Week 3 Rankings (2016): Top 40 Running Backs

by Ray Kuhn

Injuries, injuries and more injuries. If you take that, along with players not performing up their expectations, it gives you the underlying theme from Week 2. It might actually be easier to go through the players who have made it through the first two weeks of the season healthy and the backfields that don’t have questions, as they are in the minority. Keeping that in mind (as well as the fact that things could remain cloudy up until Sunday), let’s take a look at how the running backs rank for this week:

1. David Johnson – Arizona Cardinals – at Buffalo
2. Lamar Miller – Houston Texans – at New England
3. Melvin Gordon – San Diego Chargers – at Indianapolis
4. DeAngelo Williams – Pittsburgh Steelers – at Philadelphia
5. Matt Forte – New York Jets – at Kansas City
6. C.J. Anderson – Denver Broncos – at Cincinnati
7. Ezekiel Elliot – Dallas Cowboys – vs. Chicago
8. Todd Gurley – Los Angeles Rams – at Tampa Bay
9. DeMarco Murray – Tennessee Titans – vs. Oakland
10. Mark Ingram – New Orleans Saints – vs. Atlanta
11. LeSean McCoy – Buffalo Bills – vs. Arizona
12. Theo Riddick – Detroit Lions – at Green Bay
13. Latavius Murray – Oakland Raiders – at Tennessee
14. Eddie Lacy – Green Bay Packers – vs. Detroit
15. Devonta Freeman – Atlanta Falcons – at New Orleans
16. Ryan Mathews – Philadelphia Eagles – vs. Pittsburgh
17. Spencer Ware – Kansas City Chiefs – vs. New York Jets
18. LeGarrette Blount – New England Patriots – vs. Houston
19. Frank Gore – Indianapolis Colts – vs. San Diego
20. Charles Sims – Tampa Bay Buccaneers – vs. Los Angeles
21. Jeremy Langford – Chicago Bears – at Dallas
22. Tevin Coleman – Atlanta Falcons – at New Orleans
23. Jerick McKinnon – Minnesota Vikings – at Carolina
24. Carlos Hyde – San Francisco 49ers – at Seattle
25. Giovani Bernard – Cincinnati Bengals – vs. Denver
26. Rashad Jennings – New York Giants – vs. Washington
27. Isaiah Crowell – Cleveland Browns – at Miami
28. Fozzy Whitaker – Carolina Panthers – vs. Minnesota
29. Christine Michael – Seattle Seahawks – vs. San Francisco
30. Matt Jones – Washington Redskins – at New York Giants
31. T.J. Yeldon – Jacksonville Jaguars – vs. Baltimore
32. Shane Vereen – New York Giants – vs. Washington
33. Justin Forsett – Baltimore Ravens – at Jacksonville
34. Duke Johnson – Cleveland Browns – at Miami
35. Chris Ivory – Jacksonville Jaguars – vs. Baltimore
36. Thomas Rawls – Seattle Seahawks – vs. San Francisco
37. Jamaal Charles – Kansas City Chiefs – vs. New York Giants
38. Matt Asiata – Minnesota Vikings – at Carolina
39. Doug Martin – Tampa Bay Buccaneers – vs. Los Angeles
40. Kenyan Drake – Miami Dolphins – vs. Cleveland

Notes:

• Prior to exiting Sunday’s game with a knee injury, Adrian Peterson wasn’t exactly dominating opposing defenses. On 31 carries he had gained just 50 yards on the ground, but that doesn’t change the fact that he is a running back fantasy owners planned to rely on it a big way. At this point there are differing reports as to the course of action, although it is clear that he has a torn meniscus and I wouldn’t plan on having him in your lineups for at least the next few weeks. That then brings us back to same question we have asked over the past few seasons, Jerick McKinnon or Matt Asiata? Last season McKinnon out touched Asiata 73 to 48, but in 2014 with Peterson sidelined the opposite was true (208 to 140). While Asiata is the short yardage and red zone option, McKinnon possesses the greater upside and is the running back to target. Both backs will have value, but McKinnon should play the larger part in the passing game (Asiata did catches 19 passes last season, to McKinnon’s 21). If you are betting on talent, then it is McKinnon who should take the job and run with it, but don’t over look Asiata and his ability to find the end zone.
• On Tuesday, Doug Martin had an MRI on his hamstring, and his status for this week has to, at the very least, be in doubt. The injury was enough to knock him out of the game on Sunday after just seven carries, and Charles Sims is very much in play for this week. Even if Martin does play, he will likely be limited. Week 2 was rough all around for Tampa Bay, so that makes it hard to draw too many conclusions. Sims was targeted five times and caught three passes for just four yards while gaining 24 yards on nine carries. Last season he averaged 4.9 yards rushing while also catching 51 passes for 561 yards, which makes him a legit RB2 with Martin sidelined and a borderline FLEX option regardless.
• Who had Fozzy Whitaker on their Week 3 radars? After Jonathan Stewart exited this past week’s game with a hamstring injury, Whitaker stepped in and gained 100 yards on 16 carries while Carolina closed out their victory. The most rushing yards Whitaker has gained in a season,is 145, so we don’t have much of a track record to go on for the fourth year running back, but the role and opportunity is there. However, there are a few potential roadblocks to him taking the reigns and running with them. Cam Newton has shown a propensity to run, especially around the goal line, and Mike Tolbert is known as a touchdown vulture. Then we have Cameron Artis-Payne, who should not be forgotten about even though he was inactive for the first two weeks of the season. Last season when Stewart was sidelined it was the then rookie who got a shot and gained 183 yards on 45 carries. Of the two Whitaker is the back to own, as he will likely get the first chance to build on last week’s success, but he’s hardly a guarantee to produce.
• We have a similar situation in Miami where Jay Ajayi has been inactive for the past two weeks and Arian Foster’s status for this week is in doubt. When he exited last week, rookie Kenyan Drake entered and gained 12 yards on two carries while scoring a touchdown and catching two passes for six yards. At this point the Dolphins are retaining hope that Foster plays, but knowing his track record and their opponent (Cleveland) I wouldn’t be too optimistic. Regardless of what happens Drake will have a role, but at this point I can’t see him being more than 50% of a backfield, whether it is with Foster, Ajayi or Damien Williams joining him. If you had to pick one back to count this week from Miami, Drake would be it as he also offers PPR value. Miami has also made it clear that they don’t trust Ajayi, and neither should you.
• Let’s stick with the injury theme, but in this case the situation is clear cut. Brandon Oliver was lost for the year before the season started and now Danny Woodhead is headed to IR with a torn ACL. That leaves us with Melvin Gordon, and it’s not a bad thing as he has discovered where the end zone is this season. Gordon picked up 102 yards on the ground last week and once again found the end zone after two rushing touchdowns in Week 1 He also caught three passes for 18 yards, and he likely will have a similar role moving forward.
• Another backfield in which there are no questions is the Jets. Matt Forte carried the ball 33 times last Thursday for 100 yards and three touchdowns while also catching two passes. Now it’s pretty obvious that Forte is not going to reach the 472 touches he is on pace for, but it is clear that he is a heavily featured part of the Jets’ offense. Forte is one of the few running backs you can truly trust to dominate the touches this week.