Fully Fantasy Football: Running Backs

By J. Goodman

It used to be you entered your draft knowing what to do: RB-RB, back to back. Simple. Get your stud running backs and worry about round 3 when it got to you. A lot has changed the past couple seasons. The NFL’s rule changes and coach’s playbooks are intersecting to highlight the pass more and more. Injuries among running backs are up (or at least seem to be) and teams are responding by moving towards the dreaded running back-by-committee. When it comes to fantasy sports, you never want to see ‘by-committee’ - it just Hydrogen bombs all value.

There are only 3 studs to choose from without the risk of committee, goal-line vultures, crappy offense or injury risk: Ray Rice, Arian Foster and LaSean McCoy. That’s it. These three guys should be gone by the middle of the 1st round so what’s left?

A lot of talent mired by questions, concerns and doubts.

Luckily, I’m here to distill through the rumblings and take out the guess work.

Guys I like:

Darren McFadden: He was great in college and then it looked like he was going to be a big-time pro bust. But he managed to find his way and started busting through defenses and scoring TDs. Everything was working out, except for his fondness for injury. McFadden hasn’t played a full 16 games ever. Sometimes you have to just cross your fingers and hope for the best. McFadden is healthy and has more upside than almost anyone else around. It’s like that… and that’s the way it is.

Fred Jackson: F-Jax was one of the more surprising breakouts last year until he got injured (see a theme here?). Then CJ Spiller got the call and finally impressed. But Jackson is back and the Bills are going to rely on him again. I love when the #2 guy gets more hype and makes the main guy look less valuable. Don’t be fooled by Spiller (who’ll be more valuable in 4- and 5-wide sets for PPR), Jackson is going to rock your world for at least one more season.

Steven Jackson: S-Jax is old and he has dreads (he still has dreads, right?). He also doesn’t score a lot of TDs. The Rams just don’t get to the redzone enough. But I have a weird feeling Sam Bradford is going to have a decent year. I also have a weird feeling the offense will wake up. And when it does, the ol’ workhorse S-Jax will be there as always to punch it in. A lot of experts are talking about rookie Isaiah Pead. He’s nothing more than a red herring.

Kevin Smith: The Detroit Lions are a passing offense. But even passing offenses need RBs to help move the chains and keep the defense honest. Every RB on this team has issues and injury concerns, but Smith seems the most healthy. I liked what I saw out of him in limited action last season.

Honorable Mention:

Ben Tate: He filled in admirably when Foster was out and was still a factor when Foster came back. If Foster misses anytime, he instantly becomes top 12.
Willis McGahee: Peyton isn’t going to throw 40+ each game and someone needs to get the goal-line carries.
CJ Spiller: He will still be on the field split-wide and if F-Jax goes down, we saw his potential down the stretch. A nice handcuff to have.

Guys I Dislike:

Shonn Greene: Ugh, the Jets are a mess. I hate hate hate their offensive play-calling. And nothing looks different this preseason. The talk, this year, again is about how much the Jets are going to feature the run and, inferentially, Greene. Um, I’ll believe it when I see it. Greene has the elusiveness of a beached whale. He’s plodding and lacks any deceptiveness. Yeah, he might get 1,000 yards rushing, but I expect lots of 60-70 yard games with 1 reception for 3 yards and 0 TDs. If that excites you, be my guest.

Matt Forte: You know how you draft a guy and he ends up failing you when you need him most, so you start to hate him irrationally? That’s me and Forte. His first 7 games were fantastic last year. His next 4 were barely average. His receptions went down (even before Cutler got hurt) and he still never gets you TDs. Now I want nothing to do with him, which means he’ll be stellar even without the TDs. I needed him in the playoffs, but he was M.I.A. Never again.

Roy Helu: How many times does Mike Shanahan need to rotate through his RB stable before we as managers just say, fuck it? One day it’s Helu, the next it’s Royster, the next it’s Hightower. I don’t care anymore. Life is stressful enough without having to second-guess whether I got the right Washington RB.

Reggie Bush: Wow, how many people saw last year’s performance coming? Not I. Reggie Bush has mostly disappointed in his career and a move to sunnier confines did not persuade me otherwise. Now the question is can he do it again? I’m going to say, no. The Fins are even weaker offensively without Brandon Marshall. Their top WR option is either Davone Bess who is a 70-catch, 700 yd, 5 TDs guy at best or Brian Hartline who has done what, ever? Is their QB going to be Moore or Tannehill? Doesn’t matter, neither one is going to set the fantasy world ablaze. Defenses can now key in on Bush and whatever semblance of a running game the Fins slap together with Bush and potential bounce-back rookie, Daniel Thomas. Bush is better 'off’ at the beach than 'on’ the field. There’s some kind of euphemism there, I think.

Dishonorable Mention:

Evan Royster: Everything I said about Helu, goes double for Royster.
Trent Richardson: The Browns are awful, I don’t care how good he was in 'Bama; not to mention his knee issues. Good luck, rook.
Felix Jones: Let’s just all agree to never draft him again, like we did with his brother Julius five years ago.