Fantasy Football Week 9 Rankings: Running Backs

Eight weeks are now in the books, which means we’ve reached the halfway mark in many fantasy leagues. At this point, you likely have an idea whether your team is a contender or a pretender this year, and a lot of this likely has to do with how your running backs have panned out.

Some Round 1 picks have turned out as busts (we’re looking at you, Shonn Greene and Ryan Mathews) and some late round picks have turned into fantasy studs (thank you, Arian Foster, Darren McFadden and Peyton Hillis).

Fantasy owners will have to say “bye” to a number of big backs this week as Chris Johnson, Maurice Jones-Drew, Steven Jackson and Frank Gore are just some of the names who have off in Week 9.

The Fantasy Football Week 9 Running Back Rankings will try to help you replace these big names and lead you to victory in a pivotal week in fantasy football.

1. Adrian Peterson (Minnesota Vikings) vs. Arizona

Back to back weeks with over 20 fantasy points for the second time this season means those who chose Peterson over Chris Johnson this season have won the argument at this point (133 fantasy points to 125).

AD put up 92 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries along with five catches for 50 yards Sunday against the New England Patriots. He has double digit fantasy points in every single game this season and is ranked right behind Foster in fantasy running back scoring so far.

Get ready for another big week as Peterson gets to have some fun with an Arizona Cardinals defense that’s allowing 143.1 YPG on the ground. There’s not much more to say about him…he’s just one of those guys you just leave in your lineup and enjoy the production each and every week.

Point Projection: 24 points

2. Michael Turner (Atlanta Falcons) vs. Tampa Bay

Turner ran for 121 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries with another 23 yards on two catches before the Falcons bye week and has been up and down at times this season.

The odds of this being an “up” week are certainly in Turner’s favor as he goes up against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bucs are allowing 5.2 YPC and 149.4 YPG to opposing rushers, so Turner should be able to capitalize and have a big game this week.

Point Projection: 21 points

3. LeSean McCoy (Philadelphia Eagles) vs. Indianapolis

McCoy has been pretty consistent overall this season and can produce as both a runner (477 yards and five touchdowns on 105 carries) and a receiver (293 yards on 38 catches).

He’s one of the top backs in fantasy football and one of the few that doesn’t have a backup vulturing carries from him. The Eagles return from their bye week and McCoy should have no problem picking up where he left off against the Indianapolis Colts.

The Colts have been surprisingly bad against the run this year allowing 4.9 YPC, 133 YPG and eight touchdowns on the ground. McCoy’s a very good RB1 this week.

Point Projection: 20 points

To read the rest of the running back projections go here.... Week 9 RB Rankings