1. DeMarco Murray, Tennessee Titans

We know that Murray is a former NFL Offensive Player of the Year. We also know he's just a couple years removed from being the top overall fantasy runnin back. But the fantasy football world is all about recency bias, and Murray let a ton of people down with his miserable performance in his first and only year with the Philadelphia Eagles last season.

All said, he put up just over 700 rushing yards while finishing as a bottom end RB2. This came following a preseason draft stretch that saw Murray's ADP stand among the top-five overall players. 

Fast forward a year, and not many people expected a lot from Murray in his first season with the Titans. He wasn't being relied on as anything more than a bottom end RB2 or FLEX option in terms of his preseason ADP, a group-think model that was enhanced by the Titans selecting former Heisman winner Derrick Henry in the draft. 

Now, 15 weeks into the 2016 season, and Murray is currently the No. 4 ranked fantasy running back in the NFL. He's tallied nearly 1,600 total yards with 12 touchdowns in 14 games. The likely Pro Bowler also ranks in the top five in fantasy consistency and touch distribution. Talk about a dynamic overall performance. 

2. Melvin Gordon, San Diego Chargers

Speaking of miserable seasons, what Gordon did as a rookie in 2015 was nothing short of throw-up worthy. Selected by San Diego in the first round, this former Wisconsin standout put up just 604 rushing yards and failed to score a touchdown while fumbling a grand total of six times.

This led to a No. 53 rank among fantasy running backs, a finality that came after he was being considered a RB1 option in preseason drafts. 

Despite missing the past game plus to injury, Gordon heads into Week 16 ranked sixth among running backs in fantasy points. He's gained over 1,400 yards with 12 touchdowns in 13 games. Gordon also ranks sixth among his fellow running backs in fantasy consistency. That's just tremendous. 

3. Jordan Howard, Chicago Bears

Howard didn't even start out the season as Chicago's starter or the most-viable fantasy running back on the roster. Instead, that distinction went to Jeremy Langford. But once Langford went down to injury back in Week 3, Howard took over big time.

Including his 113-yard performance last week against Green Bay, this rookie has now put up 100-plus total yards in six of his past seven games. The only exception there being a 99-yard outing against the New York Giants back in Week 11. 

Heading into Week 16, not only is Howard the eighth-best fantasy running back, he ranks seventh in consistency. This means he's been more consistent than good.

That's definitely a tremendous sign considering Howard has been more than good thus far this season. With 1,348 total yards and seven touchdowns in 13 games, Howard has stardom written all over him. Not too shabby for someone who was a healthy scratch back in Week 1. 

4. LeGarrette Blount, New England Patriots

Blount failed to finish better than 23rd among running backs in fantasy consistency in any of his first six NFL seasons. With a sample size that suggested he wasn't capable of being fantasy relevant, Blount boasted a near unrosterable ADP during the summer. An early-season waiver-wire pickup, Blount his rewarded smart owners with a tremendous performance thus far. 

Through the first 14 games of the season, Blount ranks ninth among running backs in fantasy points and is a true RB1 in terms of fantasy consistency. Oh, it also doesn't hurt that he's already put up over 1,000 rushing yards and leads NFL running backs with 15 rushing touchdowns. 

5. Ezekiel Elliott, Dallas Cowboys 

We debated between Elliott and David Johnson here. But in reality, Johnson was expected to be among the top fantasy backs at the start of the season. This was magnified by an ADP that had him as a top-five overall pick.

On the other hand, any thought given to Elliott as a top-end RB1 option was primarily conjecture based off his performance in college. We've seen how that's played out in the past. 

Shortly after he took to the field against the Redskins back in Week 1, we really Elliott was a different monster. His talent was far superior to the NFL defenses he would be tasked with going up against. Now, months later, that thought process has been proven correct. 

Elliott has tallied 100-plus rushin yards seven times in the past 11 games. During that very same span, he's gained 100-plus total yards in all but one game. The only exception there was a Week 7 outing that saw him put up 97 yards and two touchdowns against Cleveland. 

This former Ohio State standout heads into Week 15 leading the NFL in rush attempts (310) and rushing yards (1,551). He's also gained over 1,900 total yards with 14 touchdowns. If this wasn't absurd enough, Elliott ranks second behind Johnson in fantasy points, first in fantasy consistency and second in touch distribution. Just wow.