2023 Fantasy Football Rankings: Top 60 running backs

• Christian McCaffrey is the clear top running back: McCaffrey has 24.3 PPR fantasy points per game which is the best for all players since 2018.
• Bijan Robinson is worth the risk: The eighth-overall pick in the 2023 draft landed in the ideal situation for fantasy success.
• Tony Pollard joins the elite fantasy backs: The Dallas Cowboys‘ talented running back will get a chance to dominate without sharing a backfield with Ezekiel Elliott.

Estimated reading time: 42 minutes

These top-60 tiered running back rankings are for PPR redraft leagues. Check out the PPR rankings for how these running backs compared to other players.

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Last updated: 7:15 a.m. Tuesday, July 4

Tier 1

1. Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco 49ers

McCaffrey was nearly unstoppable last season after getting traded to the 49ers, averaging 23.0 PPR points per game once he became a starter in San Francisco.

• He has averaged 9.8 rushing and 11.3 receiving PPR fantasy points per game, which ranked seventh-most and second-most respectively out of 79 running backs with at least 25 games since 2020.
• The 49ers retained the majority of their offensive line outside of losing right tackle Mike McGlinchey. Unproven Colton McKivitz is expected to take his place. McKivitz has 145 offensive snaps over the last two seasons.
• McCaffrey is the definition of an every-down back, but the 49ers were OK with giving him rest whenever they were ahead late. His playing time dipped below 59% when San Francisco had a lead of a touchdown or more in the second half of games.
• He is, by far, the safest bet to be an elite fantasy back this season while playing with the same coaching staff around him with similar backups.

2. Austin Ekeler, Los Angeles Chargers

Ekeler is coming off of back-to-back seasons as a top-two fantasy running back, with little reason to expect a significant decline.

• Ekeler’s fantasy dominance has come from volume in the passing game mixed with touchdowns as a runner.
• His 0.061 rushing touchdowns per attempt and  11.6 receiving fantasy points PPR per game both lead all running backs over the last two seasons.
• Los Angeles didn’t address the running back position in the offseason despite Ekeler being in the last year of his contract and 28 years old.
• The lack of competition can give fantasy managers confidence Ekeler will remain a great fantasy back despite the change in offensive coordinator.
• The top running back in Moore’s offense has been a top-10 fantasy back each of the last four seasons, and none of his backs have had the receiving ability that Ekeler possesses.

3. Bijan Robinson, Atlanta Falcons

Landing in Atlanta was the best-case scenario for the top running back prospect in years.

• The Falcons were the only team to run the ball on more than half of their offensive plays last season, which included maintaining the run even when playing from behind.
• They ran 48.8% of the time while losing, which was five percentage points more than any other team.
• Those rates remained similar when Desmond Ridder took over as the team’s starting quarterback.
• The Falcons' depth was a talented Tyler Allgeier and 32-year-old Cordarrelle Patterson. Allgeier can give Robinson a rest at times, but that shouldn’t stop Robinson from seeing 20 touches per game.
• He will be running behind some of the best interior linemen in the league. Chris Lindstrom and Matt Hennessy are two of the five interior linemen to earn a 90.0-plus PFF run-blocking grade over the past two seasons.
• He should be an early first-round pick in redraft leagues, and the top option in single-quarterback dynasty drafts rookie or not.

Tier 2

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