Week 9: Running Back Frenzy - 8 comments

While it certainly could be said about other weeks in other seasons, the large number of injuries to the running back position has certainly made a mockery of our RB rankings this week in terms of pre-season expectations. Aside from the fact that Fred Jackson and Beanie Wells are top-six plays, something in August that would have looked insane, especially with Jackson facing the Jets, our top 24 (all projected starters in a 12-team, two-RB league) includes such pre-season luminaries as Michael Bush, Mike Tolbert, Darren Sproles, DeMarco Murray, Brandon Jacobs, Pierre Thomas, Reggie Bush and Jackie Battle. I hope you’ve been building up RB depth along the way, because if you don’t have at least one of those guys, you may be screwed this week.

Rank	Quarterbacks	Team	Opponent	Average
1	Aaron Rodgers	GB	at SD	93.07
2	Drew Brees	NO	vs. TB	89.33
3	Michael Vick	PHI	vs. CHI	88.47
4	Tom Brady	NE	vs. NYG	86.87
5	Eli Manning	NYG	at NE	86.00
6	Ben Roethlisberger	PIT	vs. BAL	74.40
7	Tony Romo	DAL	vs. SEA	73.80
8	Philip Rivers	SD	vs. GB	73.60
9	Matt Schaub	HOU	vs. CLE	70.87
10	Matt Ryan	ATL	at IND	65.67
11	Josh Freeman	TB	at NO	61.80
12	Mark Sanchez	NYJ	at BUF	60.87
13	Ryan Fitzpatrick	BUF	vs. NYJ	58.27
14	Matt Hasselbeck	TEN	vs. CIN	58.13
15	Matt Cassel	KC	vs. MIA	57.40
16	Tim Tebow	DEN	at OAK	56.07
17	Joe Flacco	BAL	at PIT	51.73
18	Sam Bradford	STL	at ARI	51.53
19	Jay Cutler	CHI	at PHI	48.40
20	Alex Smith	SF	at WAS	47.13
21	Andy Dalton	CIN	at TEN	46.87
22	Curtis Painter	IND	vs. ATL	46.20
23	Tarvaris Jackson	SEA	at DAL	45.67
24	Carson Palmer	OAK	vs. DEN	45.53
25	John Beck	WAS	vs. SF	44.40
26	Colt McCoy	CLE	at HOU	40.93
27	Matt Moore	MIA	at KC	35.13
28	A.J. Feeley	STL	at ARI	25.20
29	Kevin Kolb	ARI	vs. STL	24.13
30	John Skelton	ARI	vs. STL	20.27

Start: Matt Ryan. He’s coming off the bye and he’ll likely have receiver Julio Jones back in the fold. Oh, and he’s facing the 0-8 Colts, the same team that was destroyed by the Saints two weeks ago. The running game is going to excel, but Ryan should still be a lock for multiple TDs in this one.

Sit: Ryan Fitzpatrick. He has a super tough matchup against a great Jets secondary, and the Jets have been surprisingly soft against the run this year. This could be a game dominated by Fred Jackson.

Rank	Running Backs	Team	Opponent	Average
1	Matt Forte	CHI	at PHI	93.20
2	Arian Foster	HOU	vs. CLE	92.27
3	Ray Rice	BAL	at PIT	87.53
4	Fred Jackson	BUF	vs. NYJ	85.93
5	Michael Turner	ATL	at IND	85.87
6	Beanie Wells	ARI	vs. STL	84.47
7	LeSean McCoy	PHI	vs. CHI	83.73
8	LeGarrette Blount	TB	at NO	78.47
9	Steven Jackson	STL	at ARI	77.93
10	Frank Gore	SF	at WAS	77.47
11	Michael Bush	OAK	vs. DEN	75.60
12	Cedric Benson	CIN	at TEN	72.40
13	Mike Tolbert	SD	vs. GB	72.40
14	Darren Sproles	NO	vs. TB	71.67
15	Shonn Greene	NYJ	at BUF	69.93
16	Brandon Jacobs	NYG	at NE	68.27
17	Chris Johnson	TEN	vs. CIN	66.20
18	BenJarvus Green-Ellis	NE	vs. NYG	63.53
19	DeMarco Murray	DAL	vs. SEA	63.47
20	Rashard Mendenhall	PIT	vs. BAL	63.07
21	Pierre Thomas	NO	vs. TB	60.33
22	Marshawn Lynch	SEA	at DAL	58.47
23	Reggie Bush	MIA	at KC	57.40
24	Jackie Battle	KC	vs. MIA	57.07
25	Ryan Torain	WAS	vs. SF	56.40
26	Willis McGahee	DEN	at OAK	55.68
27	Daniel Thomas	MIA	at KC	55.52
28	Peyton Hillis	CLE	at HOU	54.13
29	James Starks	GB	at SD	51.53
30	Joseph Addai	IND	vs. ATL	50.53
31	Ben Tate	HOU	vs. CLE	50.27
32	Kendall Hunter	SF	at WAS	50.13
33	Knowshon Moreno	DEN	at OAK	48.27
34	Delone Carter	IND	vs. ATL	46.53
35	Javon Ringer	TEN	vs. CIN	42.20
36	LaDainian Tomlinson	NYJ	at BUF	41.93
37	Donald Brown	IND	vs. ATL	41.20
38	Bernard Scott	CIN	at TEN	41.07
39	Marion Barber	CHI	at PHI	39.20
40	Ryan Grant	GB	at SD	38.87
41	Ryan Mathews	SD	vs. GB	38.20
42	Ahmad Bradshaw	NYG	at NE	37.80
43	Chris Ogbonnaya	CLE	at HOU	35.67
44	Kevin Faulk	NE	vs. NYG	33.87
45	Roy Helu	WAS	vs. SF	33.07
46	Isaac Redman	PIT	vs. BAL	31.07
47	Dexter McCluster	KC	vs. MIA	29.73
48	Chris Ivory	NO	vs. TB	29.33
49	Thomas Jones	KC	vs. MIA	27.73
50	C.J. Spiller	BUF	vs. NYJ	26.93
51	Danny Woodhead	NE	vs. NYG	25.87
52	Phillip Tanner	DAL	vs. SEA	24.80
53	Ricky Williams	BAL	at PIT	22.87
54	D.J. Ware	NYG	at NE	21.60
55	Taiwan Jones	OAK	vs. DEN	19.33

Start: Michael Bush. Darren McFadden is expected to be sidelined, leaving Bush to get 20-plus carries in a game where the Raiders should still be trying to hide new QB Carson Palmer. No one expects the Broncos to jump out to huge lead, so Bush should rack up consistent yardage throughout.

Sit: Javon Ringer. A popular waiver add last week, teams are likely chomping at the bit to get Ringer out there. However, while he could get hot and dominate the carries for Tennessee, he could also wind up with only a couple touches. Play it safe and keep him on the bench unless truly desperate.

Rank	Wide Receivers	Team	Opponent	Average
1	Roddy White	ATL	at IND	85.33
2	Dwayne Bowe	KC	vs. MIA	85.07
3	Wes Welker	NE	vs. NYG	84.53
4	Vincent Jackson	SD	vs. GB	80.27
5	Jeremy Maclin	PHI	vs. CHI	79.13
6	DeSean Jackson	PHI	vs. CHI	79.13
7	Victor Cruz	NYG	at NE	78.67
8	Miles Austin	DAL	vs. SEA	78.47
9	Mike Wallace	PIT	vs. BAL	77.07
10	Larry Fitzgerald	ARI	vs. STL	76.44
11	Greg Jennings	GB	at SD	75.73
12	Dez Bryant	DAL	vs. SEA	73.13
13	Brandon Lloyd	STL	at ARI	71.53
14	Mario Manningham	NYG	at NE	71.33
15	Marques Colston	NO	vs. TB	71.33
16	A.J. Green	CIN	at TEN	70.87
17	Steve Johnson	BUF	vs. NYJ	70.60
18	Pierre Garcon	IND	vs. ATL	68.53
19	Julio Jones	ATL	at IND	67.33
20	Brandon Marshall	MIA	at KC	66.13
21	Darrius Heyward-Bay	OAK	vs. DEN	64.20
22	Mike Williams	TB	at NO	63.13
23	Santonio Holmes	NYJ	at BUF	62.53
24	Anquan Boldin	BAL	at PIT	61.73
25	Sidney Rice	SEA	at DAL	61.67
26	Jordy Nelson	GB	at SD	59.73
27	Jonathan Baldwin	KC	vs. MIA	59.73
28	Nate Washington	TEN	vs. CIN	58.80
29	Reggie Wayne	IND	vs. ATL	57.20
30	Malcom Floyd	SD	vs. GB	54.93
31	Deion Branch	NE	vs. NYG	54.53
32	Greg Salas	STL	at ARI	54.20
33	Eric Decker	DEN	at OAK	53.73
34	Steve Breaston	KC	vs. MIA	53.73
35	Denarius Moore	OAK	vs. DEN	51.53
36	Antonio Brown	PIT	vs. BAL	51.07
37	Michael Crabtree	SF	at WAS	49.80
38	Jabar Gaffney	WAS	vs. SF	49.73
39	Early Doucet	ARI	vs. STL	49.44
40	Lance Moore	NO	vs. TB	48.67
41	Greg Little	CLE	at HOU	47.93
42	Brandon Gibson	STL	at ARI	47.53
43	James Jones	GB	at SD	46.40
44	Devin Hester	CHI	at PHI	46.07
45	Doug Baldwin	SEA	at DAL	45.67
46	Hakeem Nicks	NYG	at NE	45.33
47	Jacoby Ford	OAK	vs. DEN	44.87
48	Demaryius Thomas	DEN	at OAK	44.40
49	David Nelson	BUF	vs. NYJ	43.93
50	Arrelious Benn	TB	at NO	43.13
51	Robert Meachem	NO	vs. TB	42.67
52	Kevin Walter	HOU	vs. CLE	42.53
53	Eddie Royal	DEN	at OAK	42.40
54	Torrey Smith	BAL	at PIT	41.07
55	Plaxico Burress	NYJ	at BUF	40.53
56	Mohamed Massaquoi	CLE	at HOU	39.27
57	Preston Parker	TB	at NO	39.13
58	Braylon Edwards	SF	at WAS	39.13
59	Damian Williams	TEN	vs. CIN	38.80
60	Devery Henderson	NO	vs. TB	38.67
61	Laurent Robinson	DAL	vs. SEA	38.47
62	Ben Obomanu	SEA	at DAL	38.33
63	Jerome Simpson	CIN	at TEN	38.20
64	Johnny Knox	CHI	at PHI	38.07
65	Jacoby Jones	HOU	vs. CLE	37.87
66	Austin Collie	IND	vs. ATL	37.20
67	Josh Cribbs	CLE	at HOU	36.60
68	Anthony Armstrong	WAS	vs. SF	36.40
69	Andre Caldwell	CIN	at TEN	34.20
70	Hines Ward	PIT	vs. BAL	32.40
71	Roy Williams	CHI	at PHI	31.73
72	Earl Bennett	CHI	at PHI	31.40
73	Davone Bess	MIA	at KC	30.13
74	Donald Jones	BUF	vs. NYJ	26.93
75	Brian Hartline	MIA	at KC	26.80
76	Patrick Crayton	SD	vs. GB	26.60
77	Donald Driver	GB	at SD	26.07
78	Naaman Roosevelt	BUF	vs. NYJ	24.60
79	Jason Avant	PHI	vs. CHI	23.47
80	Harry Douglas	ATL	at IND	22.33

Start: Victor Cruz. Hakeem Nicks isn’t looking likely to be active this week (which is why we’ve discounted him into the “bench” area of the rankings), and that leave Cruz and Mario Manningham to get the start against a terrible Pats defense. Cruz has proven adept at long TDs, and he could have several this week. He’s a must-start if Nicks is out.

Sit: Johnny Knox. The highest drafted Bears receiver in fantasy, Knox has fallen out of a starting role. In the Bears’ last game, Roy Williams actually showed a little why Chicago made him a starter. Throw in the return of Earl Bennett and a matchup against a great Eagles secondary, and Knox shouldn’t be anywhere near a starting lineup.

Rank	Tight Ends	Team	Opponent	Average
1	Jimmy Graham	NO	vs. TB	90.67
2	Jermichael Finley	GB	at SD	85.07
3	Jason Witten	DAL	vs. SEA	83.47
4	Antonio Gates	SD	vs. GB	81.60
5	Fred Davis	WAS	vs. SF	77.73
6	Aaron Hernandez	NE	vs. NYG	76.53
7	Vernon Davis	SF	at WAS	75.80
8	Tony Gonzalez	ATL	at IND	75.67
9	Rob Gronkowski	NE	vs. NYG	73.87
10	Owen Daniels	HOU	vs. CLE	72.20
11	Dustin Keller	NYJ	at BUF	68.87
12	Kellen Winslow	TB	at NO	63.47
13	Brent Celek	PHI	vs. CHI	55.80
14	Jake Ballard	NYG	at NE	54.33
15	Kevin Boss	OAK	vs. DEN	52.20
16	Jared Cook	TEN	vs. CIN	51.47
17	Dallas Clark	IND	vs. ATL	50.87
18	Lance Kendricks	STL	at ARI	46.20
19	Heath Miller	PIT	vs. BAL	43.73
20	Ben Watson	CLE	at HOU	42.93
21	Ed Dickson	BAL	at PIT	41.40
22	Leonard Pope	KC	vs. MIA	41.07
23	Daniel Fells	DEN	at OAK	40.73
24	Evan Moore	CLE	at HOU	38.93
25	Scott Chandler	BUF	vs. NYJ	38.60
26	Anthony Fasano	MIA	at KC	37.80
27	Zach Miller	SEA	at DAL	33.00
28	Todd Heap	ARI	vs. STL	27.16
29	Donald Lee	CIN	at TEN	26.53
30	Jermaine Gresham	CIN	at TEN	16.88

Start: Dustin Keller. A potential fantasy cut last week while on a bye, Keller returns to a pretty solid matchup against the Bills. If you struggled through a season with Dallas Clark, Keller may be your man this week.

Sit: Heath Miller. It would be easy to pick on Clark again, but let’s mention Miller as a sit. He racked up most of his fantasy points on the Steelers’ first drive last week, and Baltimore figures to play the middle of the field much tighter. I don’t expect a repeat from Miller this week.

Rank	Kickers	Team	Opponent	Average
1	Sebastian Janikowski	OAK	vs. DEN	79.00
2	Neil Rackers	HOU	vs. CLE	72.60
3	Stephen Gostkowski	NE	vs. NYG	66.13
4	John Kasay	NO	vs. TB	65.67
5	David Akers	SF	at WAS	65.27
6	Mason Crosby	GB	at SD	65.07
7	Dan Carpenter	MIA	at KC	63.00
8	Nick Novak	SD	vs. GB	60.73
9	Robbie Gould	CHI	at PHI	60.60
10	Alex Henery	PHI	vs. CHI	60.13
11	Mike Nugent	CIN	at TEN	59.20
12	Dan Bailey	DAL	vs. SEA	59.00
13	Rian Lindell	BUF	vs. NYJ	58.73
14	Billy Cundiff	BAL	at PIT	56.93
15	Nick Folk	NYJ	at BUF	56.87
16	Matt Bryant	ATL	at IND	56.67
17	Rob Bironas	TEN	vs. CIN	53.80
18	Adam Vinatieri	IND	vs. ATL	53.33
19	Josh Brown	STL	at ARI	48.47
20	Graham Gano	WAS	vs. SF	47.73
21	Phil Dawson	CLE	at HOU	47.60
22	Shaun Suisham	PIT	vs. BAL	45.93
23	Lawrence Tynes	NYG	at NE	45.60
24	Steven Hauschka	SEA	at DAL	45.20
25	Jay Feely	ARI	vs. STL	45.13
26	Connor Barth	TB	at NO	44.60
27	Ryan Succop	KC	vs. MIA	41.73
28	Matt Prater	DEN	at OAK	41.47

Start: Mike Nugent. I was surprisingly able to add Nugent in a few leagues this week — the Bengals have consistently moved the ball and set Nugent up for some nice weeks, and I don’t see that changing against Tennessee.

Sit: Rob Bironas. On the other hand, the Titans offense isn’t that dangerous without a credible rushing attack, and Cincinnati hasn’t given up many points this year.

Rank	Team Defense	Team	Opponent	Average
1	San Francisco 49ers	SF	at WAS	73.43
2	Baltimore Ravens	BAL	at PIT	71.20
3	Dallas Cowboys	DAL	vs. SEA	70.00
4	Oakland Raiders	OAK	vs. DEN	68.30
5	Kansas City Chiefs	KC	vs. MIA	65.50
6	Green Bay Packers	GB	at SD	64.87
7	Pittsburgh Steelers	PIT	vs. BAL	62.53
8	St. Louis Rams	STL	at ARI	61.27
9	Arizona Cardinals	ARI	vs. STL	60.83
10	Houston Texans	HOU	vs. CLE	59.73
11	Atlanta Falcons	ATL	at IND	59.20
12	Buffalo Bills	BUF	vs. NYJ	58.13
13	Philadelphia Eagles	PHI	vs. CHI	57.07
14	Chicago Bears	CHI	at PHI	55.50
15	Seattle Seahawks	SEA	at DAL	52.83
16	New York Jets	NYJ	at BUF	51.80
17	Denver Broncos	DEN	at OAK	51.60
18	Washington Redskins	WAS	vs. SF	48.73
19	Cincinnati Bengals	CIN	at TEN	46.23
20	Tennessee Titans	TEN	vs. CIN	44.80
21	New York Giants	NYG	at NE	43.93
22	New Orleans Saints	NO	vs. TB	43.83
23	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	TB	at NO	43.50
24	Miami Dolphins	MIA	at KC	38.87
25	New England Patriots	NE	vs. NYG	38.60
26	Indianapolis Colts	IND	vs. ATL	35.07
27	Cleveland Browns	CLE	at HOU	34.27
28	San Diego Chargers	SD	vs. GB	32.70

Start: Oakland Raiders. While always a dangerous fantasy asset, Tim Tebow has been very accommodating to opposing fantasy defenses this year. The Raiders should be the next one to clean up on the scoreboard thanks to Tebow.

Sit: New York Jets. The Bills have been the hardest offense to score points upon for fantasy defenses this year, limiting mistakes with a great ground attack and quick passing game. That could lead to mediocrity for the Jets this week.

R.J. White is the head editor at the Cafe, writes for FanDuel and Razzball and has previously written for FanHouse. Catch up with him in the forums under the name daullaz. Follow him on Twitter; don't follow him in real life.

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8 Responses to “Week 9: Running Back Frenzy”

Youngsir620 says:

November 4, 2011 at 3:30 pm

with matt stafford on a bye week who should i start at QB?

Jay Cutler, Andy Dalton, Alex Smith, Sam Bradford, or Tim Tebow?
Reply
daullaz says:

November 4, 2011 at 8:51 pm

I’d go with Tebow. I see him with a ground TD and at least 10 fantasy points on rushing alone. He certainly has more upside than your other options. Cutler/Dalton could get the nod, but I don’t like either’s matchup. I think it comes down to Tebow and Dalton, and I’d lean Tebow.
Reply
joejlitz says:

November 5, 2011 at 10:18 am

Does Mathews still sit at 41, if he plays – which is what Rotoworld is hinting at?
Reply
joejlitz says:

November 5, 2011 at 10:23 am

Also – Yahoo ranks the NYG defense as 19th against TEs. Can you talk a little bit more about why Finley is ranked #2 this week?

And maybe why Celek is so low against the 32nd ranked defense against TEs (giving up an average of 12 FPs and 1 TD per game to TEs)?

Thanks!
Reply
MistaBigxxL says:

November 5, 2011 at 2:24 pm

The Packers are facing the Chargers this week. I don’t know about where they rank against tight ends but their defensive strategy lately has been to focus the opposing team’s #1 WR. If they choose to double cover Greg Jennings it will be to Finley’s benefit.
Reply
joejlitz says:

November 6, 2011 at 6:36 am

Just saw Roddy White as the #1 WR – Here’s hoping he performs that well, but if he doesn’t get a top-10 WR performance against IND, it will be interesting to see if anyone ranks him in the top-10 again. He’s been there all year, but really has yet to perform like that.
Reply
daullaz says:

November 6, 2011 at 10:54 am

@joejlitz: It would be hard for me to play Mathews … even if he’s active, I can’t see him getting more than 10 touches, nor getting the goal-line looks. Re: Finley — Jennings should be relatively bottled up, so I expect a lot of scoring opps for Finley. FF has the Giants as the second best defense against TEs by the way. Re: Celek — I don’t quite trust him yet, while I’m willing to give the top 10 the benefit of the doubt.
Reply
joejlitz says:

November 7, 2011 at 3:23 pm

Thanks, D. Good job with the rankings!
Reply