2025 Week 3 Fantasy Football Rankings: RB

Jonathan Taylor makes a bid for RB1 overall status, Jordan Mason prepares to take the load in Minnesota, and Zach Charbonnet and Kenneth Walker III keep duking it out for the Seahawks.

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

Week 3 Running Backs

RB Notes: Jonathan Taylor is back in league-winning mode. He came close in 2024, but the Colts’ offense was simply too dysfunctional. It’s fair to wonder how long Daniel Jones can keep things in tune, but for now Taylor could be forcing his way back into the RB1 overall mix. Please stay healthy, so on and so forth. … Already off to a slow start, Chase Brown was a summer environment bet whose environment just got a whole lot worse. The good news is, Jake Browning has proven to be a “keeps the operation afloat”-level backup QB rather than a “submarine torpedoes it.” Brown also has no meaningful touch competition. That could change — frankly, making the backfield more of a committee would be a rational reaction to Joe Burrow’s injury — but believe it when you see it. … James Cook is so far laughing in the face of his expected touchdown regression even as his snap percentage hovers around 50. So even though he’s still scoring, Cook’s contract extension has not yet led to a meaningful increase in playing time. Interesting, if not exactly surprising. More interesting is the possibility this is just who Cook is. He doesn’t play all the Bills’ most important snaps, but he plays enough of them, which … is enough in an elite offense.

What does progress even look like these days? In fantasy football, it’s De’Von Achane going from 3/20/1 as a receiver in Week 1 to 8/92/1 in Week 2. That’s what you signed up for. The rushing has been awful but is largely immaterial. As this era of Dolphins football circles the drain, expect ever more Achane checkdowns. … With Aaron Jones (hamstring) and J.J. McCarthy (ankle) both sidelined, Jordan Mason suddenly finds himself as the most plausible engine of the Vikings’ offense. You can quibble with the exact ranking, but the bottom line is: If you drafted Mason, you are starting him. … Aside from the fact that he didn’t hit the big run, Travis Etienne’s Week 2 was mostly a carbon copy of his Week 1. That’s a great thing in fantasy, as it means Etienne is commanding the money snaps in an offense that should eventually produce some actual points. He’s an RB2 thanks to his all-around usage. … For now at least. Tank Bigsby’s trade cleared the deck for better Bhayshul Tuten usage, and the rookie responded by seeing his snap percentage increase from 6.1 to 25.4. He remains one of the more exciting RB4 bench holds in fantasy.

The Raiders’ response to Ashton Jeanty’s shaky Week 1 was to slash his snap percentage from 85.7 to 55.7. Dylan Laube, of all people, handled the two-minute drill. Far from ideal. You could point to the fact that the Raiders were dictating the pace of play in Week 1 and trailing in Week 2, but how often will this team dictate the pace of play? Well, they could against Marcus Mariota’s Commanders this Sunday. It’s still clear Jeanty can’t be treated as an RB1 for the time being. … Speaking of the Commandos, with Jayden Daniels (knee) sidelined for Week 3 and Austin Ekeler (achilles) out for the season, it is probably be Jacory Croskey-Merritt’s time to shine. It’s abundantly clear JCM won’t catch any passes, but Washington’s injuries have probably made it close to impossible for “Bill” to continue playing fewer than 50 percent of the snaps. … Behind Croskey-Merritt, Jeremy McNichols is worth a PPR Hail Mary in Ekeler’s vacated role. … Quinshon Judkins touched the ball on 13-of-19 snaps in his NFL debut. It’s not difficult to spot where this is going. He is now the primary option in an offense searching for quality snaps wherever they can find them. Like Jordan Mason, if you drafted Judkins as an RB3, you are now starting him.

Kenneth Walker somehow posted a lower snap percentage than his disastrous Week 1 — he declined from 40.4 to 35.4 — but … you know where this is going. Walker’s carries kicked up from 10 to 13 and his rushing yards supernova’d from 20 to 105. If you have made it his far, you undoubtedly already know the hilarious corollary to KWIII’s big day, Zach Charbonnet’s 15/10/0 performance. It’s clear what the Seahawks were hoping to do. Make Charbonnet the primary ball carrier in an effort to keep Walker healthier and more explosive. But can that center possibly hold? With Walker inarguably the more productive player even if this current arrangement holds, he gets the rankings benefit of the doubt I was foolish not to give him last week. … This is the time of year where you have to react. If you’re reacting to Omarion Hampton’s Week 2, it’s all negative. A complete dud in a game the Chargers dominated, Hampton capped things off with a lost fumble in clock-killing mode. That has ended well in the short-term for a rookie precisely never. Out-gained by Najee Harris in the process, Hampton deserves an RB2 “breather.”

Not that Najee Harris has earned an RB2 closeup. This is a “FLEXes only” backfield until we see some better play from either of the Bolts’ top-two runners. … That was a “had to have it” game for the Giants in Dallas. They didn’t get it, but which running back was out there as they gave it their best shot? Cam Skattebo. It would be naive to call last Sunday the final word on Skattebo’s backfield split with Tyrone Tracy, but this appears headed the expected direction. … The Patriots’ big adjustment coming out of Week 1? Increase Rhamondre Stevenson’s touches, lightly cut TreVeyon Henderson’s snaps, and get Antonio Gibson more involved. A penalty-prone mess against the Dolphins, Henderson is merely theoretical upside for the time being. … Woody Marks’ Week 2 snap percentage kicked up from 11.1 to 26.5. The Texans are acknowledging the reality that they need anyone with juice. Marks is probably the only guy who has any in this backfield.