Fantasy Football 2014 Running Back Rankings: Week 2

Author:
Mark Ross
Publish date:
Sep 12, 2014

Adrian Peterson was handed a tasty matchup, which was why he was the easy choice for the top spot in Athlon Sports’ Fantasy Football Week 2 Running Back Rankings. However, Peterson was deactivated by Minnesota on Friday night after it was announced he had been indicted by a Texas grand jury and a warrant was issued for his arrest. Peterson owners need to go a different direction as unheralded Matt Asiata (No. 27) will likely see the bulk of the carries against New England.

Each week during the NFL season, we will rank enough players at each position to appease everyone from those in 8-team leagues to 16-team leagues, those that can start two QBs, two TEs, three RBs and four WRs. We cut out the rest, because if you're looking at who the 50th-best running back or the 17th-best kicker is for that week, you need more help than any Web site can give you.

Positional Rankings: QB I RB I WR I TE I DST I K

2014 NFL Week 2 Fantasy Football Rankings — Running Backs


Rank	Player	Team	Opp	Comments
1	LeSean McCoy	PHI	at IND (Mon.)	No TDs, but 27 total touches.
2	Jamaal Charles	KC	at DEN	Expect to see him double his 11 touches.
3	Marshawn Lynch	SEA	at SD	Beastly (110, 2) in opener against Packers.
4	Arian Foster	HOU	at OAK	51 of his 103 yards rushing came after contact.
5	Matt Forte	CHI	at SF	Can 49ers' D bottle up Forte?
6	Montee Ball	DEN	vs. KC	Scored a TD, but held in check by Colts.
7	Le'Veon Bell	PIT	at BAL (Thurs.)	Put up 197 total yards, TD vs. Browns.
8	Giovani Bernard	CIN	vs. ATL	Should see about 20 touches per game.
9	DeMarco Murray	DAL	at TEN	Put up 118 yards rushing on 49ers last week.
10	Alfred Morris	WAS	vs. JAC	Gained 91 yards on the ground on just 14 att.
11	Eddie Lacy	GB	vs. NYJ	Concussion concerns already?
12	Frank Gore	SF	vs. CHI	Bears' run D still lacks bite.
13	Shane Vereen	NE	at MIN	Scored rushing TD, but did little else.
14	Chris Johnson	NYJ	at GB	Caught a TD pass in his Jets' debut.
15	Toby Gerhart	JAC	at WAS	Redskins gave up 115 yards rushing, but just 3.0 ypc.
16	Zac Stacy	STL	at TB	Tough sledding (43 yards rushing) vs. MIN.
17	C.J. Spiller	BUF	vs. MIA	Caught a TD, got 18 total touches vs. Bears.
18	Andre Ellington	ARI	at NYG	Played, but foot injury a factor vs. SD.
19	Rashad Jennings	NYG	vs. ARI	Finished with 96 total yards, TD in Giants' debut.
20	Knowshon Moreno	MIA	at BUF	Huge (134 yds., TD) debut for Dolphins.
21	Doug Martin	TB	vs. STL	16 yards on 10 touches is not going to cut it.
22	Ryan Mathews	SD	vs. SEA
23	Joique Bell	DET	at CAR	Needed late TD to salvage his output.
24	Reggie Bush	DET	at CAR	More effective as receiver than rusher vs. NYG.
25	Terrance West	CLE	vs. NO	Gets start w/ Tate (sprained knee) out.
26	Shonn Greene	TEN	vs. DAL	Led Titans in yards (71) and carries (15).
27	Matt Asiata	MIN	vs. NE	Surprise starter following Peterson's deactivation.
28	Darren Sproles	PHI	at IND (Mon.)	Impact came on ground w/ 49-yard TD.
29	Fred Jackson	BUF	vs. MIA	Big 38-yard run set up game-winning FG in OT.
30	Steven Jackson	ATL	at CIN
31	Chris Ivory	NYJ	at GB	71-yard TD run upstages CJ's Jets debut.
32	Justin Forsett	BAL	vs. PIT (Thurs.)	Took over (70 yds., TD) when Pierce faltered.
33	Pierre Thomas	NO	at CLE	Saints backfield could be a true timeshare.
34	Mark Ingram	NO	at CLE	Only 60 yards, but 2 TDs.
35	Lamar Miller	MIA	at BUF	Fewer touches following Moreno's big debut?
36	DeAngelo Williams	CAR	vs. DET	Averaged 5.1 ypc (14 att.) vs. Bucs.
37	Trent Richardson	IND	vs. PHI (Mon.)	More of same (6 att., 20 yds.) from T-Rich.
38	Maurice Jones-Drew	OAK	vs. HOU	Jets held him to 11 yards on 9 carries.
39	Bernard Pierce	BAL	vs. PIT (Thurs.)	Can he seize starting job?
40	Jeremy Hill	CIN	vs. ATL	Got just 4 carries last week.
41	Stevan Ridley	NE	at MIN	Practically non-existent (28 total yds.) vs. MIA.
42	Carlos Hyde	SF	vs. CHI	Made his presence felt (50 yds., TD) vs. DAL.
43	Isaiah Crowell	CLE	vs. NO	No. 2 behind West w/ Tate out. 2 TDs last week.
44	Danny Woodhead	SD	vs. SEA
45	Khiry Robinson	NO	at CLE	Took one goal-line look away from Ingram.
46	Ahmad Bradshaw	IND	vs. PHI (Mon.)	More effective (85 total yards) than T-Rich.
47	Bishop Sankey	TEN	vs. DAL	Not big part (6 att., 25 yds.) of Week 1 game plan.
48	James Starks	GB	vs. NYJ	Next in line if Stacy's concussion issues persist.