Thursday, December 23, 2010

Fantasy Football: Week 16 Running Back (RB) Rankings

With Championship Week about to get under way with the Steelers and Panthers game (discuss game) in a few hours, here's some news and notes about running backs and run defenses:


- Last week vs the Jets, Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall rushed for (a corrected) 99 yards, which means the Jets still have not allowed a 100-yard rusher this season.

- Although the Panthers didn't allow any rushing touchdowns last week, they allowed three each to Cleveland's Peyton Hillis, Seattle's Marshawn Lynch and Atlanta's Michael Turner in Weeks 12, 13 and 14, respectively.

- Carolina's Jonathan Stewart has run for 100-plus yards in back-to-back games and for 90-plus yards in four consecutive games. If he extends either streak, he will set the season-high for running backs facing the Steelers this year. (Take our poll on how many yards Stewart will have in Week 16.)

- The Steelers have yet to allow a 100-yard rusher this season. In fact, they have allowed only three running backs (BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Fred Jackson and Cedric Benson) to rush for more than 50 yards this season.

- Baltimore's Ray Rice set a career high in yards from scrimmage (233) in Week 15. Not only did Rice lead the team in rushing (153 yards), but he also led them in receiving (80 yards).

- Jets running back LaDainian Tomlinson has had 36-59 rushing yards in each of his past nine games. L.T. needs 114 rushing yards to reach the 1,000-yard milestone with games against the Bears, who have allowed second-fewest rushing yards this season, and Bills, who have allowed the most rushing yards.

- From Weeks 10 to 15, the Bears have allowed only one touchdown to a running back (New England's Danny Woodhead). Tomlinson hasn't scored a touchdown since Week 6, when he scored two of them against the Broncos.

- A trio of AFC East running backs have 800-something rushing yards with two games to go: LaDainian Tomlinson (886), BenJarvus Green-Ellis (824) and Fred Jackson (811). Vote on our 1,000-yard rushing polls for them in our Jets Forum, Patriots Forum and Bills Forum.

- Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles has three 100-yard games in his last four games played. The exception (40 yards vs San Diego) was the game that quarterback Matt Cassel missed due to an appendectomy.

- The San Francisco 49ers still have not allowed a 100-yard rusher this season. Rams running back Steven Jackson had 20 carries for 81 yards in their first matchup.

Here are my top ten fantasy running backs for Week 16:

1. Rashard Mendenhall, Steelers (vs CAR)
2. Arian Foster, Texans (at DEN)
3. Darren McFadden, Raiders (vs IND)
4. Michael Turner, Falcons (vs NO)
5. Maurice Jones-Drew, Jaguars (vs WAS)
6. Chris Johnson, Titans (at KC)
7. Ray Rice, Ravens (at CLE)
8. Jamaal Charles, Chiefs (vs TEN)
9. Adrian Peterson, Vikings (at PHI)
10. LeSean McCoy, Eagles (vs MIN)

See our full top 40 running back rankings for Week 16.

More rankings for Week 16: Top 25 QBs | Top 50 WRs | Top 20 TEs

Feel free to send start/sit questions to me via Twitter @EDSFootball or post your questions in our free Fantasy Football forum.

Talisa Soto Julianne Hough Paula Garcés Genelle Frenoy Shania Twain

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