2011 NFL Fantasy Football Week 3: Running Backs (RB) Rankings / Projections

Adrian Peterson vs Lions

While Adrian Peterson failed to find the end zone against the Chargers, he bounced back with two scores and over 100 yards playing the Buccaneers weak run defense. This week Peterson should have another solid day, as long as the Vikings can play a competitive game against the emerging Detroit Lions. Peterson has owned the Lions over his career, but this is a different team than the one he’s faced in the past. Still, Peterson should find his way to around 100 yards on the ground and a score as the Vikings will continue to feed him the football, even if they are down by more than a few touchdowns.

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Beanie Wells @ Seahawks

One of my sleepers coming into the season, Beanie Wells is off to a great start and is playing the brand of football we hoped he would coming out of Ohio State. Many knocked Wells for his poor play in 2010, but the passing game was in shambles with a horrible quarterback situation and Wells came into the year with a bad knee. Expect Wells to role up another solid performance against the Seahawks struggling defense.

Chris Johnson vs Broncos

While CJ2K didn’t have the kind of game fantasy owners expected, he was playing one of the few difficult games on his schedule against the Ravens. What I like is that Johnson clearly was back to a normal workload and it looks like he’s coming out of the first two weeks injury free. This is big news for Johnson owners as concerns of health problems for a holdout player are usually found out in the first few weeks back. Expect Johnson to get things going with his first strong performance this coming week as the Titans host the Broncos.

Matt Forte vs Packers

It looks like Matt Forte is ready to have a career year in a contract season, but he should have a tough time breaking out for big numbers this week against the Packers. While the Packers are clearly having their issues against the pass, they are still a respectable Top Five group against the run, so if Forte is going to play at a RB-1 level, he will have to get it done in the passing game.

Ben Tate @ Saints

I have Ben Tate listed as a top twenty option this week as the Saints have struggled on defense and Tate has looked solid in his first two regular season games. Arian Foster will probably tweet that he’s going to play this week, but fantasy owners shouldn’t trust that he will be on the field, after he re-aggrivated his hamstring against the Dolphins.

Tate posted over 100 total yards against the Dolphins and the Texans zone blocking scheme has had great success against the Saints in at least the past two preseasons. Look for Tate to get a feature back-like workload as Foster and Ward may be on the shelf in this game.

Daniel Thomas @ Browns

One of the surprises of week two saw the Dolphins bailing on Reggie Bush after two carries into their game against the Texans in favor of rookie Daniel Thomas. It’s not that Thomas doesn’t have the talent to unseat Bush as the top option, but more that he struggled badly in camp, and it didn’t seem he would get much work, early on.

Despite all the talk about Bush getting an opportunity to be the main in Miami, in the end the coaches failed to trust a running back that struggles to run in between the tackles.

Mark Ingram vs Texans

I hope your not one of those owners that’s going to bail on Mark Ingram after a couple of slow starts, because you’ll be hurting your team and helping someone in your league. Ingram hasn’t looked bad at all in his first two games, and has played against two of the better defenses in football.

For the next seven weeks, Ingram will have defenses he can take advantage of and I expect him to rush for at least 75 yards and a score against the Texans. Look for Ingram’s role to expand as we move deeper into the season.

1	Adrian Peterson	Lions
2	Ray Rice	@ Rams
3	LeSean McCoy	Giants
4	Rashard Mendenhall	@ Colts
5	Peyton Hillis	Dolphins
6	Chris Johnson	Broncos
7	Michael Turner	@ Buccaneers
8	Maurice Jones-Drew	@ Panthers
9	Darren McFadden	Jets
10	Matt Forte	Packers
11	Beanie Wells	@ Seahawks
12	Frank Gore	@ Bengals
13	Ahmad Bradshaw	@ Eagles
14	LeGarrette Blount	Falcons
15	Fred Jackson	Patriots
16	Jahvid Best	@ Vikings
17	Ben Tate	@ Saints
18	BenJarvus Green-Ellis	@ Bills
19	Steven Jackson (I)	Ravens
20	Felix Jones (I)	Redskins
21	Mike Tolbert	Chiefs
22	Ryan Mathews	Chiefs
23	Tim Hightower	@ Cowboys
24	Shonn Greene	@ Raiders
25	DeAngelo Williams	Jaguars
26	Daniel Thomas	@ Browns
27	Mark Ingram	Texans
28	Cedric Benson	49ers
29	Marshawn Lynch	Cardinals
30	James Starks	@ Bears
31	Willis McGahee	@ Titans
32	Brandon Jacobs	@ Eagles
33	DeMarco Murray	Redskins
34	Dexter McCluster	@ Chargers
35	Pierre Thomas	Texans
36	Knowshon Moreno (I)	@ Titans
37	Thomas Jones	@ Chargers
38	Ryan Grant	@ Bears
39	Joseph Addai	Steelers
40	Roy Helu	@ Cowboys
41	Carnell Williams	Ravens
42	Michael Bush	Jets

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