Welcome to the LWOS Fantasy Department’s Official Fantasy Football Rankings. We will release our rankings and player profiles over the next few weeks to get you prepared for your 2014 fantasy football draft. Everyday we will be releasing either a group of player profiles with their rankings or articles that will provide you with outstanding fantasy advice. Take a second to bookmark the site so you can check back daily.  Follow our departments twitter account @lwosfantasy for info, updates, and advice. We are going to work hard for you, to make sure you get to have the Last Word on Your Fantasy League. Click here for all our fantasy articles and rankings. Today we have fantasy running back rankings 35-31.

Fantasy Running Back Rankings 35-31

#35 Terrance West – R

Sure, Terrance West is high on our list at 35. Most people don’t have him inside their top 50. However, we figure Cleveland will be running a lot this year to help break in either Hoyer or Manziel. Add in the expected starting RB Ben Tate’s durability issues (he has been on the Texan’s injury report 80% of the time over the past four years), and West is set for a decent fantasy season. Either he compliments Tate often in order to make sure that Tate doesn’t get injured, or Tate gets injured and West becomes the starting RB. I like Ben Tate, and he is really talented when healthy, but I would always draft the man behind Tate just in case. Terrance West is absolutely worth a spot on your bench.

Jack Hammond – @jayhamm26

#34 DeAngelo Williams

Year	Age	Team	G	R-Att	Yards	TD	Avg	Rec	Yards	Avg	TD	Tar	Fum	Fum lost
2011	28	Car	16	155	836	7	5.4	16	135	8.4	0	25	0	0
2012	29	Car	16	173	737	5	4.3	13	187	14	2	20	2	2
2013	30	Car	15	201	843	3	4.2	26	333	13	1	36	3	2

DeAndgelo Williams is the definition of a high floor, low ceiling running back this year. Although he should produce solid numbers most weeks, with a few big games, he is unlikely to win you your fantasy league. Last year was his first with more than 1000 yards from scrimmage since 2009, and it is hard to see him repeating that now he is 31 with a weakened offensive line. He is also limited due to Cam Newton and Mike Tolbert’s domination of the goal line touches. But with Johnathan Stewart’s injury history, he should be the lead back in Carolina and see a decent amount of touches as a result. Although he is the antithesis of a break-out candidate, DeAngelo Williams is still worth drafting and keeping an eye on if you are short at RB.

Nick Frost – @N1CKF5

#33 Lamar Miller

Year	Age	Team	G	R-Att	Yards	TD	Avg	Rec	Yards	Avg	TD	Tar	Fum	Fum lost
2012	21	Mia	13	51	250	1	4.9	6	45	7.5	0	8	0	0
2013	22	Mia	16	177	709	2	4	26	170	6.5	0	35	1	1

After a sorely disappointing 2013 season, Miller will get a second chance at proving his worth. He’ll have to share the backfield with Knowshown Moreno until he can establish that he is ahead of his counterpart.  Both guys have similar skill sets, but one of them is coming off a terrific year with Peyton Manning. Either way, the biggest obstacle for either back is the fact that the o-line has been dismantled. It is in complete reconstruction phase and it will be difficult to predict when they’ll perform at a high level again, so keep Miller in mind after your running back and flex positions have been filled.

Casey Bowman – @LWOSCaseyBow

#32 Pierre Thomas

Year	Age	Team	G	R-Att	Yards	TD	Avg	Rec	Yards	Avg	TD	Tar	Fum	Fum lost
2011	26	NO	16	110	562	5	5.1	50	425	8.5	1	59	1	1
2012	27	NO	15	105	473	1	4.5	39	354	9.1	1	53	0	0
2013	28	NO	16	147	549	2	3.7	77	513	6.7	3	84	2	1

Pierre Thomas was a solid flex option in 2013 as he is utilized in the New Orleans Saints screen game as well as being able to run the ball well between the tackles. With 77 catches he was one of Drew Brees’s top targets. However, due to the emergence during the playoffs of Mark Ingram and Khiry Robinson, Thomas’s role looks to be limited as the Saints operate a running back by committee. Thomas could be a decent bye week fill in as he always has the potential to take a screen pass for a touchdown.

Robert Mitchell – @LWOSRob

#31 Trent Richardson

Year	Age	Team	G	R-Att	Yards	TD	Avg	Rec	Yards	Avg	TD	Tar	Fum	Fum lost
2012	20	Cle	15	267	950	11	3.6	51	367	7.2	1	70	3	0
2013	21	Cle/Ind	16	188	563	3	3.0	35	316	9.0	1	52	2	1

Trent Richardson’s yards per carry (YPC) has been a widely debated issue amongst fantasy analysts everywhere. He has only exceeded the 4.0 YPC mark six times in the 31 regular season games that he has played in the NFL. Bottom line: It is absolutely atrocious. To be fair, Richardson didn’t have the most stable of coaching in Cleveland, and then he was shipped off to Indianapolis to learn a complicated Pep Hamilton offense. Our hope is that once the season takes off and Chuck Pagano’s “Rolling Ball of Butcher Knives” gains a head full of steam, that the playbook is learned and the defenders get burned. If you can get T-Rich late, you could be looking at lost treasure.

Casey Bowman – @LWOSCaseyBow

 

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