2013 Fantasy Football Rankings: Running Backs (Kevin Hanson)
Updated: Saturday, August 31st
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 the 2013 season.
- For my point-per-reception (PPR) running back rankings, click here.
- For my dynasty running back rankings, click here.
After being the primary offensive option with little help from his teammates, Steven Jackson moves to a team overflowing with talented skill players (Roddy White, Julio Jones, Tony Gonzalez, etc.).
The active leader in carries (2,395), by far, Jackson has a lot of tread on his 30-year-old legs. With eight consecutive 1,000-yard seasons, SJax should get an opportunity to finally cash in at the goal line.
Before being released, Michael Turner had double-digit rushing touchdowns in each of the past five seasons for the Falcons.
Things could not have gone much worse for Jones-Drew last year. Not only did he not get the new contract before/after ending his holdout, but he suffered a lisfranc injury and missed the final 10 games of the season.
The good news is Pocket Hercules enters a contract year and "has set his sights on 2,000 yards this season," according to SI's Jim Trotter.
When things are good for CJ2K, we've seen how good they could be. In the year he rushed for more than 2,000 yards, he set the single-season record for most yards from scrimmage (2,509).
Over the past couple of years, he has been much less productive than his record-setting campaign due in part to indecisive running and horrible interior offensive line play. The Titans significantly upgraded all three of their interior offensive line positions with Chance Warmack and Brian Schwenke in the draft and Andy Levitre in free agency.
With the offseason addition of Shonn Greene, who rushed for 1,000 yards last year, Johnson may come off the field at the goal line or see his overall touches decrease some. But SI's Peter King envisions a 320-carry season for Johnson.
In his final four games, Giants rookie David Wilson had his only 100-yard game. During that span, he carried the ball 43 times for 247 yards (5.7 yards per carry) and three touchdowns and had two receptions for 26 yards and a score.
Although he describes it as just a "minor crack," Andre Brown is going to miss at least the first few games of the season with a fractured leg. It's the second time he fractured it in the past two years.
Until Brown is able to return to give the team a 1-2 punch, it has opened the door for Wilson to become an every-down back with the potential for a major breakout this season.
Morris finished second in the NFL in rushing with 1,613 yards, which set the franchise single-season rushing record. In addition, he finished second in the NFL in rushing touchdowns (13) behind Foster (15). Only Foster and Peterson had more carries than Morris (335).
Morris, one of the team's sixth-round picks, had 20-plus carries 10 times last season including his final seven regular-season games. He had more than 75 rushing yards in all but two games last season.
Ridley had a breakout season with a career-high 1,263 yards and 12 touchdowns last year. While he only has nine career receptions, Ridley should continue to get a heavy workload and goal-line opportunities. Ridley's 290 carries were the eighth-most in franchise history and the most since Corey Dillion had 345 in 2004.
Although Gore just turned 30 years old in May, he's coming off back-to-back 1,200-yard seasons. It's possible that he has one more 1,200-yard season in him.
Considering Gore's age and the fact that the team drafted Marcus Lattimore, however, Gore owners should see a (potentially significant) drop in production after this season.
The Lions signed Reggie Bush to a four-year deal. While he should lead the team in carries and rushing, he stands to catch more than his fair share of passes out of the backfield. Bush had only 35 receptions last year and I wouldn't be surprised if he doubled that total in the Lions' pass-happy offense. Bush should be a PPR stud in 2013.
In the days leading up to the 2013 NFL Draft, SI's draft insider Tony Pauline tweeted that some teams believed UCLA's Johnathan Franklin was preferred over Alabama's Eddie Lacy. In typical Ted Thompson fashion, the Packers got bargain picks with both backs: Lacy at the end of Round 2 and Franklin in Round 4.
Although his toe fusion may have scared teams like the Steelers off Lacy, he should be productive at least for the next several years in a high-powered offense like the Packers.
In camp and the preseason so far, Lacy has clearly been the most impressive running back on the roster. In addition, DuJuan Harris (knee) was placed on injured reserve.
One of the league's most injury-prone backs, McFadden missed four games last season and has yet to play in more than 13 games in any of his five NFL seasons. Unlike the previous two seasons, however, McFadden was not good on a per-game or per-carry basis.
McFadden, the fourth-overall pick by the Raiders in 2008, rushed for 707 yards on 216 carries, which is an average of a career-low 3.3 yards per carry. In the 20 games he played in 2010 and 2011, he averaged 5.27 yards per carry.
That said, the Raiders have a new offensive coordinator and will switch back to a power running game to better utilize McFadden's strengths.
"What we've decided to do, as a staff, is see what Darren McFadden is comfortable doing,'' [offensive coordinator Greg] Olson said, per Monte Poole of the San Jose Mercury News. "Let's try and make it more comfortable for Darren, because he's one of our premier players.''
While that is good news, the team has one of the league's worst offensive lines and will be without left tackle Jared Veldheer (torn triceps) for a while.
