(Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)
Jones finished last season with 1,312 yards rushing and 13 touchdowns, and was a force in the backfield.
If Jones can provide those numbers again this year, people might regret passing on him.
T-5. Deangelo Williams, Carolina Pathers
Williams came out of nowhere last year. He split time with Jonathan Stewart, but still managed to put up good numbers.
Williams carried the ball 273 times and finished with 1,515 yards. He also had 18 touchdowns, which is a great number for fantasy football.
Williams found the endzone a lot last year. It might not be a bad pick to take him No, 2 or 3, but remember that he will share carries with Stewart.
Williams also has speed to take it to the house everytime he touches the ball. Something that would be good for fantasy owners.
Theres the Fantastic Five, well in this case six, now lets look at some other backs.
On the outside looking in is Chris Johnson. Johnson had a productive rookie season last year. He is also one of, if not, the fastest running back in the NFL.
The problem is LenDale White. Johnson is part of the "smash N-dash" combo the Titans use, giving the ball to White a lot at the goal line. That limits some of the touchdowns that Johnson could be getting.
Still 1,228 yards and nine touchdowns isnt bad for your team.
Ronnie Brown is also on the brink of making my top five. He put up good fantasy numbers last season, including a monster game. In the debut of the Wildcat, he shined. But teams have seemed to figure that out.
Brown is also injury prone, which is a negative for fantasy owners. Who needs their starting running back out in a pivital playoff run?
Steven Jackson and Ryan Grant also make good cases for the top five. But I'm just not having it. Jackson had a good year last year with 1,042 yards and eight touchdowns, but thats not top five worthy.
Grant put up 1,203 yards which isnt bad. But he had just as many fumbles as touchdowns last year—four. That's not going to get you points for your team.
Now, on to the Sleepers. Ahhh, yes the guys that you hope to steal late in the second round or even later. The guys that you want to brag to your opponents about all year long and rub it in their faces.
My favorite canidate for a sleeper is Steve Slaton. The kid has blazing fast speed, and has a nose for the endzone. Nine touchdowns and over 1,000 yards in fact. Not too many people in your league will notice Slaton. But if he is there in the second or third round, grab him.
Kevin Smith is also on the sleeper list. WOW! Yes, the Lions actually won something last year. A running back than can produce. Too bad the rest of the offense couldn't. Smith had only 976 yards, but he made up for it by finding the endzone nine times.
Smith should be around in the fourth to fifth round.
Now on to the avoid list. These are the guys to avoid and are likely on the downside of their careers.
Let's start off with the most popular running back in football a couple seasons ago, LaDainian Tomilinson. The guy is flat out on his downward slope. He looked so bad at times last year, that people were wondering, "Whats going on?"
Well, except for the guys that do the Madden Rating updates. They still had him in the high 90s throughout the season.
LT did finish with over 1,000 yards and 11 touchdowns. Point is, he did look pretty bad at times last season and injuries are starting to catch up with him. If he struggles early, expect Darren Sproles to take his place.
Larry Johnson was also a good fantasy choice—a couple years ago. But last year showed he was on the downside of his career. He finished with 874 yards and only five touchdowns.
Well that wraps up this edition of my first-ever attempt to do fantasy football rankings.
Some of you may argue and disagree on these rankings, but that's what I wrote the article for.
A good journalist always has people that don't agree, and sparks debate.
Enjoy.
Zack Pearson (Zack54attack)
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