2025 Week 5 Fantasy Football Rankings: RB

Omarion Hampton hopes to continue announcing his RB1 presence, Cam Skattebo hunts for more voluminous touch counts in the Giants’ backfield, and Kenneth Walker III prepares for further Zach Charbonnet battle.

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

Week 5 Running Backs

RB Notes: Christian McCaffrey is dead last in NextGenStats’ rush yards over expected metric … and has 11 more receptions than any other running back. With almost literally the rest of the 49ers’ offense injured for Week 5, we don’t care about CMC’s efficiency or lack thereof. … Bucky Irving’s (knee) status is the biggest injury concern of Week 5. A DNP on Wednesday and in a walking boot/on crutches, Irving is firmly on the wrong side of questionable to suit up in Seattle. Even if he did, he would be at risk of re-injury/losing work. Fantasy managers should assume a Rachaad White/Sean Tucker committee, one where White handles 14-18 total touches and Tucker mixes in for 6-8 carries. Only White is a viable FLEX play. … Hurting for both volume and efficiency since his explosive Week 1, Derrick Henry should at least have the former with Lamar Jackson on the shelf. It would be stunning were The Big Dog to handle fewer than 18-20 carries against a Texans defense more vulnerable on the ground than through the air.

Braelon Allen’s “pretty serious” knee injury creates theoretical breathing room for Breece Hall, though the Jets have made it clear they would now like to mix in Isaiah Davis. Annoying, but more of a Week 5 nuisance than actual concern as Hall greets what might be his best matchup of the year in the Cowboys. … Cam Skattebo failed to bust any big plays on his 27 Week 4 touches, but that voluminous workload will remain a theme with Malik Nabers done for the season. The Saints’ defense is good, not great, on the ground. Despite his lack of lateral explosiveness, Skattebo is a high-end RB2 bet based on workload alone. … The Kenneth Walker/Zach Charbonnet staredown continues to get dumber. Neither back is consistently doing anything well, though KWII’s usage and production baselines remain considerably higher. He is the explosive-play threat … who is struggling to gain the coaching staff’s trust on the most important downs. That has Walker’s ceiling lower than it otherwise would be on such a fine workload. Charonnet, for his part, is a cannonball-based RB3. At some point, he’s going to break through that wall.

Jordan Mason didn’t have the Vikings’ backfield all to himself, after all, with third-year UDFA “Zavier Scott” winning the routes and targets battle against the Steelers. Scott failed to create PPR value of his own, but succeeded in damaging Mason’s ahead of a London date with the Browns’ elite run defense. … The fumbles ultimately changed nothing in the Patriots’ backfield. Rhamondre Stevenson is still playing roughly 60 percent of the snaps, with that number hovering around 30 for TreVeyon Henderson. Antonio Gibson is on the field around 20 percent of the time. Failing to command more touches and making little of the ones he does receive, Henderson remains a middling FLEX despite four teams being on bye. … Trey Benson’s disappointing career grew considerably moreso this week as he joined James Conner on injured reserve. Unlike Conner, Benson isn’t done for the season, but he’s done for the bulk of the fantasy campaign. In his wake are passing-down specialist Emari Demercado and Michael Carter, a former pass catcher apparently turned early-down lead back. Demercado certainly is built like a receiving back, but Carter hardly overwhelms in the size department. Ultimately, neither back can be trusted as an RB2, while Demercado is the best bet as a PPR FLEX.

Woody Marks took over as the Texans’ lead back in Week 4. His snap percentage has gone from 11.1 in Week 1 to 26.5, 47.6 and last Sunday’s 56.3. His touches have ascended from three to 21 in that timeframe. It makes all the sense in the world that a team in desperate need of a spark would shift to Marks as Nick Chubb struggles. That being said, on the road against a collapsed Ravens defense that will be missing its quarterback on the other side of the ball, Houston figures to give each of its top-two backs at least 10-12 handles. … You cannot bench Chase Brown. Can you start Chase Brown? He is going nowhere in the Bengals’ hollowed-out offense but continues to do so on heavy-ish volume. There remains no backup to speak of. At this point, you keep betting on the volume angle and pray something finally goes right for the beleaguered back. … Tyjae Spears (ankle) has returned to practice after Tony Pollard spent the past month failing to make the Titans’ backfield his own. Not that success was the most likely outcome on that front with the Titans doing nothing well on offense. Even if Spears remains sidelined another week, Pollard has lost RB2 benefit of the doubt. If Spears plays, Pollard will be a touchdown-based FLEX with Spears hoping to catch 3-5 passes.

Kendre Miller has been handling a quarter of the Saints’ snaps over the past two weeks. He’s basically played Alvin Kamara to a draw when it comes to rushing production during that two-game sample size. With Miller finally making inroads on early downs and Kamara no longer commanding targets like he once did, the old fantasy war horse is in danger of tumbling out of the RB2 ranks. … Of the runners competing in their backfield bake-off, the Commanders reportedly believe Jacory Croskey-Merritt remains the “most capable” of earning a bigger role. So … why aren’t they giving it to him? A fair, vexing question, and Dan Graziano’s report isn’t enough reason in and of itself to expect “Bill’s” frustrating committee to simply vanish with Jayden Daniels back under center against the Chargers. … Fresh off new season highs in snaps (19), carries (four) and receptions (three), Chiefs rookie Brashard Smith is reportedly ticketed for “more involvement” behind stagnant co-starters Kareem Hunt and Isiah Pacheco. It makes too much sense not to be true. Hunt and Pacheco are offering next to nothing, while the “Jerick McKinnon role” lies largely dormant. Probably overhyped over the summer, Smith might not have been worth a 12-team league draft pick, but he is now absolutely worth a flier with bye weeks and injuries mounting.