[C-Gold]

ESPN Rankings ignore the Auction

Rank	Player	Bye	Auction
1	Adrian Peterson, MIN	5	$60
2	Arian Foster, HOU	8	$59
3	Marshawn Lynch, SEA	12	$56
4	Ray Rice, BAL	8	$55
5	Doug Martin, TB	5	$53
6	Jamaal Charles, KC	10	$52
7	C.J. Spiller, BUF	12	$51
8	Trent Richardson, CLE	10	$49
9	Alfred Morris, WAS	5	$48
10	LeSean McCoy, PHI	12	$45
11	Steven Jackson, ATL	6	$40
12	Matt Forte, CHI	8	$39
13	Stevan Ridley, NE	10	$38
14	Frank Gore, SF	9	$36
15	Chris Johnson, TEN	8	$33
16	Maurice Jones-Drew, JAC	9	$30
17	David Wilson, NYG	9	$27
18	Darren McFadden, OAK	7	$25
19	Montee Ball, DEN	9	$22
20	Darren Sproles, NO	7	$21
21	DeMarco Murray, DAL	11	$17
22	Chris Ivory, NYJ	10	$11
23	Reggie Bush, DET	9	$11
24	Ryan Mathews, SD	8	$10
25	Eddie Lacy, GB	4	$9
26	Lamar Miller, MIA	6	$8
27	Le'Veon Bell, PIT	5	$7
28	Ahmad Bradshaw, IND	8	$7
29	DeAngelo Williams, CAR	4	$5
30	Giovani Bernard, CIN	12	$5
31	BenJarvus Green-Ellis, CIN	12	$4
32	Rashard Mendenhall, ARI	9	$4
33	Shane Vereen, NE	10	$4
34	Vick Ballard, IND	8	$3
35	Andre Brown, NYG	9	$3
36	Mark Ingram, NO	7	$3
37	Daryl Richardson, STL	11	$2
38	Mikel Leshoure, DET	9	$2
39	Isaiah Pead, STL	11	$2
40	Bryce Brown, PHI	12	$2
41	Bernard Pierce, BAL	8	$2
42	Jonathan Stewart, CAR	4	$1
43	Fred Jackson, BUF	12	$1
44	Ben Tate, HOU	8	$1
45	Ronnie Hillman, DEN	9	$1
46	Johnathan Franklin, GB	4	$1
47	Jacquizz Rodgers, ATL	6	$1
48	Shonn Greene, TEN	8	$1
49	Bilal Powell, NYJ	10	$1
50	Michael Bush, CHI	8	$1

[C-Gold]

Peterson is clearly #1
I'd argue Foster is clearly #2

#3 - A lot of people like Doug Martin and Lynch. Lynch had a career year last year and he is getting up there in age. I do think he is going to regress yardage and I would bump him down on the list but then again Seattle should be good again and he might get more TDs. 11 TDs last year and he is a goal line beast, maybe he gets 15 TDs this year? I do think he's worthy of a very early pick.

Ray Rice at #4, I've seen him drop a lot further for some people. He's splitting more carries with Pierce.

[convick]

Is this standard scoring or PPR? Rice probably ranked higher in PPR.

[C-Gold]

Forget that. Here are the guys I want to talk about.

C.J. Spiller was maybe the 2nd best RB I saw in the NFL last year after Adrian Peterson. He averaged 6 yards per carry which was the exact same as Peterson only Spiller had 13 carries per game. The Bills are going to increase his carries per game. I love Spiller. He could lead the league in rushing this year with his big play ability. He's so fast and he has moves and he runs strong for his size.

Trent Richardson. The guy was much better than his numbers last year but whenever I'd watch him he wouldn't have any holes to run through. The offense should improve this year and Norv Turner is going to use him for 300 plus carries. He rushed for 950 and 11 TDs last year and I'd consider that his floor. His ceiling is very high. I wouldn't be shocked to see him put up Doug Martin numbers, 1500 yards but with 15 TD. ESPN ranks him at 8, I'd rank him higher.

Chris Johnson. I'd love to get him with the 15th pick. His offensive line should be much better and he has a young QB. His coach was a lineman and you know they want to rely on the run game. He was disappointing last year and the year before but he still has speed to burn. Shone Green and Jackie Battle are both big power backs and they should steal goalline carries but Chris Johnson is still a 1st round pick in my opinion.

Lesean McCoy. Andy Reid ruins running backs. Chip Kelly pumps out Heisman trophy candidates. McCoy goes from behing a top 3 fantasy pick to a late first borderline 2nd rounder? He will do better in this system and is being undervalued.

Jamal Charles. I love how the guy runs but Andy Reid ruins running backs. The Chiefs were an all running team last year and 1500 yards were great but I doubt he gets that this year and he is more injury prone than the other guys. His career TD records are very light also. His TD record is 7 in a season and he's twice notched 5. He's a yards guy but that could go down this year. I'd draft the other guys above him like Spiller, Richardson, Mccoy and even Chris Johnson. Actually him and Chris Johnson are very similar only Charles is ranked 6th and Johnson 15th.

Reggie Bush. He's going to start and he's going to be real fast on that turf in Detroit. He could have his best season and outplay his draft stock. He will get drafted later but could end up having 2nd round or late 1st round value. I like his upside.

DeMarco Murray. I also like his upside. He is a very talented runner and the Cowboys offense should move the chains. If he can stay healthy he could have late 1st round or 2nd round value but get picked later.

Daryl Richardson. He will start for the Rams and should put up decent numbers. Fish doesn't like rookie or inexperienced RB's. They let Jackson go for a reason. I think Richardson is better than people think and Jackson is worse than people think. I thought Richardson was just as good as Jackson last year or maybe even better. He's a very obvious sleeper for me.

Last year I said I liked the Redskins starting RB, whoever it is. I thought it would be Helu that would be the steal but it was Morris. I like the Redskins and Steelers RB this year. I say Redskins RB not Morris because I wouldn't be shocked if Helu beat him out or split more carries. The Steelers I have no idea who wins the RB battle but I like whoever does. That offensive line switched to zone blocking and should improve a lot with those 1st round picks on the line. I also like Denver RB, you have to love a guy in that high powered offense. Whoever it is he will outperform his draft stock. It could be Ball, it could be Hillman or it could be Moreno.

Ben Tate is listed 44 on the list. If Foster goes down then Tate is a 100 yard rushing threat and a TD threat every single week. This guy is 1 injury away from being super valuable. Even when Foster played he's sometimes get 70 yards and a touch. Oh and this is a contract year for the guy and his team should win the division.

Bryce Brown had some electric games. What can he do in that chip Kelly offense? What if shady gets hurt? I like him better than the other lottery tickets around him.

[stikymess]

Nice write ups Gold, agree with Reggie Bush I could see some little dump offs going for long gains, last two season he's been healthy for the most part hopefully that keeps up.

[C-Gold]

Is this standard scoring or PPR? Rice probably ranked higher in PPR.

Ahhh good point. No wonder ESPN put Rice higher.

[dudekid]

i love trich and spiller this year, both of those guys could outperform rice imo

[Speedy88]

Honestly, after AP, there isn't much seperation between #2 and #10. I think if you don't get to pick #1, then your best off picking near the back end up of your draft. Foster will go #2 in a lot of leagues, but I wouldn't be surprised that if guys like Trent Richardson and LeSean McCoy outscored him.

I'm not huge on Spiller like a lot of people are. Just not sold on him being an every-down back. I just don't see his body holding in a 16 game season getting 20+ carries a game. I think Fred Jackson will be used more than people think. I heard last year that during the final 13 games, Spiller only had 2 rushing TD's. If I take a guy in the first round who is a RB, I want TD's out of him.

The problem with drafting Arian is that you pretty much have to waste a 7th or 8th round pick on his back-up, Ben Tate.

If Trent Richardson stays healthy, he should easily be a top 5 RB at the end of the year.

LeSean McCoy is high-risk/high-reward. After seeing the Eagles offense in a couple pre-season games, it is clear they are going to run the ball a lot, and play a fast tempo. If you own McCoy, you almost have to scoop up Bryce Brown. Only thing that scares me about McCoy are his concussion problems from last year.

Lynch, Martin, and Alfred are the safest RB picks after AP. All 3 have shown they can stay healthy.

In the 2nd round I'm having trouble deciding between Sjax and Forte. I think both put up great numbers this year. If Turner managed to get by in Atlanta, SJax should easily manage 12+ TD's. I wouldn't be surprised if SJax led the NFL in rushing TD's. His health is the only thing that scares me a bit. If Forte does indeed get goalline carries like rotoworld reported yesterday, then his ADP could move up to late first round.

Of the later round guys I really like DeMarco Murray. I'm going to try to target him as my FLEX in my real league, and I'm just going to pray he plays 14+ games for me. I think the Cowboys try to lean on the run a lot more this year. He is a complete back who plays all 3 downs, no need to worry about anyone stealing carries from him. I also like Lacy in GB if you can get him in the 6th round or later. Still waiting on word from PIT camp on Leveon Bell, but if he gets the starting job I like him a lot too.

Not high on Lamar Miller. Is it me, or is this guy starting to seriously get over-hyped. I'm seeing him go 2nd-3rd round in some mocks. First off, Dolphins could be in for a slump season. Second of all, there is a decent chance he splits carries with Daniel Thomas. I don't see why he is 2 or 3 rounds better than a guy like LeVeon Bell or Eddie Lacy. Basically, what has Miller shown that makes him a 2nd-3rd round pick. But my biggest AVOID guy is Darren McFadden. Oakland easily has the worst offensive line. They'll be playing from behind in 90% of their games. And it is almost a given he will be hurt by week 8.

Those are just my thoughts on RB's this year.

[C-Gold]

Good stuff Speedy88

Look at Jamal Charles ranked #6.
2008 he was a rookie and did nothing.
2009 1,120 yards and 7 TD a career best - Solid year to break onto the scene but nothing specular
2010 1,467 yards and 5 TD - Great running but where were the TDs?
2011 Serious injury he did nothing
2012 1,509 yards, 5 TD - Great running in a run first offense but where were the TDs?

The Chiefs were surprisingly good at running the ball last year but they are going to have a huge scheme shift. Do you think Andy is going to have a run first offense? Hell no. His rushing stats will go down and he's never been a TD guy and he's never been a receiver. I would NOT want him with the 6th pick, no way. Last year was also his lowest YPC in his career.

Let's assume he stays healthy all 16 games.
Let's assume Andy gives him 15 carries per game.
That's 240 carries. Now let's say he averages the same 5.3 yards per carry, that's 1,272 yards and he's never been a big TD scorer.

Last year the Cheifs were #5 in rushing attempts per game, 2 less than the leader, they were #5 in rushing, but they were near the bottom of the league in rushing TDs. Andy always has trouble at the goalline and always has trouble on 3rd and 4th an 1.

Look at Jamal Charles backup this year. Knile Davis, a 3rd round pick who is bigger at 227 lbs. Could you picture him stealing goalline carries from Jamal Charles?

So Jamal Charles is a borderline top 5 pick and Chris Johnson is mid 2nd rounder? No way. Chris Johnson has had a better and healthier career. His offensive line is improving, and Jamal Charles situation should be getting worse.

I am not scared to deviate away from the experts, especially at the top of the draft and especially when you have a snake draft.

[C-Gold]

I like CJ Spiller based on pure talent. Did you watch much of him last year? He was an electric playmaker but nobody watched the shitty bills. I said this guy has to be a first round fantasy RB next year. The fact that he has a running QB now will only help his stats. Is Alfred Morris really that great of a runner or did RG3 and the scheme help him out? I could see the Bills running a lot and I could see Spiller as a better version of what Jamal Charles was or maybe Chris Johnson in his prime.

Look at the fields he plays on too. Buffalo is a fast field. Jets is a fast field. Patriots. Miami has favorable weather.

[C-Gold]

Look at Trent Richardson playing for Norv Turner who is great for backs. He might have a 1200 yard 12 TD floor. I'd take that over Jamal Charles.

Yes he's in that 2-10 range of backs but he has high upside and a high floor. He's not as fast as Spiller, or Charles but he runs so powerful. He's like a Junior Adrian Peterson.

I kind of like these guys more than Lynch, I don't think Lynch will match last years yards but Seattle should be good and I'd guess he will rush for more than 11 TDs this year. So if he runs for 1200 yards and 15 TDs that still puts him near the top of that list. Less yards but more Tds but he is older and had a career year last year and has had some not so good years.

So maybe I go
1. Peterson
2. A. Foster
3. Trent Richardson
4. Lynch
5. CJ Spiller
6. Lesean McCoy
7. Doug Martin
8. Ray Rice
9. Chris Johnson
10. Alfred Morris
11. Ridley

I'm not not huge on Steven Jackson/Forte/Gore/Jones Drew

I like the better value with Demarco Murray, Reggie Bush,

[k13]

Why did everyone have AD in the 2nd/3rd rounds last year?

Rankings and all this bs is a joke.

Everything is based on last year and hope.

Lynch #3..lol people begged to not have to draft him last year. no one wanted him.

Draft lynch/charles/AD/Dez/m.ryan still don't make playoffs.

[Speedy88]

Why did everyone have AD in the 2nd/3rd rounds last year?

Rankings and all this bs is a joke.

Everything is based on last year and hope.

Lynch #3..lol people begged to not have to draft him last year. no one wanted him.

Draft lynch/charles/AD/Dez/m.ryan still don't make playoffs.

Because he was coming off ACL surgery and most people didn't expect him to be ready for the season opener.

[k13]

Because he was coming off ACL surgery and most people didn't expect him to be ready for the season opener.

Yeah and now they think he'll rush for 2000 yards again......

Back to 1300 with Vikings losing lot of games.

[k13]

There's no way Doug Martin will be a Top 5 back this year.

[Wrigley]

Agree Peterson the clear number one after that its a crap shoot between 4-5 guys for the 2 spot

[k13]

AD will not finish #1.

[Speedy88]

AD will not finish #1.

Wouldn't be surprised at all if he didn't finish #1.

[Speedy88]

I'm completely avoiding Montee Ball this year. It's insane people are drafting him in the 4th and 5th rounds. All reports out of Denver is that he is hesitant to hit the hole and has been poor in pass protection. There is a reason why Hillman is still atop the depth chart.

I have friends in Denver who are calling for Knowshon to be the #1 RB in Denver, that is how bad Montee and Hillman have looked so far.

[Cross]

Steven Jackson and his predlox might just beast it up in Hotlanta?

[Mitchell88]

I don't think that AP will finish first this year either. He is still going to have great numbers anyway you look at it. That team is very limited in what they can do and give him the ball is the thing they do best.

[Grits n' Gravy]

Bell and Vereen too low. Ivory and Miller too high.

[me-first]

Spiller and Daryl Richardson will be in everyone's top 5 this time next year..

[BIGDAY]

Arian Foster will bounce back in my opinion. Guy gets it done this year.

[Speedy88]

If LeSean McCoy stays healthy, he could be the #1 RB at the end of the year. It is a bit of a reach, but I wouldn't be surprised. Before last year, he was a consensus top 5 pick for a couple years in a row. If he was a top 5 pick last year under Andy Reid offense, he should be able to top his Andy Reid days with Chip Kelly's new offense.

[BigSpoon]

Spiller and Daryl Richardson will be in everyone's top 5 this time next year..

Surely you mean Trent and not Daryl?

[CMNoney]

1- Adrian Peterson
2- Trent Richardson
3- Arian Foster
4- Doug Martin
5- Jamaal Charles
6- CJ Spiller
7- Ray Rice
8- Alfred Morris
9- Marshawn Lynch
10- LeSean McCoy
11- Steven Jackson
12- Reggie Bush
13- Matt Forte
14- Chris Johnson
15- Frank Gore

[Wrigley]

Arian Foster will bounce back in my opinion. Guy gets it done this year.

He seems to go down with a injury every year

[dudekid]

i like forte to have a big season this year, not too expensive at the table either

[Speedy88]

The main problem with Arian Foster is that if you draft him in the 1st round, you have to burn a 7th or 8th rounder on Ben Tate too. Arian basically costs two picks.

The more I look into Arian, the more likely I'm going to pass on him.

[daneblazer]

Tate not exactly healthy. I'd take Cierre Wood late. Other than that these Houston guys will be someone else's problem.

[C-Gold]

Those guys at the top always change.

Yes, there is a decent chance Peterson won't be #1. He won't run for 2,000 again but he might get more TDs. Yes, there is a higher chance than people think that L. McCoy could be the #1 overall player. The #1 player could be anybody, it could be Trent Richardson. The "experts" rely too much on last year's results. The rankings change so much from year to year.

Arian Foster has a good line, a good team, and he's actually a very talented runner too. It's not like he's an average back behind a great line, he's good. Plus his team and defense are good and the Texans should be winning and running the ball.

[Cross]

I am also loving Forte this year, running angry!

[C-Gold]

What do you guys think about Maurice Jones-Drew?

He has been very consistent through his career but last year he was hurt, he's got a lot of mileage on his tires and his team should suck this year and his QB will be amoung the worst in the league. Losing teams run less. I want to avoid him. In that range I like Chris Johnson, DeMarco Murray and Reggie Bush alot better.

What about Matt Forte?

I don't think he has the elite skills as the 1st round backs, and the Bears O-Line has sucked for years. Do you think the offensive coordinator will turn things around? What is the argument for him?

[ttwarrior1]

mccoy is now 2 on my list, and 3 is cj spiller