Harmon's RB rankings: Brown's No. 8 Michael Harmon / FOXSports.com Posted: 13 hours ago Rankings: Running back Rk Player TM Comment 1 Larry Johnson KC O-Line healthy & Edwards' top option. Priest status still questionable 2 Shaun Alexander SEA 16 or more TDs in 5 straight years. Do they miss Hutch? 3 L. Tomlinson SD Has excelled w/ 8 in a box against him before 4 Tiki Barber NYG Producers as runner & receiver. Eli growth & Jacobs role are keys 5 Clinton Portis WAS 1,500 yards and double-digit TDs in 3 of 4 seasons 6 Edgerrin James ARI Skill position players are all stellar, but will O-Line perform? 7 Rudi Johnson CIN 1,400 & 12 TD in 2 straight, but what happens if Palmer isn't ready? 8 LaMont Jordan OAK Durability a concern, but will handle the ball a ton under Shell 9 Steven Jackson STL Faulk injury means less sideline time. Linehan wants to boost touches 10 Carnell Williams TB OL upgrades & Gruden's power game portend to huge year. Overuse? 11 Domanick Davis HOU Kubiak will keep him moving & utilize receiving prowess. Injury risk 12 Ronnie Brown MIA Expect heavier '06 load w/o Ricky & bigger numbers w/ Daunte 13 Julius Jones DAL Big '06 w/ extra attention afforded T.O.? Handcuff Marion Barber 14 Willis McGahee BUF QB situation still a question, as is the role of Jauron fave Thomas 15 Reuben Droughns CLE Had the yardage, showed great heart. This year, he'll add the TDs 16 Kevin Jones DET Disappointing '05, but potential bargain if DET offense clicks 17 Willie Parker PIT Always a threat to break one, but won't get many GL scores 18 Deuce McAllister NO Will be ready for Sep. Potential Bush holdout actually hurts 19 Tatum Bell DEN Likelt to challenge Dayne for GL work. Nearly 1,000 yards as backup 20 Brian Westbrook PHI More carries on tap for '06 w/ big role in passing game 21 Corey Dillon NE 13 total TDs despite injury issues. Durability & Maroney are concerns 22 Chester Taylor MIN Hutchinson upgrades OL, but possible timeshare w/ stacked backfield 23 Jamal Lewis BAL Disappointing '05 performance. Addition of Anderson slips his stock 24 Warrick Dunn ATL Huge yardage, but Duckett, Norwood & Vick to swipe TDs 25 DeShaun Foster CAR Abilities as receiver help, but durability casts huge shadow 26 Reggie Bush NO Can break a long one every touch. Will holdout come to fruition? 27 Thomas Jones CHI Benson challenge looms. Offense more efficient without Orton 28 Fred Taylor JAC Slimmed down and hoping to avoid injuries. 6 total TDs in last 2 yrs 29 Ahman Green GB Fewer than 60 rush yds in 5G played. OL & health are huge concerns 30 Dominic Rhodes IND 1,000 yds as a rookie. Battle w/ rookie Addai in the offing for camp :beer: 31 Curtis Martin NYJ Will reclaim starting gig, but Houston figures to eat into carries 32 Ron Dayne DEN Everyone thrives in DEN backfield, but can he replicate Anderson? 33 Cedric Benson CHI Should see 8-10 touches despite battle w/ Jones 34 Mike Anderson BAL 2-time 1,000-yd rusher will see work alongside Lewis. Good insurance 35 Frank Gore SF Strong audition for top spot in final 3G of '05. Barlow still in the mix 36 Joseph Addai IND Power back w/ good hands will compete for the starting role 37 DeAngelo Williams CAR Breakaway speed & big-play potential. Handcuff to Foster pick 38 Chris Brown TEN 6 games under 40 rush yd. Now looking for a trade. Backup to LJ? 39 Laurence Maroney NE Topped 1,400 rushing yds in rugged Big 10. Good patience and ability 40 Kevan Barlow SF Missed last four games. Mike Nolan will have a decision to make 41 Duce Staley PIT Possibility that he slides into vulture role vacated by The Bus 42 Marion Barber DAL Jones has injury issues, Barber can produce if given opportunity 43 Chris Perry CIN 4.6 yards per carry w/ 51 receptions. Good insurance behind Rudi 44 Ryan Moats PHI Good burst and breakaway speed. He'll split reps with Westbrook 45 Brandon Jacobs NYG Same role as last year; Goal-line vulture had 7 TDs in '05 46 Greg Jones JAC Taylor health always a concern. Jones had two 100-yard games in '05 47 Najeh Davenport GB Solid option if Green goes down, but still running behind rebuilt OL 48 Anthony Thomas BUF Little-used in 2 straight yrs. Jauron's top rusher 3 times in Chicago 49 T.J. Duckett ATL May be odd man out w/ Norwood addition. Possible he gets dealt 50 Mewelde Moore MIN Turned in two 100-yards games in '05 but will need to win PT 51 Michael Turner SD L.T.'s backup, and as he showed at Indy, hard to catch at top speed 52 Priest Holmes KC Hard to know where to place him as his return is still such a mystery 53 LenDale White TEN GL carries in '06 & possibly a larger role if Brown gets dealt 54 Samkon Gado GB Electrified fantasy game in '05 w/ three 100-yard games before injury :beer: 55 Cedric Houston NYJ 3 solid efforts in final 4G puts him in backup role for new Jets scheme 56 Michael Bennett NO Good speed in mini-camp. Solid No. 2 option if Bush has long holdout 57 Maurice Morris SEA Schedule among league's weakest. Could shine if pressed into action 58 Michael Pittman TB Solid backup option if the Cadillac needs to go into the shop 59 Verron Haynes PIT May be a candidate for role vacated by Bettis. Staley has first shot 60 Travis Henry TEN Might be on the move depending on Brown talks & White progess 61 Jarious Norwood ATL Possible replacement for Duckett in short yardage & GL situations 62 Maurice Drew JAC Taylor ready to run, but the speedy rookie will bid for touches 63 Antowain Smith HOU Moves into backup role behind Davis. Offers HOU good power option 64 Maurice Hicks SF 5.2 AVG and three TDs in '05, but still behind Barlow & Gore 65 J.J. Arrington ARI 2nd-yr man will try to win backup role. 3.3 AVG not good enough 66 Adrian Peterson CHI Ran well in place of injured starters mid-year. Starts camp at No. 3 67 Ladell Betts WAS Has been a steady backup and will excel if needed. 4.7 career AVG 68 Mike Alstott TB Has a decreasing workload, but did score on 6 of 34 carries in '05 69 Eric Shelton CAR Shuffled back w/ Williams addition. CAR backfield crowded 70 Lee Suggs CLE Hasn't stayed healthy in first 2 years. Crennel may look to W. Green FOXSports.com fantasy contributor Mike Harmon would welcome your comments and feedback. You can also learn more about him by reading "Welcome to my world." > http://msn.foxsports.com/fantasy/story/5495694
Martin is a total sleeper if he returns to his 2004 form. I dont see why he cant be taken in a mid round. He probably will be a serviceable #3 back to say the least.
Travis Henry, Antowain Smith, and Michael Bennett jump out as better than Houston based on what he showed last season. I wasn't thrilled with Houston last season - he had some bursts, but a lot of that was in garbage time. Some good tackle breaking, okay speed. I agree that this list is clearly skewed toward the "younger is better" philosophy I don't hold with. I wouldn't put Priest Holmes in the top 10 anymore, but I wouldn't put him at #52, either.
What do you mean by garbage time? The end of the season when we were playing for a draft pick? I don't really consider that garbage time being that he started four games. Garbage time to me is the last drive of a game when you are down by 28 points. What were you really expecting with Houston playing behind a makeshift OL and no passing game? I thought he was quite impressive given the circumstances. Priest Holmes may never play another snap in the NFL. No way can you rank him over a second year RB competing for a starting job.
But what does Houston have? I dont think he really has played enough to really be on any list, he needs to play more and for a whole season for any opinions to really be made about him, it would also help to see him behind a some what solid line.
1. willis maGahee?! 14!? 2. REggie Bush?!?! 23?! ahead of Jones and Green before he has played a game (and he might not play at all this year) wat a joke
52 Priest Holmes KC Hard to know where to place him as his return is still such a mystery He shouldn't be on the list. Herm Edwards doesn't use 2 running backs.
i think curtis is gonna have a good year this season. we have some new folks on the OL that have the potential to open up some holes for curtis. cheers . . :beer:
