Is it just us, or does the running back position get tougher and tougher every year?
Sort of in concert with the dropping value of the position across the NFL as a whole, fewer and fewer bell cow running backs are no-brainer fantasy football picks in early rounds this year.
If you miss out on our first tier, it's really about picking players with potential volume and talent, as track records are few and far between amongst the majority of running backs who'll be getting touches in 2023.
As we've done every season here at PhillyVoice, we've ranked the top 60 running backs this season for you to give you a different perspective on the rankings out there at ESPN, Yahoo! and other outlets. Along with the full list below we've also broken down the backs into tiers or buckets based on projected performance.
Theoretically, the running backs in the tiers below all have the chance of performing just about the same.
We've decided to try ranking the top 60 running backs ahead of fantasy football season. Here's a look at them:
| Rank | Player | Team |
| 1 | Christian McCaffrey | SF |
| 2 | Austin Ekeler | LAC |
| 3 | CLE | |
| 4 | Bijan Robinson | ATL |
| 5 | Derrick Henry | TEN |
| 6 | Saquon Barkley | NYG |
| 7 | FAL | |
| 8 | BAL | |
| 9 | Josh Jacobs | LV |
| 10 | Najee Harris | PIT |
| 11 | NE | |
| 12 | Joe Mixon | CIN |
| 13 | Aaron Jones | GB |
| 14 | Breece Hall | NYJ |
| 15 | Travis Etienne | JAX |
| 16 | Miles Sanders | CAR |
| 17 | J.K. Dobbins | BAL |
| 18 | Kenneth Walker III | SEA |
| 19 | Jahmyr Gibbs | DET |
| 20 | LAR | |
| 21 | Alexander Mattison | MIN |
| 22 | HOU | |
| 23 | Isiah Pacheco | KC |
| 24 | David Montgomery | DET |
| 25 | DEN | |
| 26 | ARI | |
| 27 | NO | |
| 28 | D'Andre Swift | PHI |
| 29 | Rashaad White | TB |
| 30 | James Cook | BUF |
| 31 | Brian Robinson Jr. | WAS |
| 32 | Rashaad Penny | PHI |
| 33 | Khalil Herbert | CHI |
| 34 | A.J. Dillon | GB |
| 35 | WAS | |
| 36 | Samaje Perine | CIN |
| 37 | NO | |
| 38 | Zach Charbonnet | SEA |
| 39 | BUF | |
| 40 | Elijah Mitchell | SF |
| 41 | Tyler Allgeier | ATL |
| 42 | De'Von Achane | MIA |
| 43 | CHI | |
| 44 | Devin Singletary | HOU |
| 45 | KC | |
| 46 | PHI | |
| 47 | MIA | |
| 48 | Jerrick McKinnon | KC |
| 49 | Jaylen Warren | PIT |
| 50 | Isaiah Spiller | LAC |
| 51 | Gus Edwards | BAL |
| 52 | — | |
| 53 | — | |
| 54 | — | |
| 55 | Kareem Hunt | — |
| 56 | Jarome Ford | CLE |
| 57 | Kendre Miller | NO |
| 58 | Tank Bigsby | JAX |
| 59 | Roschon Johnson | CHI |
| 60 | Zamir White | LV |
The elite bell cows (8)
Talented veterans with opportunity (8)
Youngsters without track record (7)Above average RB2's (12)
Would not be surprising to see them breakout (7)
Above average backups/handcuffs (9)Unemployed superstars (4)Rookies to take a flier on (5)