Fantasy Football 2025: Week 2 RB Rankings

Last week’s games were interesting, as you may have been disappointed in some of your starting RBs like Chase Brown, Jonathan Taylor, Jahmyr Gibbs, and Kenneth Walker III. Well, I took all these stats into account for my Week 2 RB rankings. The big thing is not to panic. I would not panic about the Bengals’ offense as they have been terrible in Week 1 for the past three years.

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However, I did notice some trends this week. It does look like Zach Charbonnet will have a big role in the Seahawks’ backfield. As for James Cook, he will have some touchdown regression. But it looks like he will be just fine in the passing and rushing game. I’ll detail some of my key players further below.

RB Notes

• Let’s start with James Conner as my RB12 this week. I would have him higher in my rankings, but it looks like Trey Benson is going to eat into Conner’s carries this year. But they both do have the Panthers this week. The Panthers just gave up 143 rushing yards to Travis Etienne Jr. on 16 carries. I expect the Cardinals to run the ball quite a bit this game, but it could trend to Benson outcarrying Conner. But Conner does have some goal-line touchdown upside and is still elite in the passing game.
• Next, I have Jacory Croskey-Merritt, otherwise known just as “Bill”, who is my RB26 this week. Croskey-Merritt led the team in carries and averaged 8.2 yards per carry. He ended the day with 82 yards on 10 carries and a rushing touchdown. It was great to see Croskey-Merritt show that he is the real deal, but I would be cautious in starting him this week against the Packers. The Packers’ defense completely shut down the Lions and only gave up 10 fantasy points to Gibbs. However, he did have 10 receptions but only for 31 yards. It looks like Austin Ekeler will be the primary pass catcher for the Commanders, and Croskey-Merritt looks like the primary downhill running back.
• Lastly, I have Etienne as my RB16 against the Bengals. Etienne looked great against the Panthers, and on top of that, Tank Bigsby got traded to the Eagles. Etienne still has some competition with Bhayshul Tuten, but it looks like Etienne should be the lead back and pass-catching back as well. The Bengals’ defense played a decent game against the Browns’ run game, as they didn’t give up too many rushing yards but gave up 64 receiving yards to Dylan Sampson. Etienne can be huge in the passing game against this Bengals defense and is an easy RB2 start this week.

Check out all of our Week 2 Rankings: Flex Rankings | QB Rankings | RB Rankings | WR Rankings | TE Rankings

Week 2 RB Rankings