The Late Round Quarterback staff put together their running back rankings for the 2013 season. The following rankings are based on standard scoring in redraft leagues, where each touchdown is worth six points and one point is rewarded for every 10 rushing or receiving yards.

Average Rank JJ Austan Chad Keith Phil Ladd Sal
Adrian Peterson 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Doug Martin 2 2 3 3 2 3 2 2
CJ Spiller 3 3 5 4 5 5 4 3
Jamaal Charles 4 4 9 2 4 4 3 4
Arian Foster 5 6 2 5 3 6 5 7
Marshawn Lynch 6 7 4 6 8 2 10 6
LeSean McCoy 7 5 7 8 7 8 9 8
Ray Rice 8 9 6 7 6 11 6 9
Trent Richardson 9 8 10 9 9 9 7 5
Alfred Morris 10 12 11 13 10 7 8 13
Matt Forte 11 11 12 11 11 12 11 11
Steven Jackson 12 10 13 10 12 13 13 10
Maurice Jones-Drew 13 13 8 16 13 10 14 14
Chris Johnson 14 16 15 14 14 16 15 16
Stevan Ridley 15 17 14 15 20 14 12 15
Darren McFadden 16 14 18 12 17 22 17 19
Frank Gore 17 19 16 18 19 17 18 20
DeMarco Murray 18 20 21 21 15 15 16 21
Darren Sproles 19 15 27 26 16 18 21 12
Reggie Bush 20 18 22 23 18 20 20 18
David Wilson 21 22 24 19 22 21 23 22
Chris Ivory 22 23 29 24 21 19 22 17
Lamar Miller 23 27 20 17 27 24 24 23
Vick Ballard 24 21 17 28 23 25 29 24
Le’Veon Bell 25 26 25 22 26 23 19 26
Ryan Mathews 26 25 19 20 25 27 27 28
Montee Ball 27 24 23 25 24 28 25 25
Rashard Mendenhall 28 28 28 33 32 29 28 31
Jonathan Stewart 29 30 31 30 30 30 30 29
Mark Ingram 30 29 32 29 35 34 31 30
Andre Brown 31 33 26 35 31 31 32 42
Giovani Bernard 32 34 39 27 33 33 34 33
BenJarvus Green-Ellis 33 32 30 40 28 26 33 32
Shane Vereen 34 31 37 38 29 38 42 27
Jonathan Franklin 35 39 35 32 41 32 36 40
Eddie Lacy 36 38 45 37 38 36 26 39
Mikel Leshoure 37 37 34 41 39 35 37 43
Bernard Pierce 38 36 40 42 37 37 38 37
Ben Tate 39 35 42 43 34 41 40 38
Zac Stacy 40 42 43 34 43 42 39 36
Bryce Brown 41 43 33 36 N/A 39 44 34
Isaiah Pead 42 44 44 31 46 47 35 35
Fred Jackson 43 41 36 39 44 45 41 41
Daryl Richardson 44 49 47 47 36 44 45 44
DeAngelo Williams 45 N/A 38 48 N/A 40 43 N/A
Danny Woodhead 46 40 48 N/A 42 N/A 46 46
Ryan Williams 47 45 N/A 45 40 N/A N/A 47
Shonn Greene 48 48 50 N/A 45 43 N/A N/A
Jacquizz Rodgers 49 46 N/A N/A 48 46 48 N/A
Pierre Thomas 50 50 46 N/A 47 48 47 N/A

Noteworthy Trends

There was absolutely no variance in the staff’s top running back choice. It’s Adrian Peterson, just like it should be.

The first considerable variance in the rankings, really, came with Jamaal Charles. Austan Kas penciled Charles in his list at number 9, while no other writer ranked him worse than number 4. I love JC of KC this year. He’s in line to get a ton of work – especially in the passing game – and should have no problem finishing as a top-5 fantasy back.

Another running back I love this year is Marshawn Lynch. I might be in the minority, but I think the development of Seattle’s offense, as a whole, will only mean good things for Lynch. I ranked him at number 2, but my fellow writers placed him in the 6 to 8 range.

You will also see that Foster is ranked as the 5th best back. Much of this has to do with his use in 2013. So again, he’s right where he should be.

The group seemed pretty divided on where Darren Sproles should be ranked. Sal Stefanile gave him a number 12 rank, Austan didn’t even give him an RB2 grade. I think this is pretty reflective of the entire fantasy football community, as I’ve seen a lot of varying opinions regarding Sproles in 2013. I personally see him as an RB2 option, even in standard leagues.

There are a couple of important rookie rankings that I would like to point out as we move lower on the list. As a group, the staff ranked Jonathan Franklin (just barely) ahead of Eddie Lacy. And Zac Stacy, the rookie back in St. Louis, is the highest ranked Rams running back. The Franklin move looks to be due to Lacy’s injury concerns, and Stacy seems to be a favorite with Isaiah Pead’s Week 1 suspension.

Chad Scott broke the mold when he ranked BenJarvus Green-Ellis at number 40. No other writer ranked him worse than 33, and some saw Green-Ellis as a really nice flex option. While BJGE might not be anything special, he gets the job done. And while Giovanni Bernard looks to be the running back of Cincinnati’s future, I don’t think Bernard will take over immediately. Green-Ellis should still see some volume in Cincinnati, at least over the first half of the season.

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