2017 Fantasy Rankings: Running Backs

by Chase Stuart on February 21, 2018

Kamara was the surprise star at running back in 2017.

This week at Football Perspective: an analysis of the 2017 fantasy results. I will be using the same methodology throughout this series.

To calculate fantasy points, I will be using the following system: 1 point per 20 yards passing, 5 points per passing TD, -2 points per INT, 1 point per 10 yards rushing/receiving, 6 points per rushing/receiving touchdown, and 0.5 points per reception.

To measure fantasy production, I will be using VBD, which stands for Value Based Drafting. For players who play a full 16-game schedule, the formula is easy: you begin with each player’s fantasy points, and then subtract from that number the baseline at that position. For QBs and TEs, the baseline is the player with the 12th most fantasy points at the position. For RBs, it’s RB24, and for WRs, the baseline is WR30. For players who missed time, I give them some credit for those missed games under the assumption that a fantasy player would put another player into their lineup if that player was out. So for every game a QB/TE misses, he gets the FP/G of QB18 or TE18, as applicable; for RBs, I used RB30 as replacement, and for WRs, I used WR36. If a player missed more than 10 games, he was excluded entirely, but if he played in at least 6 games, he was included.

For players who finish below the baseline (i.e., would have negative VBD), I’m ranking them based on fantasy points per game. I’m not too concerned by this, and if you have another preference, that’s perfectly fine. I thought it would simply be the easiest way to present the data.

Below are the fantasy rankings for running backs in 2017.

VBD Rk	Player	Tm	Age	G	Rush Yds	Rsh TD	Rec	Yds	TD	FP	FP/G	POS RK	VBD
1	Todd Gurley	LAR	23	15	1305	13	64	788	6	355.3	23.7	1	213.4
2	Le'Veon Bell	PIT	25	15	1291	9	85	655	2	303.1	20.2	2	161.2
3	Alvin Kamara	NOR	22	16	728	8	81	826	5	273.9	17.1	3	123.9
4	Kareem Hunt	KAN	22	16	1327	8	53	455	3	270.7	16.9	4	120.7
5	Melvin Gordon	LAC	24	16	1105	8	58	476	4	259.1	16.2	5	109.1
6	Mark Ingram	NOR	28	16	1124	12	58	416	0	255.0	15.9	6	105.0
7	Ezekiel Elliott	DAL	22	10	983	7	26	269	2	192.2	19.2	10	91.0
8	Leonard Fournette	JAX	22	13	1040	9	36	302	1	212.2	16.3	8	86.6
9	LeSean McCoy	BUF	29	16	1138	6	59	448	2	236.1	14.8	7	86.1
10	Carlos Hyde	SFO	27	16	938	8	59	350	0	206.3	12.9	9	56.3
11	Devonta Freeman	ATL	25	14	865	7	36	317	1	184.2	13.2	13	50.5
12	Christian McCaffrey	CAR	21	16	435	2	80	651	5	190.6	11.9	11	40.6
13	Jordan Howard	CHI	23	16	1122	9	23	125	0	190.2	11.9	12	40.2
14	Chris Thompson	WAS	27	10	294	2	39	510	4	135.9	13.6	26	34.7
15	Duke Johnson	CLE	24	16	348	4	74	693	3	183.1	11.4	14	33.1
16	Dion Lewis	NWE	27	16	896	6	32	214	3	181.0	11.3	15	31.0
17	Lamar Miller	HOU	26	16	888	3	36	327	3	175.5	11.0	16	25.5
18	Alex Collins	BAL	23	15	973	6	23	187	0	163.5	10.9	17	21.6
19	Marshawn Lynch	OAK	31	15	891	7	20	151	0	156.2	10.4	20	14.3
20	Rex Burkhead	NWE	27	10	264	5	30	254	3	114.8	11.5	39	13.6
21	Tevin Coleman	ATL	24	15	628	5	27	299	3	154.2	10.3	22	12.3
22	DeMarco Murray	TEN	29	15	659	6	39	266	1	154.0	10.3	23	12.1
23	C.J. Anderson	DEN	26	16	1007	3	28	224	1	161.1	10.1	18	11.1
24	Frank Gore	IND	34	16	961	3	29	245	1	159.1	9.9	19	9.1
25	Jerick McKinnon	MIN	25	16	570	3	51	421	2	154.6	9.7	21	4.6
26	Latavius Murray	MIN	27	16	842	8	15	103	0	150.0	9.4	24	0.0
27	Ty Montgomery	GNB	24	8	273	3	23	173	1	80.1	10.0	52	0.0
28	Joe Mixon	CIN	21	14	626	4	30	287	0	130.3	9.3	29	0.0
29	Jay Ajayi	2TM	24	14	873	1	24	158	1	127.1	9.1	35	0.0
30	Bilal Powell	NYJ	29	15	772	5	23	170	0	135.7	9.0	27	0.0
31	Javorius Allen	BAL	26	16	591	4	46	250	2	143.1	8.9	25	0.0
32	Matt Forte	NYJ	32	12	381	2	37	293	1	103.9	8.7	42	0.0
33	Orleans Darkwa	NYG	25	15	751	5	19	116	0	126.2	8.4	36	0.0
34	Jamaal Williams	GNB	22	16	556	4	25	262	2	130.3	8.1	28	0.0
35	Giovani Bernard	CIN	26	16	458	2	43	389	2	130.2	8.1	30	0.0
36	Ameer Abdullah	DET	24	14	552	4	25	162	1	113.9	8.1	40	0.0
37	Derrick Henry	TEN	23	16	744	5	11	136	1	129.5	8.1	31	0.0
38	Isaiah Crowell	CLE	24	16	853	2	28	182	0	129.5	8.1	32	0.0
39	Theo Riddick	DET	26	16	286	3	53	444	2	129.5	8.1	33	0.0
40	Kenyan Drake	MIA	23	16	644	3	32	239	1	128.3	8.0	34	0.0
41	Jonathan Stewart	CAR	30	15	680	6	8	52	1	119.2	7.9	38	0.0
42	Mike Gillislee	NWE	27	9	383	5	1	15	0	70.3	7.8	61	0.0
43	Adrian Peterson	2TM	32	10	529	2	11	70	0	77.4	7.7	57	0.0
44	Tarik Cohen	CHI	22	16	370	2	53	353	1	122.9	7.7	37	0.0
45	James White	NWE	25	14	171	0	56	429	3	106.0	7.6	41	0.0
46	T.J. Yeldon	JAX	24	10	253	2	30	224	0	74.7	7.5	59	0.0
47	Mike Davis	SEA	25	6	240	0	15	131	0	44.6	7.4	77	0.0
48	Wayne Gallman	NYG	23	13	476	0	34	193	1	89.9	6.9	48	0.0
49	Marlon Mack	IND	21	14	358	3	21	225	1	92.8	6.6	47	0.0
50	Doug Martin	TAM	28	11	406	3	9	84	0	71.5	6.5	60	0.0
51	LeGarrette Blount	PHI	31	16	766	2	8	50	1	103.6	6.5	43	0.0
52	Samaje Perine	WAS	22	16	603	1	22	182	1	101.5	6.3	44	0.0
53	Aaron Jones	GNB	23	12	448	4	9	22	0	75.5	6.3	58	0.0
54	J.D. McKissic	SEA	24	13	187	1	34	266	2	80.3	6.2	51	0.0
55	Austin Ekeler	LAC	22	16	260	2	27	279	3	97.4	6.1	45	0.0
56	Devontae Booker	DEN	25	13	299	1	30	275	0	78.4	6.0	55	0.0
57	Robert Kelley	WAS	25	7	194	3	4	18	0	41.2	5.9	81	0.0
58	Matt Breida	SFO	22	16	465	2	21	180	1	93.0	5.8	46	0.0
59	Andre Ellington	2TM	28	12	55	1	39	369	0	67.9	5.7	65	0.0
60	D'Onta Foreman	HOU	21	10	327	2	6	83	0	56.0	5.6	73	0.0
61	Chris Ivory	JAX	29	14	382	1	21	175	1	78.2	5.6	56	0.0
62	Rod Smith	DAL	25	15	232	4	19	202	1	82.9	5.5	50	0.0
63	Corey Clement	PHI	23	16	321	4	10	123	2	85.4	5.3	49	0.0
64	Danny Woodhead	BAL	32	8	56	0	33	200	0	42.1	5.3	80	0.0

As always, please leave your thoughts in the comments.

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