2013 Fantasy Football Positional Rankings: Running Back

The 2013 Fantasy Football Season is nearly here. But before you can trash talk your friends, scour the waiver wire for the next fantasy gem, and win a championship, you have to get prepared for the Draft. Bik Nizzar will get you ready for the upcoming fantasy season as The Extra Period unveils its Fantasy Football Positional Rankings.

During this week I’ll be unveiling my rankings for each fantasy position. Today we start with Running Backs. I’ll address some breakout candidates and those who could perform above their rankings in a feature coming next week called “Progression/Regression”. Below the ranks are some details for the current spots. Without further adieu the 2013 Fantasy Football RB Ranks:

Updated: July 22^nd

1	Adrian Peterson	21	Darren Sproles	41	Ben Tate
2	Arian Foster	22	DeMarco Murray	42	Mikel Leshoure
3	Marshawn Lynch	23	Chris Ivory	43	Fred Jackson
4	Ray Rice	24	Lamar Miller	44	Jacquizz Rodgers
5	Jamaal Charles	25	Eddie Lacy	45	Michael Bush
6	Doug Martin	26	Ahmad Bradshaw	46	Robert Turbin
7	CJ Spiller	27	Ryan Mathews	47	Bryce Brown
8	Alfred Morris	28	BenJarvus Green-Ellis	48	Giovanni Bernard
9	LeSean McCoy	29	Vick Ballard	49	Ronnie Hillman
10	Trent Richardson	30	Le'Veon Bell	50	Mike Goodson
11	Stevan Ridley	31	Shane Vereen	51	Jonathan Franklin
12	Chris Johnson	32	Andre Brown	52	Michael Turner
13	Steven Jackson	33	Rashard Mendenhall	53	Daniel Thomas
14	Matt Forte	34	Ryan Williams	54	Daryl Richardson
15	Maurice Jones-Drew	35	Jonathan Stewart	55	Shonn Greene
16	Frank Gore	36	DeAngelo Williams	56	Joseph Randle
17	Reggie Bush	37	Mark Ingram	57	Roy Helu
18	David Wilson	38	Isaiah Pead	58	Evan Royster
19	Darren McFadden	39	Pierre Thomas	59	Stepfan Taylor
20	Montee Ball	40	Bernard Pierce	60	Toby Gerhart

As I mentioned in the Draft Guide, the RB’s look ok at the top end of the draft. It’s not filled with as many question marks as last year, and it also helps populate the 1^st round for the teams that don’t get to pick Adrian Peterson. However shortly after the 1^st round, that’s when owners will start to beg for more reliable RB’s to be available. I’ll provide a quick breakdown of the tiers and tackle a few hot-spots in between but if you have more questions, like The Extra Period facebook page and post your thoughts there.

Adrian Peterson - In a class of his own:

9 yards shy. That’s what it came down to. 9 yards short from breaking the single season rushing record. It wasn’t just that AP was so good vs. league history last year; it’s also that AP was SOOOO GOOOD vs. the rest of the league. He outscored Arian Foster by 49 fantasy points (3.0 points per week). That’s a SUBSTANTIAL mark over your next closest competitor. He’s in a tier of his own and the only reason the 1^st pick shouldn’t be him is if you’re in a league that has a “No Adrian Peterson” Rule...  So if you do get the 1^st pick, don’t be a jerk trying to make a joke and wind the clock down to 2 seconds. We all know who you’re going to pick, the draft is a long enough process, cutting the time down on the 1^st overall pick helps.

Foster – Richardson:

The top 10 is deep enough and filled with enough upside that you could see some from the back end of it jump up to upset the balance atop. You should feel comfortable getting any one of them.  I like Charles the most to be the 1 to breakout and potentially take the title as top scoring RB from AP, but Foster-Rice-Lynch all feel safer and more guaranteed production. The ceiling for Charles though is higher. We’re talking about a guy last year who had weeks with rushing attempts of 6, 5, and 9 along with a coach in Romeo Crennel who dropped quotes like this to explain those totals: “Now, I’m not exactly sure.” Eeek. Andy Reid isn’t going to ever forget about Jamaal Charles nor will he ignore his talent. He chalked up 1700 total yards despite the Crennel holdback. He should see an uptick in both carries and reception under Reid.

I’ve pegged McCoy ahead of Richardson for a couple of reasons. The injuries for Richardson over the past 16 months mildly worried me and he’s going to be on a team with Brandon Weeden as his QB with no tremendous receiving targets. He’s not just the main option, he’s the only option offensively for the team so the heavy usage he’ll see, while good if he stays healthy, also means he could be taking a beating and seeing some time out of the lineup. Prior to last year McCoy had started at least 15 games a year. Also his production last year was largely TD-Dependent as he tallied 11 Rushing TD’s and 1 Receiving TD for 72 fantasy points or 38.3% of his total. He was just shy of 1000 yards, and his yard per carry was below 4. If there’s ever a case for not relying on touchdowns for fantasy production its LeSean McCoy because he went from 20 total TD’s 2 years ago, to just 5 last year. But he was rushing at a 4.2 per carry clip with a beleaguered offensive line and Mike Vick turning the ball over an absurd amount of times. New Eagles coach Chip Kelly will feature up-tempo fast paced offence which should benefit McCoy and bring his TD Total to a more respectable level to go along with his steady rushing production.

Ridley – Gore:

This is the stage where I’d start to be worried if one of these landed as my #1 RB, but a lot of them have great upside as #2 RB’s on your roster. The Titans took great strides in the off-season to support not just Jake Locker but also Chris Johnson. They brought in free agent guard Andy Levitre and drafted Chance Warmack early in the first round. Add in versatile Tight-End Delanie Walker who is an adept blocking TE, suddenly the pieces could be in place for a resurgent year from CJ-formerly-2k.

I have Forte JUUUST ahead of MJD because while MJD definitely has more upside, Forte’s floor is much higher. There’s not much to like about what’s happening in Jacksonville and I worry that teams will simply just key on MJD and make Blaine Gabbert beat them. #JaguarFanProblems

Bush – Sproles:

Stretching just past the top 20 is a small group, but all can be viable #2 RB’s that all feature significant upside. Bush heads to Detroit in a role that Jahvid Best did quite well for fantasy owners before injuries mounted. The Raiders are switching back to a power-blocking scheme rather than the zone scheme they employed recently. McFadden struggled heavily under the last scheme and will definitely like the return to his favoured system. His health will always remain as the big detraction from him but at this stage of the draft it might be worth it on him.

Murray – Green-Ellis:

This tier features backs who could see some volume, but have proven to be unreliable with their production/injuries/fumbling problems in the past and could see their fantasy value either plummet or rise.

The Rest:

Once you get to the top 30, all the guys feel the same right now so it’s really just how you feel with the player. Some feature more upside (Bernard, Randle, Pierce) while some are simply players with usage roles like 3^rd down back or short-yardage specialist (Michael Bush, Shonn Greene).

This is just a pre-cursor and will be updated as the pre-season progresses so check back for updates. More coming on specific RB’s in the “Progression/Regression” piece.

The Extra Period will have more fantasy football content in the near future. If you have questions/comments about your team/league that you want Bik to answer "Like" our facebook page and post them there. Also follow Bik on Twitter: @StretfordBik or The Extra Period @TheExtraPeriod.