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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
David Dorey

Consistency Rankings – Running Backs

This ranking considers running backs that started at least  10 games in 2021 with the exception of Derrick Henry and Christian McCaffrey who were included due to their prominence on fantasy teams. Fantasy points were derived using 1 point per 10 yards rushed or received, six-point touchdowns rushed and one point receptions.

See Also: Quarterbacks | Wide receivers | Tight ends

Running Backs Consistency 15 Pts Gms 15 Pts 25 Pts 100 yd TD
Jonathan Taylor 76% 17 13 5 13 12
Najee Harris 76% 17 13 3 9 9
Austin Ekeler 75% 16 12 4 8 13
Alvin Kamara 69% 13 9 2 8 8
Derrick Henry 63% 8 5 4 6 4
Dalvin Cook 62% 13 8 1 8 5
Darrell Henderson 58% 12 7 0 2 6
Leonard Fournette 57% 14 8 2 5 6
Christian McCaffrey 57% 7 4 2 5 2
Elijah Mitchell 55% 11 6 1 5 6
D’Andre Swift 54% 13 7 1 6 7
James Conner 53% 15 8 3 3 11
Josh Jacobs 53% 15 8 0 3 8
Ezekiel Elliott 53% 17 9 2 4 8
Joe Mixon 50% 16 8 6 6 11
Antonio Gibson 50% 16 8 0 5 8
Nick Chubb 50% 14 7 2 6 7
Aaron Jones 47% 15 7 1 5 6
J.D. McKissic 45% 11 5 0 1 3
Cordarrelle Patterson 44% 16 7 2 5 7
James Robinson 43% 14 6 1 4 7
Damien Harris 40% 15 6 2 5 11
Clyde Edwards-Helaire 40% 10 4 0 2 5
Rashaad Penny 40% 10 4 3 4 4
David Montgomery 38% 13 5 1 4 5
Melvin Gordon III 38% 16 6 0 3 8
Devin Singletary 29% 17 5 1 2 6
Javonte Williams 29% 17 5 1 3 6
AJ Dillon 29% 17 5 1 1 5
Myles Gaskin 29% 17 5 1 0 5
Alexander Mattison 25% 16 4 1 3 4
Kenneth Gainwell 25% 16 4 0 0 6
Chase Edmonds 25% 12 3 1 3 2
D’Ernest Johnson 25% 12 3 0 3 3
Kenyan Drake 25% 12 3 0 1 2
Rhamondre Stevenson 25% 12 3 1 3 3
Miles Sanders 25% 12 3 0 3 0
Saquon Barkley 23% 13 3 1 2 3

There’s a lot to like about a rookie on a bad offense that tied for the most consistent fantasy play. Najee Harris rolled back the clock to when workhorse backs ruled and doesn’t seem likely to have the offense around him improve dramatically in 2022.

Notable too was Darrell Henderson as one of the more consistent contributors filling in for Cam Akers who should inherit that workload now that he is healthy again.

D’Andre Swift also managed 54% rate on games with 15+ fantasy points and should be in a position to improve for this season.

On the downside, Saquon Barkley’s mostly injured 2021 season was a fantasy disaster and his second year of disappointment. Chase Edmonds started the season as the No. 1 back in Arizona but only managed 25% of his games as productive and now joins a very crowded backfield in Miami.

The impact of the split backfield in Denver shows up with both Melvin Gordon and Javonte Williams taking turns with notable fantasy production.

100 Yard Gms Touchdown Gms 25 FF Pt Gms
Jonathan Taylor 13 Austin Ekeler 13 Joe Mixon 6
Najee Harris 9 Jonathan Taylor 12 Jonathan Taylor 5
Austin Ekeler 8 James Conner 11 Austin Ekeler 4
Alvin Kamara 8 Joe Mixon 11 Derrick Henry 4
Dalvin Cook 8 Damien Harris 11 Najee Harris 3
Derrick Henry 6 Najee Harris 9 James Conner 3
D’Andre Swift 6 Alvin Kamara 8 Rashaad Penny 3
Joe Mixon 6 Josh Jacobs 8
Nick Chubb 6 Ezekiel Elliott 8
Antonio Gibson 8
Melvin Gordon III 8

Austin Ekeler stayed healthy last season and ranked highly in any running back metric. Same for Joe Mixon coming off his career-best performance. Derrick Henry missed nine games and yet was still third-best with 25+ fantasy points in four different matchups. Despite the addition of an extra game on the schedule, there were only five backs with more than 1,000 rushing yards and Ezekiel Elliott snuck in with 1,002 yards.

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