Jeff Ratcliffe’s 2024 Fantasy Football Running Back Tiers

Fantasy football draft season is here. If you haven’t done so already, it’s time to start your draft prep. One of the most useful weapons to have in your draft day arsenal is fantasy football tiers. With a tier-based approach, you can see how each player stacks up at his respective position. Tiers are slightly different from fantasy football rankings because it’s not just a straight list of players. These groupings allow for a more flexible approach to drafting that you can ultimately build into your draft board.

Over the next few days, I’m going to go position-by-position and give you my tiers for 2024 fantasy football drafts. Today, we continue things with my 2024 running back fantasy football tiers.  Of course, don’t forget that you can check out all of our fantasy football rankings and fantasy football projections.

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Tier 1

While we aren’t as top heavy at running back as we have been in years past, we do have plenty of firepower in this group. All three backs will go in the first round of your 1QB drafts. McCaffrey is the elder statesman of the bunch and is coming off a 2,000-yard scrimmage season with 21 touchdowns. Both Robinson and Hall are on the rise and offer a three-down skill set.

Tier 2

Our second group encompasses the remaining anchor running backs on my board for 2024. You can expect this group to all go in the first three rounds of your 1QB drafts. If you plan to use a Hero RB approach (I also call this a “Punt RB2” strategy), you’ll want to land one of these backs from the first two tiers. I discuss this concept even further in the Roadmap fantasy draft strategy article in my Game Plan draft guide. Note that some of these backs don’t have clear handcuff situations. I tend to only handcuff backs with clear handcuffs.

Tier 3

After the Anchor tiers, we reach the portion of the draft that many refer to as the “running back dead zone.” The running backs above will almost certainly go during this period of drafts that typically lasts until the seventh round in 12-team 1QB leagues. If you’re a Zero RB or Hero RB drafter, you’ll be avoiding running backs in this range and likely won’t land any of these guys. However, there is a chance that one or more of them slips outside the dead zone into the seventh round.

Tier 4

We have a dropoff in expectation from Tier 3 to Tier 4, and that’s due either to questionable situations or established committee backfields. However, those aren’t reasons to fade this group. Rather, it’s a reason why we’re going to get these guys at a good value in the middle rounds. Every year we see middle round backs out-play their ADP. This group is the main group to shoot for in a Zero RB or Hero RB approach if none of the guys from Tier 3 fall.

Tier 5

The top part of this group will still be viable in the middle rounds, but we will spill into the late rounds with these guys. Here, you have to pick your poison. Do you want higher floor options? Pick the early-down guys. Higher ceiling? Go with the passing down backs. Of course, that group will come with more weekly volatility. We also have a number of dice rolls in this tier with major question marks entering the season.

Tier 6

If you’re looking for deep options at the position with the potential to start in Week 1, the well has already dried up at this point. You have several guys who figure to be on the wrong side of the committee in their respective backfields. However, this is also the range where handcuffs will start coming off the board. Remember, handcuffs only have a lot of value to you if you have the starter in the backfield. Otherwise, there isn’t a ton of value in rostering the handcuff in redraft leagues.

Tier 7

There are always a couple dart throws at running back late in drafts, but largely this is a tier to avoid. In the late rounds, you’ll often see tertiary backs or non-priority handcuffs being drafted in this range. A non-priority cuff is the handcuff of a non-anchor running back. They aren’t a priority because you did not spend a premium pick on the starter. We only want to protect our investments when we draft running backs in the early rounds.

Tier 8

It’s unlikely any of these guys gets drafted in regular-sized leagues. However, it’s always a good idea to have a watch list for each position when we enter the season. We often see surprise players emerge at running back over the course of an NFL season. This group is the best bet for that this year.