Fantasy Football's Week 10 RB Rankings

Must Starts

1. LaDainian Tomlinson vs. Kansas City. This is not the first time in 2008 that Tomlinson has topped the RB fantasy projection list, but it might be the first time he delivers up to those expectations. The Chiefs come to town this week and bring their less-than-stellar defense with it. The reason we’re so high on LaDainian is that with the change at defensive coordinator, we see San Diego’s D getting more three-and-outs and putting the ball back into the hands of the offense.

And with the large lead we expect the Chargers to have, the outlook is very bright for No. 21. Look for Tomlinson to easily eclipse the 100-yard rushing mark for the second consecutive game and score at least two TDs.

2. Willie Parker vs. Indianapolis. After watching BenJarvus Green-Ellis (I know, who?) and Kevin Faulk slice through Indy’s smaller D the other night, should we really expect anything less from Parker? I don’t think so.

This game will be played in Pittsburgh, and we expect the Steelers to use the same gameplan as Belichick the other night, focusing heavily on the run with lots of short pass-plays mixed in. They’ll do this because they want to eat up clock and keep Peyton Manning and the offense on the sidelines. Look for Parker to get over 100 yards and score two TDs.

3. Michael Turner vs. New Orleans. Turner has been a beast on the ground this season, and the $34.5 M contract Atlanta gave him has been money well spent. We think Atlanta will rely heavily on Turner in this contest because they’ll want to minimize the amount of time Brees and his offense spends on the field, so look for another productive day from him and a chance to break a long one against a depleted Saints defense. 100 yards and one TD.

4. DeAngelo Williams vs. Oakland. For a while, it looked like rookie Jonathan Stewart was taking over as the starting tailback, but that was until Williams went off for 100+ yards and a TD vs. Arizona after his three TD performance vs. Kansas City a few weeks earlier.

While Stewart still may get a majority of the goal-line carries, making him a strong play in leagues that value touchdowns, look for Williams to be the main guy once again when they head out to Oakland to take on the lackluster Raiders. We like Carolina getting up early in this one and then just pounding the ball with Williams in what should be an easy victory. 100 yards and one TD.

Sleepers

1. Frank Gore vs. Arizona. The Cards are a vastly different team (defensively) at home than they are on the road, so while we don’t expect Gore to go completely off in this one, we do see him having a nice day, fantasy wise. Provided that SF can keep the score close, and being that it’s a division rivalry, we think they will.

Look for Singletary to use the multi-talented Gore early on in the running game and as a receiver out of the backfield. In the 49ers game last season at Arizona, Gore had a monster day, going for 116 yards on the ground and another 98 through the air with a TD; in this one, we think he will get 80 yards on the ground, another 40 through the air, and score at least one TD to cap off a strong day.

2. Jamal Lewis vs. Denver. It’s been a down year for Lewis’ owners, who probably snagged him no later than round three in their respective fantasy drafts , but this week, he gets to atone for his lack of production over the first half of the season.

While we’re not convinced that the insertion of second-year QB Brady Quinn into the lineup will be some great catalyst that puts Cleveland on a path to the playoffs, we do think that Crennel will rely heavily on Lewis to help bring along his young QB, and facing a porous defense in Denver, we like Jamal to break the century mark for the first time this season and put at least one into the end zone.

Source: Profootball101