Updated Fantasy Football Rankings Week 12: Top 70 RBs for the Rest of 2010

Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson has moved back up to the top of the running back rankings after what some would consider a disappointing start to the season.

Johnson has rushed for over 100 yards in two straight games and has been surprisingly consistent at getting into the end zone this season—something that many were critical of him on early in his career.

The Titans will be without Vince Young for the remainder of the season, which should mean an increased number of touches for the league’s most explosive player.

While his yards per carry may drop, we have to love that he’ll be given more chances now though the end of the season.

Not to mention, his remaining schedule is pretty nice with games left against Houston (twice), Jacksonville, Indianapolis (twice) and Kansas City—none of whom rank in the top half in the league at stopping opposing running backs.

The running back situation for the New York Giants has become a lot cloudier this week after Tom Coughlin publicly took away the starting job from running back Ahmad Bradshaw.

Bradshaw, who won the job early in the season, has had problems fumbling the ball this season and was struggling to find any running room prior to his most recent fumble against the Eagles last week.

The Giants will turn to Brandon Jacobs to start once again, and while Bradshaw may still end up getting the majority of the carries, the lack of confidence that the coaching staff has in him is very troubling.

Bradshaw moves down nine spots this week while Jacobs jumps up 10 spots himself.

Another running back committee that is difficult to understand is the one in San Diego.

Rookie back Ryan Mathews, who was the top pick in almost all fantasy dynasty drafts this offseason, has been injured throughout most of the season leading to Mike Tolbert and Darren Sproles touching the ball much more than we would have expected going into the year.

Tolbert has been so good, in fact, that he now ranks second in the league in total touchdowns at the running back position with 10 on the year and hit 100 yards rushing for the second time this season last week.

With Mathews still nursing an injury, Mike Tolbert may have supplanted him as the team’s top back as we reach the end of the 2010 season.

With Clinton Portis being placed on injured reserve, he has been dropped from the rankings this week. Ryan Torain is still hurt and while he is expected to be back soon, we may be seeing increased touches from Keiland Williams, who moves up eight spots this week.

Williams has had a few very nice fantasy performances in relief of Torain and Portis, so he may actually be the best back going forward, but we have to assume that Torain will be given every opportunity to keep the job when he gets back from injury.

The question is if he will stay healthy, which he has not done at any point during his short NFL career.

Thanksgiving Day gave us BenJarvus Green-Ellis’ fourth double-digit fantasy effort in his past five games. Despite largely splitting touches with Danny Woodhead (ranked 36th), Green-Ellis has been the Patriots’ goal-line back this season and continues to be a productive fantasy running back—something we haven’t seen in New England in quite some time.

Green-Ellis’ nine rushing touchdowns is an impressive number for a guy who has only received 20 carries once this season.

He remains fresh and while he has a difficult schedule coming up, his fantasy value is still on the rise—up four spots this week—due to the Patriots’ high-powered offense.

View all of the Week 12 rankings for the rest of 2010:

Quarterbacks | Running Backs | Wide Receivers | Tight Ends

RANK	PLAYER	TEAM	PREVIOUS RANK	MOVEMENT
1	Chris Johnson	TEN	2	1
2	Adrian Peterson	MIN	1	-1
3	Arian Foster	HOU	4	1
4	Rashard Mendenhall	PIT	5	1
5	Michael Turner	ATL	6	1
6	Maurice Jones-Drew	JAC	9	3
7	Frank Gore	SF	3	-4
8	Peyton Hillis	CLE	11	3
9	Jamaal Charles	KC	10	1
10	LeSean McCoy	PHI	13	3
11	Steven Jackson	STL	7	-4
12	Ray Rice	BAL	12	0
13	Knowshon Moreno	DEN	16	3
14	Thomas Jones	KC	17	3
15	Matt Forte	CHI	15	0
16	Darren McFadden	OAK	14	-2
17	Ahmad Bradshaw	NYG	8	-9
18	BenJarvus Green-Ellis	NE	22	4
19	Fred Jackson	BUF	21	2
20	LaDainian Tomlinson	NYJ	19	-1
21	Cedric Benson	CIN	20	-1
22	Shonn Greene	NYJ	24	2
23	LaGarrette Blount	TB	26	3
24	Brandon Jacobs	NYG	34	10
25	Felix Jones	DAL	28	3
26	Beanie Wells	ARI	25	-1
27	Mike Tolbert	SD	38	11
28	Jahvid Best	DET	23	-5
29	Marshawn Lynch	SEA	30	1
30	Joseph Addai	IND	32	2
31	Ryan Torain	WAS	29	-2
32	Ryan Mathews	SD	18	-14
33	Ronnie Brown	MIA	27	-6
34	Donald Brown	IND	33	-1
35	Keiland Williams	WAS	43	8
36	Danny Woodhead	NE	37	1
37	Reggie Bush	NO	31	-6
38	Pierre Thomas	NO	35	-3
39	Michael Bush	OAK	36	-3
40	Mike Goodson	CAR	39	-1
41	Ricky Williams	MIA	41	0
42	Brandon Jackson	GB	42	0
43	Cadillac Williams	TB	48	5
44	Jonathan Stewart	CAR	44	0
45	Tim Hightower	ARI	46	1
46	Willis McGahee	BAL	45	-1
47	Chris Ivory	NO	57	10
48	Justin Forsett	SEA	47	-1
49	Darren Sproles	SD	49	0
50	Mike Hart	IND	50	0
51	Marion Barber	DAL	52	1
52	Chester Taylor	CHI	51	-1
53	Jason Snelling	ATL	53	0
54	C.J. Spiller	BUF	54	0
55	Derrick Ward	HOU	55	0
56	Kevin Smith	DET	56	0
57	Rashad Jennings	JAC	58	1
58	Bernard Scott	CIN	59	1
59	Javon Ringer	TEN	60	1
60	John Kuhn	GB	61	1
61	Javarris James	IND	62	1
62	Toby Gerhart	MIN	63	1
63	Ladell Betts	NO	64	1
64	Jerome Harrison	PHI	65	1
65	Laurence Maroney	DEN	66	1
66	Julius Jones	NO	67	1
67	Tashard Choice	DAL	68	1
68	Mike Bell	PHI	69	1
69	Leon Washington	SEA	70	1
70	Correll Buckhalter	DEN	71	1