Ranking the NFL's Most Disappointing RBs in 2013

Running back is one of the most important and heralded positions on a football field. RBs can wow fans with juke moves and stiff arms. Some go with the no-frills approach and run right through defenders.

The RBs in this countdown have this ability, but have been stymied this season. It's the 10 most disappointing RBs of 2013.

Before jumping into the countdown let's set some ground rules for the rankings.

Body of work:

There must be a substantial sample size for disappointment. Vick Ballard won't be on this countdown.

Expectations:

Rankings are evaluated relative to expectations. If Ray Rice and Daryl Richardson have similarly bad stats, then Rice would be ranked much higher in the countdown.

No fantasy bias:

Rankings don't reflect fantasy value or expectations. Fantasy production is a good indicator of value and used for analysis in the countdown. The main criteria, however, is how much a RB has disappointed in terms of production towards winning games, not your fantasy league.

Backups don't matter:

For the sake of this countdown, it doesn't make a player's disappointment any less if his backup does well.

Let's jump on to the players that didn't quite let us down enough to make the list.

Honrable Mention

Bob Levey/Getty Images

Daryl Richardson:  69 ATT / 215 YDS / 3.1 YPC / 0 TD

Richardson was supposed to shoulder the load for St. Louis. That job now belongs to Zac Stacy. Zero touchdowns is still big disappointment, but given the tempered expectations Richardson just misses the cut.

Lamar Miller:  100 ATT / 450 YDS / 4.5 YPC / 2 TD

The only reason Miller is even mentioned here is his inconsistency. He's had games of three, two and 15 yards rushing. That can't happen as a No. 1 back.

Arian Foster: 121 ATT / 542 YDS / 4.5 YPC / 1 TD

There's bound to be high expectations when you run for over 1,200 yards and 10 TDs each of the previous three years. Foster is now out for the season with a back injury according to ESPN's Tania Ganguli, but the time he did play was mildly disappointing. Only finding the end zone one time in seven games is the most severe let down.

10. Darren McFadden

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98 ATT / 352 YDS / 3.6 YPC / 4 TD

As a whole McFadden hasn't been that bad this season. Still, "not that bad" is disappointing for the Raiders and likely McFadden himself.

In 2010 and 2011 McFadden showed his explosiveness by averaging over five yards per carry. The last two  seasons he's been held under four. It seems as though all the injuries are starting to take a toll on the 26-year-old running back.

While nursing a hamstring injury McFadden saw Rashad Jennings take the field. Jennings' performances the last two weeks have earned him more carries whether McFadden is healthy or not.

"It’s a production business and when he’s had the opportunity to go in there, he has produced." Dennis Allen told Scott Bair of CSN Bay Area. "When you do that, you get more opportunities."

The lack of production and the injuries have likely made McFadden an expendable commodity for the Raiders. Chris Wesseling of NFL.com wrote, "It's easy to envision the Raiders moving on from an expensive, injury-prone running back in McFadden, who's averaging 3.37 yards per carry over the past two seasons."

Now that's disappointing.

9. David Wilson

44 ATT / 146 YDS / 3.3 YPC / 1 TD

David Wilson played in just five games before being sidelined for the season with a neck injury according to ESPN's Dan Graziano. That's a small sample size, but it was so bad that it lands Wilson at No. 9 on our countdown.

The video above discusses Wilson's abysmal Week 1 performance against Dallas. Wilson lost two fumbles and managed only 19 yards in a game the Giants lost by only five points.

A benching, a division loss and fumble issues are no way to start a season. Wilson was able to hold on to the ball for the remaining four games he played. When the silver lining is not fumbling, you've got a problem.

Wilson never ran for more than 55 yards in a game, averaging under 30 per contest. The Giants were also 0-5 with Wilson on the field. Surely, not all his fault, but his severe lack of production didn't help the cause.

8. BenJarvus Green-Ellis

Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

140 ATT / 460 YDS / 3.3 YPC / 3 TD

For Green-Ellis these aren't terrible numbers. The 460 yards total, however, is misleading because the Bengals haven't had their bye yet. The main pitfall for Green-Ellis has been his anemic 3.3 yards per carry.

Green-Ellis is low on this list because of lowered expectations after the Bengals drafted Giovani Bernard in the first round. Bernard has received a chunk of action with 95 carries. Still, Green-Ellis has played the role of feature back and been rather disappointing.

Low yards per carry and an inability to find the end zone are two ingredients that quickly result in a loss of carries. This season has been a moderate disappointment to date. After losing their last two games, the Bengals need a spark.

"Spark" doesn't usually mean more BenJarvus Green-Ellis.

7. Chris Ivory

Al Bello/Getty Images

92 ATT / 369 YDS / 4.0 YPC / 1 TD

Ivory's most recent performance against the New Orleans Saints two weeks ago is the only reason he isn't much higher. Last week, Ivory scored for the first time this season, and his 139 yards were a season high.

The body of work isn't very impressive, though.

He's had five games under 30 rushing yards. He's been a little banged up and split carries with Bilal Powell, but more production was certainly expected. This was especially true in the touchdowns column, where Ivory had scored eight in just 24 games as a backup with the Saints. That's one TD every three games.

Jets coaches even praised his receiving ability during minicamp.

"Ivory catches well," New York's running backs coach Anthony Lynn said in August, via Manish Mehta of NYDailyNews.com. "Just because they didn’t throw it to him doesn’t mean he can’t catch...We’ll definitely use him. I don’t know if he’s dropped a ball since he’s been here. He’s showing nothing but natural hands."

Natural hands that have yielded one reception for negative two yards.

6. Rashard Mendenhall

Christian Petersen/Getty Images

105 ATT / 323 YDS / 3.1 YPC / 3 TD

Very few expected Mendenhall to return to his 2010 form, when he had over 1,200 yards and 13 touchdowns for the Steelers. Much like that of other running backs in this countdown, Mendenhall's struggles have allowed his backup to carry the rock more.

Enter Andre Ellington, who has 388 yards on just 54 carries—a eye-popping 7.2 yards per carry.

Too bad we're not talking about surprise RBs. Much to the chagrin of Arizona's fanbase, Mendenhall will remain the starter according to Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.

If he doesn't turn it around quickly Mendenhall will lose his starting job, set a career low for yards per carry and probably be updating his resume come January.

5. Maurice Jones-Drew

Wesley Hitt/Getty Images

143 ATT / 432 YDS / 3.0 YPC / 3 TD

In 2012 Jones-Drew had a rather disappointing season, but to be fair it was only six games. In those six games he still averaged 4.8 yards per carry. In his previous seven seasons Jones-Drew has never averaged under 4.2 yards per carry.

This season it's 3.0, which is the running back version of the Mendoza line.

It's tough to pin all the fault on MJD, especially after the Jaguars traded tackle Eugene Monroe to the Ravens and lost highly touted rookie tackle Luke Joeckel for the season.

Still, most of Jones-Drew's season was with both players, and if anything, his best numbers have come after those losses to the O-line.

Maybe it's playing for a 1-8 team. Maybe Jones-Drew has lost a step. Either way the veteran back has had a rough 2013.

4. Montee Ball

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60 ATT / 197 YDS / 3.3 YPC / 1 TD

Montee Ball was widely regarded as the favorite to shoulder the load for the Denver Broncos rushing attack. Just ask Sports Illustrated's Peter King or Yahoo! Sports fantasy guru Brandon Funston.

With 83 touchdowns at Wisconsin, 77 of which were rushing, certain expectations are set—one of which is that says Ball should start over Ronnie Hillman and Knowshon Moreno and should have more than one rushing touchdown.

Moreno has clearly cemented himself as the starter at this point. Even Hillman has similar numbers to Ball but has accomplished them in two fewer games.

With both a lack of opportunities and lack of production, it's been a very disappointing rookie season for the former Badger. Meanwhile, fellow rookies Eddie Lacy and Zac Stacy are securing starting jobs with Green Bay and St. Louis, respectively, and Giovani Bernard is getting a bigger piece of the RB pie in Cincinnati.

Ball's two fumbles, one of which is pictured above, don't help his cause either.

3. Steven Jackson

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47 ATT / 151 YDS / 3.2 YPC / 0 TD

Steven Jackson is another guy in danger of setting a career low for yards per carry—3.8 being his previous worst. Keep in mind that Jackson did have a carry for 50 yards in Week 1. Without that run, Jackson would have 101 yards on 46 attempts.

Yes, he's been hurt. But the production has been minimal at best when he is on the field, and the only game the Falcons won with Jackson in the lineup was in Week 2. That was the same game in which Jackson got injured on Atlanta's opening drive.

At 30 years old, Jackson appears to be slowing down, but few could have predicted this sharp of a decline. Zero rushing touchdowns is tough to justify for a big-body back like Jackson. Yet, here we are in Week 11 with the Falcons at 2-7 and their prized acquisition having by far the worst year of his career.

And to think Michael Turner scored 10 or more TDs in each of his five seasons in Atlanta.

2. Trent Richardson

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127 ATT / 377 YDS / 3.0 YPC / 2 TD

Remember when the trade to the Colts was supposed to revive Richardson's season? Remember his 11 rushing touchdowns for the Browns his rookie season? Remember Richardson being the man drafted after superstars Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III?

That all seems to be in the distant past.

This year Richardson has been one of the greatest disappointments to everyone except the Browns, who now look like the geniuses in pulling off the September trade. In fact, Richardson has only gotten worse since joining the Colts.

In the two games he played this season with the Browns, he recorded the second- and fourth-highest rushing totals of the season. Meanwhile, the Colts have had to endure Richardson's six games of 40 rushing yards or less. At the very least, Richardson should produce in goal-line situations, but he hasn't scored a TD since Week 4.

Donald Brown and Luck have more rushing TDs than Richardson.

If this isn't a sophomore slump, I don't know what is.

1. Ray Rice

Matt Sullivan/Getty Images

115 ATT / 289 YDS / 2.5 YPC / 3 TD

Was there any doubt?

Rice is the most disappointing RB this year by a wide margin. We could discuss his stats until the cows come home, but the stat that really stands out is yards per carry. Rice is averaging just 2.5 this year, which is the worst mark of his career.

By 1.5 yards.

Rice is usually productive in the passing game, but with 4.9 yards per reception, he's on track to set another career low.

By 2.9 yards.

Has been banged up? Probably. Has he lost a step? Maybe. Is the O-line doing him any favors? No.

But the numbers are abysmal. Listen as Yahoo! Sports Brad Evans discusses Rice's value.

It's tough to say exactly what is wrong with Rice, but at 26, it's doubtful that he won't be productive in the future. The stars appear to have aligned for him to have one of the worst Super Bowl hangovers in recent memory.

And things don't seem to be trending in the right direction. Rice's last two performances are his worst and second-worst yards-per-carry averages of his career (in games in which he logs 10 or more carries). His career low came against the Browns to the tune of 1.5 yards per carry.

And Bernard Pierce isn't going anywhere.