RB Rankings

After consecutive injury-shortened seasons, McCaffrey's value was trending downward entering 2022, and to make matters worse he was stranded in the dysfunctional Carolina offense. By the end of the season, McCaffrey's durability and team concerns turned for the better, as he ended up playing 20 games (three in the playoffs) between Carolina and San Francisco. As great as McCaffrey's production was in his Carolina career, the Panthers offense would often work against him. With Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers it's the exact opposite -- for the first time in his career McCaffrey is playing on Easy Mode. His numbers were fine in the six games before the trade, but he was predictably more explosive with the 49ers, producing 984 yards and eight touchdowns rushing with 64 receptions for 525 yards and five touchdowns in 14 games. Even a calf injury in the playoffs couldn't slow McCaffrey down; he had 299 total yards and three TDs in three weeks and missed only one snap in the NFC Championship Game loss. He turns 27 in June, still has the injury history looming somewhat and figures to cede a portion of the carries to Elijah Mitchell, but if McCaffrey's health cooperates he'll have enough catches and TDs to challenge for overall RB1 status again.

Chubb is arguably the league's best pure runner, but his fantasy upside had been limited by Kareem Hunt drawing targets at his expense. While effective as a pass catcher, Chubb hasn't been given the chance to accumulate volume, with his 49 targets from 2019 still a career high. It's possible that the Browns might give Chubb a little more work as a pass catcher with Hunt no longer on the team, as new backup Jerome Ford didn't draw a target in his rookie season. If Chubb sets a new career high in targets it could bring with it his best fantasy year yet, especially if Deshaun Watson can get his act together at quarterback. If Watson produces for the Browns anywhere near the level he did for the Texans, Chubb will be a threat to lead the league in touchdowns. While Chubb is the owner of an absurd career average of 5.2 yards per carry, he has yet to play in a truly good offense in the NFL. The biggest concern with Chubb might be durability given that he turns 28 in December, but it doesn't seem like anything else can stop him.

Taylor was generally regarded as the RB1 going into 2022, and he may have held on to the title if not for ankle troubles –- first a standard ankle sprain in Week 4 that lingered for five weeks, and then a season-ending high ankle sprain Week 15. It also didn't help that the Colts completely fell apart around him, tanking his red-zone and pass-catching opportunities. In his first two seasons, Taylor scored on 5.1 percent of his carries and averaged 7.3 yards per target, but in 2022 those figures dropped to 2.1 percent and 3.6 YPT. Taylor has never benefited from good quarterback play in Indianapolis -- Philip Rivers was merely acceptable and Carson Wentz something less than that -- but the struggles of Matt Ryan proved to be more than even Taylor could withstand. If new coach Shane Steichen and rookie QB Anthony Richardson can fix those issues, it would mean a lot for Taylor's fantasy value, especially since he's already shown the ability to post RB1 numbers with even mediocre quarterback play. The ankle injuries in 2022 were due to a combination of bad luck and a rushed return from injury, but Taylor's health is worth monitoring after the season-ending injury required offseason surgical repair.

After three years of injury troubles, including an ACL tear, Barkley rebounded in 2022 with his best and healthiest season since his 2018 debut campaign. New coach Brian Daboll did a good job rebuilding the Giants offense, which set the stage for Barkley to reestablish himself as one of the top fantasy running backs. He looked mostly back to the form he showed his rookie year, which featured his previous career high in rushing yards (1,307). The one thing missing last year was a return to his rookie-season receiving production; 76 targets were fifth most among RBs but still 45 fewer than in 2018. Daboll tried to avoid putting too much pressure on Daniel Jones, but if the Giants put more on Jones' shoulders this year it won't necessarily be bad for Barkley's fantasy value. He's locked in for a huge share of the rushing workload already, with fifth-round pick Eric Gray the only new addition to a backfield that was lightly used last season with Barkley averaging a career-high 18.4 carries per game. The question now is if Barkley can do more in the passing game and get back toward Christian McCaffrey's level of production.

Ekeler is back in Los Angeles for at least one more year despite requesting a trade in March, ultimately accepting an amended contract (more incentives) shortly after his 28th birthday in May. It may not be what he wants or deserves in terms of pay, but he's at least well positioned to pile up numbers again with the help of Justin Herbert, who douses his running back in targets. Ekeler is among the two or three best pass catchers at his position, and he's proven as an efficient, medium-volume runner now that he's coming off back-to-back seasons with least 4.4 YPC on slightly more than 200 carries. He's also coming off back-to-back seasons leading the league in touchdowns, with his combination of tough, clever running (25 rush TDs) and quick, precise route-running (13 receiving TDs) making the 200-pounder one of the best red-zone weapons in the league. It does seem the Chargers hope to use Ekeler a bit less this year, at least in the passing game, with OC Kellen Moore and rookie wideout Quentin Johnston brought in to help Herbert stretch the field. On the other hand, Ekeler caught at least 4.4 passes per game each of the past four seasons, and the Chargers still don't have good backfield depth or any reason to turn away from their star RB near the goal.