The Top 20 Running Back Rankings For The 2013 Fantasy Football Season

The 2013 fantasy season is right around the corner and drafts will be popping up all over the place over the next 50 days or so. So it's time to bring you up to speed on the Top 20 players at each position this year. The rankings are for Standard Redraft PPR (Points Per Reception).

Like I mentioned yesterday, I will start with Running Backs today, followed by Quarterbacks, Wide Receivers and wrapping up with Tight Ends on Friday.

So let's get started with the Top 20 RBs, here we go...

#1 Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings (Age 28) Bye: 5
1,580 rushing yards with 38 catches for 270 receiving yards and 15 total TDs

The best player in the NFL, he is not even human. Do I need to really say anything to explain the great and powerful ADP? He has never had less than 1,000 total yards and 10 TDs. Other than the year he got hurt he has never ran for less than 1,298 yards. Oh, yeah, he is coming off of 2,097 rushing yards on a repaired knee. Beastly is not even enough to explain Peterson, and yes, I have a major man crush. Next!

#2 Arian Foster, Houston Texans (Age 27) Bye: 8
1,365 rushing yards with 40 catches for 290 receiving yards and 13 total TDs

People always seem to question this guy and this year they are saying his wheels fell off, or some on ESPN say that. I think he is still elite. Foster is a combination of what everyone wants, TDs, catches and yards. The Texans went out and got Greg Jones, and that can only help Foster make his one cut and go. He is far from the most talented back, but he gets all the opportunity. All we can really ask for is for our guy to get the ball A LOT, and he does.

#3 Doug Martin, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Age 24) Bye: 5
1,320 rushing yards with 46 catches for 410 receiving yards and 11 total TDs 

Muscle Hamster came onto the scene hard last year breaking off for 1,926 total yards and 12 scores, not bad for a rookie, eh? It’s nice that he added the 49 reception to show he is a real three tool player. He went cold after week 12 only scoring a pair of TDs the rest of the way, but maybe Freeman will not fall apart this year and teams won’t have the ability to crowd the box. Keep in mind he did get four of his 12 TDs in one game against the Raiders, so scores may not be a given in Tampa.

#4 Marshawn Lynch, Seattle Seahawks (Age 27) Bye: 12
1,415rushing yards with 26 catches for 175 receiving yards and 12 total TDs

I'm definitely eating the Skittles this year, Beast Mode showed exactly why he got that nickname name last season. Marshawn Lynch averaged a hefty 5 yard per carry last year, his best ever, to the tune of 1,590 yards and 12 total scores. Seattle is the new run first team in the NFL, and he will get every chance to do it again this year. Wilson is just the QB he needed at the helm to keep defenses honest, and it looks like his court date is delayed until after the season, so that worry is gone for now. Some say he is getting up there in age, but his miles are still relatively low averaging 242 carries over 6 seasons, so he should still have some juice left.

#5 Jamaal Charles, Kansas City Chiefs (Age 26) Bye: 10
1,345 rushing yards with 54 catches for 475 receiving yards and 9 total TDs

Charles, just like ADP, was a year removed from a blown out ACL and he still managed to rush for a boat load of yards. He had a whopping 1,509 rushing yards, to be exact, for an unbelievable 5.3 yards per carry last season. Charles now has a coach in Andy Reid who will play right into all his strengths; he will hand it to Charles often and pass it to him often. Not to mention, a weak armed Smith will have to find Charles even when he hopes not to. Catches are going to be plenty for him, so expect big things this year… expect really big things.

#6 Ray Rice, Baltimore Ravens (Age 26) Bye: 8
1,245 rushing yards with 53 catches for 480 receiving yards and 10 total TDs

His carries have already gone down over the past two years, and may drop more. Rice had 308 carries and 371 total touches in 2010 followed by 291 carries and 76 receptions for 367 touches in 2011. Compared to 257 rushes and 61 catches for 318 touches in 2012, and that equals fewer and fewer touches. Those are the facts, and Pierce coming onto the scene was part of the factor, and may be a bigger one this year. Rice is still elite talent and has had big production in the past. Still elite, but, not Top 3 anymore.

#7 LeSean McCoy, Philadelphia Eagles (Age 25) Bye: 12
1,220 rushing yards with 41 catches for 420 receiving yards and 11 total TDs

Stop with all the Chip Kelly hype and how he always ran in college. Do I have to explain to you, this is not college?  You can't just run and win, if it won't work for Minnesota, it won't work for a first year coach. While I love McCoy’s talent, Kelly isn't a one trick pony. You will see Kelly use many people this year, almost to a surprising level.  McCoy is always valuable because he is a focal point and explosive, but at this level we are talking reasons for not taking him higher, and reasons such as fewer touches and only one really big year are those reasons.

#8 Trent Richardson, Cleveland Browns (Age 23) Bye: 10
1,130 rushing yards with 56 catches for 385 receiving yards and 10 total TDs

Richardson is an injury risk, but is still a potential beastly performer. For that, he must garner attention in the Top 10. We know if he stays healthy, IF, he will have well over 350 touches. I’ll be happy with that much opportunity any day. He was banged up all year and only missed the last game of the season and still accumulated 12 scores. Richardson was a PPR beast with 51 catches, and should only perform better this year, barring injury. Keep in mind, his QB is Weeden, so that is always a risk as well.

#9 Alfred Morris, Washington Redskins (Age 24) Bye: 5
1,410 rushing yards with 14 catches for 65 receiving yards and 12 total TDs

Well, didn't this guy just come out of nowhere?  Alfred Morris had a lights out rookie season and should be the workhorse again this year. His upside is probably where we have seen it, but he should be able to achieve similar stats again as he has the offense and the confidence from Skeletor to do it. Morris has plenty of opportunity as he finished the season with seven straight 20 carry games. I see him getting the rock often this year; the only risk see is the fact that he does not catch many balls. While I see Morris catching a few more passes than last year, I don't expect it to be his strong point.

#10 CJ Spiller, Buffalo Bills (Age 26) Bye: 12
1,270 rushing yards with 47 catches for 405 receiving yards and 8 total TDs

Let’s all bow our head and give thanks that Chan Gailey is no longer around as head coach of the Bills. I have no clue why on earth he was using Jackson as much as he was, it is beyond me. I know just like the rest of us that Spiller has a chance to catch many passes and gain many yards, but he may not find the pay dirt enough as this team will have its struggles with either Kolb or Manual   Expect a good year in the stat line, but be leery of the scores. Weeks 4 to 12 last year he only scored once, that can't happen to your #1 runner.

#11 Chris Johnson, Tennessee Titans (Age 28) Bye: 8
1,290 rushing yards with 39 catches for 380 receiving yards and 9 total TDs

A lot of people are down on CJ2K, I am not one of those people. Chris Johnson has talent, there is no denying that, but you would think he was on “Dancing with the Stars” and not Jacoby as much as he tip toed around the line last year. That line was BRUTAL! Did I say that loud enough? Tennessee did attempt to fix the line, but not by much. Greene could always be a factor to come in and steal the TDs, so look out for that. He is a playmaker, so he can always explode and will get the opportunity as he still had over 300 touches in 2012. CJ only ran for 35 total yards in his first three games and still finished with 1,243 yards rushing yards, he is still very, very good. Don't give up on him yet.

#12 Reggie Bush, Detroit Lions (Age 28) Bye: 9
1,035 rushing yards with 60 catches for 510 receiving yards and 8 total TDs

Bush will catch more passes than any other RB in the NFL, including Sproles. That won't be too hard to imagine seeing as how last year Bell caught 52 passes for Detroit with limited playing time. Bush is on a better team than he was last year, and we all know he is an explosive player who can cause much damage to a way a defense has to plan. The amount of passes Bush will catch alone makes him a Top 12 runner, but factor in the fact that he will get a good amount of carries as well and you have a high upside season ahead of Bush if he can stay healthy.

#13 Steven Jackson, Atlanta Falcons (Age 30) Bye: 6
1,215 rushing yards with 39 catches for 375 receiving yards and 10 total TDs

When the old Burner can get 10 TDs or more on the regular for Atlanta, Jackson should not have any problem doing the same thing in this offense. Jackson also does something else that Turner does not; he catches passes and many of them. Jackson has had eight straight 1,000 yard rushing seasons, eight straight 1,200 total yard seasons and eight straight 38 catch seasons. That’s great for consistency, but the one thing Jackson has been lacking is TDs and he is in the offense to fix that as we talked about above.

#14 Matt Forte, Chicago Bears (Age 28) Bye: 8
1,195 rushing yards with 47 catches for 370 receiving yards and 9 total TDs

This guy has potential to break out and perform on any week, but Forte has always managed to just be average throughout the season as it turns out. He has never duplicated the production that he had in his rookie year and has never even bettered any stat (Yards, TDs or Catches) any year thereafter. I hate to say it, but we know what we get with Forte, A Top 12 performer and that’s about it. Forte will catch many passes as new Head Coach Marc Trestman reportedly loves his ability to catch, so that could work in his favor as well.

#15 Stevan Ridley, New England Patriots (Age 24) Bye: 10
1,360 rushing yards with 9 catches for 70 receiving yards and 12 total TDs

Some say you can't trust any Patriots back because of Belichick. I understand why some think that, but Ridley is his guy and only had less than 10 carries once last year. That was in the game that Billy did bench Ridley for fumbling against the Niners. Blount and Bolden are no threat to him and Vereen was going to be the one to steal carries, but with him now needing to split out more, they may both be on the field at the same time. Ridley has apparently put on some weight and worked on his ball handling and will still be the lead dog in New England, and folks you know this just like me, they will need to run more this year.

#16 DeMarco Murray, Dallas Cowboys (Age 25) Bye: 11
1,180 rushing yards with 38 catches for 290 receiving yards and 8 total TDs

For all the stuff I have been hearing about Chris Ivory and how he can't stay healthy. People have no problem overlooking that fact with Murray, he has missed 9 games in the past two years and you can't overlook that. He is always banged up, he just is. The Cowboys drafted Randle for a reason and am not surely convinced that if Murray can’t stay healthy this year that the job will be his next year. But for prediction sake, if he stays healthy, he should perform as he has when he is on the field. Murray's ypc dropped drastically in 2012 to 4.1, that’s almost a yard and a half less than in 2011. We can only hope that the OLine has gotten better and that Murray can stay healthy.

#17 Darren McFadden, Oakland Raiders (Age 26) Bye: 7
1,145 rushing yards with 35 catches for 405 receiving yards and 7 total TDs

Out with the old and in with the new as there is another new coach in Oakland and one with an offensive scheme that fits McFadden’s strengths. This guy has a huge reputation for being made out of glass, but injuries can happen to anyone, so we won't hold that against him for predictions sake. McFadden missed four games last year and still caught 42 passes so he can and will catch passes when needed. Flynn is not the answer, so they will rely on McFadden often. Injury is always a risk, but he has the talent to perform.

#18 Lamar Miller, Miami Dolphins (Age 22) Bye: 6
1,120 rushing yards with 28 catches for 235 receiving yards and 7 total TDs

Thomas has already shown he is no competition to take carries from anyone as he is not effective, so this is Miller’s job to lose. The coaching staff is in love with the guy and he has the makings to be a good back, but does Miller have the talent? I think he does and I think he has the talent around him as well. Miller will catch his share of passes but the scores are what he will lack. He is not a #1 runner by any means, but he is a high upside #2. If Reggie can get 1,000 yards with a much worse offense in Miami, Miller sure can with this new and improved one. He averaged 4.9 a carry last year, so I hope he can get to the same this year.

#19 Chris Ivory, New York Jets (Age 25) Bye: 9
1,225 rushing yards with 13 catches for 110 receiving yards and 8 total TDs

The Jets love this guy and wanted him bad enough to trade for him. That is a good thing because Ivory is going to be electric in his first full year as the man. He has shown he can make things happen and is a great combination of power, speed and quickness. No one on the Jets offense is going to be a threat to his production, just his injury risk. Ivory has averaged over 5 ypc in two of his three seasons in New Orleans, so talent is not the question. If Greene can finish as the 18^th ranked runner in New York, Ivory sure as heck can.

#20 David Wilson, New York Giants (Age 22) Bye: 9
1,055 rushing yards with 30 catches for 315 receiving yards and 7 total TDs

I'm a fan of this kid’s talent, explosiveness and breakaway speed. I'm just not convinced he has matured enough with his knowledge of the game to really show it yet. Andre Brown is going to be a big factor and steal most of the goal line touches in this offense. Coughlin loves using a two back system, look it up if you do not believe me. David Wilson has bust written all over him, but he clearly has huge upside in the Giants’ offense, but does Coughlin think that? He can be stubborn, let’s just hope Wilson learned to block. Do not take this guy as your number one no matter what you do; the risk is not worth it.