Fantasy Football Week 1 RB Rankings: Trust Saquon Barkley & Najee Harris?

Getty Can you trust Saquon Barkley?

The 2021 NFL regular season is finally upon us, which means it’s time to fire up those Fantasy Football lineups. In our running back rankings for Week 1, we discuss how to handle the New York Giants backfield with Saquon Barkley trending upwards ahead of the opener. Plus, is Najee Harris a must-start in his first real NFL action?

Reminder: These rankings are based on full-PPR scoring formats.

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Running Back Outlook Week 1

Najee Harris (RB11) at BUF

• When the Steelers have a dude in the backfield, they’re not afraid to feature him. Harris is that type of talent. His volume should quickly make him a near-weekly top-eight play. However, his matchup in Week 1 leaves a bit to be desired — but just a bit. The Bills allowed the 16th-most points to running backs last season. Yet, they did surrender 21 rushing touchdowns (tied eighth-most in NFL) and allowed an average of 142.3 rushing yards over the final three games of the year.

Saquon Barkley (RB15) vs. DEN

• Barkley is “gearing up to play Week 1” according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. With that in mind, his volume is a question. I’d still rather have him in my lineup and risk a dud than risk him shouldering a sizeable workload on my bench. Chances are you’ll see a healthy dose of both Barkley and backup Devontae Booker (RB30) in Week 1. Both are worth a look against a Denver team who ranked in the bottom-11 in both rushing yards (1,615) and rushing touchdowns (14) allowed to running backs last season.

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Week 1 Fantasy Rankings: Running Back

[QBs | RBs | WRs & TEs]

#

Running Back

Opp.

1

Christian McCaffrey CAR

vs. NYJ

2

Alvin Kamara NO

vs. GB

3

Derrick Henry TEN

vs. ARI

4

Dalvin Cook MIN

at CIN

5

Jonathan Taylor IND

vs. SEA

6

Nick Chubb CLE

at KC

7

Aaron Jones GB

at NO

8

Ezekiel Elliott DAL

at TB

9

James Robinson JAC

at HOU

10

Antonio Gibson WAS

vs. LAC

11

Najee Harris PIT

at BUF

12

Austin Ekeler LAC INJ

at WAS

13

Joe Mixon CIN

vs. MIN

14

Chris Carson SEA

at IND

15

Saquon Barkley NYG

vs. DEN

16

Damien Harris NE

vs. MIA

17

C. Edwards-Helaire KC

vs. CLE

18

Miles Sanders PHI

at ATL

19

Myles Gaskin MIA

at NE

20

Josh Jacobs LV

vs. BAL

21

David Montgomery CHI

at LAR

22

Kareem Hunt CLE

at KC

23

Mike Davis ATL

vs. PHI

24

D’Andre Swift DET

vs. SF

25

Nyheim Hines IND

vs. SEA

26

Leonard Fournette TB

vs. DAL

27

Chase Edmonds ARI

at TEN

28

Phillip Lindsay HOU

vs. JAC

29

Devontae Booker NYG

vs. DEN

30

Raheem Mostert SF

at DET

31

Javonte Williams DEN

at NYG

32

Darrell Henderson LAR

vs. CHI

33

Kenyan Drake LV

vs. BAL

34

J.D. McKissic WAS

vs. LAC

35

Trey Sermon SF

at DET

36

Melvin Gordon III DEN

at NYG

37

James Conner ARI

at TEN

38

Sony Michel LAR

vs. CHI

39

Ty’Son Williams BAL

at LV

40

Devin Singletary BUF

vs. PIT

41

Jamaal Williams DET

vs. SF

42

David Johnson HOU

vs. JAC

43

Zack Moss BUF

vs. PIT

44

Ronald Jones II TB

vs. DAL

45

AJ Dillon GB

at NO

46

Tevin Coleman NYJ

at CAR

47

Ty Johnson NYJ

at CAR

48

Latavius Murray NO

vs. GB

49

Tony Pollard DAL

at TB

50

James White NE

vs. MIA

51

Michael Carter NYJ

at CAR

52

Carlos Hyde JAC

at HOU

53

Kenneth Gainwell PHI

at ATL

54

Salvon Ahmed MIA

at NE

55

Alexander Mattison MIN

at CIN

56

Rashaad Penny SEA

at IND

57

Darrel Williams KC

vs. CLE

58

Giovani Bernard TB

vs. DAL

59

Le’Veon Bell BAL

at LV

60

Boston Scott PHI

at ATL

61

Mark Ingram II HOU

vs. JAC

62

Rhamondre Stevenson NE

vs. MIA

63

Marlon Mack IND

vs. SEA

64

Damien Williams CHI

at LAR

65

Chris Evans CIN

vs. MIN

66

Wayne Gallman Jr. ATL

vs. PHI

67

Joshua Kelley LAC

at WAS

68

Kylin Hill GB

at NO

69

Justin Jackson LAC

at WAS

70

Malcolm Brown MIA

at NE

71

Chuba Hubbard CAR

vs. NYJ

72

Benny Snell Jr. PIT

at BUF

73

Matt Breida BUF

vs. PIT

74

Jerick McKinnon KC

vs. CLE

75

Justice Hill BAL

at LV

76

Tony Jones Jr. NO

vs. GB

77

DeeJay Dallas SEA

at IND

78

La’Mical Perine NYJ

at CAR

79

Ke’Shawn Vaughn TB

vs. DAL

80

Kalen Ballage PIT

at BUF

81

Larry Rountree III LAC

at WAS

82

Samaje Perine CIN

vs. MIN

83

Rex Burkhead HOU

vs. JAC

84

Jordan Wilkins IND

vs. SEA

85

Eno Benjamin ARI

at TEN

86

Jaret Patterson WAS

vs. LAC

87

Devine Ozigbo JAC

at HOU

88

Dare Ogunbowale JAC

at HOU

89

Jake Funk LAR

vs. CHI

90

Javian Hawkins TEN

vs. ARI

91

Alex Collins SEA

at IND

92

Jordan Howard PHI

at ATL

93

Travis Homer SEA

at IND

94

Kyle Juszczyk SF

at DET

95

J.J. Taylor NE

vs. MIA

96

Royce Freeman CAR

vs. NYJ

97

Jermar Jefferson DET

vs. SF

98

Khalil Herbert CHI

at LAR

99

Elijah Mitchell SF

at DET

100

Alec Ingold LV

vs. BAL

101

Trayveon Williams CIN

vs. MIN

102

JaMycal Hasty SF

at DET

103

D’Ernest Johnson CLE

at KC

104

C.J. Ham MIN

at CIN

105

Corey Clement DAL

at TB

106

Khari Blasingame TEN

vs. ARI

107

Patrick Ricard BAL

at LV

108

Keith Smith ATL

vs. PHI

109

Andy Janovich CLE

at KC

110

Ty Montgomery NO

vs. GB

111

Taiwan Jones BUF

vs. PIT

112

Dwayne Washington NO

vs. GB

113

Peyton Barber LV

vs. BAL

[QBs | RBs | WRs & TEs]