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Week 12 RB Rankings & Matchups: Thomas Rawls, Tevin Coleman, Javorius Allen, Danny Woodhead

By MN National Guard [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Below you will find our Week 12 running back rankings, to help determine your RB starts/sits for this week, brought to you by Edward Gorelik (@EdwardGorelik) and Zach Wilkens (@LopsidedTrades).

Featured fantasy football writer Zach Wilkens also highlights some RB rankings and matchups analysis for Week 12, and draws some matchup conclusions. He tells you who he likes, who he doesn't, and most importantly who he thinks you should be starting in Week 12.

You can also check out our 2015 fantasy football ranking dashboard, for more in depth rankings analysis on all positions including rookies and dynasty leagues.

Editor's Note: The FFPC Baby Gorilla Tournament is now open, featuring a $100,000 grand prize and a $675,450 total prize pool! This 12-team, Tight End Premium contest uses a 20-round draft format, with the overall winners determined by total points scored during Weeks 15–17. Get $25 to use toward your first entry by signing up through our link. Grab your team now! Sign Up Now!

 

Week 12 Fantasy Football Rankings - Running Backs

RotoBaller
Staff Ranks
Player Name
(Team - Position)
Zach Wilkens
Rankings
Ed Gorelik
Rankings
1 Adrian Peterson MIN at ATL 2 1
2 Doug Martin TB at IND 4 2
3 Todd Gurley STL at CIN 5 3
4 Mark Ingram NO at HOU 3 7
5 T.J. Yeldon JAC vs. SD 7 4
6 LeSean McCoy BUF at KC 8 8
7 DeMarco Murray PHI at DET 6 12
8 Chris Johnson ARI at SF 14 6
9 Lamar Miller MIA at NYJ 10 11
10 Danny Woodhead SD at JAC 1 21
11 Thomas Rawls SEA vs. PIT 13 10
12 Latavius Murray OAK at TEN 20 5
13 Darren McFadden DAL vs. CAR 17 9
14 Matt Forte CHI at GB 12 14
15 Christopher Ivory NYJ vs. MIA 11 17
16 Giovani Bernard CIN vs. STL 9 20
17 Jonathan Stewart CAR at DAL 18 13
18 DeAngelo Williams PIT at SEA 15 23
19 Javorius Allen BAL at CLE 24 15
20 Frank Gore IND vs. TB 26 19
21 Eddie Lacy GB vs. CHI 22 24
22 LeGarrette Blount NE at DEN 21 27
23 Jeremy Langford CHI at GB 34 16
24 Duke Johnson CLE vs. BAL 27 25
25 Antonio Andrews TEN vs. OAK 31 22
26 Ronnie Hillman DEN vs. NE 25 28
27 Charcandrick West KC vs. BUF 16 39
28 Theo Riddick DET vs. PHI 23 32
29 Tevin Coleman ATL vs. MIN 19 40
30 Shaun Draughn SF vs. ARI 30 30
31 Rashad Jennings NYG at WAS 28 36
32 Alfred Blue HOU vs. NO 47 18
33 James White NE at DEN 29 37
34 Ahmad Bradshaw IND vs. TB 35 34
35 Charles Sims TB at IND 32 38
36 Ameer Abdullah DET vs. PHI 46 26
37 C.J. Anderson DEN vs. NE 33 41
38 Shane Vereen NYG at WAS 45 33
39 James Starks GB vs. CHI 50 29
40 Karlos Williams BUF at KC 52 31
41 Jonathan Grimes HOU vs. NO 40 42
42 Spencer Ware KC vs. BUF 48 35
43 Darren Sproles PHI at DET 36 48
44 Jeremy Hill CIN vs. STL 38 46
45 Melvin Gordon SD at JAC 42 43
46 Bilal Powell NYJ vs. MIA 37 49
47 Matt Jones WAS vs. NYG 41 45
48 Andre Ellington ARI at SF 44 44
49 C.J. Spiller NO at HOU 39 53
50 Chris Thompson WAS vs. NYG 43 47
51 Isaiah Crowell CLE vs. BAL 49 57
52 Kyle Juszczyk BAL at CLE 50
53 Robert Turbin DAL vs. CAR 51
54 Orleans Darkwa NYG at WAS 51
55 David Cobb TEN vs. OAK 52
56 Jay Ajayi MIA at NYJ 53 55
57 Alfred Morris WAS vs. NYG 54 62
58 Joique Bell DET vs. PHI 54
59 Brandon Bolden NE at DEN 56
60 Stevan Ridley NYJ vs. MIA 58
61 Mike Tolbert CAR at DAL 59
62 Tre Mason STL at CIN 60
63 Marcel Reece OAK at TEN 61
64 Jerick McKinnon MIN at ATL 63
65 David Johnson ARI at SF 64
66 Fred Jackson SEA vs. PIT 65
67 Denard Robinson JAC vs. SD 66
68 Matt Asiata MIN at ATL 67
69 Kendall Gaskins SF vs. ARI 68
70 Terrance West BAL at CLE 69
71 Chris Polk HOU vs. NO 70

 

Week 12 Running Back (RB) Rankings Analysis

By Zach Wilkens (@LopsidedTrades)

We have a couple new starters this week at RB thanks to some injuries. Thomas Rawls isn’t new, as he’s making his 5th start this season, but now we know he’ll be around for a lot longer than anticipated.

In his four previous starts, he averaged just over 130 rushing yards. That is good enough to make him a top ten player and a must-start. Don’t get too excited though. The Steelers give up the fewest points to opposing RBs. I have Rawls at #10. If he has a big game here, he is likely a championship winner.

One of the starters that is new is Tevin Coleman, in replacement of Devonta Freeman. Freeman has officially been ruled out, so Coleman is the guy. Coleman had two starts early in the season before Freeman took over and had somewhat promising results.

In his first career game, he had a respectable 20 carries for 80 yards. And in his next, it was nine carries for 32 yards with his lone touchdown of the season. Since then he has played sparingly thanks to Freeman’s crazy breakout. It’s a tough matchup against the Vikings, but Coleman should see 18-20 touches. He definitely won’t provide Freeman numbers, but expect a solid RB2.

We also have Javorius Allen (also known as Buck Allen) of for Baltimore, in place of Justin Forsett. To date Allen has a 3.9 YPC on 64 carries with no touchdowns. He did have 115 yards from scrimmage last week, thanks to 27 touches.

Now that Joe Flacco is out, this offense is going to be really bad. That has both positives and negatives as the offense may put up very low yardage as a whole. Alternatively, it may just mean 30 touches for Allen even though he is an inexperienced rookie. Even if I don’t think he is very good, the touches make it worthwhile and he is an RB2.

I like Danny Woodhead to bounce back this week. Woodhead is having an awesom year, but is coming off a game with just 16 yards. I think the Jaguars are a good matchup for him, even though they continue to allow the fewest yards per carry in the NFL. Where they show a weakness is against pass-catching backs. Their 63 receptions and 519 receiving yards allowed to RBs are both in the top ten. Expect a return to five plus catches and good yardage for Woodhead.

 

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Check out all of RotoBaller's fantasy football rankings. Staff rankings are updated regularly for all positions and include standard formats, PPR scoring, tiered rankings and dynasty leagues.




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