All fantasy football managers look at different statistics when ranking players for their team rosters. We use these rankings to help us make decisions over who to start, what players to target in trades, free agency, and waivers, etc. Obviously, we are primarily focused at what the players will hopefully do for us going forward. However, it is important to also look backwards to see what they have done for us up to this point. This should give you an idea of what players have been valuable in your league's scoring system. It also lets you see how the players are utilized for their teams with rushing attempts, receiving targets,etc. And you also get a picture of the yardage produced by players in that position. While past performance is no guarantee of future results, it is still a good indication. Here are the important statistics pertaining to the running back position.
Fantasy Points (Yahoo! scoring system):
#1 Arian Foster - HOU (133.60); #2 Adrian Peterson - MIN (113.40); #3 Ray Rice - BAL (106.90); #4 Stevan Ridley - NE (104.70); #5 Trent Richardson - CLE (103.90); #6 Alfred Morris - WAS (103.20); #7 Marshawn Lynch - SEA (102.10); #8 Doug Martin - TB (100.70); #9 Frank Gore -SF (99.50); #10 C.J. Spiller - BUF (95.60); #11 Willis McGahee - DEN (92.00); #12 Shonn Greene - NYJ (90.00); #13 LeSean McCoy - PHI (89.80); #14 Ahmad Bradshaw - NYG (87.80); and #15 Jamaal Charles - KC (86.60).
Rushing Yards:
#1 Adrian Peterson - MIN (775); #2 Marshawn Lynch - SEA (757); #3 Alfred Morris - WAS (717); #4 Stevan Ridley - NE (716); #5 Arian Foster - HOU (659); #6 Frank Gore - SF (654); #7-tie Jamaal Charles - KC and Chris Johnson - TEN (595); #9 Ahmad Bradshaw - NYG (570); and #10 Willis McGahee - DEN (557).
Rushing Attempts:
#1 Arian Foster - HOU (168); #2 Marshawn Lynch - SEA (159); #3-tie Adrian Peterson - MIN and Alfred Morris - WAS (151); #5 Stevan Ridley - NE (150); #6 Shonn Greene - NYJ (139); #7 Darren McFadden - OAK (132); #8 Chris Johnson - TEN (131); #9 Doug Martin - TB (129); and #10-tie LeSean McCoy - PHI and Trent Richardson - CLE (127).
Rushing TDs:
#1 Arian Foster - HOU (9); #2-tie Ray Rice - BAL, Alfred Morris - WAS, Stevan Ridley - NE, Shonn Greene - NYJ, Trent Richardson - CLE, and Andre Brown - NYG (5); #8-tie Frank Gore - SF, Ahmad Bradshaw - NYG, Adrian Peterson - MIN, Willis McGahee - DEN, and C.J. Spiller - BUF (4).
Receptions:
#1 Darren Sproles - NO (39); #2-tie Darren McFadden - OAK and Ray Rice - BAL (29); #4 LeSean McCoy - PHI (28); #5-tie Dexter McCluster - KC and Ronnie Brown - SD (27); #7 Trent Richardson - CLE (25); #8 Adrian Peterson - MIN (23); #9-tie Willis McGahee - DEN, Mikel Leshoure - DET, Chris Ogbonnaya - CLE, Jacquizz Rodgers - ATL, and Joique Bell - DET (20).
Receiving Targets:
#1 Darren Sproles - NO (52); #2 Darren McFadden - OAK (45); #3 Ray Rice - BAL (42); #4 Dexter McCluster - KC (39); #5 LeSean McCoy - PHI (35); #6 Trent Richarson - CLE (34); #7 Ronnie Brown - SD (29); #8-tie Doug Martin - TB and Adrian Peterson - MIN (28); and #10 Ryan Mathews - SD (27).
Receiving TDs:
#1 Darren Sproles - NO (4); #2 LeSean McCoy - PHI (3); #3 Multiple Players (1).
Brian Music is one of five inaugural inductees to the 2011 Toyota Legends of Fantasy Football Hall of Fame on Yahoo! Sports. He has participated in fantasy football for 23 years and began playing Yahoo! fantasy football in 2001, winning trophies in 17 of the 25 leagues that he has played (including 9 League Championships), and placing in the Top 3 in Fantasy Points in 23 of the 25 leagues.
