3 Up 3 Down (Running Backs)

3 Up 3 Down

Up

Le’Ron McClain- McClain is part of a “3-headed monster” in Baltimore. It consists of McClain, Willis McGahee, and Ray Rice. McGahee and Rice drain Le’Ron McClain’s fantasy value but the Ravens ran the ball a league high 37 times per game. Last year he rushed for 902 yards and 10 touchdowns. One weird part about McClain is that he’s a full back, not a half back. And he usually blocks for Mcgahee and Rice. But when the ball is near the goal-line there is little question about who is running the ball. That job belongs to McClain.

Jonathan Stewart- Last year Jonathan Stewart was a rookie out of Organ. He had some problems with his toe. It didn’t seem to bother him considering he ran for 833 yards and 10 touchdowns. He did all being this back-up to Deangelo Williams who rushed for 1,518 yards and 18 touchdowns. He also had averaged 5.5 yards per carry. Combined, Stewart and Williams rushed for 2,351 yards, the most by any 2 running backs on the same team in 24 years. I predict that Stewart will rush for 942 yards and 9 touchdowns this year.

Fred Jackson- Fred Jackson is the back-up to Marshawn Lynch but will get his time to shine early this year because Lynch is suspended for the first three games. If he does well he might split carries with Lynch over the course of the season. In his only start last year, he rushed 136 yards on 27 carries; Overall he rushed for 571 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Down

Ryan Grant- Grant wasn’t spectacular last year, in fact, he was just average. 1,203 yards and 4 touchdowns. He’s just nothing special anymore. I expect even more of a decrease in yardage this year. I think he’ll get 1,081 yards and 6 touchdowns. Don’t draft him and think he’s going to put up the numbers he did in the second half of 2007. He might put up some decent numbers and the great play of QB Aaron Rodgers should help, but he’s just not the same as he was in ’07.

Willis McGahee- McGahee is 27 but is career is heading downhill fast. He’s not going to as many carries as he once did. With Ray Rice getting the bulk of the carries and Le’Ron McClain getting the goal-line touches it doesn’t seem like there is a place for Mcgahee anymore. Ray Rice is getting to practice with the first team during training camp which used to be McGahee’s job. Last year he had 671 rushing yards and 7 touchdowns. He should see a major decrease in production and I think he will get 563 yards and 4 touchdowns. He is ranked 77^th on my Top 200 but he shouldn’t be picked until the 9^th round.

Larry Johnson- Larry is suspended for the first game of the season and that drops his fantasy value a little. Plus, the Chiefs are rebuilding and there is a very good chance that they could release Johnson. If he does get cut, he will probably land a spot on a different teams’ roster and be used primarily used as a goal-line back and could very well be great at it, but for now he is on the decline. Last year he only had 874 yards and 3 touchdowns.