Fantasy Football Week 13 running back rankings: Should Jonathan Taylor or Alexander Mattison be No. 1?

When I start the rankings process for each week, I begin with a rough projection for every player for the upcoming week based on Vegas lines, historical team stats, and position usage, among other factors. And when I plugged everything in for Week 13, Alexander Mattison was my No. 1 RB for this week’s game against the Lions. In fact, he was the top non-QB for the week, and only six quarterbacks had a better projection. It was an aggressive ranking. 

And the thing is, I’m not sure I made the right decision in moving him down to RB4. The guys ahead of Mattison — Jonathan Taylor, Austin Ekeler, and Najee Harris — are having great seasons, but Mattison’s situation this week is just incredible. With Dalvin Cook dealing with a shoulder injury that is expected to cost him at least two weeks, Mattison gets to take on the lowly Lions — a team he had 113 yards on 25 carries with 40 yards on seven catches with a touchdown against in Week 5.

Mattison had 32 touches in each of the two games Cook missed earlier in the season, and he had 24 touches in Week 17 with Cook out last season, too. Cook himself was averaging 22.8 touches per game since Week 6, too, so we know this is an offense that is going to create a ton of opportunities for running backs. Given the matchup against the Lions — allowing the third-most Fantasy points to opposing running backs — and the situation Mattison finds himself in, you can make a very strong case for him as the top RB in Fantasy for Week 13. 

Here are my RB rankings for Week 13. To see the rankings of Jamey Eisenberg, Dave Richard, and Heath Cummings, make sure you head here. 

Week 13 RB Rankings

1. Jonathan Taylor @HOU — The game script wasn’t in Taylor’s favor in Week 12 and he still had 19.7 PPR points. That’s a sign of how much his role has changed for the Colts — he’s played at least 69% of the snaps in six straight — and a sign of how valuable he has become for Fantasy. The game script most certainly will be in his favor this time around.
2. Austin Ekeler @CIN
3. Najee Harris vs. BAL
4. Alexander Mattison @DET
5. Joe Mixon vs. LAC — Mixon has 58 carries over the past two games as the Bengals have pulled out easy wins over the Raiders and Steelers. The Bengals are favored again this week and the CHargers have had trouble against the run, allowing 1,598 yards on the ground in 11 games. Expect another heavy dose of Mixon in this one.
6. Alvin Kamara vs. DAL — Kamara’s role in the passing game has already been limited this season by the Saints offensive changes, and now with Taysom Hill likely to step in at quarterback, it’s hard to see how things are going to get better. It’s not that Hill didn’t throw to Kamara — he threw 16% of his passes to him last season. However, that’s still lower than we’re used to with Kamara even this season, and with Hill unlikely to throw much overall, the passing game upside we hope to see with Kamara just may not be there.
7. Leonard Fournette @ATL
8. Cordarrelle Patterson vs. TEN — Patterson benefited from a rare game where the Falcons had the luxury to just sit on a lead, leading to his season-high 16 carries and only six plays split out wide. At this point, Patterson is pretty much game-script proof — if they’re up, he’ll be the lead rusher; if they are trailing, he’ll be their No. 1 or 2 pass-catching option.
9. Ezekiel Elliott @NO — Despite reports that Elliott might consider resting in Week 13, he was a full participant in practice Monday, a sign that he is planning on playing through his lingering knee injury. I wouldn’t be surprised if Elliott had a more limited role this week, but I’m guessing if he’s active, he’s still going to get at least half of Dallas’ RB touches — he got 52% in Week 12. He’s more of a No. 2 RB in a very tough matchup.
10. Antonio Gibson @LV — Gibson earned seven targets Monday night, and most of them came before J.D. McKissic was forced out, as the Football Team made a point of getting him involved in the screen game early.
11. James Conner @CHI — In three games before the bye, Conner averaged 25.5 PPR points per game. The passing-game role (15 targets) might be the most promising part of that.
12. Elijah Mitchell @SEA
13. David Montgomery vs. ARI — Montgomery’s passing game usage, or lack thereof, is starting to be a real concern. A big part of why he was a must-start Fantasy option last season was because he averaged four catches per game over his final 12, but he hasn’t even had four in a game yet this season. He’s still playing nearly every snap, including most passing downs, but he ranks 32nd out of 32 qualifying running backs in targets per route run this season, and it’s been an issue with both Justin Fields and Andy Dalton. If Montgomery can’t get five targets in a game the Bears figure to be trailing, it could be time to hit the panic button.
14. Saquon Barkley @MIA
15. Sony Michel vs. JAX — Darrell Henderson is dealing with a quad strain, and while Sean McVay downplayed the injury Monday, I’ll list Michel here just in case. If Henderson plays, he’ll be in this same range of the rankings. He’s missed little time, officially, but Henderson has dealt with several injuries so far this season, and that’s been a recurring theme throughout his career. Even if he does play, I have to wonder if we might not see his role reduced at some point just to try to keep him fresh.
16. Josh Jacobs vs. WAS — Jacobs finally earned the kind of volume that’s been missing all season in Week 12, and hopefully that means he’s put all of his injuries behind him and is ready to roll down the stretch. But it’s also worth noting this was an overtime game where the Raiders had 509 yards of offense and ran 77 offensive plays, which is well out of the norm. Expect more like 15 carries moving forward, but if he can do that with the passing game usage — four or more targets in four straight — of late, that’s quite valuable.
17. James Robinson @LAR — Robinson had his most carries and touches since Week 6 last week while playing his fewest snaps in a game save the one he left early with an injury. That’s confusing, but it’s not like Hyde took away targets or goal-line work, so I’ll write it off as a one-week fluke. Robinson’s role makes him a must-start player even against what should be a fairly tough matchup.
18. Jamaal Williams vs. MIN — We’re assuming D’Andre Swift won’t be playing because of his shoulder injury, which puts Williams in line for a big role — and potentially a very valuable one. The Lions have thrown to their running backs on 28% of their pass attempts, and Williams should be in line for a bunch of them. I wouldn’t be shocked to see him get 20 carries and six targets.
19. Myles Gaskin vs. NYG — Gaskin is really pushing the outer boundaries of how poorly a player can play while still being Fantasy relevant. He’s averaging 14.8 PPR points per game over his past four despite 2.78 yards per carry and 3.4 per target. But the thing is, he has another great matchup and figures to continue to see 15-plus touches per game, so how can you go away from him? There may come a time when Miami opts for a more effective option, but for now, this is who they have.
20. Boston Scott @NYJ
21. Melvin Gordon @KC
22. Clyde Edwards-Helaire vs. DEN — Edwards-Helaire returned in Week 11 and actually played fewer snaps than Darrel Williams, but his 14 touches were nice to see. Williams is going to have a role, especially in two-minute situations and many passing downs, but the big question at this point is what the split will look like near the goal line. If Edwards-Helaire is splitting that work, too, then he’s probably just a lower-end RB2.
23. Javonte Williams @KC — Williams has played 57% and 58% of the snaps in the past two games, so that’s a good sign for those of us hoping for a second-half breakout. Of course, he still split touches with Melvin Gordon almost evenly, so it doesn’t actually look like he’s taking over the backfield or anything like that. Both remain, as they have been all season, in that fringe RB2 range.
24. Devonta Freeman @PIT — Freeman has 32 carries over the past two weeks with Latavius Murray back, so it seems pretty clear he’s the lead back here. Of course, he’s turned those 32 carries into a whopping 101 yards, so I’m guessing his grip on the job isn’t iron-fisted. He’ll remain Fantasy relevant in this role, but if Freeman doesn’t find the end zone, you’re going to end up getting very little from him most weeks.
25. Tony Pollard @NO — If Elliott were to sit out, Pollard would probably be a top-12 RB for this week, even against the tough Saints defense. With Elliott looking like he’s going to play, however, Pollard remains in that RB3/Flex range. Elliott playing, but in a more limited role would probably be the worst of both worlds, honestly, because we wouldn’t be able to trust him but we also couldn’t just assume Pollard would see enough work to be a must-start. It’s a frustrating situation.
26. Alex Collins vs. SF
27. Devin Singletary vs. NE — The Bills didn’t really get much of a spark from making Zack Moss inactive in Week 12, as Devin Singletary turned a 68% snap share into just 5.8 PPR points. If Moss remains out, Singletary will be in the RB3 range, but this just isn’t a particularly valuable backfield, and he just doesn’t have much upside unless he starts playing a lot better in the passing game.
28. Ty Johnson vs. PHI
29. Damien Harris @BUF — Rhamondre Stevenson’s emergence has been bad news for Harris, as it’s put him in a three-way backfield split without a passing-game role. As long as that remains the case, he pretty much has to find the end zone to be worth starting, and this is an awfully tough matchup to be asking that of him.
30. David Johnson vs. IND
31. Rhamondre Stevenson @BUF
32. Deejay Dallas vs. SF — Dallas did play a bigger role in Week 12, as expected, but it didn’t really lead to anything — five targets and three carries while playing 60% of the snaps.
33. Rex Burkhead vs. IND — Burkhead is getting plenty of touches, but he’s not doing a ton with them. That’s to be expected, because this isn’t a good offense and, frankly, he’s not a great player. However, given the absences at running back this week, you might find yourself in the position where you need to use him.
34. Tevin Coleman vs. PHI — With Michael Carter on IR, Coleman got 16 carries in Week 12 to go along with three touches. He basically split carries with Ty Johnson and benefited from a rare opportunity to play with a lead. That probably won’t happen in Week 13, so he probably needs to get into the end zone to even get into RB2 range.
35. Kenyan Drake vs. WAS
36. Darrel Williams vs. DEN
37. Nyheim Hines @HOU
38. Latavius Murray @PIT
39. Jeff Wilson @SEA
40. Kenneth Gainwell @NYJ
41. Matt Breida vs. NE — With Zack Moss inactive, Breida did take on a bigger role in Week 12, even finding the end zone. But there’s not a ton to get excited about in his role — nine carries and two targets while playing a 32% snap share. Unless he can really push Singletary for a bigger role, Breida is just on the fringes of Fantasy relevance as the No. 2 RB in a low-value backfield split.
42. Jaret Patterson @LV — If J.D. McKissic’s injury keeps him out for Week 13, Patterson could have a decent role against the Raiders, though it’s unlikely he’d be anything more than a true backup to Gibson, given his limited pass-catching experience — just three targets this season and only 22 catches in 32 games in college.
43. Mark Ingram vs. DAL
44. Mike Davis vs. TEN — Davis is still playing around half the snaps every week, but he’s largely a non factor, with fewer than 10 touches every week since Week 9. The only question at this point is whether Qadree Ollison will be well enough to play and if he’s just going to take Davis’ role away in the running game. You can just drop Davis.
45. Brandon Bolden @BUF
46. Jemar Jefferson vs. MIN — Jefferson could be in line for a decent-sized role with Swift likely out. Double-digit touches wouldn’t surprise me, and he’s a sneaky cheap waiver-wire flier for deeper leagues or if you have a roster spot to play with.
47. Qadree Ollison vs. TEN
48. Ronald Jones @ATL

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