Welcome to the "Original" Dynasty Rankings Fantasy Football Blog

This blog was born out of a Dynasty Rankings thread originally begun in October, 2006 at the Footballguys.com message boards. The rankings in that thread and the ensuing wall-to-wall discussion of player values and dynasty league strategy took on a life of its own at over 275 pages and 700,000 page views. The result is what you see in the sidebar under "Updated Positional Rankings": a comprehensive ranking of dynasty league fantasy football players by position on a tiered, weighted scale. In the tradition of the original footballguys.com Dynasty Rankings thread, intelligent debate is welcome and encouraged.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Week 16: Updated Runningback Rankings

RUNNINGBACKS

TIER ONE
[100] Adrian Peterson® MIN 23.5
[99] LaDainian Tomlinson SD 29.2
[96] Steven Jackson STL 25.1
[95] Brian Westbrook PHI 29.0
[90] Frank Gore SF 25.2
[89] Joseph Addai IND 25.3

TIER TWO
[79] Marshawn Lynch® BUF 22.4
[77] Clinton Portis WAS 27.0
[77] #Reggie Bush NO 23.5
[75] Maurice Jones-Drew JAX 23.4
[74] [#]Willis McGahee BAL 26.9
[72] [#]Ronnie Brown MIA 26.7
[70] Marion Barber III DAL [R] 25.3

TIER THREE
[65] [#]Larry Johnson KC 28.8
[64] [#]Willie Parker PIT 27.8
[62] Laurence Maroney NE 23.5
[60] Brandon Jacobs NYG 26.2
[59] Ryan Grant GB 25.7

TIER FOUR
[49] Michael Turner SD (U) 26.5
[48] Ernest Graham TB 28.7
[48] Jamal Lewis CLE (U) 29.0
[46] DeAngelo Williams CAR 25.4
[40] LenDale White TEN 23.7
[36] [#]Kevin Jones DET 26.0
[35] Selvin Young® DEN 24.9

TIER FIVE
[27] Edgerrin James ARI 30.1
[25] Chester Taylor MIN 29.0
[25] Thomas Jones NYJ 30.0
[24] Jerious Norwood ATL 25.1
[22] Fred Taylor JAX 32.6
[21] Julius Jones DAL (U) 27.0
[20] #Rudi Johnson CIN [x] 28.9
[20] Travis Henry DEN [x] 29.8
[17] [#]Justin Fargas OAK (U) 28.6
[16] [#]Michael Bush® OAK 24.3
[16] [#]Kenny Irons® CIN 25.0

TIER SIX
[12] Shaun Alexander SEA [x] 31.0
[12] [#]Cedric Benson CHI 25.7
[11] [#]Deuce McAllister NO 29.7
[11] [#]Cadillac Williams TB 26.4
[10] Najeh Davenport PIT 29.6
[10] [#]Derrick Ward NYG [R] 28.1
[10] Chris Henry® TEN 23.3
[9] Lamont Jordan OAK [x] 29.8
[9] Ladell Betts WAS 29.0
[8] Kenny Watson CIN 30.6
[8] Leon Washington NYJ 26.0
[8] DeShaun Foster CAR 28.6

TIER SEVEN
[6] [#]Sammy Morris NE 31.5
[6] Kolby Smith KC 23.8
[6] Chris Brown TEN (U) 27.4
[5] Lorenzo Booker® MIA 24.3
[5] [#]Ricky Williams MIA [T] 31.3
[5] J.J. Arrington ARI 25.6
[4] Maurice Morris SEA 28.8
[4] Mewelde Moore MIN (U) 26.1
[4] Kenton Keith® IND 28.2
[4] Adrian Peterson CHI 29.2
[4] Ahmad Bradshaw® NYG 22.5
[4] Dominic Rhodes OAK [x] 29.6

TIER EIGHT
[3] Andre Hall DEN 26.1
[3] Fred Jackson BUF 27.6
[3] Darren Sproles SD 25.3
[3] Aaron Stecker NO (U) 32.8
[3] [#]Ahman Green HOU [x] 31.5
[3] Musa Smith BAL (U) 26.3
[3] Gary Russell® PIT 22.0
[3] Tatum Bell DET (U) 27.5
[3] Brandon Jackson® GB 22.9
[3] [#]Chris Perry CIN 26.7
[3] Darius Walker® HOU 23.6
[3] Jesse Chatman MIA (U) 29.0
[3] Ron Dayne HOU 30.5
[3] T.J. Duckett DET (U) 27.5

TIER NINE
[2] Antonio Pittman® STL 22.7
[2] Michael Robinson SF 25.5
[2] Brian Leonard® STL 24.6
[2] Pierre Thomas® NO 23.7
[2] Jerome Harrison CLE 25.5
[2] Garrett Wolfe® CHI 24.1
[2] Correll Buckhalter PHI 29.9
[2] Tony Hunt® PHI 22.8
[2] Vernand Morency GB [R] 28.6
[2] Michael Bennett TB 30.0
[2] [#]DeShawn Wynn® GB 24.9
[2] Dwayne Wright® BUF 25.3
[2] Michael Pittman TB 33.1

TIER TEN
[1] LaBrandon Toefield JAX (U) 28.0
[1] Warrick Dunn ATL [x] 33.7
[1] Jason Snellilng ATL 23.7
[1] Reuben Droughns NYG 30.0
[1] Samkon Gado MIA 25.8
[1] Maurice Hicks SF (U) 30.1
[1] Kevin Faulk NE 32.3
[1] Leonard Weaver SEA [R] 26.0
[1] Cecil Sapp DEN (U) 29.7
[1] Mike Bell DEN 25.4
[1] Marcel Shipp ARI 30.1
[1] [#]Ryan Moats PHI 25.7
[1] [#]Anthony Thomas BUF 30.8
[1] Patrick Cobbs MIA 25.6
[1] Jackie Battle ® KC 24.9
[1] Tyson Thompson DAL [R] 27.4
[1] Jason Wright CLE 26.2
[1] Heath Evans NE 29.6

CHANGES:
12/20/07 - Moved Justin Fargas back up slightly with Kiffin's plea to keep him
12/20/07 - Moved Willie Parker down; moved Najeh Davenport & Gary Russell up with Parker's injury
12/20/07 - Moved Steven Jackson up one tick
12/22/07 - Moved Deuce McAllister up slightly with news that he's unlikely to be released by Saints
12/22/07 - Moved Marion Barber up; moved DeAngelo Williams up; moved DeShaun Foster down
12/23/07 - Moved Brandon Jacobs & Ahmad Bradshaw up
12/23/07 - Moved Kevin Jones & Thomas Jones down
12/26/07 - Moved Rudi Johnson down; moved Kenny Watson up
12/26/07 - Added Jason Snelling; dropped Adimchinobe Echemandu

4 comments:

EdMcGon said...

You cannot rank AP ahead of LT! AP is far too injury prone to be relied upon over the course of a season, let alone over the next few years.

AP only outperformed LT four weeks this season (not counting bye weeks). Heck, AP only outperformed Joseph Addai five times this season.

There is another factor to be considered too: AP plays recklessly. Sure he's exciting to watch, but his style of play leads to him getting injured. A LOT!

Chris Wesseling said...

LT is going to be 29 years old going into the 2008 season. I know I don't have to tell you about the history of RBs over 28 years old in the NFL. It's not pretty. Tomlinson is special, and I'm sure the old rules don't all apply in the same way, but how many dominant seasons do you think he has left?

How many dominant seasons does Adrian Peterson have left? He's the most talented RB I've ever seen in the NFL. That's not hyperbole. It's simply the truth. He's head-and-shoulders above the rest of the guys on the field when he's out there.

Re: the injuries. I see nothing more than fluke injuries and a hard worker. He broke the freshman NCAA record for rushing yards *while playing with a separated shoulder*. That toughness speaks volumes when we know that NFL RBs often have to play injured and play well. He recently took two weeks off for knee surgery, rehabbed like a maniac, and was back on the field with 100+ yards and 2 TDs when most simply expected him to sit out the rest of the season.

There may well be a bit more risk involved with AP, but that's OK with me. I will ALWAYS stick my neck out for dominant talents in fantasy football, and Peterson is the most dominant talent I've ever seen at his position. Swing for the fences -- championship banners fly forever.

There's only one Adrian Peterson, and he's going to be a tremendous advantage over the next five seasons. You're job is to acquire him and build around him.

EdMcGon said...

Given the choice, I'd rather have Darren McFadden next year. ;)

Chris Wesseling said...

We're spoiled by Peterson's performance this year, and now we think the top rookie RB each year will come in and light the NFL on fire. Bush was supposed to be a once-in-a-generation talent, and now McFadden is being billed similarly. Neither are in Peterson's class as a pure runner.

Check out the most recent McFadden evaluation at nfldraftguys.com:

"Look, Darren McFadden is an excellent running back and is my top ranked RB in this class. But comparisons in terms of college domination or NFL readiness to Adrian Peterson, LaDanian Tomlinson or Reggie Bush are way off. He is the best back in the class, but not nearly as far above his peers as those 3 backs were in their class. He is also much less "bust proof" than those 3 (although some would say that Bush is a bust himself). I expect him to go #1 in almost all rookie drafts, but if you can get a real superstar for that pick, I would make the trade. He won't find as many straight lines or run away from as many defenders in the NFL."

I like McFadden too, but that's been my opinion of him all along. It's just another opinion, but I do think many people just don't appreciate how special Peterson is compared to other top RB draft picks.