Getty Malcolm Brown #34 of the Los Angeles Rams.
Welcome to our Fantasy Football Running Back Rankings for Week 2 of the 2020 NFL regular season. In this week’s column, we discuss the budding fantasy values of Los Angeles Rams‘ Malcolm Brown and Indianapolis Colts‘ Nyheim Hines.
* If you’re looking for more information on how to best set your lineup this coming week check out our Week 2 RB Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em.
Reminder: These rankings are based on full-PPR scoring formats.
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Running Back Outlook Week 2
I’ll toot my own horn here for a moment and note that I had Nyheim Hines (RB14) as one of my preseason top-three RB sleepers for 2020. However, a potential season-ending injury to Marlon Mack may lead to Hines completely demolishing any perceived ceiling I would have envisioned for him.
Hines was grossly underutilized a season ago, just one year removed from ranking seventh amongst all RBs in targets (81). That was bound to change this year with Phillip Rivers at the helm, as Rivers-led offenses have had a RB rank within the top-seven of most targeted players at their position in two of the past three seasons. If Week 1 is any indication, Hines (eight targets) may very well make it three out of the last four.
Yet, more important than anything was his usage in the run game. Jonathan Taylor out-attempted Hines just nine-to-seven. Expect Hines’ usage to grow as the Colts continue to operate out of the shotgun. Furthermore, the Vikings allowed nine receptions to Packers RBs in Week 1 and an average of nine targets to the position dating back to Week 13 of last year.
Malcolm Brown (RB26) will likely find himself a tad higher on other rankings this coming week. However, Cam Akers is still the player Los Angles would like to assume the workload in their backfield sooner rather than later. Brown only out-attempted Akers by four rushes this past Sunday night. Obviously, Brown was the more effective, averaging 4.4 ypc and scoring twice.
Brown has a welcoming matchup in Week 2 vs. a Washington defense who surrendered two touchdowns to Peyton Barber in Week 1 and allowed the third-most points to the position a season ago. He’s a viable flex-start, but his ceiling is vastly limited if he fails to find the end zone.
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Week 2 Fantasy Rankings: Running Back
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- Matchup: Great l Avg l Tough
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# Running Backs TEAM Opp. 1
Christian McCaffrey CAR @ TB
2
Ezekiel Elliott DAL vs. ATL
3
Saquon Barkley NYG @ CHI
4
Alvin Kamara NO @ LV
5
Josh Jacobs LV vs. NO
6
Derrick Henry TEN vs. JAC
7
Dalvin Cook MIN @ IND
8
C, Edwards-Helaire KC @ LAC
9
Austin Ekeler LAC vs. KC
10
Joe Mixon CIN @ CLE
11
Miles Sanders PHI INJ vs. LAR
12
Raheem Mostert SF @ NYJ
13
Aaron Jones GB vs. DET
14
Nyheim Hines IND vs. MIN
15
Kenyan Drake ARI vs. WAS
16
Nick Chubb CLE vs. CIN
17
Todd Gurley ATL @ DAL
18
Chris Carson SEA vs. NE
19
David Johnson HOU vs. BAL
20
Kareem Hunt CLE vs. CIN
21
Ronald Jones II TB vs. CAR
22
Mark Ingram II BAL @ HOU
23
Benny Snell Jr. PIT vs. DEN
24
Devin Singletary BUF @ MIA
25
David Montgomery CHI vs. NYG
26
Malcolm Brown LAR @ PHI
27
James White NE @ SEA
28
Jonathan Taylor IND vs. MIN
29
Melvin Gordon DEN @ PIT
19
James Conner PIT INJ vs. DEN
30
Le’Veon Bell NYJ INJ vs. SF
31
James Robinson JAC @ TEN
32
J.K. Dobbins BAL @ HOU
33
Leonard Fournette TB vs. CAR
34
Phillip Lindsay DEN @ PIT
35
Adrian Peterson DET @ GB
36
Frank Gore NYJ vs. SF
37
Zack Moss BUF @ MIA
38
Cam Akers LAR @ PHI
39
D’Andre Swift DET @ GB
39
Sony Michel NE @ SEA
40
Latavius Murray NO @ LV
41
Boston Scott PHI vs. LAR
43
Tarik Cohen CHI vs. NYG
44
Chase Edmonds ARI vs. WAS
45
Antonio Gibson WAS @ ARI
47
Carlos Hyde SEA vs. NE
48
Myles Gaskin MIA vs. BUF
49
Peyton Barber WAS @ ARI
50
Joshua Kelley LAC vs. KC
51
Jordan Howard MIA vs. BUF
52
Duke Johnson HOU INJ vs. BAL
53
Jerick McKinnon SF @ NYJ
54
Chris Thompson JAC @ TEN
55
Alexander Mattison MIN @ IND
56
Jamaal Williams GB vs. DET
57
Kerryon Johnson DET @ GB
58
Matt Breida MIA vs. BUF
59
Rex Burkhead NE @ SEA
60
Devontae Booker LV vs. NO
61
Giovani Bernard CIN @ CLE
62
Patrick Laird MIA vs. BUF
63
Tevin Coleman SF @ NYJ
64
A.J. Dillon GB vs. DET
65
Dion Lewis NYG @ CHI
66
J.J. Taylor NE @ SEA
67
Darrell Henderson LAR @ PHI
68
Tony Pollard DAL vs. ATL
69
Brian Hill ATL @ DAL
70
Wayne Gallman NYG @ CHI
71
Corey Clement PHI vs. LAR
72
Kyle Juszczyk SF @ NYJ
73
Tyler Ervin GB vs. DET
74
Jalen Richard LV vs. NO
75
LeSean McCoy TB vs. CAR
76
Darrynton Evans TEN vs. JAC
77
Justin Jackson LAC vs. KC
78
DeeJay Dallas SEA vs. NE
79
Josh Adams NYJ vs. SF
80
Royce Freeman DEN @ PIT
81
Jaylen Samuels PIT vs. DEN
82
Gus Edwards BAL @ HOU
83
Ito Smith ATL @ DAL