Bijan Robinson’s hype train finally leaves the station vs. Carolina, Josh Jacobs knocks off the rust following his summer holdout, and Rhamondre Stevenson readies for Ezekiel Elliott’s touch competition in New England.
Other positions: Quarterback | Receiver | Tight End/Kickers/Defense
Updated 9/10 at 12:35 PM ET. Removed Rashaad Penny and adjusted Eagles running backs.
Week 1 Running Backs
| RK | Player | Opp | Time |
| 1 | Austin Ekeler | MIA | Sun, 04:25 pm EDT |
| 2 | Christian McCaffrey | @PIT | Sun, 01:00 pm EDT |
| 3 | Bijan Robinson | CAR | Sun, 01:00 pm EDT |
| 4 | Tony Pollard | @NYG | Sun, 08:20 pm EDT |
| 5 | Derrick Henry | @NO | Sun, 01:00 pm EDT |
| 6 | Nick Chubb | CIN | Sun, 01:00 pm EDT |
| 7 | Josh Jacobs | @DEN | Sun, 04:25 pm EDT |
| 8 | Saquon Barkley | DAL | Sun, 08:20 pm EDT |
| 9 | Travis Etienne | @IND | Sun, 01:00 pm EDT |
| 10 | Joe Mixon | @CLE | Sun, 01:00 pm EDT |
| 11 | Rhamondre Stevenson | PHI | Sun, 04:25 pm EDT |
| 12 | Kenneth Walker | LA | Sun, 04:25 pm EDT |
| 13 | Aaron Jones | @CHI | Sun, 04:25 pm EDT |
| 14 | Jahmyr Gibbs | @KC | Thu, 08:20 pm EDT |
| 15 | J.K. Dobbins | HOU | Sun, 01:00 pm EDT |
| 16 | Isiah Pacheco | DET | Thu, 08:20 pm EDT |
| 17 | Najee Harris | SF | Sun, 01:00 pm EDT |
| 18 | Alexander Mattison | TB | Sun, 01:00 pm EDT |
| 19 | Rachaad White | @MIN | Sun, 01:00 pm EDT |
| 20 | Dameon Pierce | @BAL | Sun, 01:00 pm EDT |
| 21 | Jamaal Williams | TEN | Sun, 01:00 pm EDT |
| 22 | Raheem Mostert | @LAC | Sun, 04:25 pm EDT |
| 23 | Miles Sanders | @ATL | Sun, 01:00 pm EDT |
| 24 | Cam Akers | @SEA | Sun, 04:25 pm EDT |
| 25 | Brian Robinson | ARI | Sun, 01:00 pm EDT |
| 26 | D’Andre Swift | @NE | Sun, 04:25 pm EDT |
| 27 | James Cook | @NYJ | Mon, 08:15 pm EDT |
| 28 | David Montgomery | @KC | Thu, 08:20 pm EDT |
| 29 | Dalvin Cook | BUF | Mon, 08:15 pm EDT |
| 30 | James Conner | @WAS | Sun, 01:00 pm EDT |
| 31 | Antonio Gibson | ARI | Sun, 01:00 pm EDT |
| 32 | Khalil Herbert | GB | Sun, 04:25 pm EDT |
| 33 | Javonte Williams | LV | Sun, 04:25 pm EDT |
| 34 | AJ Dillon | @CHI | Sun, 04:25 pm EDT |
| 35 | Breece Hall | BUF | Mon, 08:15 pm EDT |
| 36 | Jerick McKinnon | DET | Thu, 08:20 pm EDT |
| 37 | Ezekiel Elliott | PHI | Sun, 04:25 pm EDT |
| 38 | Deon Jackson | JAC | Sun, 01:00 pm EDT |
| 39 | Jaylen Warren | SF | Sun, 01:00 pm EDT |
| 40 | Kenneth Gainwell | @NE | Sun, 04:25 pm EDT |
| 41 | Samaje Perine | LV | Sun, 04:25 pm EDT |
| 42 | Damien Harris | @NYJ | Mon, 08:15 pm EDT |
| 43 | Elijah Mitchell | @PIT | Sun, 01:00 pm EDT |
| 44 | Tank Bigsby | @IND | Sun, 01:00 pm EDT |
| 45 | Gus Edwards | HOU | Sun, 01:00 pm EDT |
| 46 | Devin Singletary | @BAL | Sun, 01:00 pm EDT |
| 47 | Tyler Allgeier | CAR | Sun, 01:00 pm EDT |
| 48 | Evan Hull | JAC | Sun, 01:00 pm EDT |
| 49 | Zach Charbonnet | LA | Sun, 04:25 pm EDT |
| 50 | Chuba Hubbard | @ATL | Sun, 01:00 pm EDT |
| 51 | Kyren Williams | @SEA | Sun, 04:25 pm EDT |
| 52 | Roschon Johnson | GB | Sun, 04:25 pm EDT |
| 53 | Salvon Ahmed | @LAC | Sun, 04:25 pm EDT |
| 54 | Ty Chandler | TB | Sun, 01:00 pm EDT |
| 55 | Keaontay Ingram | @WAS | Sun, 01:00 pm EDT |
| 56 | Sean Tucker | @MIN | Sun, 01:00 pm EDT |
| 57 | Jaleel McLaughlin | LV | Sun, 04:25 pm EDT |
RB Notes: There is reason to believe Austin Ekeler has peaked, but Week 1 against the Dolphins won’t produce any evidence. Ekeler has both the opening week’s highest floor and ceiling. … The 49ers ever so slightly throttled off Christian McCaffrey’s workload late in 2022-23 as he played hurt. There is reason to believe that will remain a theme in 2023, though not to the degree that it will threaten CMC’s elite RB1 status. The Steelers are a tough opening-week matchup. … There has been some committee hand wringing in Atlanta since Arthur Smith featured them his first two years with the Falcons. You know when he didn’t? When he had Derrick Henry. Triple-threat Bijan Robinson — receptions, goal-line carries, big plays — will vie for RB1 overall status in fantasy. … Will Tony Pollard suddenly become a 250-carry back with Ezekiel Elliott out of the picture? Probably not. Did the Cowboys add any meaningful early-down competition whatsoever? No. 220 carries are within reach. That would have put Pollard on the doorstep of the top 10 a season ago. … Is Derrick Henry or Nick Chubb the league’s best pure runner? It doesn’t matter. What does will be the 20-plus weekly carries for both.
Josh Jacobs reported in time to immediately reassume his near every-snap role. The Raiders attempted to hype Zamir White before training camp but stopped once the pads came on. There should be no usage change in this backfield. … Saquon Barkley finally stayed healthy in 2022 but posted poor overall efficiency marks and faded badly late. He was just 39th in average yards after first contact and 34th in yards per route run amongst running backs. The Cowboys stomped out the run last year and remain a tough matchup on the ground. … Travis Etienne was one of the summer’s hyperventilation all stars. Maybe Tank Bigsby will end up stealing some money downs, but there wasn’t any evidence of that during the preseason. The Colts are a beautiful Week 1 matchup. … I was skeptical the Bengals wanted to continue shoveling 18-20 weekly touches Joe Mixon’s way, but they did the exact opposite of adding legitimate competition. He will remain an excellent goal-line touches/receptions-based low-end RB1. … Ezekiel Elliott’s addition was not good news for Rhamondre Stevenson , though I believe the ultimate effect will be capping any newfound ceiling rather than cutting out the heart of Stevenson’s 2022 floor.
Zach Charbonnet produced some nice preseason highlights, but there was no actual indication he was about to meaningfully cut into Kenneth Walker’s workload, especially on early downs. Practice hype was surprisingly sparse. 15-20 weekly Walker carries remains an eminently reasonable expectation. … Jahmyr Gibbs is the next Kyle Pitts in that he was a luxury lottery pick his team immediately signaled they didn’t entirely know how to deploy. The good news for Gibbs is that it is far easier to manufacture touches for a running back than tight end. It helps that he is a genuinely explosive, versatile back. Maybe Gibbs’ summer ADP was inflated, but top-20 returns remain quite feasible. … Unlike Charbonnet, Jaylen Warren sustained his hype for the entire summer. Also unlike Charbonnet, the Steelers coaching staff did not maintain ambiguity with their lead back: It’s still Najee Harris , all the way. The fantasy intelligentsia wanted nothing to do with Harris, but he remains a strong touchdowns-based RB2, at least to begin the season. Harris is a genuine risk to fall out of the top 24 if last year’s efficiency issues remain as Warren keeps providing big plays.
J.K. Dobbins opens the year against 2022’s No. 32 run defense as a 10-point home favorite. We’ll worry about whether or not he has third-down duties later. … Summer drafters never fell in love with Isiah Pacheco for reasons that remain unclear to me. The league’s No. 5 rusher after Week 10 last season, Pacheco has a vise grip on early downs in the league’s best offense, and a clear path to more scores than last year’s five on 170 carries. The Lions are a mouthwatering Week 1 matchup. … Sean Tucker is one of fantasy’s more interesting insurance backs, but Rachaad White appears to have all three downs to himself to begin the year. He played 100 percent of the Bucs’ first-team snaps in the preseason. … Alexander Mattison’s touch competition has been slow to organize. The Bucs aren’t an amazing Week 1 assignment. … Dameon Pierce was a divisive summer player. We don’t know how big backup Devin Singletary’s role is going to be. We do know the Ravens are a horrid road matchup, and that the Texans are likely to remain stuck in negative game script.
Raheem Mostert’s moments tend to be fleeting. This week’s mega-totaled showdown with the Chargers’ questionable run defense figures to be one of them. … The good news: Javonte Williams
(knee) is healthy enough to be active. The bad news? Undrafted rookie “Jaleel McLaughlin” is getting steamed for touches. What it all means, I’m not sure I can tell you. We’ll begin to find out against the Raiders’ awful defense. … A potentially back-and-forth affair with the Jets’ elite defense will be a telling measuring stick game for James Cook’s usage. There’s no chance he maxes out as a Chase Edmonds
, right? … People have been assuming a 1-for-1 transfer of the “Jamaal Williams role” to David Montgomery
. I’m not so sure. … I don’t have much to say other than I’m waiting for more information in the Bears and Eagles backfields. I’m also expecting things to unfold largely as planned. Khalil Herbert
getting the first crack in Chicago with Roschon Johnson
and D’Onta Foreman offering some pace change. Rashaad Penny
between the tackles in Philly as D’Andre Swift handles passing downs and Kenneth Gainwell
mixes in for key snaps. … I faded Breece Hall
all summer. That doesn’t mean I’m in on Dalvin Cook
, who has barely been practicing.
