Fantasy Football Week 12 Running Back Rankings: Can Kyren Williams return to top-five status?

Chris Towers walks you through his Week 12 RB rankings

By Chris Towers

Nov 26, 2023 at 11:01 am ET • 2 min read

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We got a bit of a scare Saturday when Buccaneers RB Rachaad White was added to the injury report with a knee injury, but subsequent reports have indicated that was a precautionary move -- White's knee locked up on him during a walkthrough but is not expected to limited him. I've moved White down a few spots in my rankings on the risk of a setback in-game, but I'd have to be pretty stacked to consider sitting a guy averaging 14.5 carries and 5.3 targets over the past four games, especially with a good matchup against the Colts on the way.

Dameon Pierce is expected to make his return from a three-game absence with an ankle injury, which is bad news for Devin Singletary, who has been a significant Fantasy contributor the past two games, with 262 yards and two touchdowns. Singletary may have done enough to make himself the lead back in Houston moving forward, but there's no guarantees of that, and I expect a committee regardless of who the No. 1 is. Which makes Singletary and Pierce both RB3s, though I do prefer Singletary if I had to pick one.

Kyren Williams is cleared to make his return from IR and doesn't carry an injury designation into Sunday's game against the Cardinals, so he should be back to the role that made him a top-five RB before his injury. I don't necessarily expect him to be quite that good in his first game back, but the upside is absolutely that high if the Rams go back to giving him 75% of the snaps -- and I'm not sure Sean McVay will really be able to help himself, given how he rode Williams prior to the injury.

The messy Bears backfield has a little clarity heading into Monday's game, with Roschon Johnson considered doubtful with an ankle injury. Khalil Herbert was splitting work with Foreman before the injury last week, but ultimately ended up with 18 touches, so he should remain the lead back, and he's a fringe RB2 against the Vikings. Roschon Johnson should get a few carries and will run a decent amount of routes, but Justin Fields never really throws to his running backs much, so Johnson is more like a desperation RB4 at this point.

Here are my full rankings for Week 12 at running back for PPR leagues: