AOP Updated RB Rankings: How Far Does Le’Veon Bell Fall?

The Angle of Pursuit podcast team is back with updated running back rankings for standard scoring leagues. Le’Veon Bell‘s 4 game suspension and the Miami Dolphins signing Arian Foster are the biggest movers in the latest rankings. Who else moved this time around?

QB | RB Standard | RB PPR | WR Standard | WR PPR | TE

For more rankings and fantasy football talk, check out Fake Pigskin’s Angle of Pursuit podcast on iTunes and Stitcher.

PLAYER	TEAM	BYE	KYLE	RON	DAMIAN	CONSENSUS
Todd Gurley	LA	8	2	1	1	1
Adrian Peterson	MIN	6	1	3	3	2
David Johnson	ARI	9	9	2	2	3
Ezekiel Elliott	DAL	7	3	6	4	4
Jamaal Charles	KC	5	4	4	7	5
Lamar Miller	HOU	9	6	5	6	6
Eddie Lacy	GB	4	5	7	11	7
Doug Martin	TB	6	7	10	8	8
LeSean McCoy	BUF	10	8	12	12	9
Mark Ingram	NO	5	10	13	10	10
C.J. Anderson	DEN	11	11	9	14	11
Le'Veon Bell	PIT	8	17	15	5	12
Devonta Freeman	ATL	11	21	8	9	13
Carlos Hyde	SF	8	12	11	15	14
Jonathan Stewart	CAR	7	13	17	19	15
Thomas Rawls	SEA	5	20	18	13	16
Matt Forte	NYJ	11	19	14	18	17
Dion Lewis	NE	9	14	16	22	18
Jeremy Hill	CIN	9	16	23	20	19
Frank Gore	IND	10	15	21	27	20
Latavius Murray	OAK	10	18	30	16	21
Ryan Mathews	PHI	4	24	27	17	22
DeMarco Murray	TEN	13	29	19	21	23
Chris Ivory	JAC	5	22	22	29	24
Jay Ajayi	MIA	8	28	20	26	25
Jeremy Langford	CHI	9	25	25	25	26
Giovani Bernard	CIN	9	23	24	28	27
Matt Jones	WAS	9	27	26	23	28
Duke Johnson Jr.	CLE	13	31	28	32	29
Melvin Gordon	SD	11	42	33	23	30
LeGarrette Blount	NE	9	33	29	38	31
Justin Forsett	BAL	8	32	38	37	32
Danny Woodhead	SD	11	46	31	31	33
DeAngelo Williams	PIT	8	38	41	35	34
Derrick Henry	TEN	13	41	32	42	35
Arian Foster	MIA	8	26	57	33	36
T.J. Yeldon	JAC	5	47	36	34	37
Tevin Coleman	ATL	11	34	40	43	38
Karlos Williams	BUF	10	44	34	40	39
Kenneth Dixon	BAL	8	30	45	44	40
Charles Sims	TB	6	45	35	41	41
Rashad Jennings	NYG	8	43	44	36	42
Isaiah Crowell	CLE	13	49	37	39	43
C.J. Prosise	SEA	5	36	46	48	44
Ameer Abdullah	DET	10	64	39	30	45
Javorius Allen	BAL	8	37	47	49	46
Theo Riddick	DET	10	52	42	45	47
Wendell Smallwood	PHI	4	35	43	63	48
Chris Johnson	ARI	9	39	51	52	49
Devontae Booker	DEN	11	51	50	53	50
Paul Perkins	NYG	8	48	54	54	51
Jordan Howard	CHI	9	54	60	46	52
Bilal Powell	NYJ	11	55	58	47	53
James Starks	GB	4	59	56	51	54
Charcandrick West	KC	5	56	49	62	55
Spencer Ware	KC	5	50	48	69	56
Shane Vereen	NYG	8	53	63	55	57
Darren McFadden	DAL	7	73	55	50	58
Jerick McKinnon	MIN	6	68	52	58	59
Alfred Morris	DAL	7	63	53	64	60
DeAndre Washington	OAK	10	62	61	61	61
Kenyan Drake	MIA	8	70	62	57	62
Tim Hightower	NO	5	57	74	60	63
Alex Collins	SEA	5	40	71	81	64
Darren Sproles	PHI	4	66	69	59	65
Keith Marshall	WAS	9	58	72	68	66
Ka'Deem Carey	CHI	9	60	70	71	67
Chris Thompson	WAS	9	78	68	56	68
Josh Ferguson	IND	10	72	65	66	69
Shaun Draughn	SF	8	67	64	73	70
Ronnie Hillman	DEN	11	74	67	65	71
Zach Zenner	DET	10	80	59	67	72
Tyler Ervin	HOU	9	65	66	78	73
Christine Michael	SEA	5	61	80	72	74
Andre Ellington	ARI	9	69	73	75	75
Cameron Artis-Payne	CAR	7	71	76	76	76
C.J. Spiller	NO	5	75	75	77	77
James White	NE	9	84	77	70	78
Tre Mason	LA	8	77	81	79	79
Khiry Robinson	NYJ	11	76	78	83	80
Lance Dunbar	DAL	7	82	83	74	81
Stevan Ridley	DET	10	79	79	84	82
Orleans Darkwa	NYG	8	81	84	80	83
Alfred Blue	HOU	9	83	82	82	84

The news that Le’Veon Bell will be suspended for the first four games of the season is sure to have many sliding him down their draft boards; I will not be one of those people. While Bell is no longer a top three RB for me, I still have him as a top six option in both standard and PPR. The main reason for this is that I’m confident I can find a capable fill-in for the first quarter of the season and I still expect Bell to be arguably the best player at the position from weeks 5-17. Remember this is not an injury related absence so there are no workload concerns related to his return. The combination of Le’Veon Bell and a replacement level player are a borderline top five RB for me and thus I’m still drafting him as such.

Perhaps this goes without saying, but another element of my view on this situation is the obvious fact that fantasy football is not a rotisserie game. The cost of Bell’s month-long absence is only relative to your opponent’s lineup in those weeks. Heck, you could very well win some of those games on the strength of your other roster spots alone. If you happen to land Bell I would pay up for DeAngelo Williams, not only because he’s obviously the ideal placeholder, but also because it’s always wise to handcuff a first round investment with injury concerns. That said I’m not going to pay a crazy price just for insurance so I personally wouldn’t take Williams within the first 60 picks. The RB’s I have ranked in the 30-35 range are all guys I’m comfortable pairing with Bell and starting during his absence.

Follow @D_bro1389

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