by Will Overton
It’s a good week to own one of the elite running backs in the league. Despite some uncertainty among a couple of the top backs playing time this week, the matchups for many of the upper echelon backs are very strong.
Arian Foster’s one of the backs clouded by uncertainty and so we have a different top back this week so let’s go to it:
- Maurice Jones-Drew – Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Indianapolis
- Michael Turner – Atlanta Falcons vs. Tampa Bay
- Ray Rice – Baltimore Ravens @ Cincinnati
- Frank Gore – San Francisco 49ers @ St. Louis
- Rashard Mendenhall – Pittsburgh Steelers @ Cleveland
- Marshawn Lynch – Seattle Seahawks @ Arizona
- Reggie Bush – Miami Dolphins vs. NY Jets
- Arian Foster – Houston Texans vs. Tennessee
- Ryan Matthews – San Diego Chargers @ Oakland
- Chris Johnson – Tennessee Titans @ Houston
- C.J. Spiller – Buffalo Bills @ New England
- Willis McGehee – Denver Broncos vs. Kansas City
- Kahlil Bell – Chicago Bears @ Minnesota
- Peyton Hillis – Cleveland Browns vs. Pittsburgh
- Michael Bush – Oakland Raiders vs. San Diego
- Toby Gerhart – Minnesota Vikings vs. Chicago
- LeSean McCoy – Philadelphia Eagles vs. Washington
- Steven Jackson – St. Louis Rams vs. San Francisco
- Ahmad Bradshaw – New York Giants vs. Dallas
- Shonn Greene – New York Jets @ Miami
- Felix Jones – Dallas Cowboys @ NY Giants
- DeAngelo Williams – Carolina Panthers @ New Orleans
- Beanie Wells – Arizona Cardinals vs. Seattle
- Cedric Benson – Cincinnati Bengals vs. Baltimore
- Ryan Grant – Green Bay Packers vs. Detroit
- Jackie Battle – Kansas City Chiefs @ Denver
- Darren Sproles – New Orleans Saints vs. Carolina
- Jonathan Stewart – Carolina Panthers @ New Orleans
- Kevin Smith – Detroit Lions @ Green Bay
- Ray Helu – Washington Redskins @ Philadelphia
- LaGarrette Blount – Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Atlanta
- Chris Ivory – New Orleans Saints vs. Carolina
- Stevan Ridley – New England Patriots vs. Buffalo
- Ben Tate – Houston Texans vs. Tennessee
- Donald Brown – Indianapolis Colts @ Jacksonville
- Evan Royster – Washington Redskins @ Philadelphia
- James Starks – Green Bay Packers vs. Detroit
- BenJarvus Green-Ellis – New England Patriots vs. Buffalo
- Joseph Addai – Indianapolis Colts @ Jacksonville
- Brandon Jacobs – New York Giants vs. Dallas
- I’m giving Maurice Jones-Drew the nod for the number one spot this week because I am just not sure how much time Arian Foster spends on the field. I still have Foster in my top ten because I think he’ll get some time, but I don’t know that he’ll get a full load of carries. Houston is locked in to the third spot in the AFC playoffs and so they don’t have a lot to play for. Because of all this we have a new number one running back and Ben Tate also gets into the top 40 despite a couple down weeks.
- Every elite back in the top six has a very favorable matchup this week against poor run defenses. Ray Rice has the toughest matching of the six and he is still in good shape against Cincinnati. If you own one of these six you should be in great shape this week.
- Who would have thought at the beginning of the season that Reggie Bush would be ranked higher than Chris Johnson by the end of the year, especially in a game where the Titans playoff berth is on the line? Bush has now run for over 100 yards in four straight games, including going over 200 once. The Jets aren’t as strong against the run as they are the pass and Daniel Thomas might not be able to play which means Bush should be in line for a fifth straight big performance.
- New quarterback or not the Bears offense now revolves the man who two weeks ago was a third string running back, Kahlil Bell. Bell has been much more up for the job than Marion Baber ever was. Bell has participated in four games and averaged 4.6 yards per carry over the time. Bell got his first start of the season Sunday Night and ran for 121 yards against the Packers, despite the fact that everyone knew the Bears would be relying on him. Add to it that Bell has proven very good as a pass catcher out of the backfield and he makes a strong play.
- Lesean McCoy has a banged up ankle and not a lot to play for anymore. The Eagles are out of the playoffs and McCoy is virtually out of the running for the rushing title. The X-Rays on the ankle turned up negative which is a positive, but the Eagles won’t run him out there if there is a chance of serious damage. That’s why his ranking is so low and will be subject to change as the week wears on and news comes forth. If you own him it wouldn’t be a bad idea to snag Ronnie Brown for insurance.
- A matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers defense might be enough to scare off a lot of Peyton Hillis’ owners, but I think he’s still a top 15 running back. Hillis only ran for 25 yards against the Steelers just three weeks ago, but this is a different Peyton Hillis now. I think Hillis is just now getting fully healthy and he showed it by running for 112 yards against the Ravens Saturday, which is a statistically stronger run defense. This time around should be a different story for Hillis against Pittsburgh.
- An update on the health of Felix Jones could elevate his rankings by four or so spots towards the top fifteen. Jones didn’t play much Saturday, but the game’s outcome really had no significance for the Cowboys. This week matters and if Jones is healthy he will play and he will get all the carries. Going into last week’s game Jones was coming off two straight 100 yard games so he’s been playing well. And the Giants run defense is suspect at best. So ultimately the health concerns are the only thing keeping Jones out of the top 20.
- LaGarrette Blount found himself in Raheem Morris doghouse on Saturday after fumbling on the first play of the game. In turn Kregg Lumpkin got some touches, but he did nothing with them and I imagine Morris has no choice but to go back to Blount this week. Still, Atlanta has one of the best rush defenses in the league and Blount has yet to do much of anything noteworthy this season. I don’t expect week 17 to be his redemption.
- The Indianapolis Colts strategy confuses me among many other fantasy owners I am sure. Donald Brown was coming off a career game going into Saturday and all of the sudden Joseph Addai is the team’s leading ball carrier again. And as one would expect Addai didn’t do much of anything with the carries. I can’t explain why this shift took place, but I have to think it was an aberration. Still, the fact that it happened puts Brown further down the list than he should be.
