Fantasy football: Week 5 running back rankings

Oct. 4 (UPI) -- Le'Veon Bell is our No. 1 fantasy football running back for Week 5, leading a pack of 30 rushing options.

No Mark Ingram. No Devonta Freeman. No C.J. Anderson. No Rob Kelley or Chris Thompson.

No problem.

With the New Orleans Saints, Atlanta Falcons, Denver Broncos and Washington Redskins on bye weeks you might be faced with a hole in you Week 5 lineup. But fear not, there are plenty of options available on the waiver wire and hopefully you have a good matchup on your bench.

Check out our add/drop article for Week 5 if you are in need of a replacement.

Here are my Top 30 options at the position this week.

TOP 30 WEEK 5 RANKINGS BELOW

TOP SHELF

Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le'Veon Bell faces the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday. Bell is coming off of his best game of the season, where he had 186 yards from scrimmage and two scores against the Baltimore Ravens. Look for him to get a ton of touches again against this porous defense. The Jaguars are allowing the third-most fantasy points per game and have allowed the second-most rushing yards to opposing running backs.

Los Angeles Rams star Todd Gurley might be the best running back in football right now. He has a Week 5 matchup against the NFC West rival Seattle Seahawks. Gurley is my No. 2 running back for Week 5, as he is facing a defense which has allowed the fifth-most rushing yards to opposing running backs.

SNEAKY PLAYS

Cleveland Browns running back Isaiah Crowell has a great matchup Sunday against the New York Jets. Crowell is a high end RB2 and is my No. 15 ranked option for Week 5. The Jets are allowing the fourth-most fantasy points per game to opposing running backs. Crowell has gotten off to a slow start but I think you need to give him one more shot here.

Indianapolis Colts veteran Frank Gore faces the San Francisco 49ers in Week 5. He is ranked No. 21 for me in this matchup. Gore has two touchdowns in four games this season. The 49ers are allowing the sixth-most fantasy points per game to opposing running backs.

LONGSHOTS

Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said that Thomas Rawls will be the lead back on Sunday after the loss of Chris Carson. He is my No. 22 running back option for Week 5 in this matchup. The low end RB2 is facing a Los Angeles Rams defense allowing the most fantasy points per game and touchdowns to opposing rushers.

LeGarrette Blount didn't look good at all in Week 2 but exploded in Week 4 for 136 yards on 16 carries. He has excelled in each of the Philadelphia Eagles' three wins. This week he gets a matchup against the Arizona Cardinals. Although the Cardinals haven't been bad against the run, they did allow 95 yards from scrimmage to Carlos Hyde in Week 4 and 94 yards from scrimmage to Ezekiel Elliott in Week 3. Blount is a streaming-level RB2 for Week 5.

Week 5 Running Back Rankings