2024 Week 5 Fantasy Football Rankings: RB

Jordan Mason looks to prove he belongs as the No. 1 overall back, Breece Hall tries to fend off any further Braelon Allen incursions, and Chuba Hubbard attempts to sustain his hot streak in Chicago.

Other positions: Quarterback | Receiver | Tight End/Kickers/Defense

Week 5 Running Backs

RB Notes: Jordan Mason found out he was the 49ers’ starting running back two days before the season.* (*Kyle Shanahan swears this isn’t true.) The result? No. 2 in the league in rushing. A touchdown home favorite for the week’s highest-totaled game, Mason is a deserving No. 1 overall. … Derrick Henry has 350 yards rushing over the past two weeks. Translation, probably his best stretch of the season. We still love him as the lead back for the favorite in one of the highest-totaled showdowns of Week 5, especially since the Bengals look more vulnerable on the ground than through the air (to be fair, they haven’t been great in either area). … Alvin Kamara lost two Week 4 touchdowns to Taysom Hill and still finished as the RB4 overall. With Hill back on the shelf, Kamara is locked into about as good of a role as a running back could ever get. … The Rams have lost every pass catcher and still aren’t using Blake Corum. Last season’s KyrenPlan™ remains in full effect.

A concerning 2024 season grew even more so for Breece Hall in Week 4, though coach Robert Saleh has since reaffirmed his goal-line supremacy. Braelon Allen isn’t going away, but Hall remains the first option on all three downs. At some point, Hall’s pass-catching prowess, touchdown potential and overall explosiveness is going to pay off for fantasy managers in a big way. … As you have undoubtedly freaked out about six times by now, Tyler Allgeier out-carried Bijan Robinson 8-7 in Week 4. Robinson’s snap percentage also fell below 75 for the first time to 64. Allgeier’s snap percentage … fell from 25 to 21. It’s true that when Allgeier is on the field, the Falcons are getting him the ball, but we would need to several more games of Week 4-like usage to truly panic about Bijan, who catch four passes and had a score called back by holding vs. the Saints. It’s frustrating that we are back here again, but “here” is also not square one. … Chuba Hubbard has 290 yards from scrimmage in two games since Andy Dalton became quarterback. It was also two different game scripts. Ride the RB1 wave against a Bears defense that’s more forgiving on the ground than through the air.

Josh Jacobs has struggled for even 60 percent of the Packers’ snaps over the past two weeks. It appears known committee-liker Matt LaFleur still likes committees. Jacobs is first in line for the most important work, but he could be in for a slow but steady rankings tumble. All that being said, we want to start backs facing the Rams’ league-worst run defense. … Brian Robinson has been running hot. He could soon be RB1 hot if a returning Austin Ekeler can’t reclaim all of his pre-injury workload. … Dominating snaps and touches since the Browns’ Week 2 D’Onta Foreman mirage, Jerome Ford’s overall work and variety of handles might finally translate to a big fantasy day against the Commanders’ shaky run D. … Kareem Hunt easily seized control of the Chiefs’ Week 4 backfield — and still played fewer than 50 percent of the snaps. I think I’ve already seen enough to consider a washed Hunt a better option than FB Carson Steele or Samaje Perine, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Andy Reid has 1-2 more rug pulls up his sleeve. I’m placing an RB2 bet because there’s enough potential for Hunt to pay big dividends even on 10-12 touches.

Najee Harris was a predictable “what could go wrong” RB2 failure in Week 4: That we must immediately run back for Week 5. The Steelers are home favorites vs. a disastrously bad Cowboys run defense. … Sorry for the D’Andre Swift whiplash, but Week 4 merits a reaction. Better both in the box score and via the eye test — were those actual missed tackles forced? — Swift has a momentum-building matchup in the Panthers’ bottom-barrel run D. … I’m not going to blame anybody who no longer considers De’Von Achane an RB2. I just “know” that: The Patriots aren’t going to blow out the Dolphins, and Achane remains their most likely means of moving the ball (even though the Pats are a pass funnel). … I doubt Trey Sermon is good. I also doubt he will also have all of Jonathan Taylor’s (ankle) lost work to himself. Tyler Goodson seems likely to catch some passes. You place the RB2 bet because 10-12 carries are almost guaranteed against a doormat Jags defense, one admittedly faring better on the ground than through the air. … Javonte Williams is another whiplash player, but he made the most of his lead back second chance. The Raiders are coughing up over five yards per carry.

The Patriots are openly musing about benching Rhamondre Stevenson for Antonio Gibson. A tighter split where Stevenson nevertheless maintains a slight touch lead is probably more likely, but it’s officially one variable too many to keep Stevenson in the top 24. … Zack Moss moved into something of a Week 4 timeshare with Chase Brown, though he remained the strong-side option. For now, this backfield is probably big enough for the two of them. The Ravens, however, are anything but an inviting matchup on the ground. … The Bucs are moving ever closer to a full-blown timeshare between Rachaad White and Bucky Irving, with White’s snaps below 60 percent and Irving’s now above 40. Continually winning the carries battle, Irving seems like a decent bet for 10-plus short-week totes against the Falcons. … The Raiders are talking up getting Alexander Mattison more involved. Potentially bad for Zamir White, obviously, though this remains a team that needs to funnel as many handles as it can to its running backs with Davante Adams conducting a mid-season holdout. … There’s very little upside in the post-30 running back ranks right now. Maybe Jaleel McLaughlin and Miles Sanders can make PPR headway in their improving offenses.