Week 7 Fantasy Football Defensive Matchup Exploitation: RB

Brandon Jacobs
Brandon Jacobs
Oct 10 2013 Chicago IL USA New York Giants running back Brandon Jacobs 34 reacts after scoring a touchdown during the first half at Soldier Field Mike DiNovo USA TODAY Sports

Last week, Eddie Lacy bucked the trend against the Ravens, rushing for over 100 yards but the Jets, Chargers, and Seahawks defense remained vicious against the run game. It’s not an exact science but, more often than not, the tough defense will stop even the best running back in his tracks.

This week, Le’Veon Bell faces a tough test in the Ravens after being held to 16 carries for 34 yards against the Jets. I’d avoid him if possible. The same goes for Stevan Ridley, Maurice Jones-Drew, and Zac Stacy, and any of the running backs in Arizona or Atlanta. Marshawn Lynch is a tough start, Arizona has held Reggie Bush, Darren Sproles, Pierre Thomas, and DeAngelo Williams under seven fantasy points. Frank Gore put up 10.1 FPS against them last week, the most they’ve allowed.

You have to start Arian Foster against the tough Chiefs D, though, he’s been eating up defenses all season.

Otherwise, Knowshon, Lamar Miller, Doug Martin, and Jamaal Charles are all very startable against their unfavorable matchups.

On the flip side, Brandon Jacobs looks like a decent play against the Vikings who haven’t stopped anyone this year. DeAngelo Williams, Matt Forte, LeSean McCoy, and Danny Woodhead are all must-starts this week. I wouldn’t play Trent Richardson against the Broncos defense with the likelihood of having to pass a lot if they’re down early (plus TRich has been rough).

Let’s take a look at all of the fantasy football running back matchups this week.

Browse Defensive Matchups by Position: QBRBWRTE

 Highly Unfavorable, Unfavorable, Neutral, Slightly Favorable, Favorable

Rank
vs
RB

AVG
RB
FPS
Allowed

Defense

Week 7 Opponents

1

12.0 Ravens Le’Veon Bell, Felix Jones

2

12.33 Jets Stevan Ridley, Brandon Bolden, LeGarrette Blount

3

12.47 Chargers Maurice Jones-Drew

4

13.32 Seahawks Rashard Mendenhall, Andre Ellington

5

13.48 Buccaneers Jacquizz Rodgers, Jason Snelling, Steven Jackson (Q)

6

13.6 Chiefs Arian Foster, Ben Tate

7

13.88 Cardinals Marshawn Lynch

8

14.3 Colts Knowshon Moreno, Ronnie Hillman

9

14.37 Bengals Reggie Bush, Joique Bell

10

14.46 Packers Willis McGahee, Chris Ogbonnaya

11

15.5 Bills Lamar Miller, Daniel Thomas

12

15.64 Panthers Zac Stacy, Daryl Richardson, Isaiah Pead

13

15.7 Falcons Doug Martin

14

15.9 Eagles Joseph Randle, Philip Tanner

15

16.38 Raiders BYE

16

17.40 Texans Jamaal Charles

17

17.83 Saints BYE

18

17.93 Patriots Bilal Powell, Chris Ivory

19

18.22 Bears Alfred Morris, Roy Helu

20

18.27 Browns Eddie Lacy

21

18.4 Giants Adrian Peterson

22

18.92 Cowboys LeSean McCoy

23

19.38 Titans Frank Gore, Kendall Hunter

24

19.38 49ers Chris Johnson

25

19.42 Broncos Trent Richardson, Donald Brown

26

20.17 Lions Gio Bernard, BenJarvus Green-Ellis

27

20.92 Steelers Ray Rice

28

21.15 Jaguars Danny Woodhead, Ryan Mathews

29

21.54 Redskins Matt Forte

30

22.16 Dolphins C.J. Spiller, Fred Jackson

31

23.82 Rams DeAngelo Williams, Mike Tolbert

32

23.88 Vikings Brandon Jacobs, Michael Cox, Peyton Hillis

*Values based on Yahoo standard scoring.

Browse Defensive 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.