With just four or five games left in the fantasy regular season (depending upon your league’s schedule) playing the right running backs becomes more and more important each week. That will be tough this week, with the Kansas City Chiefs, New England Patriots and New York Jets all on bye. But play one of these five guys, and you’ll be set at the running back position for the week.
Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings
With Jamaal Charles out this week on bye, it’s time for Peterson to take the top spot back. Coming off a 23-point performance on Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys, Peterson gets an easy matchup on Thursday night against the Washington Redskins. Thursday night games have had a tendency to be low-scoring this year, and the Redskins are one of the worst defenses in the league, allowing 21.9 fantasy points per game to running backs. When Peterson faced Washington last season, he accounted for just under 130 total yards. He can expect to see that and more this week with the way the Redskins have been playing on defense.
Projected Statistics: 17 carries, 90 yards, one touchdown, three receptions, 30 yards
Reggie Bush, Detroit Lions
There are only five teams that have allowed more fantasy points to running backs this season than the Redskins, one of which are the Chicago Bears. If Jay Cutler plays for the Bears this will be a shootout, which is great news for Bush owners, as Bush has played excellent this season when catching passes out of the backfield. Bush has broken double-digit fantasy points four times this season, once against Chicago in Week 3 when he ran for 139 yards and a touchdown while tacking on 34 receiving yards. I wouldn’t expect that many rushing yards again, but owners can certainly expect an overall big game from Bush here.
Projected Statistics: 18 carries, 100 yards, four receptions, 55 yards
LeSean McCoy, Philadelphia Eagles
It’s tough to see what direction this game will take, considering Nick Foles is coming off a seven touchdown game, and Seneca Wallace will be filling in for the injured Aaron Rodgers for the Green Bay Packers. There’s no way that Foles throws for seven touchdowns again, so Shady will get more touches than the 16 he had last week against the Raiders. Green Bay is allowing just under 15 fantasy points per game to running backs, and opponents have only rushed a total of 650 yards against the Packers. But McCoy will be involved in the offense no matter what happens, and owners can expect Philly’s offense to the way it was before Sunday.
Projected Statistics: 15 carries, 85 yards, three receptions, 40 yards, one receiving touchdown
Chris Johnson, Tennessee Titans
This is a risky ranking considering Johnson’s inconsistency this season, but it’s never bad idea to pick against the Jacksonville Jaguars, who Johnson and the Titans will be facing on Sunday. Jacksonville is allowing 21.8 points per game to running backs, and it is the worst rushing defense in the NFL. Johnson is coming off a season-high 29 fantasy points, rushing for 150 yards on 23 carries. He frankly hasn’t shown this year that he can go over 100 yards in back-to-back games, but with the Jaguars’ track record, there’s not much that can go wrong here.
Projected Statistics: 19 carries, 110 yards, one touchdown
Eddie Lacy, Green Bay Packers
Possibly the only person to benefit from Rodger’s injury is Lacy, who will now be the focal point of Green Bay’s offense. With Rodgers out, Lacy carried the ball 22 times Monday night against the Chicago Bears for 150 yards and a touchdown. That was Lacy’s fourth touchdown of the year and his second 100-yard game. Philadelphia’s defense has been dreadful this season, but they are in the middle of the pack in terms of fantasy points allowed to running backs (15.7 per game). If Foles can even channel half of what he did on Sunday, the Packers will have to rely more on Seneca Wallace than they did on Monday, but the Eagles will still see a heavy dose of Lacy in this one.
Projected Statistics: 20 carries, 100 yards, one touchdown