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 20-16.
Fantasy Running Back Rankings 20-16
#20 Toby Gerhart
| Year | Age | Team | G | R-Att | Yards | TD | Avg | Rec | Yards | Avg | TD | Tar | Fum | Fum lost |
| 2011 | 24 | Min | 16 | 109 | 531 | 1 | 4.9 | 23 | 190 | 8.3 | 3 | 28 | 1 | 0 |
| 2012 | 25 | Min | 16 | 50 | 169 | 1 | 3.4 | 20 | 155 | 7.8 | 0 | 27 | 2 | 2 |
| 2013 | 26 | Min | 14 | 36 | 283 | 2 | 7.9 | 13 | 88 | 6.8 | 0 | 19 | 1 | 1 |
Gerhart gets a chance to showcase his talents in Jacksonville, now that he is out of the shadow of Adrian Peterson. Although his attempts were limits, he was successful when on the field. He averaged an absurd 7.9 yards per carry last year. The problem is the Jags running back job is not a dream job. The big question is how Toby Gerhart will do in a full time role. This is a high risk high reward pick. If you have safe picks in the two rounds, he may be worth a chance in the 3rd or 4th round. Just know that this experiment could go two different ways.
Chuck Amspacher – @Captain_LWOS
#19 Ryan Mathews
| Year | Age | Team | G | R-Att | Yards | TD | Avg | Rec | Yards | Avg | TD | Tar | Fum | Fum lost |
| 2011 | 24 | SD | 14 | 222 | 1091 | 6 | 4.9 | 50 | 455 | 9.1 | 0 | 59 | 5 | 2 |
| 2012 | 25 | SD | 12 | 184 | 707 | 1 | 3.8 | 39 | 252 | 6.5 | 0 | 56 | 2 | 2 |
| 2013 | 26 | SD | 16 | 285 | 1255 | 6 | 4.4 | 26 | 189 | 7.3 | 1 | 33 | 2 | 1 |
Ryan Matthews had a breakout season in 2013. After suffering with injuries since he was drafted in 2010, Matthews rushed for over 1200 yards and 6 touchdowns last year. Matthews will look to kick on in 2014 and better those totals. The use of Danny Woodhead by the chargers in passing downs does limit Matthews value as he put up less than 200 yards total receiving yards in 2013.
Robert Mitchell – @LWOSRob
#18 Bishop Sankey – R
In his final two years at Washington, Sankey dished up a hefty total of 3,309 rushing yards and a jaw-dropping 36 touchdowns. Granted this was amongst kids trying to make it into the NFL, but his speed and shiftiness are undeniable. The Titans have solidified their offensive line and shipped perennial 1,000 yard rusher Chris Johnson out of town, leaving Sankey to contend with the plodding and lackluster Shonn Greene. In his debut, Sankey racked up 75 total yards and a score on very limited time.
Casey Bowman – @LWOSCaseyBow
#17 Reggie Bush
| Year | Age | Team | G | R-Att | Yards | TD | Avg | Rec | Yards | Avg | TD | Tar | Fum | Fum lost |
| 2011 | 26 | Mia | 15 | 216 | 1086 | 6 | 5 | 43 | 296 | 6.9 | 1 | 52 | 4 | 2 |
| 2012 | 27 | Mia | 16 | 227 | 986 | 6 | 4.3 | 35 | 292 | 8.3 | 2 | 52 | 4 | 2 |
| 2013 | 28 | Det | 14 | 223 | 1006 | 4 | 4.5 | 54 | 506 | 9.4 | 3 | 80 | 5 | 4 |
Bush was startlingly effective during several weeks during 2013, his 1st season in Detroit. He only accounted for four rushing TDs last season, but his ability to rack up huge yardage rushing and receiving made him a reliable RB1 last season. Greatest strength: still a do-it-all game-breaking threat from anywhere on the field. Biggest weakness: small, and appears headed toward more of a job share situation with Joique Bell, who is a stronger runner between the tackles.
Donald King – @dbking65
#16 C.J. Spiller
| Year | Age | Team | G | R-Att | Yards | TD | Avg | Rec | Yards | Avg | TD | Tar | Fum | Fum lost |
| 2011 | 23 | Buf | 16 | 107 | 561 | 4 | 5.2 | 39 | 269 | 6.9 | 2 | 53 | 2 | 0 |
| 2012 | 24 | Buf | 16 | 207 | 1244 | 6 | 6 | 43 | 459 | 11 | 2 | 57 | 3 | 3 |
| 2013 | 25 | Buf | 15 | 202 | 933 | 2 | 4.6 | 33 | 185 | 5.6 | 0 | 40 | 4 | 1 |
Whether it was based on sheer optimism or validity, CJ Spiller was drafted largely in the first round in the 2013 season. A lot of the hype came from Offensive Coordinator Nathaniel Hackett as he threatened to feed Spiller (carries) until he threw up. Anyways, many selected him early and many cursed religious deities for approximately four months. Now that we’ve all learned that Spiller is not a bell cow and cooled our jets, we can comfortably use a third or fourth round pick and not have to set such a heavy expectation on him. He’s still the same dynamic back that he was a couple years ago, now with a reasonable price tag. One concern from last year that should be solved is that CJ only visited the end zone two times last year. The question remains, how effective is EJ Manuel?
Casey Bowman – @LWOSCaseyBow
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