Week 7 Rankings: Runningbacks

"This might be the first week this season that we're not coming off of a major runningback injury. Hurrah!

"Doesn't matter, there's still six starting runningbacks sitting out," says the Bye Week From Hell.

Oh well. Enjoy!"

I wrote what you see above on Wednesday morning. Since then, several have been supposedly ruled out: Ahmad Bradshaw, Ben Tate, Rashard Mendenhall AND Isaac Redman.

Personally, Andre Brown replaces Bradhsaw on the list but drops a few places. Jonathan Dwyer, who will likely start for Pittsburgh, takes Mendy's place while Baron Batch would take Redman's. Best of luck.

Rank	Runningback	Opp	Comments
1	Arian Foster	BAL	Ravens' already-struggling run D is diminishing, and a returning Suggs may help, but Foster's at full strength.
2	Maurice Jones-Drew	@OAK	Oakland can't stop anybody. MJD is in for another big day.
3	Darren McFadden	JAC	See above. Reverse teams.
4	Ray Rice	@HOU	With Houston's pass defense exposed last week, they may try to play more conservatively.
5	Trent Richardson	@IND	Colts gave up a career day to Shonn Greene. Just imagine the things Richardson will do to them.
6	Chris Johnson	@BUF	Maybe I'm crazy, but Johnson's strung together some decent games now. He's bound to break out.
7	Matt Forte	DET	Detroit's going to have to throw three guys on Marshall to stop him. Forte will get his.
8	Adrian Peterson	ARI	I don't think he gets all that much done on this Cardinals defense. Also, after Week 1, zero TDs for AP.
9	Doug Martin	NO	Saints are the worst team against fantasy runningbacks. Martin's in for a career game.
10	Marshawn Lynch	@SF	I know he tore them up at the end of last year, but this is still a scary Niners defense.
11	CJ Spiller	TEN	Titans are fourth-worst against fantasy RBs and I think he'll have a better game than Freddy Jax.
12	Frank Gore	SEA	After Alex Smith showed off his liability last week, Harbaugh will go back to ground-and-pound.
13	Fred Jackson	TEN	See: Spiller, CJ. I just think Spiller gets more variety as far as opportunities.
14	Stevan Ridley	NYJ	Jets aren't that good against the run and they'll be more worried about Brady and the pass game.
15	Ahmad Bradshaw	WSH	Not a sure thing anymore. Plus Redskins not bad against run, and completely awful against the pass.
16	Darren Sproles	@TB	Will have to be a big component of a successful offense while the Bucs put up points.
17	Felix Jones	@CAR	Panthers are awful against the run and give up the most receiving yards to opposing RBs. You're up, Felix.
18	Rashard Mendenhall	@CIN	If he's good to go, there's no reason to sit him against ninth-worst Cincy.
19	Steven Jackson	GB	He's looking progressively worse every week and they'll be throwing a lot to keep pace.
20	Mikel Leshoure	@CHI	With Jahvid Best facing issues, Leshoure is the guy for the Lions. May struggle in Chicago, but he's the starter.
21	BenJarvus Green-Ellis	PIT	Clearly the Steelers aren't the shutdown defense they once were and there's no vulture in Cincy.
22	Alfred Morris	@NYG	I love the guy, but I just don't see how they'll be able to run all game. Limited carries coming.
23	Vick Ballard	CLE	Last week's letdown wasn't as much on Ballard is it was the offense in whole. He'll make up for it.
24	Alex Green	@STL	Showed his skills as a great head-down, power runner and it should pay off, especially in garbage time.
25	William Powell	@MIN	Vikings defense is terrifying, but they won't let Skelton throw and MIN won't be running away with it.
26	Shonn Greene	@NE	Don't let last week fool you. I may have called a big game, but he's not that good. Rougher matchup.
27	Michael Bush	DET	They won't let Forte handle the short yardage/goal-line work against this big Lions front 7.
28	Jonathan Stewart	DAL	I'm almost always against Panthers RBs not named "Cam Newton" and against Dallas, no different.
29	Montario Hardesty	@IND	Colts are that bad on D. If T-Rich gets hurt or the game gets out of hand, Hardesty will get a good chunk of work.
30	DeAngelo Williams	DAL	See: Stewart, Jonathan.
31	Isaac Redman	@CIN	Cincy not great at all against the run and if Mendy's still facing injury issues, Redman could be the guy.
32	Pierre Thomas	@TB	He could always have his quiet, unnoticed 100-yard games.
33	Toby Gerhart	ARI	Other seem to be higher on him than me, but I just don't see his worth as a backup against a tough matchup.
34	LeGarrette Blount	NO	Will still get the goal-line action over Martin and since the Saints D sucks, that might be quite often.
35	Phillip Tanner	@CAR	While Felix Jones is the clear starter in Murray's absence, I don't see him as an every-down back.
36	LaRod Stephens-Howling	@MIN	Powell impressed, but it's still a "runningback-by-committe" according to coach Ken Whisenhunt.
37	Daryl Richardson	GB	Packers defense is beatable but they'll have to throw a bunch. D-Rich's value is on the rise though.
38	Ben Tate	BAL	Ravens are surprisingly eleventh-worst against fantasy RBs. That was before Lewis and Ngata got hurt.
39	Danny Woodhead	NYJ	I can see Woodhead's role expanding into an Edelman-type position as long as Edelman's out.
40	Brandon Bolden	NYJ	I see Ridley doing very well, but Bolden still gets a good slice of the workload.
41	David Wilson	WSH	Redskins are great against the run and the G-Men will be throwing a lot.
42	Kendall Hunter	SEA	Could always break one big. If they go REALLY run-heavy, he'll get a good share.
43	Mark Ingram	@TB	Hope for some goal-line carries.
44	Mike Tolbert	DAL	See above. Expect less.
45	Mike Goodson	JAC	May see few carries but if game gets out of hand and DMC has produced, they'll rest him.
46	Jamie Harper	@BUF	They clearly are never giving up on Johnson but he could see some third-down action.
47	James Starks	@STL	Green's not the automatic go-to guy in Green Bay, so Starks, off the bench, could produce.
48	Robert Turbin	@SF	Can't expect too much from him at this point, but he's the next best backup.
49	Joique Bell	@CHI	Never know how the backfield plays out in Detroit as they search for that elusive starting RB.
50	Justin Forsett	BAL	All three Houston backs should get their share of carries.