Week 9 Fantasy Football Defensive Matchup Exploitation: RB

Danny Woodhead
Danny Woodhead
Oct 20 2013 Jacksonville FL USA San Diego Chargers running back Danny Woodhead 39 runs in open field in the second quarter of their game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at EverBank Field Phil Sears USA TODAY Sports

With another hellish six-team bye week upon us, you likely had to scramble to replace the likes of Reggie Bush, Frank Gore, and Knowshon Moreno in your lineups. Worse, guys like Alfred Morris, Fred Jackson, Pierre Thomas, Darren Sproles, Lamar Miller, and Mike James are facing incredibly difficult matchups and Arian Foster, C.J. Spiller, and Zac Stacy could all be out with injury.

Luckily, players like Danny Woodhead, Ryan Mathews, DeMarco Murray (if healthy), Gio Bernard, Chris Johnson, Eddie Lacy, Adrian Peterson, Le’Veon Bell, and Ray Rice all have great matchups and are must-starts this week. Stevan Ridley, LeSean McCoy, Jamaal Charles, Marshawn Lynch, and Darren McFadden all make for strong starts as well. The Packers have either been terrible or stingy so it’s tough to tell what Matt Forte will do but he remains a must-start as always.

Let’s look at all of this week’s running back matchups.

Browse Matchups by Position: QBRBWRTE

Highly Unfavorable, Unfavorable, Neutral, Slightly Favorable, Favorable

Rank
vs
RB

AVG
RB
FPS
Allowed

Defense

Week 9 Opponents

1

12.01 Chargers Alfred Morris, Roy Helu

2

12.03 Ravens Chris Ogbonnaya, Willis McGahee, Fozzy Whittaker

3

12.76 Chiefs Fred Jackson, Tashard Choice, C.J. Spiller (Q)

4

12.89 Jets Pierre Thomas, Darren Sproles, Khiry Robinson

5

13.19 Cardinals BYE

6

13.61 Bengals Lamar Miller, Daniel Thomas

7

13.75 Seahawks Mike James, Brian Leonard

8

13.90 Colts Arian Foster (Q), Ben Tate (Q), Deji Karim, Ray Graham, Dennis Johnson

9

14.33 Bills Jamaal Charles

10

14.74 Packers Matt Forte

11

15.03 Panthers Steven Jackson, Jacquizz Rodgers, Jason Snelling

12

15.53 Eagles Darren McFadden, Marcel Reece

13

15.55 Giants BYE

14

15.83 Buccaneers Marshawn Lynch

15

16.03 Raiders LeSean McCoy

16

16.67 Falcons DeAngelo Williams, Mike Tolbert, Jonathan Stewart (Q)

17

17.23 Lions BYE

18

17.44 Saints Chris Ivory, Bilal Powell

19

17.50 Texans Trent Richardson, Donald Brown

20

17.85 Patriots Le’Veon Bell

21

18.20 49ers BYE

22

18.84 Broncos BYE

23

18.88 Browns Ray Rice

24

18.88 Cowboys Adrian Peterson

25

19.56 Steelers Stevan Ridley, LeGarrette Blount, Brandon Bolden

26

20.16 Titans Zac Stacy (Q), Daryl Richardson, Isaiah Pead

27

20.20 Bears Eddie Lacy, James Starks

28

20.40 Rams Chris Johnson

29

22.34 Dolphins Gio Bernard, BenJarvus Green-Ellis

30

23.89 Vikings DeMarco Murray (Q), Joseph Randle

31

23.90 Jaguars BYE

32

23.97 Redskins Ryan Mathews, Danny Woodhead

*Values based on Yahoo standard scoring.

Browse Matchups by Position: QBRBWRTE

author avatar
Igor Derysh
Igor Derysh is Editor-at-Large at XN Sports and has been featured in The Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Boston Herald, Baltimore Sun, Orlando Sun-Sentinel, and FantasyPros. He has previously covered sports for COED Magazine, Fantasy Alarm, and Manwall.com.