JUNE 02: Runningback James Conner #6 of the Arizona Cardinals participates in an off-season workout at Dignity Health Arizona Cardinals Training Center on June 02, 2021 in Tempe, Arizona. Who has the best running backs in the NFC East? Saints Head Coach Sean Payton prefers to use multiple running backs in his offensive system. Brian Leonard. Has shown flashes in a limited role, but you get the feeling the Falcons are going to watch Turner's carries closely this year and that could mean more for Norwood. DeAngelo Williams, Carolina. Sign up for our newsletter and get every update delivered to your inbox! Melvin Gordon, Denver Broncos, 22. Reggie Bonnafon It's that time of year again, when NFL players cast their votes to identify the best in the league heading into the 2022 NFL season. To go from barely average regular season play to elite in the playoffs was one of the weirdest things Ive seen in my time watching football. The age listed under each player's name is the age he will be on Sept. 9. A lot of people like to make it sound as if the Saints didn't have a featured back last year. 32. Posted by ESPN.com's Pat Yasinskas We'll continue our NFC South positional rankings today with running backs. They also look for improved play from their young offensive line to establish their running game and have a more balanced offensive attack. Tony Jones July 23, 2021 4:45 pm MT. You won't want to miss a moment of the 2022 season! Dwayne Washington also returns to the Saints' backfield after carrying the ball 27 times for 154 yards last season. Hes recorded 43 scores on the ground and another 15 through the air, proving to be a touchdown machine in the Saints offense. But that's not going to last much longer. After becoming just the fourth player in league history to surpass 1,000 yards rushing and receiving in the same year, McCaffrey signed a 4-Yr $64 million dollar contract extension this offseason that makes him the highest-paid back in the NFL. Expect him to be an even bigger part of Tampa Bay's . bulldozer with underrated open field agility. The 2019 NFL MVP is a nightmare for defenses as a phenomenal rusher and improving passer, and we should see him make a leap in the passing game with more weapons around him in 2021. Not bad for a guy who has bounced around the league for six seasons. As far as the Bucs are concerned I expect RoJo tp come back year more improved just as he has every year. The Saints not only have a premier running back in Pro Bowler Alvin Kamara, they also have one of the deepest running back rooms in the league. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports, https://cardswire.usatoday.com/gallery/ranking-the-nfc-west-running-backs/, Cardinals given terrible marks by players on team report card, 4 of 101 best nicknames in NFL history belong to former Cardinals players, One free agent each NFL team should re-sign in 2023, GM, HC searches affected by Cardinals' reputation on compensation, DeAndre Hopkins trade could come before start of free agency, Eagles player takes shot at Jonathan Gannon on social media, Jonathan Gannon 'not sure' if DeAndre Hopkins will play for Cardinals in 2023, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. He'll be back in 2022, and James Robinson (his only real competition for . At just 24 years old, Barkley is just getting started. Pierre Thomas, New Orleans. Pairing him with a rejuvenated Elliott is going to give the Cowboys not only the best running back group in the NFC East this season, but potentially one of the best groups in all of football. Among the 12 backs who made our top 10 list, based on ties, Michael Turner (29), Steven Jackson (27) and Frank Gore (27) rank as the old men. His work may be diminishing in the passing game with Kareem Hunts emergence, but that may play to his real strength of punishing first and second-level defenders on the ground. Below we rank the running backs from the NFC West, starting with the best. Which 10 players make up Nos. Reggie Bush, New Orleans. https://cardswire.usatoday.com/lists/nfl-rb-rankings-nfc-west-chris-carson-raheem-mostert-kenyan-drake/, Cardinals given terrible marks by players on team report card, 4 of 101 best nicknames in NFL history belong to former Cardinals players, One free agent each NFL team should re-sign in 2023, GM, HC searches affected by Cardinals' reputation on compensation, DeAndre Hopkins trade could come before start of free agency, Eagles player takes shot at Jonathan Gannon on social media, Jonathan Gannon 'not sure' if DeAndre Hopkins will play for Cardinals in 2023, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. 21. Roland Frederickson Koy Sayers Anderson Butler Osborn Tucker Willard Kurek Edwards Garrison Grabowski Granger Reeves Reed Harraway Farr Lindsey Baker Cunningham Hull Jones Ellison Shy Explore Who had the best record against the spread last season? On this roster, theyre together, and neither has a defined role. 10. The third-round pick had a very productive rookie year in 2020, rushing for 795 yards and scoring an extremely . Allen made huge jumps in his on-field production, confidence and command of the offense last season. New Orleans Saints defensive end Trey Hendrickson (91) and defensive end Carl Granderson (96) defends on the play at Bank of America Stadium. 1 in Green Bay. Mike James. Im higher on Rojo than most but much will depend on what version of Fournette the Bucs get. Alvin Kamara and Christian McCaffrey have been stars since entering the league in 2017, and Devonta Freeman should be healthy after missing much of the 2018 season. Davis impressed as McCaffreys backup last year, but now there is limited depth in Carolina. Devin Singletary, Buffalo Bills With just 889 career touches, Ekeler does not carry the same risk of slowing down as other similarly-aged running backs. Jeremy Bergman provides five items that he believes should have been handled differently by the "Top 100 Players of 2022" voters. Atlanta also drafted Qadree Ollison and Marcus Green, further bolstering their depth. Its imperative to note that we havent seen enough from the rookies slated to see action this year. Ezekiel Elliott is coming off the worst season of his career, but the sixth-year pro seems well on his way to a huge bounce-back season. Also, I watched a good amount of Hawkins at Louisville and I think hes a very capable back that could eat into Davis carries.