Top 10 Fantasy Runningbacks

Hey guys for those of you that know me my name is Steve Grossnickle aka Gross, because lets face who the hell wants to consistently say that last name. For those of you that don’t I am a friend of Cim’s from softball and sports was just a natural topic of conversation. He told me about the website and I think it is awesome what you guys have set up. I know most of you guys are Philly guys but I am a Baltimore kid born and raised so anyone that is interested in Baltimore sports I hope to write on here as much as possible.

Along with being a a huge Baltimore sports fan I am also a huge fantasy sports nerd, especially football. I know it is pretty popular so hopefully this will interest some of you guys. So here are my top 10 fantasy RBs.

1. Arian Foster:

I mean this is a pretty big no brainer in my opinion. If you look at last year I think that is the biggest tell of all. Foster missed 2 games at the beginning of the year and then sat out the final game of the season. Half of the season T.J. Yates was under center. So in summary, 13 games played, and facing 8 to 9 men in the box. Well Foster ended up with over 1,200 yards rushing, 600 yards receiving and 12 total TDs…not too bad. Now, I think with Foster coming into his prime and Schaub and Andre Johnson getting another year older, dealing with a ton of injuries, I see no reason why Foster shouldn’t be the number one runningback coming off of your board.

2. LeSean McCoy:

I don’t understand why this kid doesn’t get more respect, probably because of the whole Michael Vick thing but damn he is good. He reminds me of Brian Westbrook only bigger, stronger and faster. This kid is a PPR monster! He catches a ton of balls and is the main focal point in this offense. How he has been rated #3 or #4 RB in a lot of rankings is just absurd to me. I think out of all the backs in the draft he is the safest pick. With McCoy you know what you are going to get and it’s 1,000 yard back that also catches a ton of passes. If you are in a PPR league even consider drafting this kid first.

3. Ray Rice:

Yes the Ravens fan has Ray Rice third out of the big 3 RBs. My biggest issue with Rice is the offensive line…it’s not that good. You have one of the biggest scumbags in the world, McKinnie at LT, a washed up Bobbie Williams at LG, a genius, but old at C, Matt Birk, an actual NFL starting lineman in Yanda at RG and to put the bow on this sexy lineup the most overrated lineman in all of football, RT Michael Oher. If only every lineman had a shitty movie made about them starring Sandra Bullock we would have some seriously injured QBs out there. So on top of a terrible line, Cam Cameron has decided he wants to change to offense again and go more no huddle or what they like to call the “sugar huddle.” Yup, grown men playing NFL Football and they implemented something called a sugar huddle…I think Rice is safe at 3 because he has the most potential to be a bust this year. The Ravens play a brutal schedule and I think if you take him first over Foster and McCoy you will be disappointed when you compare the three at the end of the year.

4. Chris Johnson:

Here is where most of the debate will begin. Unlike most years in fantasy where you had a list of 10 to 12 runningbacks that you knew were going to be studs, this year is a complete crap shoot. But I have Chris Johnson at first mainly because I believe that last year was a bad year simply due to that holdout. Rotoworld actually did a nice article about big time players coming off a big year and the next season holding out into training camp. Something like 8 of the 11 had significantly worse seasons. One of the guys that didn’t was, Emmitt Smith, so it shows you how hard it is to break that trend. I think Chris Johnson is going to be back to form though. The kid is still young and still very fast, and as the old saying goes, speed kills. Since this year in fantasy RBs are so weak, I really think a key strategy to your draft should be drafting the guys with the biggest potential boom factor, even if there are a bunch of lingering questions. No risk no reward. But Johnson is coming into the offense this year, he put on 20 lbs of muscle, which he desperately needed, and oh yeah they signed probably the best LG in the game, Steve Hutchinson. The offensive line is better, this QB Locker looks like he could be forreal and there are a ton of weapons on that team to take some focus off of CJ. I think he is due for a big season.

5. Matt Forte

If you look around at RBs, Forte has got to be considered the safest, outside of McCoy. Forte has been as consistent as any other RB in the league. He finally got his contract and he looks healthy off the injury. I know everyone is concerned about Michael Bush, but you shouldn’t be worried. Yes, Bush will be a goal line vulture and will be seeing a lot of those red zone type carries, but that doesn’t matter. Everyone remember what a fantasy monster Forte was last year? Good, because he only had 3 rushing TDs last season. That isn’t Forte’s game, he is a pass catching explosive play type of back. He averaged pretty much 5 yards a carry (4.9 officially) and pretty much 10 yards a catch (9.4 officially). Now imagine if he didn’t have that knee injury. In fact, after 11 weeks he was on pace to lead the NFL in yards from scrimmage. I would say all of these facts should have him moving his way up on everyones boards. By the way, for those of you that are worried about the knee, it was only a sprain last year, not a tear.

6. Marshawn Lynch

This kid is so annoying. This is going to end up being a guy you more so “have” to take than “want” to take just because he is going to slide in the draft. Right now he is still awaiting his suspension, because one is definitely coming. I know they are saying he might avoid one, but Goodell is such a ball buster I think Lynch will probably get 2 games. A lot of things I have seen now, depending on how many teams are in your league, he is falling to the second or third round. If he is in the third, you absolutely have to take him, if he is in the second, depending on what is still out there he still holds great value. The league I run is 12 teams and he went pick number 20, just to give everyone an idea. If this guy can stop being such a jerk and just focus on football, he will be back in “beast mode.” However, he is somewhat scary. He just got the new contract and he rewards the team with a DUI. To make sure you have your bases covered, in the late rounds pick up Robert Turbin, he is the backup and he has had a really good camp. For your enjoyment, I can imagine this was a close look at how Marshawn was cruising down the street before he got pulled over (See Below)

7. Darren McFadden:

It is a real shame that this kid gets hurt every single year, because he is fun to watch. You want to talk about explosive, this kid is unbelievable to watch. I understand that everyone is afraid of injuries, you cannot base your draft on injuries. Say you take McFadden and he gets hurt and you say, “well I knew that was going to happen.” But what if you took Brees in that spot and the first week he blows out a knee or gets a concussion and misses 8 weeks, I mean you can’t predict these things. Not to mention I think Greg Knapp’s new zone running scheme will help McFadden stay healthy. Knapp is all about the one cut and then get up the field. That couldn’t be better for McFadden, a guy who likes to cut and then just run. My prediction is that IF DMC stays healthy, he is going to be the best fantasy RB this season, take a chance on him.

8. Jamaal Charles:

Last year this guy was pretty much a universal top 5 pick. Week 2 game and just like that Charles was done for the season with a torn ACL. The good news out of all of this is that he tore it in week 2, so he has had pretty much a full year of recovery. This season in comes Peyton Hillis, which I think is scaring the majority of people away from Jamaal Charles. Charles is a very similar situation to Matt Forte. Again, remember when Charles had that monster year? It wasn’t because of a ton of TDs, Thomas Jones took all those goal line carries. Charles is a big play type of guy. Another big factor playing into Charles’ success is that Haley is gone, the guy who loves to use 9 RBs and throw the ball 45 times a game, and Romeo Crennel is the head man, a guy who likes to play defense and run the ball. I think Charles will find his form prior to the knee injury. By the way, a lot of people hate Hillis this year, KC when they had Charles and Jones made the two headed monster work better than anyone…keep that in mind.

9. Steven Jackson:

The ancient one, at 29. Yes, I am on the Steven Jackson bandwagon this season and why not? Always injured right? Wrong. Steven Jackson has never played in less than 12 games in a season. In fact, in the past 3 seasons he has only missed 2 games. Not bad for a guy who can’t shake the tag of injury prone. I think this team was immediately made better the day Jeff Fisher was hired. I think Fisher only took the job because he knows this team can be good. Not to mention Steven Jackson doesn’t have a ton of talent really pushing him for his spot. I mean the guy has run off seven consecutive 1,000 yard seasons, and I think he is going to make it number eight. With how shaky the RB situations are around the NFL with everyone splitting carries and not knowing who will get the primary workload, it is nice to see a familiar face in Steven Jackson, knowing what you will get from the guy. It is a quality pick which you will probably get in the latter part of round 2 maybe even middle to end of round 3 if you are lucky.

10. Adrian Peterson:

I mean this guy is just a freak of nature, he defies all the odds. Torn ACL at the end of the season and there is talk that he will be on the field week one, you have got to be kidding me. This guy was the consensus number one pick last year and now people are making him RB 14, 15 or 16. Here’s the thing: with all this uncertainty at the position and all the other guys coming off injury why wouldn’t you take a chance on Peterson. Worst comes to worst he still puts up top 25 RB numbers. Best case scenario he goes back on top of the mountain. I just don’t see much losing on this pick. I mean don’t get me wrong I am not taking him first round, but he is definitely in that lump of RBs after the past 5 or so where he is catching my eye. In the 12 team draft I was in over the weekend, good knowledge in the league, he was the 10th overall pick, 6th RB off the board. He was taken before Lynch, Charles, McFadden and Jackson just to give everyone an idea that this guys draft stock is rising.

Hope this helps you guys with your fantasy drafts.

Lynch cruising