Last time I told you who my top 10- 6 Running backs(RBs) are for the 2018 season and the post before that I explained who are my 15-11 RBs for 2018. In this post, I discuss my top 5 RBs for the 2018 season. To give you a recap on the Part I and Part II articles here were the 15-6 RBs on that list;
15. Derrick Henry
14. Kenyan Drake
13. Devonta Freeman
12. Christian McCaffrey
11. Jordan Howard
10. Dalvin Cook & Saquon Barkely (tie)
9. Melvin Gordon
8. LeSean McCoy
7. Kareem Hunt
6. Leonard Fournette
*If you would like the reasoning for why I chose these players please click on the underlined Part I and Par II above.
Here are my Top 5 Fantasy Football Running backs for 2018.
5. Alvin Kamara
4. David Johnson
3. Ezekiel Elliot
2. Todd Gurley
1. Le'Veon Bell
Now let me explain.
At number 5 I have Saints RB, Alvin Kamara. No-one saw him coming last season. Everyone was after the other rookies Leonard Fournette, Dalvin Cook, Christian McCaffrey, Kareem Hunt, and Joe Mixon. He was a sleeper. He didn't do anything bad his first couple of games, but nothing great either which is what made him such the sneaky pickup. Then, after Adrian Peterson was traded, Kamara really got his chance to shine and boy did he. Although he didn't get a lot of carries, Kamara took advantage of what he did get. On 120 attempts, Kamara ran for 728 yards and 8 touchdowns in all 16 games. He averaged 6.1 yards per carry! Wow! That's not mentioning his receiving statistics either. 81 Receptions for 826 yards and 5 touchdowns! Kamara's All-purpose yards for his rookies season was 1,554 yards and 14 total touchdowns (8 rush, 5 receiving, and 1 Kick return TD)! He was basically Christian McCaffrey 2.0. Just look at the numbers **.
The reason I have him at 5 is because of his receptions and because Mark Ingram is suspended for the first 4 games of the 2018 season and will take advantage of it with a higher total of attempts and receptions. I 100 percent believe Kamara will be able to handle the extra work load, and will certainly be the lead back for the Saints. Although he will split carries with another saints RB for the first four games while Ingram is out, Kamara will get the majority of the touches which really is the reason I put him at this spot.(Prediction: 200 rushes, 900 rush yards, 9 ruTDs; 95 receptions, 900 yards, reTDs 7).
Number 4 needs no introduction, David Johnson, Arizona Cardinals RB. I honestly don’t know if I really have to explain how good he was his first two seasons in the NFL. His second season was a break out season for him and he was supposed to do the same in his third year in the league, but of course you know what happend... he got injured in the first game of the season and was out the ENTIRE SEASON! Not good. Really the only reason why I have him fourth. If he didn’t have an injury history he would probably be my #1 or #2 this year. (Prediction: 315 rushes, rush yards 1300, ruTDs 14; receptions 60, 550 yards, reTDs 6).
Next, my number 3 RB is Ezekiel Elliot. Zeke is another guy who could definitely be a number one RB next season. Why isn’t he though? I’m not sure I can give you a good reason why he can’t because his numbers are really good. In his rookie season he rushed for 1,631 yards and 983 yards in his second season (this was with only playing 10 games because he suspended for 6). However, in my opinion the fact of losing one of their better offensive linemen Doug Free to retirement as well as their best tight end in Jason Witten, I feel like this could be slightly more problematic for their offensive as a whole which would end up effecting Zeke. What I mean by this is I think the cowboys are going to be looking to go to Zeke more and I think defenses will catch on to this and make it harder for Zeke to get yards. Obviously not too hard because he is my number 3 RB for 2018. The other thing that makes me put him at number 3 over number 1 is because of his recieving stats. The cowboys just don't seem to want to throw to him that much. I do think this will change this year with the loss of Dez and Witten, but not by much. In 2016 he only had 32 receptions and in 2017 he had 26 in 10 games. Even for 10 games that is on average 2.6 receptions per game... thats not good. Overall though, Zeke will have a good year. (Prediction: 335 rushes, 1,450 rush yards, 16 ruTDs; 45 receptions 425 yards 3 reTDs).
Todd Gurley is my number 2 RB, this would just leave Le'Veon Bell to be my number 1 RB. Even though I had the pleasure of having Todd Gurley on one of my PPR Fantasy Football teams last season (which the team I had with Todd Gurley went Undefeated last season and won the championship in a competitive 12 team PPR league) I couldn't give him the title of number 1 Fantasy RB for 2018. This is because of Gurley's receptions compared to Bell's. Bell is too valuable as a receiver which is the main reason I had to place him over Gurley. Although, unlike Bell, I would argue Todd Gurley is The RAMS entire offense and Bell is not! What? Well what I mean is that The Rams built their organization around Gurley to rush, receive and score what seamed like all of their TDs. Gurley was the Rams go to guy and that was not necessarily how it was for the Steeler with having WR Antonio Brown (AB). The Rams had a relatively new QB in Jared Goff last season too which helped out Gurley. It was easy for Goff to just be safe and give it to or throw it to Gurley. And you know what it worked for them and Gurley was great last season.
(Todd Gurley Prediction: 300 rushes, 1,475 rush yards, 17 ruTDs; 60 receptions, 650 yards, 4 reTDs).
(Le'Veon Bell Prediction: 320 rushes, 1,400 yards, 10 ruTDs; 80 receptions, 825 yards, 4 reTDs)