RB Dynasty Rankings - 16/03/12

Rankings based on 0.5 PPR scoring (more comments to be added shortly)


Tier 1

This is the position I find the most difficult to rank. So many of these players have been hampered by injuries and this is part of the reason I prefer to fill my teams with top quality WR's.

McCoy's an excellent dual threat.

1a. LeSean McCoy - He and Rice are almost inseparable. I've put McCoy as 1a partly because of Cam Cameron and his reluctance to fully run the offense through Rice. McCoy is an excellent receiver and continually finds yards where he has no business doing so.
1b. Ray Rice - see above

3. Arian Foster - Another very strong season from Foster, he was never going to repeat his 2010 stats. The only knock on Foster is that both Ben Tate and Derrick Ward posted good numbers while he was injured and there's an argument that a large part of Foster's production is down to the Kubiak/Texans system and not his talent.

Tier 2

Can Charles bounce back?

A lot of injuries in this group and while many of the players here could challenge the top 3 I just don't feel comfortable ranking them there yet.

 4. Trent Richardson (rookie) - I know some will criticise how high I have Richardson however I see this as similar to the situation with Luck. If he shows anything like what he is capable of your opportunity to get him will be gone.
5. Ryan Matthews - Quietly had a very good season in San Diego despite being bitten with the injury bug yet again. Finished the season as RB8 and with Tolbert a UFA I don't see how he doesn't improve on that next year.
6. Matt Forte - The No4 RB before his injury in week 12, Forte really was the Bears offense (his contribution worked out at 40% of their total offensive yards). The knee injury is a concern, as is the uncertainty over the direction of the Bears, however Forte has shown the talent to perform in less than ideal situations in the past.
7. Jamaal Charles - A lot will be nervous of Charles at this spot due to the horrific knee injury he suffered at the start of the year. I personally believe he's still young enough to come back and be productive, Haley is gone and the new Chiefs staff will hopefully unlock Charles' full potential.
8. Jonathan Stewart - Finished the season with two strong performances and still only 24 years old. Despite having been in the league for 4 years he's had a relatively low number of touches. DeAngelo Williams has failed to live up to his large contract and Stewart is talented enough to pass him in 2012
9. Chris Johnson - A huge disappointment this year as he didn't look interested for large parts of the season. He has too much talent to fall outside the top 10 just yet though. One worrying area is Johnson's reliance on his speed, he's had a lot of carries in the last few years and if he starts to slow down his production could come to a screeching halt.
10. Darren McFadden - Despite his huge talent has consistently missed time over the last few seasons. Would be higher if he could stay healthy.

 

Tier 3

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11. Adrian Peterson - A terrible knee injury late in the year has put Peterson's 2012 in doubt and could have serious impacts on his long term future. Widely considered as the best RB prospect in years it'll be a shame if he's unable to play at that high level again.
12. Maurice Jones-Drew - Defied the critics and had his best season to date in 2011, however this offseason will again be filled with discussion of how long he can continue. Jones Drew has been in the league a long time and taken a lot of hits during that time, it's only sensible this into account when valuing him.
13. Demarco Murray - Ahead of schedule with his injury. With rumours of Felix being traded he should be 'the guy' in 2012.

Tier 4

14. Marshawn Lynch
15. Ahmad Bradshaw
16. C.J. Spiller - Fred Jackson is another year older and Spiller finally started to show his potential towards the tail end of last year. Look for this to be more of a 50-50 split in 2012.
17. Chris 'Beanie' Wells - Ryan Williams knee injury may well have saved his career. Looked great when healthy last year but continues to be plagued by knocks/niggles.
18. Mark Ingram - Everything went wrong for him last year. Could be mired in a RBBC for the forseeable future.

Tier 5


19. David Wilson
20. Doug Martin
21. Lamar Miller
22. Steven Jackson
23. Frank Gore
24. Rashard Mendenhall - Late season knee injury severly impacts his value.
25. Darren Sproles
26. Peyton Hillis
27. Reggie Bush

Tier 6

28. Michael Bush
29. Felix Jones
30. Fred Jackson

Tier 7

31. DeAngelo Williams
32. Pierre Thomas
33. Daniel Thomas
34. Jacquizz Rodgers
35. LeGarrette Blount
36. Roy Helu
37. Benjarvus Green-Ellis
38. Michael Turner
39. Shonn Greene
40. Jahvid Best - I think he may be done, such a shame as he had amazing talent.
41. Willis McGahee
42. Stevan Ridley
43. Bernard Scott





I welcome discussion on any of my rankings so please feel free to leave a comment.