By Zack Cimini

　notjustagame23@gmail.com

Running backs rule fantasy football leagues and are snatched up like deals on black Friday. Some owners have strategize other avenues to throw drafts for a loop and find themselves buried. Everyone knows the drill but securing the correct backs is the hard part. Last year saw some backs disappoint in great lengths. Who will those backs be this year?

1. Chris Johnson- A new deal will be in his hands soon. Will he regress from last season or continue to super charge Vince Young and the Titans offense? In the open field Johnson is not going to be touched. Fantasy owners that get additional bonus points on touchdowns of long distance are going to be able to bank on an additional 20-30 points alone in that category.

2. Adrian Peterson- His fumbling woes can not be overlooked but he is a young back that is still growing. Sometimes he is too aggressive or careless with the ball and that’s what has caused his collapse. The Vikings and Peterson know they have a great chance of being right back to the NFC championship game and finishing off what they did last year. Adding to that fuel is the fact that Peterson needs to show the world he can sidestep last seasons miscues and reprove himself.

3. Maurice Jones-Drew- The bowling ball keeps hurling himself like old school sonic the hedgehog spinning forward. He possesses it all, an ability to burst through holes, bounce off defenders and use his core strength to be one of the best little guy goal line backs that has been in the league in years. Jacksonville’s nucleus’s offensively does worry us a tad but Jones-Drew is one of the few backs in the league that is not in a share system in the backfield. He can be counted on to get the same amount of touches every game, which translates to happy fantasy owners.

4. Ray Rice- He was the spark that catapulted the Ravens to dangerous heights last year. He is sort of just like Jones-Drew but with a faster notch of speed to his game. Unlike Jones-Drew though Rice has too share carries with Willis McGahee and McClain. Baltimore was smart enough to get Rice more involved as the year goes on. With a full sixteen games to show his value Rice could be the gem of this years draft and number one next year.

5. Frank Gore- Gore is just that consistent back like Curtis Martin use to be. Nothing flashy but he seems to stick around the elite backs year after year. Last year he showed a toughness side of himself by fighting through an injury and only missing limited action. He did go through a rut on the field because of it but finished out the year strong when he was healthy. He reached double digit touchdowns for the first time in his career which gets him into the top five instead of bottom ten.

6. Steven Jackson- It’s hard for us to watch Jackson’s talent fade away on a team that is going nowhere. Jackson will have the weight on his shoulders to carry a rookie quarterback and a team with zero identity. He’ll garner the most eight man boxes in the league until Bradford shows strong enough capabilities to warrant not. Jackson may see a continued decline in touchdowns but his yards will always be there. Combining out of the backfield from short yardage dumps he should easily get between 1500-1750 yards total rushing/receiving.

7. Michael Turner- In most leagues Turner is going to be the first round pick someone does not want. It’s the pick where you have to draft for value than what you anticipate. Turner had a rough go in his second year with Atlanta as we predicted. At 28 he is still relatively young as far as mileage goes for a running back. That means his injury plagued 2009 season should not be so alarming. He should bounce back and is on an offense that is heavily loaded.

8. Ryan Matthews- Big shoes to fill for Matthews and expectations are set sky high. Early on San Diego may use Sproles a little more than they will as the season carries on, just so Matthews can ease in. Once that first breakout game happens which could be week one, Sproles will be relegated to a third down back. Playing with Philip Rivers sounds good in all, but if he misses a blocked assignment how will he handle Rivers barking in his face?

9. Rashard Mendenhall- Mendenhall stole the show from Willie Parker and made it easy for the Steelers to let Parker exit. Mendenhall gets to be the main option for the Steelers offense for the first six weeks with Ben Roethlisberger suspended. That means an extra five to ten carries a game to keep the hands out of Dennis Dixon’s hands. Those goal line touchdowns that ticked fantasy owners off last year from Ben Roethlisberger will be touchdowns for Mendenhall.

10. Ryan Grant- There is no discounting what Grant did last season. You just can not keep him out of the top ten based on how he complements Aaron Rodgers. Fantasy owners still may be hesitant on him as he started the year so slow and piled up numbers late. He scored more than half of his touchdowns (6) in the last four weeks of the season. Green Bay has one of the best if not best receiver sets in the league which makes huge holes for Grant. The emergence of tight end/split end Jermichael Finley makes Grant’s end of season push likely to carry over into 2010.

11. Shonn Greene- There will be carries a plenty for the Jets as they try to protect Mark Sanchez. It’ll be interesting to see how the percentages of carries are split up between Greene and LT, especially in the red zone. Greene took over Thomas Jones job in the playoffs even though Jones had been a heck of a back for the Jets. We anticipate Greene to be a fantasy friendly bright spot as Jets backs have been since the Curtis Martin days.

12. Jamaal Charles- Behind Chris Johnson, Jamaal Charles is probably the second best as a home run back in the NFL. We told you to scoop Charles up off the waiver wire weeks before the saga began and ended with Larry Johnson. Charles has another veteran to deal with in Thomas Jones, but do not let that worry you.

13. DeAngelo Williams- Williams hopes he can stay healthy a full season and re-enter the top ten for fantasy backs. It is definitely in reach. There is no questioning that the Panthers still have the best one-two punch of a backfield in the NFL. If Stewart were not such a high threat to split carries Williams would be a top five back. It’s remarkable that he tastes the end zone as frequently as he does.

14. Beanie Wells- What Ken Whisenhunt did last year with the Cardinals running back situation was similar to an old veteran getting playing time just because of his stature. Tim Hightower is not a number one running back, but Whisenhunt refused to give the job to Wells. He flirted with it later on in the year and that’s when the Cardinals started coming to life again. Wells will get his carries this season and should gain near 1200 yards rushing. The only glaring issue with Wells was him being prone to fumbling the football.

15. Cedric Benson- Talk about a transformation no one saw coming. After seeing his career dwindling to the point of no return to the NFL, Benson recommitted himself. Suddenly he was one of the top five backs in the league and was doing it consistently not just against poor defenses. He racked up two one hundred yard games against the Ravens which made the league and fans respect him once again. Last year was not a fluke and will see how his body handles coming off a year of 300 carries.

The best of the rest

16. Brandon Jacobs

17. Pierre Thomas

18. Joseph Addai

19. Knowshon Moreno

20. Ronnie Brown

21. LeSean McCoy

22. Matt Forte

23. Jahvid Best

24. Felix Jones

25. Ricky Williams

26. Jonathan Stewart

27. Reggie Bush

28. Michael Bush

29. Ahmad Bradshaw

30. Marion Barber

31. C. J. Spiller

32. LaDainian Tomlinson

33. Clinton Portis

34. Ben Tate

35. Fred Jackson

36. Jerome Harrison

37. Thomas Jones

38. Leon Washington

39. Carnell Williams

40. Tim Hightower

41. Donald Brown

42. Laurence Maroney

42. Justin Forsett

43. Darren Sproles

44. Steve Slaton

45. Montario Hardesty

46. Marshawn Lynch

47. Chester Taylor

48. Larry Johnson

49. Mike Bell

50. Glen Coffee

By Zack Cimini

notjustagame23@gmail.com

As the NFL and franchises keep facing the rise of dealing with troubling issues, teams are stepping up to the plate by going in other directions. Cutting lose from looming battles of investigations that destroy team chemistry, and allow a player to rejoin after serving a suspension. Talent level is too high to deal with such issues.  It has been a pattern too often plaguing offseason organizations and now teams are wising up.

Literally just after trading for Lendale White and supposed reunion with Coach Carroll it has ended abruptly. After another failed drug test White would now face suspension by the league. This may have been something an organization three or four years into a regime would sidestep. Not a team rebuilding with a new nucleus starting from coach to multiple position players. Tolerance of breaking the rules is not what Caroll will allow or showcase. What kind of example would that set for a team that has underachieved consecutive years?

The prior linking of White and Caroll at USC had to make the decision tough, but Carrol and the Seahawks made the right decision. White will have time to get the right people around him and rededicate himself. For the Seahawks they have chose to move forward. In an article only a few weeks ago we highlighted the Seahawks backfield as a primary battle for fantasy owners. With White out of the loop it gets even more interesting. Could the Seahawks possibly go after Brian Westbrook or bring in a free agent rookie to pose a threat of shaking up the backfield.

There are several red flags to the current Seahawks backfield situation. Julius Jones and Justin Forsett were part of the Seahawks bottoming out the NFL in productivity in the backfield. Upgrading by bringing in Lendale White and Leon Washington were glaring signs to both Jones and Forsett. All signs were that White would be their primary ball carrier. Can Forsett and Jones shake off the fact that the organization was not backing them only a few days ago?

It’s hard enough for players to compete at their highest of levels when trade talks are surrounding that player. As an NFL athlete you have to be prepared for any type of situation and hopefully these two guys are. Down the road their carousel of being misled will likely end with the typical closure of exiting papers. Before that happens though both can brighten their perceived value by making the most of their situations.

Jones looks to be the once again front runner. Leon Washington is a change of pace back that will bring excitement to Carroll’s system. When it comes to being an every down back though Washington has not shown enough capability to do that. Jones has not necessarily lit up the charts himself. Something will give as the Seahawks know they can not force a complete burden on Hasselback’s bad back and shoulders.

Looking from a fantasy value perspective we have too leave off both Forsett and Jones. Jones is on the downside of his career. He has not been getting a significant amount of carries. Running backs  just do not suddenly reemerge statistically. Forsett is a scat back type that could make a push but may not be the guy the Seahawks are looking for. That leaves Washington as the lone fantasy worthy back currently for Seattle. This is for early fantasy drafts that are happening in June. This will continue to be a hot topic based on what type of offense Carroll wants to tailor. He’ll be tinkering with all types of ideas and the debate could involve another back by the end of the summer. For now though Washington  is the main guy. He has been a blip of a fantasy performer that should only see a higher committed role than prior years as a Jet.

By Zack Cimini

notjustagame23@gmail.com

Originally the mold of Brandon Jacobs looked like a linebacker just bulldozing over men his equal size. At around the same time Jerome Bettis was retiring, Jacobs looked like the guy too carry the big men can be brute crushing backs torch. Jacobs showed in his breakout 2008 year that he had the nimbleness and speed to go along with his punishing size. Going into the 2009 season the departure of Derrick Ward only brightened fantasy owners expectations for a strong season from Brandon Jacobs. Before even stepping onto the field owners at least thought strong numbers in the touchdown category were a lock.

He was coming off an astonishing breakout year in 2008 where he totaled 15 touchdowns and annihilated defenses in the second half of games. Stacking yards and easily moving the chains for the Giants. From week one though Jacobs looked as if he had lost two to three gears to his 08 self. Word would later come out that he played the entire year with knee “issues”. As backs get older in their carries playing through injury issues is just a common theme. Staying productive isn’t. Is Jacobs the type of back that can produce playing through the various types of typical injuries that seemingly don’t go away for a back?

In 2009 he just did not have the same shiftiness and quick feet able to get out of the backfield. He seemed to be in a standstill each handoff, and in a span of a year may have caught “Eddie George” syndrome. Even his usual knack to get short yards for the Giants was cutback. As the year went on it was apparent that he was not going to snap out of his funk. Was it the fact that he did not have Derrick Ward as a neutralizer to opposing defenses? The perfect back to offset his skillset for when he entered the backfield. We find that unlikely as towards the second half of last season you could see the Giants tinkering with getting Ahmad Bradshaw more involved. In fact, Bradshaw practically surpassed Jacobs yardage numbers with much less carries, and did in the touchdown department.

Whatever the case may be for Jacobs last season to go a whole entire year being ineffective stands out. Blame the year on an imbalance and growing learning patterns between a young core of receivers and Eli Manning; we just won’t. Jacobs lacked the explosiveness and hardly ever made it out of the back field. His typical way of barreling over defenders and tacking on extra yards just did not happen. Instead he was supplanted and cut down with ease. We will factor his knee issue into the equation but fantasy owners must realize his 08 form may never return.

It is odd though that the Giants decided to go forth without any signings or draft picks to get Jacobs worried. They still plan on trying the Jacobs/Bradshaw show again. The organization is banking on the fact that Jacobs was nicked up with knee injuries that he tried to play through. Jacobs underwent off-season knee surgery to repair a partially torn meniscus. An injury he admitted to trying to play through the entire season. Shouldn’t that be more of a red flag to the Giants?

Word around Jacobs conditions and recovery have been rather quiet. Even if he is able to come in fresh we do not see a back of his size able to sustain a beating for seventeen games. There is just too much wear and tear at that size and a huge target for defenders to drill into. It’s hard enough for most backs to stay healthy an entire season. Jacobs value is up and the air but we’d be safe with him as your second fantasy back, and a back with high upside as your third. Hopefully he can bring about numbers somewhere in the range of his 2008 and 2009 season. That would satisfy fantasy owners and bring a value that is hard to come by consistently for fantasy owners, which is touchdowns.

By Zack Cimini

notjustagame23@gmail.com

Stardom as an NFL athlete has shifted from the typical patterns of past greats. A superior athlete in previous generations could ride out that wave of talent for the majority of their career. The tail end truly was that and everyone knew it. Nowadays though teams increased training and aggressive regimens on top of youthful talent flowing in prime shape, careers are having interesting endings. Shaun Alexander literally went from MVP form too not able to run through an alley the size of Jamarcus Russell.

The NFL is a business and teams are going to ride a talented player as much as they can to try and secure that extra win. LT was that workhorse for the San Diego Chargers for a multitude of years and somehow never showed signs of wearing down. Signs weren’t there on the field but the projections based upon his numerous high piled seasons of carries and percentage of involvement in the teams plays was overwhelming.

In 2008, LT staved off injuries that were perceived to the media as slowing him down. Everyone didn’t look at LT’s play as true signs of him losing a piece of his top tier skills. Instead his mere 1100 yards with double digit touchdowns were seen as a warrior like type of year. A year most backs would have missed a string of games and burned disappointed fantasy owners.

The wake up call for the Chargers and everyone was when the keeping or letting LT go talks began. The organization has bit themselves before by letting elite athletes walk away after development had been done with them. Drew Brees and in the case of a running back, Michael Turner, ring a bell. If the Chargers had forked the deal they should of too Turner maybe the Chargers would have had the right mix of ingredients to get closer to a title.

Ownership wised up last year and thought they would not let a Turner type situation develop with a walk out the door and gone view for Darren Sproles. He added an extra spice to their 2008 team that shocked the world and stormed back for an 8-8 season and upset of the Colts. They franchised Sproles but underneath that franchise tag was the teams untrue thoughts on LT. They knew he was not the same back anymore but rather than say that they tried to hide through Sproles. Obviously the team shifted drastically from a pro-run offense in 2009 to a team that relied heavily on Philip Rivers arm.

This day and age that doesn’t work, and getting barely over 1,000 combined rushing yards between LT and Sproles was far below the teams expecations. The mere numbers were strong enough signs to the organization they had to move forward and reconfigure pieces to the puzzle. A shakeup had to happen and that meant letting LT depart. With the strong contenders in the NFL having backfields with seemingly two capable starters, seeing LT (3.3 ypc), and Sproles (3.7 ypc) wasn’t cutting it.

The move was the right move and LT now gets a chance to build a brighter ending to his legacy than foiling extra years in San Diego. He is going to be 32 once the 2010 season begins, but he is on a Jets team that has been one of the best in the league in the ground game. Even though LT will be behind Shonn Greene, it’s a suitable spot based upon the Mark Sanchez’s youth.

It wouldn’t be surprising to see the Jets try to rush the football upwards of 40-45 times a game. A number the team reached or passed on a weekly basis once they controlled Mark Sanchez’s pass attempts. Including fifty seven team rush attempts week seventeen.

Head coach Rex Ryan shifted the Jets season by turning the football into the hands of Leon Washington, Thomas Jones, and Shonn Greene last season. Two-thirds of that second half season resurgence are gone. One area LT hasn’t backed down a bit on is scoring touchdowns. He is still a double digit threat but there are variables to look at for LT as a Jet compared to being a Charger.

San Diego was a quick score high octane offense that never let up. Touchdown drives were plentiful and the team ranked near the top of the league in scoring. The Jets are more of a ball control style team. We think those are significant factors to look at for LT’s 2010 season with the Jets, but it should even out based on the fact that Rivers outdid Sanchez in touchdown passes by more than double. So when the Jets do score it’s typically going to be a rushing touchdown.

For 2010 LT should be a sharp fantasy producer. His value is still strong as he will probably get 10-15 carries a game and has a prime shot at getting double digit touchdowns once again. Being in New York they love to have the spotlight on stars. Don’t be surprised to see the Jets give him extra chances near the goal line to get the extra exposure of getting in the end zone.

By Vidur Malik

The number one storyline for the Minnesota Vikings has been whether Brett Favre will come back next year, but while the reporters and cameras might be focused on him, there are other Vikings who should get some attention. The team has a rising star and playmaker in second-year receiver Percy Harvin, who should have a great year no matter who throws to him.

After running wild against the SEC during his time at Florida, Harvin made an impact during his rookie season, with 790 receiving yards and six touchdowns, and 135 rushing yards. He ran for 1,156 kickoff return yards, with two touchdowns, making him an all-purpose threat. Harvin became a big part of the Vikings’ high-scoring offense, and established himself as one of the many weapons on the team.

If Harvin can stay on the field, he can become the type of football player everyone thought Reggie Bush would become when he got to the NFL. Bush has shown that he is a running, receiving, and return threat, but Harvin is in that triple-threat club as well. Putting up almost 800 yards and six touchdowns in a rookie season is a solid start for a receiver by itself, but if he continues to complement his receiving yards with a few rushing attempts every now and then, and also returns kicks, he can be a beast for many years. He may not be a guy who can get 1,000 yards through the air every year, but fantasy football doesn’t discriminate when it comes to how yards are earned, and owners should be just fine with getting points from Harvin any way he provides them.

With several big-play threats around him, Harvin probably won’t be the main focus of an opposing defense, and with his speed, one missed tackle could mean six. Playing alongside Sidney Rice, another receiver who looks to be a star in the league, and deep-threat Bernard Berrian, Harvin should get his opportunities. The great thing about Harvin is that those opportunities can come from anywhere on the field. He can be lined up out wide as a receiver, in the backfield for wildcat plays, and can also be a threat for reverses and trick plays. Running backs Adrian Peterson and rookie Toby Gerhart should run through the NFC North, making it possible for Harvin to run right past banged-up secondaries.

The concern with Harvin is his migraine headaches, which made it difficult for him to play towards the end of last season. Though they may have slowed him down last year, the migraines didn’t prevent him from putting his play-making ability on display. If anything, Harvin’s ability to manage them should earn him respect for playing through pain. Hopefully Harvin and the Vikings can address the migraines, so he can showcase his skills, which should only improve next year and beyond.

By Zack Cimini

notjustagame23@gmail.com

Seattle like most teams was in desperation mode to make moves to improve their team. Rather than making silent quiet signings and build through draft picks, they decided to bust out an array of bold moves. First they went after arguably the highest profiled college coach out there, and one that has had semi success before in the NFL ranks. Pete Carroll brings the dynamic of transforming the way he was able to mold young players at USC to maybe doing the same with young NFL contract athletes trying to fulfill their first contract obligations.

A city that is still reeling from the loss of an NBA franchise, Seattle, hopes that a revival to the years of Shaun Alexander’s breakout years is back. The division that the Seahawks dominated in laughable fashion for years after the realignment suddenly shifted to Arizona and San Francisco. It all started with the debacle of letting Steve Hutchinson sign with the Minnesota Vikings, and than countering that deal by unloading the same type of money on bust receiver Nate Burelson. From their Shaun Alexander tanked quicker than the media and NBA fans have on LeBron James. Their veteran quarterback in Matt Hasselbeck just could not avoid injuries the past few years, and had little support on the offensive side of the football.

Pete Carroll is not one to sit back and he has instantly made some trades that he thinks can boost this team now. Divisional foes come in with just as many question marks as Seattle so these type of moves could send strong signals to the teams veterans and ignite them in the right direction. After all Arizona will be running with either Derek Anderson or Matt Leinart, and San Francisco is finally setting forth their confidence with Alex Smith.

The head scratching trade for Charlie Whitehurst was a hot topic for multiple days, but one that did not get as much hype was the trades for Leon Washington and Lendale White. Even though Julius Jones is still on the team we do not expect that to remain through training camp. Towards the end of last season Justin Forsett was the main back for Seattle. Jones has struggled to reign in solid years with little to no competition the past several years, especially when he was paired with Edgerrin James.

Carroll thinks he can end White’s up and down battle in his NFL career with weight, alcohol, and commitment to football shape(conditioning). White’s already responded well by showing up to mini camp and what some would say the best shape he has for NFL mini camps. Linking with Carroll has seemed to put a flashback energize in him. White has already been a carousel fantasy back throughout his career. What could we expect from him as a feature back, as he is expected to be in Seattle? With fantasy owners not sure of how Seattle will share carries and their offensive woes the past few seasons, White will be a strong fantasy sleeper.

Last year he was just put aside completely by the emergence of Chris Johnson. The two seasons before last year though he was putting up monster touchdown numbers as an overweight and questionable work ethic athlete. He is still only 25, and double digit touchdowns entering the fold for White is a realistic outlook.

Than you have the flash and dash factor of Leon Washington. A back that has been dangerous in every phase of the game once he has his hands on the football. Call it crazy, but doesn’t it look like Carroll’s trying to build a backfield similar to his days at USC…..Bush/White. Washington’s role has yet to be determined and could stay just about the same as it was with New York. The thing about Washington though is he is a capable enough back to supplant White if White lets up and loses focus as he tends to do throughout a season. If so, we could see Carroll easily losing his patience and shifting the majority of carries to Washington. Even though Washington has never been a prime feature back, his yards per carry have been among the best in the league since he came into the league.

Heading into your early fantasy June drafts, White is the lone obvious strong back to draft from Seattle. He should get double digit touchdowns and if he is a feature back getting 15-20 carries than a 1,000 yard season should not be far sighted. Washington’s role and fantasy impact will depend more on training camp and preseason work. Injuries or depth chart movements could turn Washington from a late round June fantasy pick, to a serious sleeper in August/September.