If you own Jamaal Charles, he likely played a massive role in your fantasy team’s success. Unfortunately, Charles owners might suffer the biggest problem that plagues 17-week leagues: the Chiefs can’t help or hurt their standing so they may opt to rest starters or at least give them considerably lower workloads. That means there’s a good chance that Knile Davis gets the ball against a Chargers defense that allowed Charles to put up 157 total yards and two scores against them in Week 12. If this is your championship week, your relationship with Jamaal Charles may end up bittersweet after all.
On the other hand, it looks like every other healthy starting back is in line to play their normal workload.
The most favorable must-start matchups this week belong to Eddie Lacy, LeSean McCoy, Andre Brown, Marshawn Lynch, and Matt Forte, studs you’d start either way. DeAngelo Williams, Joique Bell, Reggie Bush, Chris Ivory, Donald Brown, Rashad Jennings, and Knowshon Moreno are all in line for solid fantasy days against beatable defenses as well.
On the flip side, stay away from Steven Jackson, Ray Rice, Lamar Miller, the Saints backs, the Cincy backs, and the 49ers backs this week.
Frank Gore has a tough matchup but he did rush for 101 yards against the Cardinals in their last matchup so you could chance it. The red hot Cards have kept Marshawn Lynch, Chris Johnson, Zac Stacy, LeSean McCoy, Maurice Jones-Drew, Steven Jackson, the Indy backfield, and the Houston backfield to fewer than 80 rushing yards over eight straight weeks, however.
Zac Stacy is another guy with a tough matchup but he did rush for 134 yards against the Hawks in their last matchup (Daryl Richardson added another 39) and the Rams lean on Stacy a ton so he’s startable.
Let’s take a look at all of this week’s fantasy football defensive matchups for running backs.
Browse Matchups by Position: QB – RB – WR – TE
Highly Unfavorable, Unfavorable, Neutral, Slightly Favorable, Favorable
|
Rank |
AVG |
Defense |
Week 17 Opponents |
|
1 |
11.72 | Cardinals | Frank Gore |
|
2 |
13.23 | Panthers | Steven Jackson |
|
3 |
13.46 | Bengals | Ray Rice |
|
4 |
14.23 | Seahawks | Zac Stacy |
|
5 |
14.3 | Jets | Lamar Miller, Daniel Thomas |
|
6 |
14.69 | Buccaneers | Darren Sproles, Pierre Thomas, Mark Ingram |
|
7 |
15.29 | Lions | Adrian Peterson (Q), Joe Banyard |
|
8 |
15.3 | Ravens | Giovani Bernard, BenJarvus Green-Ellis |
|
9 |
15.76 | 49ers | Rashard Mendenhall, Andre Ellington |
|
10 |
15.89 | Bills | Shane Vereen, LeGarrette Blount, Stevan Ridley |
|
11 |
16.37 | Chargers | Jamaal Charles, Knile Davis |
|
12 |
16.94 | Saints | Bobby Rainey |
|
13 |
17.2 | Colts | Maurice Jones-Drew, Jordan Todman |
|
14 |
17.29 | Eagles | DeMarco Murray |
|
15 |
18.13 | Giants | Alfred Morris, Roy Helu |
|
16 |
18.51 | Patriots | C.J. Spiller, Fred Jackson (Q) |
|
17 |
18.57 | Chiefs | Ryan Mathews, Danny Woodhead |
|
18 |
18.61 | Browns | Le’Veon Bell |
|
19 |
18.86 | Texans | Chris Johnson, Shonn Greene |
|
20 |
19.03 | Steelers | Edwin Baker, Chris Ogbonnaya |
|
21 |
19.31 | Packers | Matt Forte |
|
22 |
19.69 | Broncos | Rashad Jennings, Darren McFadden, Marcel Reece |
|
23 |
19.71 | Jaguars | Donald Brown, Trent Richardson |
|
24 |
20.09 | Dolphins | Chris Ivory, Bilal Powell |
|
25 |
20.25 | Vikings | Joique Bell (Q), Reggie Bush |
|
26 |
20.57 | Falcons | DeAngelo Williams, Mike Tolbert |
|
27 |
21.02 | Rams | Marshawn Lynch |
|
28 |
21.19 | Raiders | Knowshon Moreno, Montee Ball |
|
29 |
22.56 | Titans | Jonathan Grimes, Ray Graham |
|
30 |
22.81 | Redskins | Andre Brown |
|
31 |
24.24 | Cowboys | LeSean McCoy |
|
32 |
24.53 | Bears | Eddie Lacy |
*Values based on Yahoo standard scoring.
Browse Matchups by Position: QB – RB – WR – TE
