Ranking players is what we do at FantasyPros. It’s what you want as a fantasy player. “Tell me who to draft ahead of everyone else once I’m on the clock.” Does that sound like something you’d say? What if we told you that rankings aren’t the only thing you should be looking at? Here are Andrew Erickson's top 10 running backs you NEED to draft for the 2023 fantasy football season.
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Welcome in Fantasy Pros. I'm manager Erickson, and today we're going to be breaking down my ten must have running backs for the twenty twenty three fantasy football season, because in fantasy running backs still matter. But first before I get into my list of ten running backs, if you want a chance to win a signed Jackson Smith and Jigba Seattle Seahawks, Jersey courtesy of Bettingpros dot com, you're in place to start betting smarter and not harder. You just subscribe to the Fantasy Pros YouTube channel right now, come out below on this video and that's it. We'll announcing a winner this week. So this is your last chance. Turn those notifications so you can be aladed when new episodes are up and claim your prize. Now, let's get to the list. Number ten. Kenneth Gainwell, Philadelphia Eagles. Kenneth gain Will's usage increased towards the end of the twenty twenty two season and the out targeted Miles Sanders. From Week fifteen onward, Kenny g forced a time share with Sanders. Former starter played fewer than forty percent of the snaps his last five games after never playing fewer than fifty percent of the snaps from weeks one through sixteen, game Will and Sanders split touches nearly fifty to fifty in the team's last four games with Game, Will preferred usage on passing downs. With Sanders and Carolina and Eagles backfield almost completely overturned with editions of DeAndre Swift and Rashad Penny, game Will has the chance to see an expanded role on the ground after the team showed immense trust in him during the postseason. Game Will has been super efficient two years in the NFL, finishing inside the top eight and fantasy points per touch both seasons. The only other running back to do so Austin Eckler. The team has been extremely high on gain Will this offseason with him in the driver's seat over newcombers to be the team's featured back. He sat out the team's first preseason game with many of the other Eagles starters. Number nine Jalen Warren Pittsburgh Steelers. Warren shined with every opportunity got in the Steelers' backfield last year after securing the number two role behind Najie Harris. Warren finished third in Russian success rate in second into two thousand. Running back class and yards per route run just behind Reese Hall. Warren's efficient play suggests he would continue to see snaps alongside Najie Harris. During the team's first preseason game in twenty twenty three, Warren saw the first two carries and out snapped Harris six to four on the opening drive with the first team offense. Considering no team rushed the ball more than the Steelers during the second half of last year, Warren could standalone role even with the healthy Harris, after averaging nine touches in nearly a forty percent snapchair and their final seven games played together. Number eight Antonio Gibson Washington Commanders. Gibson had a polarizing twenty twenty two season, splitting work at the Commander's backfield with rookie Bryan Robinson. Whoever, Gibson's proven track record of production, ideal size and pass catching chops make him a must have late round running back to target. Recall Gibson as just one of twelve running backs to the handle season with at least three hundred touches over the last three years, and despite operating as an RB three for much of the second half of twenty twenty two, Gibson remained much more involved in the passing game than Robinson, with an impressive fourteen percent target chair. The release of Jaden mcausock further solidifies gibson role as the primary receiving back for the Commanders. As a free agent at the end of twenty twenty three, Deef could ride Gibson to the wheels fall off. Additionally, new offensive coordinator Eric the Enemy his arrival may lead to more opportunities for Gibson, as he has no prior commitments to the hierarchy of the backfield from last year, we could easily see Gibson and a Jerrick McKinnon esque role in Washington. He played the majority of third down snaps in the team's first preseason game, posting a thirty percent target rate. The Commander's tough schedule also foreshadows negative game scripts, which favors Gibson's pass catching upside. Number seven Khalil Herbert Chicago Bears. This year's Remondre Stevenson is going to be Khalil Herbert. The Bear's running back, played one hundred percent of the snaps justin fields in the team's first preseason game and looked explosive as ever, Friendly reminded that Herbert would easily take it over the starting running back job last year headed Out suffered an injury. Because anytime he's been Chicago's featured running back over the last two seasons, he's played eight games at least thirteen or more touches, Herbert has averaged Fantasy RB one numbers. I don't see him losing the starting job anytime soon. Number six Rashad White Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Rashad White's rookie season saw him flash a legitimate three down back skill set in the Buccaneers offense. Despite working at a time share with Leonard Fournette, White was able to average eleven Fantasy points per game as the RB twenty six and operate as the one A back in the second half of the season. Despite averaging just four yards per carry and his one spot start without Fournette in the lineup Week twelve versus the Browns, went fourteen for sixty four rushing and nine for forty five on nine targets receiving. He told a ninety percent snapshare on offense list of rookie reunning necks earn a ninety percent snaphare in a game last year, Rashaan White, that's the list. The last pok youre read to make the see a ninety percent snapshare under a Bruce Arians team David Johnson. White also started every game from Week ten onward, even with Fournette active in all but one game. The Buccaneers running back post a sixty two percent RB two finished a rate as a starter over the rest of the season. Number five Cam Acres, Los Angeles Rams. Cam Akers had a rocky start to the jail twenty two season, getting mentioned in Week one and facing doubts about his role in the Rams backfield. However, Acres eventually emerged as the team's RB one and finished the season as the RB four in the final six weeks, leading the NFL in rushing yards at eighty five rushing yards per game. As the Rams enter a new season, acres potential for high volume makes an appealing option in fantasy football. One reason for optimism is that Sean McVay is the Rams head coach, which bo as well as for Akers to remain the primary option in the backfield and taking on a featured role. Acrespit every snap in the rim season finale, and the team did not select any running backs until the sixth round of this year's draft. This means that Acres will face little competition for touches, with only Day three picks Kyron Williams and Ronnie Rivers, as well as Zach Evans as potential threats to not be swayed by the veteran edition of Royce Freeman. Number four. Travis Etn, junior Jacksonville Jaguars, the jags new RB one proved himself to be a great fantasy asset during the twenty twenty two season, averaging fifteen fantasy points per game from Week seven through seventeen, RB eight in points per game, finishing tied for fifth, and carries inside the ten yard line twenty three, despite only scoring four touchdowns on those carries. Etn ended the year with over twelve hundred rushing yards, averaging five point one yards per carry in nineteen games played. He finished fourth in total force miss tackles, trailing only Josh Jacobs, Nick Chubb and Derrick Henry. And all that was despite Etn suffering a foot injury they knocked them out of a Week twelve contest. Additionally, Etn's potential as a receiver remains tantalizing. While he had a limited role in the passing game last year, he was a primary route runner among the Jaguars running backs, posted a twenty two percent target rate per route run in three of his last four games. It's a strong indication of his receiving upside. He's a lock to lead the Jaguars backfield that we're playing seventy five percent of the team's offensive snaps. In the first preseason game, tank be Toby played a one snap with the starters Number three Romandre Stevenson. New England Patriots Ezekiah Elliott recently signed a one year contract with a base salary three million, worth up to six million incentives with the Patriots this offseason. The incentive based contract suggests that Zeke will be nothing more than a breather back for the New England Patriots, lightening the load off for Mare Stevenson and while also seeing an opportunity for goal line usage. The red zone opportunities are the only legitimate downside to Elliott signing from the Stevenson perspective, But every other capacity, Stevens, did you remain the team's featured back because Elliott is dust? Therefore, Stevenson's role in twenty twenty three with more of what we saw from weeks five through sixteen of twenty twenty two, when he was the RB thirteen points per game in RB nine overall as the Patriots RB one, and recall it, even when Damian Harris played alongside steven last year, the big running backs still finished third round participation and targets among running backs. Also remember that Stevenson's strong campaign and route to an RB ten finish was not fueled by touchdowns. He was the only Fantasy RB one to score fewer than seven touchdowns last year. But Stevenson still finished as a back end Fantasy RB one because he's a super efficient running back PFF's eleventh highest graded rusher last year. With pass game chops to boot, Stevenson finished as an RB one and forty four percent of his games last season, which tied Chubb for six highs at the position by the ADP dip on Stevenson that Zeke Siuning will undoubtedly cause salivate over a round four price tag. Number two Tony Pollard Dallas Cowboys. With Ezekiel Elliott no longer on the roster, Tony Paul will have the opportunity to take over as the team's lead back. Last season, he finished as the RB seven in Fantasy despite ranking outside the top twenty five and touches per game. He was a top twelve running back in forty percent of his games play, which ranked eighth best. Pollard's efficiency was on full display as the average five point three yarth Ercarey and was the third highest graded running back by PFF. From week seven through sixteen, Pollard was the high scoring running back at Fantasy with nineteen point three points per game while playing as the team's featured back. He also has little to no establish ARB competition in Dallas between the likes of Douce Vaughan, ric O'Donnell and Malik Davis, and the fears of Ezekie Ellott returning to Dallas have been erased with him signing in New England. We know Derek Brown is very, very excited about Tony Pollard. In twenty twenty three, number one Nick Chubb Cleveland Browns as one of the league's premieer pure rushers. Chubb quietly amassed over fifteen hundred rushing yards and thirteen touchdowns in twenty twenty two, finishing against the RB six overall with the top ten backfield opportunity to share. From week went through twelve, he was the RB four overall and in points per game. Whoever, his production tailed off towards the end of the year with the return of his struggling to Shawn Watson. However, with Watson expected to raise the ceiling of the Browns offense with the full offseason back to football, Chub's fantasy production remained more consistent throughout the year, making him a near bust proof draft pick. Last season alone, Chubb was one of just three running backs to finish inside the top thirty six every single game, along with Christian McCaffrey and Austin Eckley. Runs running back is currently the betting market's favorite to leave the NFL rushing yards. Additionally, with the departure of Cream Hunt, Chubb could see an increase in targets. He demonstrated his visibility in this area with a strong Week eighteen performance, playing season high seventy five percent snapchair, running a route on seventy one percent of dropbacks, and catching five of six targets for forty five yards, posting a twenty two percent target share. Chub finish week eighteen as the RB one overall. An unproven twenty twenty two fifth round of Jerome for is currently pegged as the number two running back. I don't think Ford's going to have the same type of role Hunt had, which gives Nick Chubb RB one overall upside at twenty twenty three. And that's gon to include my must have running backs by top ten for the twenty twenty three NFL season. If you enjoyed this list, be sure to give it a like, subscribe and share with all your friends, and be sure to check out all the running back rankings over at fantasypros dot com. But before you go, remember, if you want a chance to win a sign Jacksmith and Jigba Seattle Seahawks Jersey courtesy of Bettingpros dot Com your place to start betting smarter and not harder. You can subscribe to the Fantasy Pros YouTube channel right now, come on below in this video and that's it. We'll announcing a winner this week, so this is your last chance. Turn on those notifications you can be alerted when new episodes are up and acclaim your prize. Thank you for listening to the Fantasy Pros Football podcast, Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at fantasy Pros, and subscribe to your YouTube channel at YouTube dot com slash Fantasy Pros.