Fantasy Football 2014 Running Back Rankings: Week 1

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Jamaal Charles may not finish the 2014 season as the top running back, but he starts in that spot in Athlon Sports' Week 1 Fantasy Football Running Back Rankings. Charles will have to work with a practically brand-new offensive line and a passing game that doesn't exactly strike fear into the hearts of opposing defenses, but he also has an appealing opening matchup against a Titans' defense that's switching schemes and lacks established playmakers.

Each week during the NFL season, we will rank enough players at each position to appease everyone from those in 8-team leagues to 16-team leagues, those that can start two QBs, two TEs, three RBs and four WRs. We cut out the rest, because if you're looking at who the 50th-best running back or the 17th-best kicker is for that week, you need more help than any Web site can give you.

Positional Rankings: QB I RB I WR I TE I DST I K

2014 NFL Week 1 Fantasy Football Rankings — Running Backs


Rank	Player	Team	Opp	Comments
1	Jamaal Charles	KC	vs. TEN	TEN making switch from 4-3 to 3-4.
2	LeSean McCoy	PHI	vs. JAC	Bruised thumb should not be an issue.
3	Adrian Peterson	MIN	at STL	Rams' D-line among league's best.
4	Marshawn Lynch	SEA	vs. GB (Thurs.)	Packers struggled vs. run last season.
5	Matt Forte	CHI	vs. BUF
6	Montee Ball	DEN	vs. IND	His time to shine?
7	Arian Foster	HOU	vs. WAS	If healthy he could have huge year.
8	Eddie Lacy	GB	at SEA (Thurs.)
9	Frank Gore	SF	at DAL	May be "old," but he's consistent.
10	DeMarco Murray	DAL	vs. SF	Good time to face 49ers' depleted D.
11	Alfred Morris	WAS	at HOU	Needs to make most of carries.
12	Zac Stacy	STL	vs. MIN
13	Giovani Bernard	CIN	at BAL	Bengals set to unleash Gio?
14	Le'Veon Bell	PIT	vs. CLE	Is Bell the Steelers' bell-cow?
15	Andre Ellington	ARI	vs. SD (Mon.)	How many touches will he get?
16	Doug Martin	TB	vs. CAR	Could get off to slow start vs. tough D.
17	Reggie Bush	DET	vs. NYG (Mon.)	How will touches be split w/ Bell?
18	Ben Tate	CLE	at PIT
19	Toby Gerhart	JAC	at PHI	If anything he should get lots of work.
20	Ryan Mathews	SD	at ARI (Mon.)
21	Shane Vereen	NE	at MIA	More appealing in PPR leagues.
22	C.J. Spiller	BUF	at CHI	Will Spiller ever break out?
23	Rashad Jennings	NYG	at DET (Mon.)
24	Steven Jackson	ATL	vs. NO	Ready to put 2013 behind him?
25	Joique Bell	DET	vs. NYG (Mon.)	Another appealing PPR option.
26	Chris Johnson	NYJ	vs. OAK
27	Pierre Thomas	NO	at ATL	Could lead all RBs in receptions.
28	Bernard Pierce	BAL	vs. CIN	Gets 2 games to carry the load.
29	Fred Jackson	BUF	at CHI
30	Trent Richardson	IND	at DEN	Needs to get off to strong start.
31	Stevan Ridley	NE	at MIA	Ball security a must if he wants carries.
32	Knowshon Moreno	MIA	vs. NE	Keep eye on workload spilt w/ Miller.
33	Maurice Jones-Drew	OAK	at NYJ	New team = new MJD?
34	Shonn Greene	TEN	at KC	How long until Sankey passes him?
35	Lamar Miller	MIA	vs. NE	Pecking order to be determined?
36	Mark Ingram	NO	at ATL
37	Chris Ivory	NYJ	vs. OAK	CJ not a workhorse back anymore.
38	Darren Sproles	PHI	vs. JAC	Similar role expected w/ new team.
39	DeAngelo Williams	CAR	at TB	Comes down to # of carries.
40	Danny Woodhead	SD	at ARI (Mon.)	Should be plenty active in passing game.
41	Bishop Sankey	TEN	at KC	Starts out behind Greene, but for how long?
42	Carlos Hyde	SF	at DAL	How much work will he get?
43	Jeremy Hill	CIN	at BAL	He's the thunder to Gio's lightning.
44	LeGarrette Blount	PIT	vs. CLE	Does he steal goal-line looks from Bell?
45	Khiry Robinson	NO	at ATL
46	Ahmad Bradshaw	IND	at DEN	His use depends on T-Rich's production.
47	Darren McFadden	OAK	at NYJ	One injury away from being a starter.
48	Jonathan Stewart	CAR	at TB