As we meander through the middle of October, it’s a good time to get the Shuffle Up series running. This is where I give you an idea of how I rank the players at each position — broken into tiers — for the rest of the season. Use it for fantasy scouting, pickup ideas, trade themes, or heck, draft a new team and put this list into play. It’s up to you.
We'll start with the most important position in fantasy football — the running backs.
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Players at the same salary are considered even. What’s happened to this point is merely an audition; we’re trying to skate where the puck is headed.
Currently-injured courtesy ranks are at the bottom. Those are not for debate. Everyone seems to have a different opinion on injury optimism; generally I’m a little less trusting with when these players will return. But I am not a doctor, and you know your league and your situation better than an outside ever could.
Let’s jump into it.
Tier 1: The Big Tickets
$44 Jonathan Taylor
$44 Bijan Robinson
$41 Jahmyr Gibbs
$38 Christian McCaffrey
$37 James Cook
$36 Josh Jacobs
$35 De'Von Achane
There’s no obvious way to break the tie between Taylor and Robinson; either could legitimately stand at 1.1 for any league that drafted today. Robinson is a little younger and perhaps more explosive. He’s also already taken his bye week, so there’s one more game to work with. Taylor has less competition for the ball and probably is in a safer offensive environment — take note of that outstanding offensive line. But Robinson leads the position in yards after contact; he doesn’t need a lot of help. No matter your preference, they both look like league-tilting players.
Gibbs is always going to have to share with David Montgomery, but the gap is widening — Gibbs averages about six more touches per week. The lone frustration for Gibbs is a lack of splash plays in the passing game — he’s averaging just 4.9 yards per catch after a juicy 9.9 YPC last year. Maybe that’s where Ben Johnson’s creative scheming is missed. But the Lions shrewdly rebuilt their offensive line (Gibbs leads all running backs in yards before contact) and Gibbs is a favorite to score a touchdown every week. Enjoy the ride.
McCaffrey’s value is almost entirely built on his absurd receiving volume. He’s collected 60 targets — that’s 22 more than any other back — and 46 receptions, but his rushing attempts are lagging at 3.1 YPC. The injuries in the San Francisco receiver room have probably helped McCaffrey’s role, too — and we have to assume that’s an issue all season. McCaffrey may have lost a step, but his secure role is breaking the fantasy fall.
Tier 2: Legitimate Building Blocks
Nobody expected Barkley to repeat his dream 2024 season, especially with the long touchdowns — he averaged 29.4 yards on his spikes last year, a shocking outlier. But his efficiency has dropped significantly this fall — his broken-tackle rate has plummeted and he’s down to 3.4 yards per carry. The Eagles offensive line still carries respect, but Barkley’s yards before contact has fallen from 3.8 last year (a dream) to 1.9 this year. And Barkley managers know he’s not a factor at the goal line, where Jalen Hurts and the tush push rule the day. Score another one for the Regression Police.
Jeanty was bottled up in New England and hardly used against the Chargers, but he’s rallied since, averaging 4.6 per carry and collecting 21 touches per week. He also leads the position in broken tackles, validating his draft capital. It still feels like his receiving skills are underutilized, though Jeanty does have two touchdowns on his modest 14 catches. A bump in that part of the game would be appreciated, because the Raiders are going to be underdogs most weeks (they’re catching 12 points in Kansas City this week).
Skattebo and Jaxson Dart are the swagger twins — the Giants have scored two impressive upsets since the offense was turned over to the rookies. But you’d like to tell the kids to run with a little more discretion; both are eager to take on contact and tacklers, and it borders on reckless at times. Even with Tyrone Tracy Jr. healing up, Skattebo is in no danger of losing his heavy workload. But here’s hoping he takes the road of less contact every now and again, thinking long term.
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Tier 3: Talk Them Up, Talk Them Down
$17 D'Andre Swift
$16 J.K. Dobbins
$16 David Montgomery
$15 Jordan Mason
$15 Alvin Kamara
$14 Kenneth Walker III
$13 Jaylen Warren
$13 Chase Brown
$11 Tony Pollard
$11 Rico Dowdle
Swift is not an elite talent, but he’s the best Chicago has. The volume is safe — 15 to 20 touches a week. No other back on the roster has more than 81 yards. Swift has also been handy as a receiver (15 catches, 10.1 yards per grab) and he’s scored three times in five starts. Sometimes we have to ignore true talent level and steer into projectable volume where we find it.
Walker’s per-carry stats are much better than Charbonnet’s, but the Seahawks are using a 50-50 touch share most weeks. Charbonnet has a slight edge in goal-line opportunities. The receiving metrics are similar. Given that the Seahawks are 4-2 and one of the legitimate contenders in the NFC, there’s no overwhelming pressure to change anything. It’s not what fantasy managers want, but it’s the reality we have to accept.
Tier 4: Some Plausible Upside
$10 RJ Harvey
$10 Zach Charbonnet
$10 Tyler Allgeier
$9 Chuba Hubbard
$9 TreVeyon Henderson
$9 Rhamondre Stevenson
$8 Woody Marks
$8 Rachaad White
$8 Aaron Jones Sr.
$8 Kimani Vidal
$7 Nick Chubb
$7 Isiah Pacheco
$6 Kendre Miller
$5 Brian Robinson Jr.
$5 Bhayshul Tuten
$5 Kenneth Gainwell
$4 Tyjae Spears
$4 Michael Carter
As wonderful as Bijan Robinson is, the Falcons have a package for Allgeier every week, too. The No. 2 back has double-digit carries in four of five games (he only missed the total in that bizarre blowout loss at Carolina), and he’s scored a touchdown in three of four starts. Thus, Allgeier isn’t just one of those one-injury-away stash plays, but he’s someone we can legitimately consider as we navigate the teeth of bye week season (note six teams don’t play next week). Allgeier would probably be in the RB 10-14 range weekly if Robinson were to encounter an injury.
I’m lower on Pacheco than some might be, as I’ve accepted that the Chiefs are likely to junk the running game moving forward. It’s a logical move as the receiver room gets healthier, and also note Patrick Mahomes has been a much more proactive scrambler this year. Pacheco’s work in the receiving game has disappeared, and he only has one rushing touchdown in his last 13 games. There's no ceiling to dream of here.
Miller would need a Kamara trade or injury to step into front-door fantasy value, but at least Miller’s efficiency has spiked nicely for the new coaching staff (the previous group never trusted Miller). The Saints are obviously a bottom-five offense, but at least they play at a quick pace and have been quasi-competitive in most weeks. Miller is one of my preferred bench stashes.
Tier 5: Bargain Bin
$3 Blake Corum
$3 Kareem Hunt
$3 Ray Davis
$3 Isaiah Davis
$3 Bam Knight
$3 Hassan Haskins
$2 Ollie Gordon II
$2 Kyle Monangai
$2 Tyrone Tracy Jr.
$2 Jaydon Blue
$2 DJ Giddens
$2 Jerome Ford
$1 Brashard Smith
$1 Dylan Sampson
$1 Kaleb Johnson
$1 Sean Tucker
$1 Justice Hill
$1 Emanuel Wilson
$0 Chris Rodriguez Jr.
$0 Jeremy McNichols
$0 Tank Bigsby
$0 Keaton Mitchell
$0 Tahj Brooks
$0 Will Shipley
$0 Devin Singletary
$0 Isaac Guerendo
Courtesy Injury Ranks — Not For Debate
$27 Bucky Irving
$20 Omarion Hampton
$9 Trey Benson
$0 Joe Mixon