FANTASY FOOTBALL DRAFT KIT

Buckhalter had a busy 2009 when he went to Denver and rushed 120 times for 642 yards and one score with 31 catches for 240 yards. The Broncos use a committee backfield and remain comfortable with the 31-year old Buckhalter. He missed two games last year and his ankle injury was still bothering him in minicamps. Buckhalter comes very cheaply in drafts and should be in your depth since he has a very soft schedule and acts as a third down back as well. Moreno owners should grab him but if you get later in your draft and C-Buck is still there, he makes decent depth for your team at worst.

The decline of McGahee continues with his mere 109 carries last year. He gained 544 yards for a 5.0 yard average and he did score 12 rushing and two receiving scores. But his role is one of support to Ray Rice and his numbers came mostly against the softer opponents when Rice had already had a nice game himself. He gained 167 yards and three scores in the meaningless week 17 game in Oakland. McGahee was not traded and is expected to just remain as the backup for Rice. He’s a needed handcuff for the Rice owners, but isn’t consistent enough to merit a fantasy start short of Rice missing time.

(+Upside) The second-year player has been very effective in camp and had 55 yards on eight runs in the preseason game. He's moving up the depth chart and in Tampa Bay, that is not exactly the toughest climb. Worth keeping an eye on

09-01-10 Update: Derrick Ward was released and that should help Huggins see the field. Earnest Graham may still figure in and Carnell Williams remains the starter. But at least Huggins holds all the upside for the backfield - is any really exists.

There is reasonable speculation that the Colt’s 1.27 pick of the 2009 NFL draft is just not going to become a feature back. Brown struggled to remain healthy all year with varying injuries to his chest, ankle and knee and he missed five games. While he was on the field, Brown only ran 78 times for 281 yards and three scores with a paltry 3.6 yard per carry average. He also caught 11 passes for 169 yards. Brown can see an increase in production this year barring more health issues but the expectations are all but gone that he will be more than just a complementary back. Brown is a reasonable handcuff for Addai owners but Addai is not going to cost you that much this year anyway and getting Brown as well is no rush.

No analysis available.

The Michigan State alum had a quiet rookie season of just eight carries but the departure of LenDale White leaves the Titans with Ringer as the primary backup for Chris Johnson. And the team is comfortable with it. Consider Ringer a must have insurance for Johnson owners.

Choice is the back that the Cowboys won’t let go, won’t use too much and yet who has been very effective whenever given the chance. Choice has averaged over five yards per carry in each of his seasons in Dallas but has never had more than 94 carries per year or had more than three touchdowns. Choice spent 2010 as a relief player that occasionally ran the Cowboy’s version of the wildcat formation. Choice has done work as a third down back as well but is never used consistently unless either Marion Barber or Felix Jones is injured. He’s definitely worth drafting since he’s an injury away from playing in the Cowboy’s potent offense but he’ll be nothing more than depth short of an injury-spawned opportunity.

Fred Jackson remains the starting tailback here but only because Marshawn Lynch has regressed each year and C.J. Spiller will play a special role and not be a primary back (if one exists on this team). Jackson was an undrafted back out of Coe College but he has made the most of his opportunities and displaced Lynch as the primary back last year despite the vast differences in pedigree. Jackson gained 1062 yards on 237 carries for a 4.5 yard average which was spectacular considering the lack of passing and poor blocking. He only scored two rushing touchdowns but added 46 catches for 371 yards and two more scores.

Jackson has three problems going into this year. First, the Bills did not trade away Lynch who will continue to share in the meager bounty that is the Bills backfield. Secondly, C.J. Spiller was drafted as the first running back taken last April and he’ll definitely dig into those receptions and even the rushes to some degree. Think more along the lines of Reggie Bush for Spiller. Thirdly, the Bills have one of the worst rushing schedules in the entire league and one that is slightly worse than 2009. Jackson has fantasy value and could have a few good games, but he’ll do less than 2009 when he replaced Lynch to start the year and never had Spiller there to further reduce his workload. Remember – the Bills only had four rushing scores in total last year to rank #32 in running back scoring.

09-01-10 Update: Jackson has a fractured hand and he will be limited in the early part of the season. That could make Jackson a nice late pick to see what happens later but hold expectations low for the first few weeks of the season at the very least.

(-Risk) Slaton required surgery to his neck for cervical fusion in the offseason. The question to answer is if he can ever return to the same form that saw him as a fantasy surprise in 2008. Slaton has lost 15 pounds and participated in some OTA’s but that was non-contact drills. He may be cleared for training camp or he could end up on the PUP list for some time this summer. Slaton’s likely to be no more than the #3 back in Houston with Arian Foster impressing last year and Ben Tate added to the fold. Leave Slaton on the bench until he has proven to be healthy and has reclaimed his starting role. Slaton will be an on-going injury risk with his neck even in the best case scenario.

08-31-10 Update: Slaton has a turf toe now and while he has not been ruled out yet for week one, his lack of durability underlines the risk and lower expectations that he carries this year.

Few backs have been as big of a fantasy heart-breaker than Maroney. He’s been a “sleeper” in all four of his years and yet never delivered more than a teasing performance. Maroney had a career year in 2009 when he lasted for 15 games and ran 194 times for 757 yards and nine touchdowns. But his first four games were almost nothing and his last two games the same. His fantasy value stemmed from being the goal line guy with nine touchdowns but Belichick benched Maroney later in the year for fumbling. Maroney is the best running back from the Patriots to draft but that doesn’t mean he’ll perform to the level of a fantasy starter. Even if he does, he’s never lasted.

Faulk continues to play a role in the offense despite turning 34 years old in June. He has signed a one-year, $2 million contract that included a $1 million signing bonus so the Patriots expect to still use him. That gives him a chance to reprise the role he has held for 12 years – never really good enough to use in fantasy football but does enough to drain stats away from other players. He’s only a part-time player but has a role in pretty much every game.

The Eagles acquired Bell when the Saints would not match the $1.7 million off that guarantees Bell $500,000 this year but he could be gone in 2011 if anyone else steps up. Bell becomes the new Correll Buckhalter in the offense that tried to press Leonard Weaver into the role last year. Weaver only ended with 70 carries for 323 yards and a total of four touchdowns. Bell has the size to be a short-yardage back at 225 pounds and the new coaching regime has not completely defined roles. Perhaps notable is that Bell’s only season of note came in 2006 when he ran for 677 yards on 184 carries and scored eight times. Bell also gained 654 yards on 172 rushes with five scores last year. He doesn’t often figure in as a receiver much, but he is worth watching in training camp given the general lack of talent other than McCoy in the backfield. He’s a must pick to backup McCoy and could be worth a late flyer.

The Redskins signed Johnson to a three-year contract that could be worth as much as $12 million with bonuses and incentives or he could be released this summer for basically no cost so the contract is fairly meaningless. The one-time Kansas City star fell off the map last year with a paltry 3.3 yard per carry average for the Bengals. He turned 30 last November and played like that “wall” was firmly in place. What training camp must do is show that Johnson still has enough skills to at least play a complementary role to Clinton Portis and at 230 pounds, Johnson is built like a short-yardage touchdown hawk.

With Willie Parker on the team there is no confidence yet as to who would be the #2 runner in Washington but Johnson has an advantage with more bulk to move the pile than either other runner. He’ll never reprise his performance as a fantasy stud, but Johnson could carve out a role in training camp.

No analysis available.

Smith didn’t sneak up on the league last year like he did as a rookie, nor did he get much help from his teammates; as a result, his sophomore follow-up season was largely a disappointment even before it ended three games prematurely due to a torn ACL. There’s a distinct possibility Smith won’t be ready for the start of this season, and it may be 2011—if ever—before he’s fully recovered. Meanwhile, the Lions are transitioning not only to Matt Stafford’s team but also to a different running back in first-round pick Jahvid Best; with Smith unavailable to battle for his job, he’ll be looking at significantly reduced touches if and when he does come back. Best-case (no pun intended) this season, Smith returns in training camp at something close to full speed and plugs the gaps while Best hits the rookie wall and/or continues to be plagued by the injuries that haunted him in college. That’s a pretty narrow window of opportunity with significantly limited upside.

Morris is yet another cog in the backfield machine for the Patriots and at 33 years of age, he’s actually younger than Taylor or Faulk. But Morris has not played in a full 16 game season in many years and missed four games with a sore knee in 2009. With a multitude of backs in New England, consider Morris yet another Patriot back that will get stats and yet never be reliable.

Taylor hasn’t been a full-time feature back since 2006, spending the past three seasons as Adrian Peterson’s backup and handling most of the third-down duties in Minnesota. Though he was quoted as saying he left the Vikings for Chicago because he liked their Super Bowl chances, it’s improbable he’s that delusional; then again, we’ve seen what unchecked concussions have done to other NFLers. No, Taylor had $12.5 million other reasons to sign with the Bears, but none of them have to do with being the primary ball-carrier. There is little doubt Matt Forte is still the man in Chicago, but after the dramatic drop in Forte’s production last season it won’t be difficult to give Taylor a healthy chunk of the workload. He had double-digit carries just once last year and is looking at something in the 8-10 range on a regular basis in Chicago. Taylor might also take some of Forte’s third-down duties, even though Forte isn’t a bad pass catcher himself. The limited touches aren’t likely to generate big productivity, as Taylor averaged 3.6 yards per carry last year behind a better Vikings line than he’ll run behind in Chicago. If the Bears opt to divvy up the workload with Taylor getting goal line work then perhaps he’ll have some fantasy value; otherwise, he’s a handcuff to a fringe fantasy starter with mild upside in PPR leagues.

Darby was the primary backup for Steven Jackson last year but that only accounted for 152 yards on 27 carries and no scores. The expectation is that Chris Ogbonnaya will assume the primary backup spot this year so leave Darby alone in your draft.

Leonard Weaver remains the #3 back in Philly but should see fewer touches in 2010 with Mike Bell in the backfield to support LeSean McCoy.

There was talk of Jackson taking over a larger role in the Green Bay offense, but whatever that role—goal line back, third down back, change of pace guy—it never materialized. In fact, while Jackson’s three touchdowns exceeded his career output up until last year, he failed to play a full 16-game slate for the third straight year and actually saw his touches dip for the second straight campaign. In larger leagues he might have value as a handcuff to Ryan Grant, but barring an injury to the starter Jackson is not going to provide much if any fantasy help.

Lynch has fallen from favor since being the 1.12 pick of the 2007 NFL draft. After topping 1000 yards in each of his first two years, he started 2009 with a three game suspension and eventually lost the starting job to Fred Jackson. From mid-season onward, Lynch only had one game with more than ten carries and a worse note came when his final two games of the year only saw him with four carries in total. Lynch will still figure in but the addition of C.J. Spiller pushes Lynch even further down the depth chart. Consider Lynch only as fantasy depth that you really hope you never need to rely on.

09-01-10 Update: Lynch should see a bit of playing time in the early weeks of the season while Fred Jackson is limited because of his injured hand. He still has marginal fantasy value at best.

The second-year player has made major in-roads to being the back-up for Rashard Mendenhall. With Jonathan Dwyer hampered by injuries and missing time, Redman looks like he will be the short yardage guy.

08-22-10 Update: Redman has consistently been effective in preseason games and has drawn the praise of the coaches.

The departure of Larry Johnson gives Scott the backup job back barring any later free agent additions but Scott has nearly no worth to anyone but the Benson owner. Granted – Cedric gets hurt every year but Scott only had 321 yards on 74 carries last year and still has never scored in the NFL. He’s a poor man’s Benson which leaves him with minimal fantasy value in the best case scenario.

There’s really been nothing noteworthy about Morris during his eight-year NFL career. He’s never started more than half his team’s games and never finished higher than 32nd in fantasy productivity during a given season. As Kevin Smith’s backup last season he added three more starts to his resume, collecting 594 yards from scrimmage and a couple touchdowns. With Smith still working his way back from the torn ACL that opened the door for Morris last year, MoMo might be in line for a decent share of the Lions’ touches at the start of 2010. However, there’s little doubt that even if Morris is the starter in name he’ll be playing second fiddle to rookie Jahvid Best. The upside for Morris would be 8-10 carries a game, maybe some short-yardage work, and a fourth straight season of carving out roughly four yards per carry. Fantasy-wise, however, his only significant value would be as a handcuff to Best: someone to plug in if the rookie hits the wall or continues to be plagued by injuries. And you’d have to have pretty large rosters to have a need to handcuff a Lions’ rookie back.

Norwood comes off his worst season in the NFL when a hip injury forced him to miss six games and he only produced 252 yards on 76 carries with no rushing scores for the first time. Worse yet he fell from a 5.1 yard rushing average to only 3.3 last year. He’ll also lose some work to Jason Snelling this time who proved to be an adequate relief and replacement player for Michael Turner. Norwood may have some marginal fantasy value as a receiver in a points per reception league but even that is a risk this year. Let Norwood remain on the waiver wire this time.

The 28-year old Moore appears to be in line for the #2 job in Pittsburgh with the departure of Willie Parker but even if he assumes all the carries and yards he and Parker had in 2009, Moore only runs 132 times for 507 yards and no touchdowns. Moore is a third down back and scored twice on his 21 receptions for 153 yards last year. Moore is the insurance pick for the Rashard Mendenhall owner but will have minimal fantasy value barring an injury moving him to the top of the depth chart.

Jennings is the required handcuff for Maurice Jones-Drew who held up well last year but could end up missing time as one of the few fulltime backs that do not share the load. He’s not worth much outside the Jones-Drew owner unless an injury happens but the Jags are very confident that Jennings can be a player.

No analysis available.

Derrick Ward remains a part of the running back committee but he enters the season 30 years old and coming off a 409 yard, one touchdown rushing effort for 2009 that only managed a 3.6 yard average. He added two scores on his 20 receptions for 150 yards but never warranted a fantasy start. Ward doesn’t even make a decent bye week fill-in since most weeks sees him limited to around 30 yards with no scores.

09-04-10 Update: Ward has ended up on the Texans but he may only last a few weeks until normal starters and backups are healthy again.

No analysis available.

Westbrook signed a one-year contract worth $1.25 million and with another $1.25 million in incentives. Not exactly a fortune for an aging veteran who has been to the Pro Bowl before. Figure on Westbrook supporting Frank Gore and not being more than what a #2 has traditionally been in San Francisco - not a lot.

Though you have likely forgotten, Davis was one of the big sleepers last year until he ended his season in week two with a shoulder injury. He is expected to be recovered in time for training camp and was originally the primary back at Clemson and had C.J. Spiller complement him. This is a new offense, new coaches and plenty of new players so Davis brings nothing over from last year but he will factor in and should at least be tracked. The Browns will use a committee in the backfield but it probably won’t extend down to Davis.

Hilliard remains running back depth for the Dolphins and only had 23 carries for 89 yards and a score in 2009 despite the loss of Ronnie Brown near mid-season. Hilliard did add 20 catches for 158 yards and two scores though and both Brown and Ricky Williams suffered injuries last year. Patrick Cobbs will also be in the mix but he is also recovering from ACL surgery last October. Hilliard remains a worthwhile (yet deep) draft pick if only because Williams is 33 years old and Brown is once again returning from injury.

The Georgia Tech rookie will compete for short-yardage duties but Mendenhall is already 225 pounds and capable by himself. Dwyer fell to the sixth round in the draft after he tested positive for a drug at the combine which was for a “pre-existing condition”. Dwyer was a power back who scored 27 times in the last two years at Georgia Tech and he could move past Mewelde Moore on the depth charts with a good training camp. For now he is just a camp watch and is only 21 years old. His value is greater on dynasty squads.

08-29-10 Update: Dwyer finally played in a preseason game and had 89 yards on just 13 carries. But he has missed considerable time because of injury and is not ready to be the #2 behind Rashard Mendenhall. A definite dynasty value, Dwyer has no fantasy value this season barring several injuries in the backfield.

McKnight is one to track if only in dynasty leagues. With both Shonn Greene and LaDainian Tomlinson to take the biggest chunk of work, McKnight will likely spend his rookie season with minimal playing time. He gets a chance to prove to the team that he is not the immature, whiny and soft player that so many NFL scouts saw coming into the NFL draft. The Chargers spent their 4.14 pick on the ex-Trojan and he rewarded them by showing up to his first mini-camp by dropping passes and vomiting frequently. But this offense needs running backs and Tomlinson is no long-term answer. Watch McKnight and consider him as a deep flyer in a dynasty league but hold off on him in redraft leagues. He has a lot to prove and not much opportunity this year.

Ware signed a one-year contract but he is no lock to remain on the roster or be any factor this season. Ware only gained 73 yards on 13 carries in 2009 with one score. He also suffered an elbow injury and a concussion despite his meager playing time last year.