Fantasy Football Projections Week 3: Predicting the Top 5 Scoring RBs

So far, the 2011 NFL season has been horrible for running backs both on the field and in the arena of fantasy football.

Production has been low, and big names have been injured.

The horrible part about it all is that most leagues are won or lost based off running back play, and that is why we see most of the big runners go in the first few picks of a fantasy draft.

Texan’s running back Arian Foster was No. 1 overall in many leagues based on his great year last year, but he’s been struggling with a hamstring injury that has taken him out three times already in 2011!

Kansas City back Jamaal Charles was expected to have a huge year, but we lost him last week to a season-ending injury.

Even star running back Chris Johnson has been struggling during the early parts of the season.

Like I said, it’s been a horrible year for running backs.

The only thing we can do is leave the past in the past though, so it’s time to start looking forward at Week 3.

Here are the projected Top 5 running backs of Week 3:

1. Ray Rice, Ravens

The Rams don't have a chance at stopping Rice this weekend. He’s a threat on the ground and catching passes out of the backfield, which makes him a point-producing machine in fantasy. The Ravens lean heavily on Rice to keep the offense moving, so expect a big week out of him.

2. Chris Johnson, Tennessee

This is the week that Johnson finally busts out of his funk and shows us why he is such a great running back. The Broncos defense is horrible at stopping the run, so expect the Titans to feed the ball to Johnson as much as possible. Johnson is going to snap out of his slump in a big way.

3. Adrian Peterson, Vikings

Some may shy away from starting Peterson because he’s playing against a very explosive Lions front four. The Lions' weakness up front is that they struggle running the ball though, so the Vikings are going to rely heavily on Peterson to produce offensively.

4. Rashard Mendenhall, Steelers

The Steelers and Mendenhall are matching up with a Colts team that absolutely cannot stop the run. Ben Roethlisberger still may be a bit sore after getting knocked around in the first two weeks, so look for Mendenhall to get a lot of work in and put up monster numbers.

5. Michael Turner, Falcons

Turner looked great last week against the Eagles, so I expect to see more out of him against a Buccaneers team that is really struggling to stop the run. When Turner gets moving he is arguably the hardest back in the NFL to stop. Tampa is going to have no chance stopping him.