Dan Harris is back with his updated top-50 running back rankings for the 2021 fantasy football season, including tiers.

Practice fast mock drafts with our free Mock Draft Simulator

Dalvin Cook (MIN)
Cook is as talented as any running back in the league and would have surpassed 2,000 yards from scrimmage last year had he not missed two games due to injury. As it was, he set career bests in rushing yards (1,557), touchdowns (17), and touches (356). He’s also a big play waiting to happen, as he has ripped off a run of at least 70 yards in each of the past three seasons. If there’s a knock on Cook, it’s that he hasn’t yet stayed healthy enough to play 16 games in a season, but that’s not close enough to knock him out of being an obvious top-three pick in fantasy leagues.

J.K. Dobbins (BAL)
Dobbins had a successful rookie campaign, scoring nine touchdowns and averaging an impressive six yards per carry. But there could have been so much more, had he started seeing 10 touches per game prior to Week 6. The Ravens again led the league in rush attempts and yards per carry, but Dobbins received just 152 touches on the season. In other words, even though he was dynamic and in a perfect offense for rushing the ball, the volume simply wasn’t there for him to finish as an elite fantasy running back. Unfortunately, that’s probably going to be the case again this season, with Gus Edwards, who put up similarly strong stats last year, and Lamar Jackson taking a large share of the carries. That hardly makes Dobbins useless from a fantasy perspective, and he can and should be drafted as a strong RB2. But absent an Edwards injury, his upside is a bit capped.

Leonard Fournette (TB)
The question for Fournette in 2021 is are we going to see the regular-season version of him or “Playoff Lenny? The regular-season version, who saw fewer than half the snaps and rarely had an impact game, is a fantasy afterthought. The playoff version, who averaged 73% of the snaps and more than 20 touches per game, is a locked-in fantasy starter. The Bucs brought back almost all of their key contributors, but they also added Gio Bernard, who should cut into Fournette’s work in the passing game (Fournette averaged more than five targets and four receptions per game in the playoffs). And, Bruce Arians has shown every inclination to switch “lead” running backs at the drop of a hat. In other words, Fournette is certainly worth a roster spot, but there are a ton of impediments to him become a reliable RB2 this year. Draft him as a bench piece with upside for more if there are injuries to his competition for touches.

• Dan Harris’s Top-30 Quarterback Rankings
• Dan Harris’s Top-50 Wide Receiver Rankings
• Dan Harris’s Top-20 Tight End Rankings

Can you draft the perfect 2020 team? Try our Perfect Draft Game

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | SoundCloud | iHeartRadio

Beyond our fantasy football content, be sure to check out our award-winning slate of Fantasy Football Tools as you prepare for your draft this season. From our free mock Draft Simulator – which allows you to mock draft against realistic opponents – to our Draft Assistant – that optimizes your picks with expert advice – we’ve got you covered this fantasy football draft season.