I kind of assumed we established it because of former conversations in this thread. In some order I'd say it's pretty set;
Gurley, Bell, Zeke, DJ, Freeman, Gordon, Kamara, Hunt, Fournette, McCaffrey, Mixon, Howard, all have easy claims to top15 to me, with the last 3 spots being Cook, Ingram, D. Henry? Or pick your poison on the last 3. Howard might be the question mark for some based on ppr or non-ppr but I'd have to question your sanity if you ranked any of them outside the top15 of that group. That doesn't include the 2018 class either so obviously there would be some movement. Everyone seems to agree Barkley deserves to be there, and at this moment I'd probably put 3 more from 2018 that might be in that pick your poison group.
I was honestly just trying to pivot away from that group and discuss that 2nd group of RB's, since people always focus on the top of lists' instead of the middle.
I agree with the 12 you listed belinging there. Howard is very good, no disagreement from me regarding him, PPR or standard, he belongs.
I definitely think Cook belongs in that group, an area where we likely disagree quite a bit. Not sure exactly where I would place Cook in the group, somewhere between 6-10 I think. Without question I would take Cook before Howard, and I really like Howard. I would take Cook over Mixon and McCaffrey as well. LIkely over Kamara, Hunt and Fournette too, but those 3 are much closer to Cook for me, same tier in my view while Gordin, Mixon, Howard a step below.
Freeman has really impressed me every time I see him play. He has showed some really good power on top of his elusiveness at times this year. More than I recall seeing from him previously. I think he would be in the same group as Howard, Mixon, McCaffrey for me at this time, with the other guys ahead of him, its really splitting hairs though. Freeman is proven and I would rather have him than Mixon or McCaffrey for example, although the same tier as those guys. I realize some likely value Freeman more than this, and based on what he has proven, I don't really disagree with that perspective. Just looking forward, I think some of the younger RB have more productive careers ahead than Freeman. Tevin Coleman is a very good too.
Ingram has some question marks I think. The numbers have him belong there, but with Kamara also in that group? I dunno that they can keep having both RB gain 1500 yards. History suggests not. I wonder if Ingram might be traded away at some point which would change things, maybe in Ingrams favor.
Recently it sounds like Henry will be the man for the Titans next year. Just hard for me to fully believe that yet considering how they had him take a back seat to Murray all season. That needs to be sorted out for me before I would rank him that high with confidence. I have Henry in a league, but others seem more bullish on him than I have been. For me he has always been a high tier two RB not tier one. So about the same as Carlos Hyde, although I do prefer Henry over Hyde due to the age difference.
Barkley, Guice and Chubb all deserve some consideration I think, although I still have a lot of games to watch of their yet. Some of the other RB from 2018 class may belong as well, but I have not seen those RB as much as the 3 I mention yet.
McCoy although old likely deserves some consideration for top 15 as well. He still has it as we saw from game against Jacksonville earlier today. He made some big plays even though not fully healthy.
Another couple guys who haven't been mentioned, and who I don't think crack top 15 but are in the 16-20 range are CJ Anderson and Samajae Perine. Who I might be higher on than most are. I may be wrong about him. I like Foreman slightly more than Perine but consider them both close and they could be strong RB 2s in fantasy with enough opportunity.
Then you have some of the other guys mentioned as 16-25 guys that might belong there. Like Ajayi, Miller, Hyde. I do think those 3 are outside the top 15 personally, but I could make a pretty strong argument for them belonging there. I do really like Ajayi a lot, but losing confidence in him after the trade and based on how the Eagles have not used him as much as the Dolphins were.
So with Tevin Coleman and some rookies I haven't mentioned yet, thats about 30 or so players. I do think the top half or top 15 is something most of can agree on, although there will be a few players difference, who might be 16-20 for others.
The difference between RB 18 and RB 30 may not really be that great for me either.