NFL: Preseason Fantasy Football Updates – Week One Running Backs
With the first week of preseason games in the books it is time to see how the running backs fared. It is tough to gauge how well a lot of starters play given the limited action they see in the first preseason game but here is a breakdown of how each team’s top rushers fared in their preseason openers.
Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings – Carried the ball four times for 20 yards in limited action against the Colts.
Clinton Portis, Washington Redskins – Did not play against the Ravens.
Thomas Jones, New York Jets – Struggled against the Rams defensive front picking up just 13 yards on 9 carries. He did score a touchdown though.
Matt Forte, Chicago Bears – Did not play against the Bills.
Michael Turner, Atlanta Falcons – Carried the ball six time for 63 yards including a 40-yard scoring run. Turner is out to show he is not a one-hit wonder and so far so good.
Frank Gore, San Francisco 49ers – Did not see any game action against the Broncos.
Steve Slaton, Houston Texans – Carried just four times for seven yards in limited action versus the Chiefs.
Chris Johnson, Tennessee Titans – Had just seven yards on seven carries versus the Bucs.
Ryan Grant, Green Bay Packers – Ran for 28 yards on six carries including a two-yard touchdown run. Grant is on a mission to prove he is one of the best backs in the game. The reports coming out of camp on Grant have him looking good thus far.
Derrick Ward, Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Ran for just 9 yards on four carries versus the Packers.
Brian Westbrook, Philadelphia Eagles – Westbrook is just getting back on the practice field and is not expected to play in the preseason, but all accounts have him looking pretty spry in practice.
LaDanian Tomlinson, San Diego Chargers – Actually played in the Chargers game against the Seahawks picking up 10 yards on four carries and catching a pass for 8 yards.
Marion Barber, Dallas Cowboys – Ran the ball for 13 yards on four carries in limited action against the Raiders.
Willie Parker, Pittsburgh Steelers – Parker did not play against Arizona.
Steven Jackson, St. Louis Rams – Carried the ball twice for 15 yards against the Jets.
Larry Johnson, Kansas City Chiefs – Carried the ball four times for 12 yards versus the Texans.
Marshawn Lynch, Buffalo Bills – Ran 5 times for 16 yards and caught three passes for 8 yards against the Bears.
Fred Taylor, New England Patriots – Taylor did not touch the ball in the preseason opener against Philadelphia.
Darren McFadden, Oakland Raiders – Carried the ball only 4 times but amassed 63 yards including a 45-yard scamper and caught a 9-yard pass as well.
Chris “Beanie” Wells, Arizona Cardinals – Wells, who is currently working his way back from an ankle injury, did not play against the Steelers.
Knowshon Moreno, Denver Broncos – The heir apparent to the starting job in Denver ran the ball three times for 18 yards but had to come out of the game with a sprained knee and is expected to miss the next couple of weeks .
Correll Buckhalter, Denver Broncos – Rand the ball four times picking up four yards. He currently sits atop the Broncos depth chart at running back and is likely to stay there as long as Moreno is nursing his knee injury.
Kevin Smith, Detroit Lions – Rushed 3 times for 12 yards against the Falcons.
Cedric Benson, Cincinnati Bengals – Ground out 28 yards on 8 carries against the Saints.
Pierre Thomas, New Orleans Saints – Picked up 15 yards on four carries against the Bengals.
Julius Jones, Seattle Seahawks – Ran for 15 yards on four carries versus the Chargers.
LenDale White, Tennessee Titans – Had just six yards on three carries.
Jamal Lewis, Cleveland Browns – Managed just 17 yards on seven carries against the Packers.
Joseph Addai, Indianapolis Colts – Had two carries for 13 yards.
Donald Brown, Indianapolis Colts – Put Addai on notice with 58 yards on five carries including a long of 38. The Colts took this kid for a reason with their top pick and if he keeps this up he will be taking a significant number of carries away from Addai.
Willis McGahee, Baltimore Ravens – Looked solid running the ball 4 times for 26 yards including a 16-yard scamper.
Ray Rice, Baltimore Ravens – Had a solid effort grinding out 22 yards on 5 carries and catching three balls for 38 yards.
Reggie Bush, New Orleans Saints – Ran for just five yards on three carries.
Darren Sproles, San Diego Chargers – Ran the ball four times for 11 yards and caught one pass for a yard versus the Seahawks.
Jerious Norwood, Atlanta Falcons – Norwood was solid carrying the ball 6 times for 26 yards against the Lions.
Felix Jones, Dallas Cowboys – Jones had one carry for 14 yards and caught a pass for another 9 yards.
Leon Washington, New York Jets – Carried the ball twice for 9 yards.
Chester Taylor, Minnesota Vikings – Ran for 31 yards and the game’s only touchdown with his four carries against Indy. He also caught a 13-yard pass.
Dominic Rhodes, Buffalo Bills – Gained 12 yards on five carries including a 3-yard touchdown run.
Earnest Graham, Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Earned just 1 yard on four carries.
LeSean McCoy, Philadelphia Eagles – The rookie back was a bright spot for the Eagles on offense scampering for 55 yards on 10 carries and catching a pair of passes for 12 yards. He looked every bit the back the Eagles thought they were getting when they drafted him.
Shonn Greene, New York Jets – Carried the ball 9 times for 45 yards including a long of 34. There is some talk of Greene putting Jones and Washington on notice with his performance, but, take away the 34-yarder and he only had 11 yards on his 8 other carries. Rex Ryan is going to want to see more consistency than that before he starts taking a significant number of touches away from Jones and Washington.
Ladell Betts, Washington Redskins – Struggled carrying the ball posting just seven yards on four carries. He did catch a pass for 12 yards however.
Laurence Maroney, New England Patriots – Maroney keeps digging himself deeper into Belichick’s dog house each season and needs to have a strong camp if he wants to be one of the top two backs this season. He picked up just 14 yards on six carries.
Antonio Pittman, St. Louis Rams – Turned in a solid effort running the ball four times for 36 yards including a 20-yard jaunt.
Rashard Mendenhall, Pittsburgh Steelers – Struggled against Arizona picking up just 24 yards on 9 carries
Tim Hightower, Arizona Cardinals – Carried the ball six times for 24 yards. Hightower is not expected to see as many touches this year with the presence of Wells.
Sammy Morris, New England Patriots – Morris ran for 45 yards on 12 carries against the Eagles. He is not expected to see as many carries as last season with Fred Taylor in the mix though.
Chris Brown, Houston Texans – Rushed for 25 yards on six carries including a touchdown run. He also grabbed a pair of throws for 22 yards.
Brandon Jackson, Green Bay Packers – Ran the ball well against Cleveland picking up 41 yards on 8 carries.
Peyton Hillis, Denver Broncos – Hillis rumbled for 49 yards on 10 carries including a long of 14 yards.
Tashard Choice, Dallas Cowboys – Carried the ball 8 times for 29 yards and caught a pass for seven yards.
Michael Bush, Oakland Raiders – Bush carried the ball twice for 18 yards.
Justin Fargus, Oakland Raiders – Fargus carried the ball one time for a two yard gain.
Aaron Brown, Detroit Lions – Carried 6 times for 47 yards including a 32-yard touchdown run and caught a pair of passes for 51 yards including a 45-yard touchdown catch.
Glenn Coffee, San Francisco 49ers – Staked his claim to the #2 spot behind Gore by running for 67 yards on 14 carries.
Kory Sheets, San Francisco 49ers – Sheets also ran well against Denver racking up 51 yards on 10 carries.
Tyrrell Sutton, Green Bay Packers – Ran wild on the Browns to the tune of 91 yards on 16 carries and is now rumored to be in the mix for the backup job behind Grant.
Javon Ringer, Tennessee Titans – The rookie back ran for 51 yards on seven carries including a 36-yard touchdown.
Samko Gado, St. Louis Rams – Made a compelling case for being Steven Jackson’s backup with 93 yards on six carries including a 77-yard sprint to the end zone.
Ian Johnson, Minnesota Vikings – The un-drafted free agent out of Boise State rambled for 50 yards on 9 carries and caught a pass for 9 yards.
Keon Lattimore, Dallas Cowboys – The rookie runner ran well galloping to 55 yards on 11 carries and catching a pair of passes for 14 yards. Lattimore is a long shot to make the Cowboys rotation at RB with the presence of Marion Barber, Felix Jones, and Tashard Choice.
Albert Young, Minnesota Vikings – Picked up 58 yards on 14 carries and caught three balls for 13 yards.
Gary Russell, Oakland Raiders – Carried the ball 11 times for 44 yards including a one-yard touchdown plunge.
Eldra Buckley, Philadelphia Eagles – Had sort of a mixed bag of a game he carried the ball 8 times for only 23 yards but the did score both of the Eagles touchdowns and was the game’s leading receiver with 6 catches for 56 yards.
Isaac Redman, Pittsburgh Steelers – Picked up only 32 yards on 10 carries but managed to score the Steelers only two touchdowns on the night.
