Injuries are starting to take a major toll, with several high profile backs either going down, or likely staying down, as we enter the week.  Luckily the byes are behind us, but that doesn’t necessarily make decisions easy.  Let’s take a look at how everything shakes out for the coming week:

1. Doug Martin – Tampa Bay Buccaneers – vs. Atlanta
2. Adrian Peterson – Minnesota Vikings – at Chicago
3. Arian Foster – Houston Texans – at Detroit
4. Chris Johnson – Tennessee Titans – at Jacksonville
5. C.J. Spiller – Buffalo Bills – at Indianapolis
6. Marshawn Lynch – Seattle Seahawks – at Miami
7. Frank Gore – San Francisco 49ers – at New Orleans
8. Trent Richardson – Cleveland Browns – vs. Pittsburgh
9. Ray Rice – Baltimore Ravens – at San Diego
10. BenJarvus Green-Ellis – Cincinnati Bengals – vs. Oakland
11. Matt Forte – Chicago Bears – vs. Minnesota
12. Alfred Morris – Washington Redskins – at Dallas
13. Jamaal Charles – Kansas City Chiefs – vs. Denver
14. Stevan Ridley – New England Patriots – at New York Jets
15. Marcel Reece – Oakland Raiders – at Cincinnati
16. Felix Jones – Dallas Cowboys – vs. Washington
17. Steven Jackson – St. Louis Rams – at Arizona
18. Ryan Mathews – San Diego Chargers – vs. Baltimore
19. Bryce Brown – Philadelphia Eagles – vs. Carolina
20. Ronnie Hillman – Denver Broncos – at Kansas City
21. Ahmad Bradshaw – New York Giants – vs. Green Bay
22. Jalen Parmelee – Jacksonville Jaguars – vs. Tennessee
23. Vick Ballard – Indianapolis Colts – vs. Buffalo
24. Michael Turner – Atlanta Falcons – at Tampa Bay
25. Rashard Mendenhall – Pittsburgh Steelers – at Cleveland
26. Reggie Bush – Miami Dolphins – vs. Seattle
27. Jonathan Stewart – Carolina Panthers – at Philadelphia
28. Shonn Greene – New York Jets – vs. New England
29. Mikel Leshoure – Detroit Lions – vs. Houston
30. LaRod Stephens-Howling – Arizona Cardinals – vs. St. Louis
31. James Starks – Green Bay Packers – at New York Giants
32. Mark Ingram – New Orleans Saints – vs. San Francisco
33. Daniel Thomas – Miami Dolphins – vs. Seattle
34. Beanie Wells – Arizona Cardinals – vs. St. Louis
35. Jonathan Dwyer – Pittsburgh Steelers – at Cleveland
36. Donald Brown – Indianapolis Colts – vs. Buffalo
37. Andre Brown – New York Giants – vs. Green Bay
38. Chris Ivory – New Orleans Saints – vs. San Francisco
39. Daryl Richardson – St. Louis Rams – at Arizona
40. Ronnie Brown – San Diego Chargers – vs. Baltimore

Thoughts:

• As we have said before, Doug Martin has become virtually matchup proof.  Of course, having a favorable matchup doesn’t hurt anything (Atlanta is allowing 130.5 rushing yards per game and 10 TD).  He is coming off another impressive outing, with 138 rushing yards on 24 carries, while adding another 23 yards through the air.  He has quickly emerged as one of the elite running backs in the game.
• A few of the top backs in the league draw difficult matchups this week, most notably Adrian Peterson vs. the Bears.  Of course, over his previous four games Peterson has averaged 157.3 yards per game while scoring five touchdowns.  The stretch includes impressive outings against the Seahawks (at Seattle) and, the way he’s playing right now, it is impossible to downgrade him for matchup purposes.  He’s a Top 5 back and is going to continue to get opportunities to produce.
• Chris Johnson is looking more and more like his old self, averaging 140.3 rushing yards per game and a touchdown over his past four games (including matchups with the Bears and Dolphins).  Now, taking on a Jaguars defense that is among the worst in the league stopping the run (137.3 yards per game, 14 TD), he should be counted on to continue to wreak havoc once again.
• Even if Fred Jackson is healthy we have to think C.J. Spiller is going to be the focal point of the offense, right?  What else does he have to do to earn that respect?  For now he is coming in as a RB1 under that pretense, but the news this week could change that.
• Sure, there has been talk of a Darren McFadden return, but we all know his history of injuries and slow recoveries.  Plus, Marcel Reece is producing which helps give the Raiders reason to be cautious with their star running back.  For now McFadden is being left off the rankings.
• We can blame Ryan Mathews’ Week 11 lack of effectiveness to being banged up (47 yards on 15 carries), but at this point who are we kidding?  In what was supposed to be a breakout campaign, Mathews has been a huge bust.  He remains a viable RB2, but until he proves otherwise he needs to be pushed down on the rankings.
• Speaking of struggling running backs, would it surprise anyone if the Dolphins turned to Daniel Thomas at some point soon in order to see if he can handle regular duties in 2013?  In the past few weeks, Reggie Bush certainly hasn’t cut it…
• Will this be the week DeMarco Murray returns to the lineup?  Even if he does, given his lengthy absence there is going to be some risk as to how many touches he gets.  At this point it ie impossible to trust him.
• With Beanie Wells expected back this week, LaRod Stephens picked the right game to bust out in, didn’t he?  That said, I would expect this to be a time share (at least), with Wells eventually take on the bulk of the duties.
• We will be taking a look at some of the other injury replacements, like Bryce Brown and Ronnie Hillman, later this morning.

***** Pre-order the Rotoprofessor 2013 Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide today for just $5 (the price increases on December 1)!!  Expanded rankings, prospect lists, Top 25 sleepers and so much more!  To order, or for more information, click here. *****

Make sure to check out all of our Week 12 rankings:

• Top 25 Quarterbacks
• Top 50 Wide Receivers
• Top 25 Tight Ends
• Top 15 Defenses
• Top 15 Kickers