Week 5 Running Back Rankings

Armando Marsal

Fantasy Writer

@Armando_fbguru on twitter

After a week filled with teams on bye, it's comforting to know that in Week 5, only two teams will not be hitting the field this Sunday. Of those teams, only two players will likely be missed, Mike Wallace and Lamar Miller. This week's top ten has more familiar faces than last week's. Rashad Jennings, Zac Stacy, and Andre Ellington all cracked the top ten this week. Jennings' matchup against the Falcons is great. They have allowed the most rushing touchdowns this season (9), which is almost double what the team with second most has allowed. Ellington is an every down back that can both run, and catch the ball. Even if the Cardinals fall behind, he will be used out of the backfield to catch passes. The volume he receives is important. Not to mention the Broncos have allowed four rushing touchdowns in three games.

Right outside the top 10 is Jamaal Charles. After missing Week 3, Charles put on a show on Monday night against the Patriots in Week 4. It appears he's back, but this is a tough matchup at San Francisco. The Niners have allowed just one rushing touchdown this season, and are allowing just 69.8 rushing yards per games. There are some backs in the top 20, such as Fred Jackson and Matt Asiata that may leave you wondering why they are so high this week. Yes, Jackson plays the Lions, which is a tough run defense, but let's face it, the Bills have more trust in Jackson then they do in Spiller in all aspects of the game, especially in the pass protection. With Kyle Orton as the Bills starting QB, Jackson will see a lot of short passes thrown his way. Asiata is purely based on volume. Even when the Vikings have trailed, Asiata remains a focal point in their offense. The Vikings will likely try to keep the Packers offense off the field, which means a lot of running plays.

Surprisingly Alfred Morris is outside of the top twenty, but I'm tempering my expectations against a stingy Seahawks run defense. A player you're seeing move up in the rankings weekly is Bishop Sankey. The Titans are little by little handing him the keys to the run game. One of the biggest changes in the rankings is Donald Brown. Last week he had a great matchup against the Jaguars, but was unable to capitalize on the opportunity. He carried the ball 10 times for 19 yards. This week he takes on the No. 3 ranked defense.