Top 50 Fantasy Football RB Rankings & Tiers (Ep. 2115)

August 6, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

Running Back Tiers: Where the Fantasy Pros Analysts Disagree Most

The FantasyPros crew—Chris Welsh, Pat Fitzmaurice, and Jake Ciely—spent an episode walking through the top 50 running backs by ECR (expert consensus ranking), dividing them into tiers and picking one player per tier they actively disagree with. The conversation revealed where the sharpest disagreements lie this draft season, and the reasoning behind them is worth understanding even if you end up on the other side.

The Top 10: Saquon Too High, Genty Too Low

In the top tier (Gibbs, Bijan, McCaffrey, Taylor), the first real friction came at RB7. Jake Ciely argued Saquon Barkley is ranked too high. His case: over the past two seasons with the Eagles, Barkley averaged barely over two receptions per game. His massive 2024 rushing total (nearly 2,000 yards) was driven by an outlier touchdown rate, and even a 10% boost from last season would still leave him outside the top 10 in points per game. "I would take Chase Brown, I would take Omarion Hampton, I would take Derrick Henry at this point," Ciely said. Fitzmaurice agreed, adding that Barkley is entering a risky age window and has lost the pass-catching upside he showed early in his career.

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What you'll learn

1 (00:35) **Welcome & RB Tier Format** - Chris Welsh introduces the episode: breaking down the top 50 RB ECR ranks into tiers with Pat Fitzmaurice and Jake Ciely picking one back per tier they disagree with (too high or too low).
2 (05:33) **Tier 1 (RBs 1-10): Top 10 Overview** - The top 4 (Gibbs, Bijan, CMC, JT) are Tier 1; Tier 2 runs from James Cook (RB5) through Devon Achane (RB10), who just jumped up from Tier 3.
3 (09:40) **Jake's Disagreement: Saquon Barkley (Too High)** - Jake thinks Barkley at RB7 is too high, citing his low receiving volume (barely over 2 catches per game over two years) and that his 2024 was an outlier.
4 (12:08) **Fitz's Disagreement: Ashton Jeanty (Too Low)** - Fitz ranks Jeanty as his RB4, ahead of Jonathan Taylor and James Cook, based on elite pass-catching upside and a vastly improved Raiders offense.
5 (16:58) **Tier 2 (RBs 11-20): Overview & Kenneth Walker** - The tier runs from Derrick Henry (RB11) through Quinshon Judkins (RB20), with a mix of established veterans and high-upside young backs.
6 (24:50) **Jake's Disagreement: Quinshon Judkins (Too High)** - Jake thinks Judkins at RB20 is too high because the Browns offense is a tire fire with no clear QB and a brand-new O-line that needs time to gel.
7 (29:02) **Tier 3 (RBs 21-30): Bucky Irving & Tank Bigsby** - Bucky Irving (RB21) leads a tier including DeAndre Swift, Javonte Williams, and Jalen Warren, with a tier break between Jaleel McLaughlin and Jaylen Wright.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Guests on this episode

Chris Welsh Pat Fitzmaurice

Show Notes

Are the Expert Consensus Rankings (ECR) too high or too low on your favorite running backs?

Chris Welsh, Pat Fitzmaurice, and Jake Ciely go tier-by-tier through the FantasyPros Top 50 RB rankings, explaining which players they're moving up their draft boards and which backs they're avoiding.

Should Ashton Jeanty already be viewed as an elite fantasy RB? Is Saquon Barkley carrying more downside than managers want to admit? How high is too high for Quinshon Judkins? Plus, the panel makes the case for Bucky Irving

The Pros share where they disagree with consensus and where you can gain an edge!

Timestamps: (May be off due to ads)

Intro - 0:00:00

FantasyPros Premium Giveaways - 0:02:58

Tier 1 RBs - 0:04:58

Saquon Barkley - 0:09:06

Ashton Jeanty - 0:11:32

FantasyPros Discord - 0:16:26

Tier 2 RBs - 0:17:23

Kenneth Walker - 0:18:24

Quinshon Judkins - 0:22:54

Tier 3 RBs - 0:27:07

Bhayshul Tuten - 0:27:53

Bucky Irving - 0:31:17

Hard Rock Bet - 0:36:03

Tier 4 RBs - 0:37:40

Rico Dowdle - 0:38:40

RJ Harvey - 0:40:39

Tier 5 RBs - 0:44:23

Alvin Kamara - 0:44:55

Isiah Pacheco - 0:47:08

Outro - 0:47:41

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