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M. Jones-Drew - RB 
J. Posada - C 
Bye-week handcuffs for stud RBs
| By David Gonos | about 2 months ago | NFL | | 2 | Comments | |
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When people think of bye weeks in an NFL schedule, they usually only consider them enough to know not to draft two players at the same position with the same bye week. We’re going to take that one step further. Below, I’ve looked at the bye weeks for the top 12 running backs coming off the draft boards. Then I examined the other matchups going on during their bye weeks to determine which backup fantasy running backs will be facing poor rushing defenses. By drafting from this second group of players later in your draft, you are hedging your bet on your stud, to make sure you have a solid matchup replacing him in your fantasy lineup.
If you are lucky enough to draft Chris Johnson with the No. 1 overall draft pick, you should strongly consider taking New England’s Laurence Maroney near Round 10 as your RB4. During C.J.’s Week 9 bye, Maroney has a great matchup against the Browns, who were one of five teams to allow more than 140 rushing yards per game in 2009.
First, here are the teams with the worst rushing defenses from last season, and where they ranked: 25. Detroit; 26. Denver; 27. St. Louis; 28. Cleveland; 29. Oakland; 30. Buffalo; 31. Kansas City; 32. Tampa Bay.
Below are the bye weeks for the best fantasy RBs, along with which fantasy RBs (expected to be drafted in Round 4 or later) have the best matchups against weak defenses. The players are ranked according to how I think they’ll produce in that given week compared to the other players in the list.
Week 4
Byes: Adrian Peterson, MIN
Justin Forsett, SEA at STL: Only a handful of teams scored fewer than Seattle’s seven rushing TDs in ’09. They could rack up a couple TDs against the Rams. Forsett had 130 yards and two TDs in his last game in St. Louis.
Ben Tate, HOU at OAK: Only two teams rushed for fewer yards per game than Houston last year, which is why the rookie out of Auburn was drafted.
Week 5
Byes: Rashard Mendenhall, PIT
Joseph Addai, IND vs. KC: Granted, you’re going to have to take Addai or Best in the fourth round, a little pricey for an RB3.
Jahvid Best, DET vs. STL: You might get lucky with Best falling a couple rounds, which makes him a great Mendenhall bye-week handcuff.
Week 6
Byes: Cedric Benson, CIN; DeAngelo Williams, CAR
Ben Tate, HOU vs. KC: The Chiefs ranked 31st in rushing defense in ’09, and they allowed formerly unknown Browns RB Jerome Harrison to run for 286 yards against them in Week 15.
Reggie Bush, NO at TB: The Bucs drafted size for the D-line because they allowed an NFL-high 158.2 rushing ypg.
Ahmad Bradshaw, NYG vs. DET: While DT Ndamokung Suh is sure to make some sort of difference on this defense, Week 6 might be too soon. The Giants’ Bradshaw should have his best game of the season in Motown.
Darren Sproles, SD at STL: The diminutive backup to rookie Ryan Mathews will certainly see plenty of looks against a defense that allowed 24 TDs in ’09 (tied for worst).
Week 7
Byes: Shonn Greene, NYJ
Cadillac Williams, TB vs. STL: The Bucs don’t have many weapons, but their offensive line is actually one of the better ones in the league.
Willis McGahee, BAL vs. BUF: Going up against his former team, the Ravens’ goal-line back should produce solid numbers.
Reggie Bush, NO vs. CLE: Pierre Thomas will have a big game, as will his third-down counterpart.
Week 8
Byes: Ray Rice, BAL; Michael Turner, ATL
Clinton Portis, WAS at DET: Time for the Redskins to get revenge for bailing out the Lions last year. Portis had just 42 rushing yards against them last year, but now they have Mike Shanahan and Donovan McNabb.
C.J. Spiller, BUF at KC: Teams chose the path of least resistance (Chiefs rush defense) by rushing 33.2 times per game against them last season – third-highest in the league.
Justin Forsett, SEA at OAK: The Raiders let eight different running backs rush for over 100 yards against them last year.
Tim Hightower, ARI vs. TB: Matt Leinart should be comfortable in the passing game by now, giving Hightower more work out of the backfield.
Week 9
Byes: Chris Johnson, TEN; Maurice Jones-Drew, JAC; Frank Gore, SF; Steven Jackson, STL
Laurence Maroney, NE at CLE: He’s as inconsistent as they get, but the Browns rush defense has been 27th or worse for six straight seasons. Now THAT’s consistency!
Darren McFadden, Michael Bush vs. KC: Run DMC rushed for a TD against the Chiefs last year, and Bush tallied 119 yards on 14 carries in Week 10.
Chester Taylor, CHI at BUF: The Bills defense is switching to a 3-4 scheme, but will they have it perfected by midseason enough to stop Matt Forte and Taylor?
LaDainian Tomlinson, NYJ at DET: Does New York rejuvenate L.T.? Can Shonn Greene stay healthy as the full-time starter all season?
Week 10
Byes: Ryan Grant, GB
C.J. Spiller, BUF vs. DET: Rookie running back vs. bad rushing defense times two. Spiller and Best try to top each other.
Jahvid Best, DET at BUF: (Best will probably be injured by this game: Advantage Spiller.
LaDainian Tomlinson, NYJ at CLE: L.T. led the Chargers in rushing against the Browns last season (64 yards, 1 TD).
Category: NFL
Tags:
Joseph Addai, Donovan McNabb, Matt Leinart, Michael Turner, Laurence Maroney, Ryan Grant, Adrian Peterson, Chester Taylor, Jerome Harrison, Angelo Williams, Pierre Thomas, Steven Jackson, Cedric Benson, Darren Sproles, LaDainian Tomlinson, Maurice Jones-Drew, Clinton Portis, Ahmad Bradshaw, Frank Gore, Michael Bush, Chris Johnson, Matt Forte, Darren McFadden, Reggie Bush, Tim Hightower, Rashard Mendenhall, Justin Forsett, Willis McGahee, Ray Rice, C.J. Spiller, Shonn Greene, Jahvid Best, Ben Tate, Ryan Mathews
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alscherer (07/24/2010 at 1:54pm ET)
1 Hi, Thanks for the info. Nice article. Minor typo: You've got the matchup right but Chester Taylor is in CHI (not MIN).
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twitter_5971152 (07/24/2010 at 3:09pm ET)
2 @alscherer - Another good catch, I did go back and check to make sure that it was indeed the Bears playing the Bills in Week 9. Thanks!
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