Top RBs - If all RBs were healthy and played to their potential (1 Viewer)

[wingm@n]

Most folks have Foster, Rice, and McCoy as their top 3 running backs, but how would your rankings change if you assumed all running backs stayed healthy for the entire season and played to their potential? Would the Big 3 still be Foster, Rice, and McCoy? Or would it be something completely different like CJ, AP, and McFadden?

Who are your sleeping giants?

 

[I was in the pool]

DMC

 

[Run It Up]

Most folks have Foster, Rice, and McCoy as their top 3 running backs, but how would your rankings change if you assumed all running backs stayed healthy for the entire season and played to their potential? Would the Big 3 still be Foster, Rice, and McCoy? Or would it be something completely different like CJ, AP, and McFadden?Who are your sleeping giants?

If they were all healthy and it was a perfect storm. The top backs would be who you'd think they would be...FosterPetersonJohnsonBest of everyone but the best tier:RiceMJDMccoyHonorable mentions based on stretching already thin stats and extrapolating them over completely baseless timelines:CharlesMcfaddenMade of paper and dreams tier:Ryan Mathews

 

[eric rymer]

DMC

 

[gandalas]

Beanie wells would definitely jump up the rankings if he could be guaranteed an injury-free year.

 

[The Real Hipster Doofus]

DMC

Get's my vote as well

 

[dsquad]

Since I haven't really seen Martin or Richardson in the NFL yet, mine would be

1. Foster

2. Peterson

3. Rice

4. McFadden

5. Charles

6. CJ2K

7. MJD

8. DeMarco Murray

9. Mathews (Healthy and the name Ryan Mathews is an oxymoron)

10. Forte

 

[dsquad]

Since I haven't really seen Martin or Richardson in the NFL yet, mine would be1. Foster2. Peterson3. Rice4. McFadden5. McCoy6. Charles7. CJ2K8. MJD9. DeMarco Murray10. Mathews (Healthy and the name Ryan Mathews is an oxymoron)Forgot about McCoy and I'm an Eagles fan!

 

[chiefs2929]

Mcfadden

Peterson

McCoy

Foster

Rice

Charles

Mathews

Murray

 

[Stewy]

McFadden

Peterson

Foster

McCoy

Rice

 

[Clifford]

DMC

Get's my vote as well

Surprised there is debate here.

 

[Abraham]

Peterson or DMc.

 

[Bronx Bomber]

I think Id give SJax a big bump also, not sure where yet. Are we assuming current situation or ideal situation?

Foster

Peterson

McCoy

DMC

Rice

MJD

SJax

CJ

Charles

Forte

Matthews

Best

 

[LHUCKS]

Peterson or DMc.

 

[solorca]

If we're assuming perfect health and a clear starting situation (in doing so, I also eliminated age risks)...

1. Mcfadden

2. McCoy

3. Peterson

4. Foster (Hard to determine how much is him, and how much is the Houston zone blocking scheme..but he still deserves a top 5 spot)

5. Stewart

6. Rice

7. Best

8. Steven Jackson

9. Forte

10. Charles

 

[wingm@n]

Are we assuming current situation or ideal situation?

The surrounding cast is the same but the player is healthy and plays to the level you think he is capable of in that situation.

 

[SSOG]

ITT: lots of people criminally underrating Jamaal Charles

Adrian Peterson

Jamaal Charles

Chris Johnson

Darren McFadden

Jonathan Stewart

Arian Foster

Maurice Jones-Drew

Shady McCoy

Edit: didn't see the rule that the surrounding cast stayed the same. Bump Foster ahead of Johnson, Stewart ahead of McFadden, and drop Jones-Drew off the list.

 

[hotboyz]

In a perfect world McFadden is the best RB in the game closest thing I've seen to Bo Jackson

 

[Coeur de Lion]

IMO Peterson, DMC, and Charles are the three best RBs in the NFL. Without the health issues they're all tier one fantasy RBs. Another guy who would rise a ton for me is Ryan Matthews. His talent isn't on par with the top guys, but that situation could be golden for FF. It's a good offense, and you know Norv wants to give his guy 400 touches including goal line and receiving.

 

[jurb26]

IMO Peterson, DMC, and Charles are the three best RBs in the NFL. Without the health issues they're all tier one fantasy RBs. Another guy who would rise a ton for me is Ryan Matthews. His talent isn't on par with the top guys, but that situation could be golden for FF. It's a good offense, and you know Norv wants to give his guy 400 touches including goal line and receiving.

I agree with this. I'd rank them;McFaddenCharlesPetersonRiceFosterMcCoyC. JohnsonMJDRichardsonMurray

 

[Coeur de Lion]

IMO Peterson, DMC, and Charles are the three best RBs in the NFL. Without the health issues they're all tier one fantasy RBs. Another guy who would rise a ton for me is Ryan Matthews. His talent isn't on par with the top guys, but that situation could be golden for FF. It's a good offense, and you know Norv wants to give his guy 400 touches including goal line and receiving.

I agree with this. I'd rank them;McFaddenCharlesPetersonRiceFosterMcCoyC. JohnsonMJDRichardsonMurray

If we're talking strictly talent, DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart both belong in the discussion.Williams is IMO the most under-rated skill position player in the NFL. I hear it from both the pro-Stewart (JStew will push DWill aside) and anti-Stewart (if Stewart is so good, why doesn't he get more work?) sides. Very quietly, for the most part, Williams has logged 1000 NFL carries with a YPC in the Jim Brown / Barry Sanders neighborhood. He's one of the best RBs in the NFL.

 

[Rick James]

IMO Peterson, DMC, and Charles are the three best RBs in the NFL. Without the health issues they're all tier one fantasy RBs. Another guy who would rise a ton for me is Ryan Matthews. His talent isn't on par with the top guys, but that situation could be golden for FF. It's a good offense, and you know Norv wants to give his guy 400 touches including goal line and receiving.

I agree with this. I'd rank them;McFaddenCharlesPetersonRiceFosterMcCoyC. JohnsonMJDRichardsonMurray

Adrian Peterson is the most talented RB in the league.

 

[hotboyz]

IMO Peterson, DMC, and Charles are the three best RBs in the NFL. Without the health issues they're all tier one fantasy RBs. Another guy who would rise a ton for me is Ryan Matthews. His talent isn't on par with the top guys, but that situation could be golden for FF. It's a good offense, and you know Norv wants to give his guy 400 touches including goal line and receiving.

I agree with this. I'd rank them;McFaddenCharlesPetersonRiceFosterMcCoyC. JohnsonMJDRichardsonMurray

Adrian Peterson is the most talented RB in the league.

I disagree I think McFadden is he is more of a complete package

 

[solorca]

IMO Peterson, DMC, and Charles are the three best RBs in the NFL. Without the health issues they're all tier one fantasy RBs. Another guy who would rise a ton for me is Ryan Matthews. His talent isn't on par with the top guys, but that situation could be golden for FF. It's a good offense, and you know Norv wants to give his guy 400 touches including goal line and receiving.

I agree with this. I'd rank them;McFaddenCharlesPetersonRiceFosterMcCoyC. JohnsonMJDRichardsonMurray

Adrian Peterson is the most talented RB in the league.

With the current state of the NFL, he would need better receiving skills out of the backfield to be considered #1. It's possible he just hasn't been used in that role, however...but we don't know.

 

[Zeff]

"Playing to their potential" being part of the equation, people aren't giving Chris Johnson nearly enough credit. Hard to tell where any one of these guys' actual potential is. But we know, with absolute certainty, that CJ's is at a bare minimum 2500/16. How many others can you say that about with very much certainty?

 

[Rick James]

IMO Peterson, DMC, and Charles are the three best RBs in the NFL. Without the health issues they're all tier one fantasy RBs. Another guy who would rise a ton for me is Ryan Matthews. His talent isn't on par with the top guys, but that situation could be golden for FF. It's a good offense, and you know Norv wants to give his guy 400 touches including goal line and receiving.

I agree with this. I'd rank them;McFaddenCharlesPetersonRiceFosterMcCoyC. JohnsonMJDRichardsonMurray

Adrian Peterson is the most talented RB in the league.

I disagree I think McFadden is he is more of a complete package

AP caught 43 balls in 2009 and 36 in 2010. He can catch just fine.

 

[Coeur de Lion]

IMO Peterson, DMC, and Charles are the three best RBs in the NFL. Without the health issues they're all tier one fantasy RBs. Another guy who would rise a ton for me is Ryan Matthews. His talent isn't on par with the top guys, but that situation could be golden for FF. It's a good offense, and you know Norv wants to give his guy 400 touches including goal line and receiving.

I agree with this. I'd rank them;McFaddenCharlesPetersonRiceFosterMcCoyC. JohnsonMJDRichardsonMurray

Adrian Peterson is the most talented RB in the league.

I disagree I think McFadden is he is more of a complete package

AP caught 43 balls in 2009 and 36 in 2010. He can catch just fine.

it's definitely not a huge weakness or anything, but he has been one of the least used guys (out of the top-shelf RBs) in the passing game. Peterson is definitely the best runner in the NFL according to my eyeball test. Best all-around RB is a much tougher question due to the versatility of the other top guys.

 

[gianmarco]

Pure running ability, I don't think you can top AP in his prime, healthy. His rookie season had some runs and games that made you watch in awe.

Similarly, CJ3's huge year was remarkable to watch.

DMC is right up there with those 2.

McCoy is a great runner, very shift, but benefits greatly from his situation much like Foster. Both are great runners but not in the same league as the 3 above. J. Charles is right behind those top 3 as well but I can't quite put him up there.

MJD and Rice are prototypical all-around, do everything, every down RBs that I'd love to have on my team. They consistently bring it every game. But I still wouldn't put them in the elite tier with AP/CJ3/DMC in terms of running talent.

 

[doowain]

In terms of pure running talent....

1. Peterson

2. Stewart

3. Charles

Everyone else

ETA: Not sure if most know this, but Stewart is ranked as the most elusive RB in the league 3 years running.

My link

 

[Coeur de Lion]

"Playing to their potential" being part of the equation, people aren't giving Chris Johnson nearly enough credit. Hard to tell where any one of these guys' actual potential is. But we know, with absolute certainty, that CJ's is at a bare minimum 2500/16. How many others can you say that about with very much certainty?

Johnson has elite talent, but Tennessee isn't a potential 2500 YFS situation anymore. Different offense, different QB, and most importantly, the o-line isn't near as good as they were in 2009. 2009 CJ would likely struggle to reach 2000 YFS on the 2012 Titans, IMO.

 

[jurb26]

IMO Peterson, DMC, and Charles are the three best RBs in the NFL. Without the health issues they're all tier one fantasy RBs. Another guy who would rise a ton for me is Ryan Matthews. His talent isn't on par with the top guys, but that situation could be golden for FF. It's a good offense, and you know Norv wants to give his guy 400 touches including goal line and receiving.

I agree with this. I'd rank them;McFaddenCharlesPetersonRiceFosterMcCoyC. JohnsonMJDRichardsonMurray

Adrian Peterson is the most talented RB in the league.

I disagree I think McFadden is he is more of a complete package

AP caught 43 balls in 2009 and 36 in 2010. He can catch just fine.

it's definitely not a huge weakness or anything, but he has been one of the least used guys (out of the top-shelf RBs) in the passing game. Peterson is definitely the best runner in the NFL according to my eyeball test. Best all-around RB is a much tougher question due to the versatility of the other top guys.

McFadden could probably start as a WR in the NFL if he wanted to. Just because Peterson caught some passes doesn't mean he's at the same level.

 

[Run It Up]

"Playing to their potential" being part of the equation, people aren't giving Chris Johnson nearly enough credit. Hard to tell where any one of these guys' actual potential is. But we know, with absolute certainty, that CJ's is at a bare minimum 2500/16. How many others can you say that about with very much certainty?

Johnson has elite talent, but Tennessee isn't a potential 2500 YFS situation anymore. Different offense, different QB, and most importantly, the o-line isn't near as good as they were in 2009. 2009 CJ would likely struggle to reach 2000 YFS on the 2012 Titans, IMO.

He played pretty poorly last year and went for 1500 from scrimmage, thats only 30 more yards per game - certainly not impossible.

 

[Coeur de Lion]

"Playing to their potential" being part of the equation, people aren't giving Chris Johnson nearly enough credit. Hard to tell where any one of these guys' actual potential is. But we know, with absolute certainty, that CJ's is at a bare minimum 2500/16. How many others can you say that about with very much certainty?

Johnson has elite talent, but Tennessee isn't a potential 2500 YFS situation anymore. Different offense, different QB, and most importantly, the o-line isn't near as good as they were in 2009. 2009 CJ would likely struggle to reach 2000 YFS on the 2012 Titans, IMO.

He played pretty poorly last year and went for 1500 from scrimmage, thats only 30 more yards per game - certainly not impossible.

For 2012, I see 2000 YFS as unlikely but possible for Johnson. 1600-1700 is likely. 2500 / 16 ain't happening again unless he gets traded to Houston for Foster or something.

 

[Run It Up]

"Playing to their potential" being part of the equation, people aren't giving Chris Johnson nearly enough credit. Hard to tell where any one of these guys' actual potential is. But we know, with absolute certainty, that CJ's is at a bare minimum 2500/16. How many others can you say that about with very much certainty?

Johnson has elite talent, but Tennessee isn't a potential 2500 YFS situation anymore. Different offense, different QB, and most importantly, the o-line isn't near as good as they were in 2009. 2009 CJ would likely struggle to reach 2000 YFS on the 2012 Titans, IMO.

He played pretty poorly last year and went for 1500 from scrimmage, thats only 30 more yards per game - certainly not impossible.

For 2012, I see 2000 YFS as unlikely but possible for Johnson. 1600-1700 is likely. 2500 / 16 ain't happening again unless he gets traded to Houston for Foster or something.

Never say never.

 

[Zeff]

I don't think we're looking for projections for the upcoming season, here.