Fantasy Football 2021 rest of season RB rankings: Austin Ekeler jumps into top five thanks to encouraging usage

Week 3 brought an injury to the top running back in Fantasy football, but as it appears to be something that will only keep Christian McCaffrey sidelined in the short-term, I'm not ready to move him out of the No. 1 spot in my rest-of-season rankings for running backs.

One player I am moving into my top five: Chargers running back Austin Ekeler. There's plenty to like about how the new coaching regime is using the talented running back, especially near the goal line. Ekeler's combination of top-flight receiving and red zone involvement is likely to make him a better Fantasy asset over the rest of the season than Derrick Henry, a mostly-consensus top-five overall pick before the season.

After evaluating the data and sharing What We Learned in Week 3, I'm ready to lay out my rest-of-season rankings at the running back position heading into Week 4. Here's where I'm ranking each RB going forward, given the data we have through three weeks.

Tiered rest of season RB rankings

Tier 1

1. Christian McCaffrey

Tier 2

2. Dalvin Cook
3. Alvin Kamara
4. Aaron Jones
5. Austin Ekeler (+2)
6. Derrick Henry

Austin Ekeler's path to finishing as the RB1 in Fantasy involves staying healthy and earning L.A.'s new coaching staff's trust on plays around the goal line. Through three weeks, it appears as if the new regime believes Ekeler is the best option when in scoring distance.

There are very few backs who have demanded as high of a percentage of their team's red zone snaps as Ekeler has in 2021.

In 2020, he was on the field for just 46 percent of L.A.'s red zone plays. This is a huge change! If Ekeler continues to dominate the red zone work in the way we have seen so far, he is a no-questions-asked top-five Fantasy RB with the upside to finish as the RB1.

Which RBs are on the rise after three weeks? And which every-week starter has us concerned with his role thus far? ... Join SportsLine here to see Jacob Gibbs' rest of season Fantasy Football Rankings, all from one of the nation's most accurate experts as graded by FantasyPros!