Here are my top 20 fantsy running backs heading into 2008
1. LaDanian Tomlinson, San Diego
2. Adrian Peterson, Minnesota
3. Brian Westbrook, Philadelphia
4. Joseph Addai, Indianapolis
5. Frank Gore, San Francisco
6. Steven Jackson, St. Louis
7. Clinton Portis, Washington
8. Marshawn Lynch, Buffalo
9. Marion Barber III, Dallas
10. Larry Johnson, Kansas City
11. Reggie Bush, New Orleans
12. Jamal Lewis, Cleveland
13. Brandon Jacobs, N.Y. Giants
14. Ryan Grant, Green Bay
15. Maurice Jones-Drew, Jacksonville
16. Willis Mcgahee, Baltimore
17. Edgerrin James, Arizona
18. Willie Parker, Pittsburgh
19. LenDale White, Tennessee
20. Ronnie Brown, Miami
LT is a no-brainer at the top, but Peterson is something of a risk at No. 2 given his injury history. Jackson could struggle after his lengthy holdout. I like Barber, but he's never had to carry most of the load and his running style lends itself to injury. My league counts catches as a point, which is why Bush is so high. If your league doesn't, bump him down about six spots. It's looking like Brown, who's been hurt throughout the preseason and is coming of a major injury, will be sharing carries with Ricky Williams.
In a league where catches count as points Westbrook should be number 2 by a fairly large margin. In fact didn't he outscore LT last year in those formats?
ReplyDeleteToo much "last year" in there, not enough prediction. Lewis is way too high. Brown and James should not be in the Top 20.
ReplyDeleteWhere are McFadden and Michael Turner? Both should easily be Top 20. Thomas Jones?
I still have questions about Westbrook's durability. But he is very vaulable.
ReplyDeleteMichael Turner catches no passes at all and Atlanta stinks. Can't put him up there.
I'm not a huge McFadden fan. Again, durability issues creep in and the Raiders stink.
Thomas Jones doesn't score any touchdowns and they have Washington as a third-down back.
Jamal Lewis plays in an offense that forces teams to double Braylon Edwards while Winslow keeps the safeties occupied. He'll be good for 1,200 yards and eight scores this season.
And if I was going on last year, I wouldn't have Larry Johnson or Steven Jackson in my top 10.
Also, if I'm looking at rookie backs, I like the situations in Chicago and Carolina.
ReplyDeleteSame poster from above:
ReplyDeleteTurner is in a very similar situation to the one Lynch was in in Buffalo last year. Leaving him outside the top 20 is a mistake.
Thomas Jones will see a huge benefit to not having 8-9 men in the box on a regular basis.
McFadden is an elite talent, maybe you didn't have Peterson in the top 20 last year either.
Ronnie Brown looks to be losing the starting job. and Edge is clearly past his prime and plays behind a terrible run blocking o-line
by the way, you have the best steelers blog on the web. love reading your stuff.
Hey, that's why they're fantasy rankings. The Raiders are paying Huggy Bear's kid a lot of money too. He's going to get the tough yards. McFadden is a bit of a one-trick pony in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI'm not all that sure that Favre is going to be a great player this year. Whole new offense and he's not the brightest bulb. In fact, I don't have him in my top 10 QBs. I think he's going to struggle.
Buffalo had more in place last year than Atlanta does - though the Falcons do play in a horsecrap division.
Edge James is still going to get 300 carries. And, 300 carries are 300 carries when you're down that low in the running back rankings.