2012 (Early) Fantasy Football Rankings: Running Backs (RBs)
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Updated as of Saturday, May 12th
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Scoring: These rankings are based on standard scoring (one point per 10 rushing yards, six points per rushing
touchdown plus one point per ten receiving yards and six points per receiving touchdown) and are for redraft
leagues only.
For our PPR rankings, click here.
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With the NFL draft behind us, we continue to update our 2012 fantasy football rankings with running backs next up. Although this is our third update of the offseason, it is our first update that includes rookies.
Cleveland's Trent Richardson is clearly the top rookie running back in this year's draft class for both re-draft and dynasty formats. Many of the backs in the next tier of running backs landed in spots where they could end up splitting carries with another featured back, which makes them better options in dynasty formats.
Based on standard scoring (i.e., not point-per-reception (PPR) scoring), here are our 2012 fantasy football running backs rankings:
1. Arian Foster, Texans
Despite missing three games, Houston's Arian Foster carried the ball 278 times for 1,224 yards and 10 touchdowns and had 53 receptions for 617 yards. Counting the postseason, Foster had nine 100-yard rushing games and three 100-yard receiving games in 15 total games last year. Through last year's postseason, Foster has 656 carries for 3,125 yards and 29 touchdowns plus 127 receptions for 1,272 yards and four touchdowns in 31 games over the past two seasons. While Ben Tate is more than a capable backup, the Texans love to give Foster a workhorse's workload.
2. Ray Rice, Ravens
Ravens running back Ray Rice, who was designated with the franchise tag this offseason, set career highs in rushing yards (1,364) and receiving yards (704) plus he scored a total of 15 touchdowns, which shattered his previous career high of eight. Rice has three straight seasons with 1,200-plus rushing yards and 500-plus receiving yards and 60-plus receptions.
3. LeSean McCoy, Eagles
Philadelphia's LeSean McCoy, the Eagles' second-round pick in 2009, set career highs in carries (273), rushing yards (1,309) and rushing touchdowns (17). McCoy sat out Week 17, but he scored at least one touchdown in every game he played except for Weeks 11 and 16. With the additions of Bryce Brown (seventh round) and Chris Polk (undrafted free agent), McCoy is likely to get a slightly reduced workload in 2012, which is what Andy Reid has previously suggested.
4. Maurice Jones-Drew, Jaguars
Despite having to face many eight-men fronts, Jones-Drew led the NFL in rushing with 1,606 yards. And perhaps more impressively, he became the first running back in league history to rush for at least 80 yards in 15 of 16 games. Along with Atlanta's Michael Turner, MJD was one of only two running backs to go over 300 carries. Pocket Hercules had a league-high 343 carries, which is the fourth-most over the past five seasons.
5. Ryan Mathews, Chargers
Mathews, a top-12 pick by the Chargers in 2010, racked up more than 1,500 yards from scrimmage -- 1,091 rushing yards and 455 receiving yards on 50 receptions -- despite missing two games last season. With the departure of Mike Tolbert, who rushed for 19 touchdowns over the past two seasons, Mathews could truly break out if (albeit a big if) he can stay healthy for a full season. In addition, Mathews and the Chargers running backs have a favorable schedule from a fantasy perspective.
6. Marshawn Lynch, Seahawks
Seattle running back Marshawn Lynch, who re-signed with the Seahawks for four years, finished the season with 1,204 rushing yards and 212 receiving yards with 13 total touchdowns last year. He was particularly tough from Week 9 on. He rushed for 100-plus yards six times in his final nine games including against the 49ers, the league's top-ranked run defense. Can he duplicate last year's success, especially after getting a big contract?
7. Chris Johnson, Titans
Titans running back Chris Johnson had a lackluster season with the exception of a four-game span (Weeks 9 to 12). Johnson rushed for a total of 486 yards and had three of his four 100-yard games of the season during that stretch. In the other 12 games, however, Johnson had 177 carries for 561 yards (3.17 yards per carry) and one rushing touchdown.
8. Darren McFadden, Raiders
Based on pure talent, McFadden could be a top-five pick overall in any fantasy draft. Add in his injury risk and you're playing with fire. In his four seasons in Oakland, McFadden has played a total of 45 games including only seven last year and has missed at least three games every year he's been a pro. Over his 20 games in the past two seasons, however, McFadden has averaged 121.6 yards from scrimmage (YFS) per game. Over a full 16-game season, that would be 1,945 YFS. Feeling lucky?
9. Adrian Peterson, Vikings
Peterson, who recently ran for the media in Minnesota, expects to play in Week 1. Considering Peterson will only be around nine months removed from his ACL injury at the start of the season, there is no guarantee that he will be ready Week 1 and it might take a year before he regains his pre-injury explosiveness. When healthy, however, Peterson is one of the best two or three backs in the league and he has been a touchdown-scoring machine: 64 rushing touchdowns and three receiving touchdowns in 73 career games.
10. DeMarco Murray, Cowboys
From Weeks 7 to 12, no running back had more rushing yards than Cowboys rookie DeMarco Murray (761). (Rams running back Steven Jackson, 593, had the second most during that span.) Going into the 2012 season as the unquestioned feature back, Murray will/should be one of the top 10-12 backs off the board.
11. Matt Forte, Bears
In the 11 games he finished, Bears running back Matt Forte was an absolute stud. During those 11 games, he had 985 rushing yards and 490 receiving yards on 52 receptions and he was on pace for 2,145 yards from scrimmage for the season. Like Rice, however, Forte is not thrilled about being designated with the franchise tag. In fact, he felt "disrespected" by the fact that the Bears signed free-agent running back Michael Bush to a four-year deal. Although it's a great (real) football move, Bush signing with the Bears diminishes both backs' fantasy value.
12. Trent Richardson, Browns
There is plenty to like about Richardson, who is the best running back prospect since Adrian Peterson. Not only does Richardson have freakish strength, he has good speed for his size, soft hands and he goes into a situation where he will have the opportunity to be an every-down back. On the flip side, Richardson will likely face many eight-men fronts with the lack of perimeter weapons in the offense and he'll have to face the stout AFC North run defenses six times per year.
13. Jamaal Charles, Chiefs
While Charles is returning from a torn ACL, he suffered the injury early in the year and therefore should be ready to go for the start of the season. With the offseason addition of Peyton Hillis, who signed a one-year deal, the Chiefs are unlikely to overwork Charles, who rushed for 1,467 yards two seasons ago.
14. Steven Jackson, Rams
While Jackson has seven straight seasons with 1,000-plus rushing yards, he has scored only 30 touchdowns (27 rushing and three receiving) over the past five seasons. Jackson, who turns 29 before the start of the season, is the clear leader, in a bad way, in career rushing attempts (2,138) of other running backs in our top 50 list. The only other players on our list with at least 1,500 carries are Willis McGahee (1,790) and Frank Gore (1,653).
15. Michael Turner, Falcons
Here are two things to like about Turner: (1) back-to-back seasons with 1,300-plus yards and (2) four straight seasons with double-digit touchdowns. Here are two things to dislike about Turner: (1) he turned 30 in February and (2) he has 660 carries counting two postseason games over the past two seasons.
16. Fred Jackson, Bills
Jackson, who recently agreed to a two-year contract extension, was having his best season on a per-game basis before suffering a season-ending injury last season. Through 10 games, FJax had 934 rushing yards and a career-high 442 receiving yards. Only MJD and Foster averaged more rushing YPG than Jackson in 2011. That said, the workload between Jackson, who turned 31 in February, and C.J. Spiller is going to be closer to 50-50 this season based on coach Chan Gailey's comments earlier this offseason.
17. Ahmad Bradshaw, Giants
Although the Giants drafted David Wilson with the last pick of the first round, Bradshaw will still be the team's "lead dog" as GM Jerry Reese recently called him. That said, he hasn't been a model of good health and he only averaged more than 4.0 yards per carry in two games last year.
18. Frank Gore, 49ers
As noted earlier, Gore has been a workhorse running back, but those days are about to come to an end with Kendall Hunter, Anthony Dixon, Brandon Jacobs and LaMichael James, the team's second-round pick, now on the roster.
19. Roy Helu, Redskins
In the final six games of the season, the Redskins had five 100-yard rushing games by rookie running backs. Roy Helu, their fourth-round pick, had three of them and Evan Royster, a sixth-round pick, had two of them. In addition, Helu set the Redskins' franchise record for most receptions (14) in a game when he finished with 105 receiving yards against the Niners. Of course, the drawback of owning Helu is that you're at the mercy of coach Mike Shanahan's whims.
20. Darren Sproles, Saints
Last year, Sproles led all running backs in receptions (86), receiving yards (710) and receiving touchdowns (seven). Even though he only had 87 carries, Sproles averaged nearly seven yards per carry and finished with a total of 1,313 yards from scrimmage -- 15th among all running backs.
21. Reggie Bush, Dolphins
Miami's Reggie Bush nearly doubled his previous career high with 1,086 rushing yards on 216 carries. Before sitting out Week 17, Bush rushed for 100-plus yards in four straight games and no running back had more rushing yards than Bush (519) during that four-game span. With a new coaching staff, better health from second-year back Daniel Thomas and the addition of rookie Lamar Miller, Bush may see a decrease in his touches.
22. Shonn Greene, Jets
Jets running back Shonn Greene set career highs across the board: carries (253), rushing yards (1,054) and touchdowns (six) in addition to receptions (30) and receiving yards (211). That said, Greene was mostly mediocre aside from a two-game span in Weeks 13/14: 46 carries for 217 yards and four TDs plus six receptions for 84 yards.
23. Willis McGahee, Broncos
Broncos running back Willis McGahee, who turned 30 in October, was one yard shy of 1,200 yards for the third time in his career and the first time since 2007. That said, he had a career low in rushing touchdowns (four) last year.
24. Beanie Wells, Cardinals
Despite dealing with a knee injury most of the year, Wells set career highs with 245 carries for 1,047 yards and 10 touchdowns in 14 games. This year, however, he will have to compete with Ryan Williams, who suffered a season-ending knee injury last August but had generated a lot of buzz before that.
25. C.J. Spiller, Bills
Perhaps not spectacular in Fred Jackson's absence at the end of last year, Spiller had 633 yards from scrimmage (446 rushing yards and 187 receiving yards) and five total touchdowns (three rushing and two receiving). During that span, only six running backs had more yards from srimmage than Spiller. Provided Jackson stays healthy this year, Spiller should get no more (but likely less) than half of the workload.
Here are our next 25 running backs for 2012:
26. BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Bengals
27. Jonathan Stewart, Panthers
28. Isaac Redman, Steelers
29. Mark Ingram, Saints
30. Michael Bush, Bears
31. DeAngelo Williams, Panthers
32. Ben Tate, Texans
33. Stevan Ridley, Patriots
34. Peyton Hillis, Chiefs
35. Doug Martin, Buccaneers
36. James Starks, Packers
37. Jahvid Best, Lions
38. LeGarrette Blount, Buccaneers
39. Pierre Thomas, Saints
40. Donald Brown, Colts
41. Toby Gerhart, Vikings
42. David Wilson, Giants
43. Rashard Mendenhall, Steelers
44. Daniel Thomas, Dolphins
45. Ryan Williams, Cardinals
46. Brandon Jacobs, 49ers
47. Bernard Scott, Bengals
48. Evan Royster, Redskins
49. Shane Vereen, Patriots
50. Felix Jones, Cowboys
More 2012 Rankings: QBs - WRs - TEs
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