Adrian Peterson and C.J. Anderson blew by other running backs in fantasy football in week 12.
Peterson proved again why he was the most deserving No. 1 pick in fantasy football this season with a 30-point performance against the Atlanta Falcons. Anderson did his damage on the national stage with a big performance on Sunday night against the New England Patriots.
With Anderson seemingly back to his form from last year, he should be a solid start. Peterson will face a stingy Seattle defense, but he’s consistently the top start in fantasy football, so don’t think too much about his place on your team.
Here’s our week 13 start ’em, sit ’em guide for running backs in fantasy football.
Daily fantasy start of the week
LaGarrette Blount vs. Philadelphia Eagles
New England running backs are about as inconsistent as they come, but we have a good feeling about Blount this week against the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Eagles have been atrocious in recent weeks on the defensive side of the ball, with the major problems residing with their rush defense.
Not since week 6 have the Eagles allowed less than 100 yards rushing. We have to believe Bill Belichick will know that when gameplanning against Philadelphia.
With Blount, DFS players will get a player with a discounted price with the ability to earn the highest point total in week 13. The Patriots don’t have any weapons left on offense, so Blount will see far more action than normal. That’s why we’re banking on him seeing several touches this week against a hapless Eagles defense.
Start
Darren McFadden vs. Washington Redskins
Are you worried about McFadden’s fantasy value without quarterback Tony Romo?
Don’t be.
He was one of the bright spots on the offense without Romo in the lineup. Since taking over the majority of the duties at the running back position, McFadden has generated double-digit fantasy points in four of six games.
And despite his troubles last week at home against the Carolina Panthers in the rushing department, we’re not worried about this week’s game against the Redskins. Everyone is dismissing the Cowboys at this point, but we’re not ready to give up just yet. Dallas wasn’t that bad without Romo.
It competed well. It just couldn’t finish games.
We still believe in Dallas’ ability to compete well against the opposition, and with a game at Washington, we’re backing McFadden. The Redskins are fifth-worst against the run, allowing more than 125 yards per game on the ground.
Washington also allows 4.7 yards per carry, the fourth-highest amount in the NFL.
Don’t dismiss the Cowboys and McFadden just yet.
Javorius Allen vs. Miami Dolphins
Baltimore will keep playing hard. We’re confident in that.
With all the new people in the lineup, they’re auditioning for jobs. Miami, meanwhile, is not giving us any indication that it will give the Ravens its full focus.
Miami has been a dumpster fire this season and recently fired its offensive coordinator. And that defense isn’t getting any better. The Dolphins have allowed 138 yards per game this season on the ground, tied for the worst mark in the NFL with Cleveland.
That should open the door for Allen, who has gone for double-digit fantasy points in both games as a the main option for the Ravens. Don’t worry about the Ravens quitting. Allen will be competing for future playing time this month, so the Dolphins should have his full attention.
Daily fantasy sit of the week
Matt Forte vs. San Francisco 49ers
We believe the Bears should be able to do about anything against San Francisco on Sunday. So running the ball shouldn’t be an issue.
The only problem, though, is that Forte is splitting time with Jeremy Langford. And we don’t see an end to that.
His return this past week against Green Bay came with close to equal playing time with Langford. Head coach John Fox indicated we shouldn’t see an end to that equality anytime soon, either.
We don’t blame him with what Langford has given this team during Forte’s absence. If Forte wasn’t splitting time, we’d love him in this position.
However, with the absence of getting the lion’s share of the work, we don’t like Forte in DFS.
Sit
Antonio Andrews vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
The inconsistency of Tennessee’s running game, coupled with the Jaguars solid rush defense, is the reason why we’re avoiding Andrews this week.
During the first outing against Jacksonville, Andrews managed 94 total yards. We’re not expecting that same output this week.
Against Oakland’s porous rush defense, Andrews averaged less than 3 yards per carry last week. That’s about where we expect him this week.
We’re expecting more out of quarterback Marcus Mariota this week, so Andrews’ work will be limited. Jacksonville allows only 3.3 yards per carry, the lowest average in the NFL. While Jacksonville has done well against the run, it has been bad against the pass, allowing the seventh-most passing yards per game.
Go ahead and sit Andrews this week.
Lamar Miller vs. Baltimore Ravens
It seems like we’ve been here before. Despite Miller’s decent point totals this season, he’s been too touchdown-dependent to trust on a weekly basis.
Last week he managed just two yards rushing and is losing a considerable amount of snaps to rookie Jay Ajayi. Miller hasn’t rushed for more than 45 yards since week 7 and this week doesn’t look promising.
The Ravens own one of the better rush defenses in the NFL, allowing less than 100 yards per game. Running backs average less than 4 yards per carry, and with Miller’s recent struggles, he likely won’t get many opportunities to run the football.
We can’t trust the Dolphins, so stay away from Miller until he shows that he can stay in the game for longer periods of time.
