Fantasy Football Running Back Rankings

– Chris Giannini, 8/21/16

The day before I got married in the suburbs of Cleveland, OH all of the guys in my wedding party went with me to Canton, OH for my bachelor party.  It wasn’t your typical night of partying, drinking, and debauchery. It is home to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. We spent hours walking the halls and seeing players we grew up with.  Some I watched as a child, others I only heard stories about.  My favorite room was where the bust of all the former greats was displayed.  In there was a video exhibit where I was able to select anyone in the HOF and it gave me his story with highlights from his time in the league.  I found the players that I searched most were the running backs.  These were men I idolized.  They had speed and power.  They took beatings like no one else, but kept getting up.  I heard stories I never knew about heroes of mine: Jim Brown, Thurman Thomas, and Earl Campbell.  These men were true gladiators in my eyes. 

In all my time of playing fantasy football one thing has remained constant, running backs are the driving force behind winning this game.  Every year I draft them early and I draft them often.  With passing becoming more prevalent in the NFL and teams are using RB by committee more now than ever before the true work horse of the team is fading away.  The top RBs are harder to predict and more likely to get injured.  It is the biggest gamble when drafting. Due to this gamble and the rarity of great RBs there have been movements for draft strategies like Zero RB.  Yes getting some of the best WR in the game is now a safer choice and I’m not saying it’s wrong, but disregarding RB early in your draft is a way to leave yourself scrambling in the middle rounds hoping a guy who has to split carries can somehow workout.  I believe people spend far more time during the season stressing and struggling over RB than any other position when, if they would just draft them earlier while all the top WRs are being taken they can save themselves the struggle.  I don’t do top 200 rankings of every player, but if I did a top 20 my top 5 RBs would be higher than my top 5 WRs. 

The top RB I am most excited about this year is Lamar Miller.  He has been one of the most durable RBs in the NFL since coming into the league in 2012 missing only 3 games in his 4 years with the Dolphins. He consistently was under utilized in Miami, but still averaged 4.6 yards per carry over that time.  Signing with Houston should provide him the perfect opportunity to finally break out.  Houston consistently has one of the best running games in the league and when their #1 RB was healthy he consistently finished in the top 3.  I believe Miller has the skills needed to finish as high as the #1 RB. 

Another RB I feel could have an outstanding season is Carlos Hyde.  I know, I know, I trusted Chip Kelly last year and it nearly burned me from ever playing fantasy again.  But Hyde doesn’t seem to have anyone threatening him for carries and Kelly’s offenses typically prove to be fantasy gold for whoever is in the backfield.  Last year there appeared to be bad chemistry between the RBs and the coaching staff.  This is a fresh start for Chip and a prime opportunity for Carlos.

A backfield I would advise you stay away from is the New England Patriots.  It appears Dion Lewis has the skills to be a main RB in the NFL and is a great pass catching option for Brady out of the backfield, but there is another rule of fantasy I haven’t brought up yet.  It’s this:  “Bill Belichick HATES YOU!”  Seriously, he hates you with every bit of hatred he has.  There are some that see him as the Darth Vader of the NFL with Jedi powers he uses only for evil.  He will use that power to lure you in on a player.  That said player would have the breakout game of his life.  They will then never been seen again.  I can’t explain it, and I don’t question it. He’s an absolute genius and who am I to argue with what has made him successful?  I just know that if you trust in one of his RBs then it will cost you. Full disclosure:  I worship at the feet of Belichick and I still don’t trust him with my fantasy RB.  (This rule was taken from Louis Bien in 2012 when he wrote about Mike Shanahan hating you for very similar reasons.)

The rookie RB I am keeping an eye on is Devontae Booker from the Denver Broncos.  Currently he is behind C.J. Anderson and should remain there most of the season.  But Anderson has had issues with consistency over the past 2 years.  He’s been a slow starter but always seems to finish the season strong.  This year if Anderson gets off to another slow start and Booker gets the opportunity and does well then I wonder if coach Gary Kubiak will go back to Anderson.  Kubiak’s offenses have historically been the most running back friendly offenses in the league so the situation couldn’t be any better. 

“Showing weakness will encourage your opponents.  It inspires them.  It encourages them to hit harder.  To come faster.  But when you don’t show any fear, or when you don’t show any hurt, you have the opportunity to discourage your opponent.  You discourage your enemies.  The bottom line is, if you think properly, you don’t even have to think about all of that.  All you have to think about is that guy across from me is human, and so am I.  And he’ll never out-work me.  He’ll never out-think me.  And if you can’t out-work me, and if you can’t out-think me, you’ll never beat me.”


8/7/16

1
Todd Gurley
LA
2
Adrian Peterson
MIN
3
Lamar Miller
HOU
4
David Johnson
ARI
5
Ezekiel Elliott
DAL
6
Jamaal Charles
KC
7
LeVeon Bell
PIT
8
LeSean McCoy
BUF
9
Devonta Freeman
ATL
10
C.J. Anderson
DEN
11
Mark Ingram
NO
12
Eddie Lacy
GB
13
Doug Martin
TB
14
Carlos Hyde
SF
15
Latavius Murray
OAK
16
Dion Lewis
NE
PPR
17
Jeremy Hill
CIN
18
DeMarco Murray
TEN
19
Matt Jones
WAS
20
Matt Forte
NYJ
21
Giovani Bernard
CIN
PPR
22
Thomas Rawls
SEA
23
Jonathan Stewart
CAR
24
Ryan Mathews
PHI
25
Duke Johnson
CLE
26
Danny Woodhead
SD
PPR
27
Ameer Abdullah
DET
28
Frank Gore
IND
29
Jeremy Langford
CHI
30
Melvin Gordon
SD
31
Rashad Jennings
NYG
32
Chris Ivory
JAG
33
T. J. Yeldon
JAG
34
Tevin Coleman
ATL
35
Jay Ajayi
MIN
36
Bilial Powell
NYJ
37
Arian Foster
MIA
38
DeAngelo Williams
PIT
39
Charles Sims
TB
PPR
40
Isaiah Crowell
CLE
41
Justin Forsett
BAL
42
LeGarrette Blount
NE
43
Derrick Henry
TEN
44
Theo Riddick
DET
PPR
45
C. J. Prosise
SEA
46
Jordan Howard
CHI
47
Shane Vereen
NYG
PPR
48
DeAndre Washington
OAK
PPR
49
Jerick McKinnon
MIN
50
Darren McFadden
DAL
51
Devontae Booker
DEN
52
James Starks
GB
53
Darren Sproles
PHI
PPR
54
Chris Johnson
ARI
55
Tim Hightower
NO
56
Paul Perkins
NYG
57
Josh Ferguson
IND
58
Ronnie Hillman
DEN
59
Cameron Artis-Payme
CAR
60
Christine Michael
SEA

Gary Segars

Gary began his first website in 1998 as a sophomore in high school, writing reviews of cds and live shows in the Memphis area. He became editor of his college newspaper, then moved towards a career in music.He started the infamous MemphisTider.com blog during the 2006 football season, and was lucky enough to get into blogging just before the coaching search that landed Nick Saban at Alabama. The month and a half long coaching search netted his site, which was known for tracking airplanes, over 1 million hits in less than 90 days. The website introduced Gary to tons of new friends, including Nico and Todd, who had just started the site RollBamaRoll.com.After diving into more than just Alabama news, Gary started up his first installment of WinningCuresEverything.com in 2012. After keeping the site quiet for a while, it was started back up in April 2016. Gary then joined forces with high school friend Chris Giannini and began a podcast during the 2016 football season that runs at least 2 times a week, focusing on college football, NFL football, and sports wagering, and diving into other sports and pop-culture topics.E-mail: gary@winningcureseverything.com Twitter: @GaryWCE

Leave a Reply