Here's a breakdown of five notable running backs featured in Sean Koerner, Chris Raybon and Matthew Freedman's Week 7 fantasy football rankings.
The No. 1 RB
Todd Gurley, Los Angeles Rams
Gurley leads the league in Football Outsiders' rushing success rate metric, and now the Rams head to San Francisco as 10-point favorites with a 31.25-point implied team total.
Per the FantasyLabs Trends tool, Gurley has been unreal with Sean McVay as the head coach:
Todd Gurley is destroying with Sean McVay: pic.twitter.com/SAQfxk9P8r
— Justin Bailey (@justinbailey32) October 16, 2018
He's the unanimous No. 1 RB again among our rankers.
The Most Favorable Matchups
Saquon Barkley, New York Giants
In the FantasyLabs Player Models, Barkley's median projection trails only Gurley's. Barkley has one of the best matchups on the board against a Falcons defense graded as the fourth-worst unit, per PFF.
Additionally, Barkley owns 22% of the Giants' target share, and the Falcons have allowed an absurd 8.83 receptions and 70.83 receiving yards per game to opposing running backs.
Joe Mixon, Cincinnati Bengals
Mixon is averaging 21.0 touches per game this season and even though the Bengals are six-point road underdogs against Kansas City, he is a game-script independent running back. It's a prime spot as the Chiefs grade as PFF's No. 30 team in run defense.
Mixon possesses an average rank of 6.7 among our rankers.
Ezekiel Elliott, Dallas Cowboys
Elliot's 23.3 touches per game trail only Gurley's this season and he takes on a Redskins run defense that is 31st, according to PFF. Even better, Zeke is dominating red-zone usage for the Cowboys with 41% of their market share of opportunities and 70% of their red-zone carries.
Matchup Downgrade
LeSean McCoy, Buffalo Bills
It's difficult to get excited about a team that is likely to have Nathan Peterman at the helm. The Bills are implied for a slate-low 17.75 points, and they have the second-lowest scoring rate in the league. Hard to imagine their offensive output improves in Week 7.
The Bills also own PFF's worst-ranked run-blocking offensive line, while Colts rank No. 4 in rush defense in PFF grades.
Want another edge? Be sure to keep up with the week's news on FantasyLabs.
