By Chet Gresham – @ChetGresham
Follow @walterfootball for updates.
With just two weeks until the regular season, it is time to continue preparing my Week 1 FanDuel team. Also, check out my earlier article on Week 1’s receivers.
Last season, the worst rush defenses for fantasy football were Atlanta, Oakland, Jacksonville, Cincinnati, New Orleans and Tampa Bay. Each gave up 27+ fantasy points to running backs per game last year. That, of course, won’t remain the same this season, but we can use that as a starting point for Week 1.
I like to look for extremes when picking FanDuel players. I want huge mismatches when picking my teams, and to start this year, I’d very much like my running backs to face teams that should continue to play poorly against the run and also be in games that have a high over/under.
Green Bay at Chicago
Running Backs statistics allowed in 2014:
Team | RuAtt | RuYds | YPC | RuTD | Rec | ReYds | ReTD | Tar | FPPG | Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GB | 23.81 | 97.44 | 4.092 | 0.50 | 4.56 | 42.50 | 0.13 | 6.94 | 22.31 | 14 |
CHI | 22.25 | 95.88 | 4.309 | 0.69 | 5.56 | 46.50 | 0.19 | 7.75 | 25.05 | 22 |
This game has an over/under of 50, which is the fourth highest of Week 1. With Jordy Nelson out, we should also see a bit more reliance on the run game.
Player | Team | PPG | $ |
---|---|---|---|
Eddie Lacy | GB | 15.7 | 8,500 |
Philadelphia at Atlanta
Running Backs statistics allowed in 2014:
Team | RuAtt | YPC | RuYds | RuTD | Rec | ReYds | ReTD | Tar | FPPG | Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ATL | 24.3 | 4.09 | 99.4 | 1.19 | 5.5 | 49.1 | 0.19 | 7.4 | 28.6 | 32 |
PHI | 25.8 | 3.57 | 92.3 | 0.81 | 4.6 | 39.1 | 0.44 | 6.0 | 25.3 | 23 |
Player | Team | PPG | $ |
---|---|---|---|
DeMarco Murray | PHI | 20.2 | 8,500 |
Ryan Mathews | PHI | 10.4 | 5,900 |
Darren Sproles | PHI | 9.2 | 5,800 |
Murray is the sixth-highest priced running back at $8,500, which for the matchup and potential is fine with me. This game has the highest over/under of Week 1 at 53.5 total points, which is two points higher than the next highest Vegas total. There will be plenty of scoring in this game, and you’ll want to get at least a part of it in your FanDuel lineups.
Cincinnati at Oakland
Running Backs statistics allowed in 2014:
Team | RuAtt | RuYds | YPC | RuTD | Rec | ReYds | ReTD | Tar | FPPG | Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
OAK | 26.3 | 107.0 | 4.08 | 0.94 | 4.9 | 47.6 | 0.44 | 7.31 | 28.59 | 31 |
CIN | 23.3 | 100.4 | 4.31 | 0.94 | 5.8 | 51.6 | 0.13 | 7.25 | 27.39 | 29 |
Player | Team | PPG | $ |
---|---|---|---|
Jeremy Hill | CIN | 12.3 | 8,600 |
Giovani Bernard | CIN | 12.8 | 7,200 |
Player | Team | PPG | $ |
---|---|---|---|
Latavius Murray | OAK | 5.1 | 7,400 |
Roy Helu | OAK | 7.6 | 5,600 |
Tennessee at Tampa Bay
Running Backs statistics allowed in 2014:
Team | RuAtt | RuYds | YPC | RuTD | Rec | ReYds | ReTD | Tar | FPPG | Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
TEN | 28.4 | 125.2 | 4.4 | 1.06 | 4.0 | 27.1 | 0.25 | 5.4 | 27.1 | 27 |
TB | 25.9 | 101.6 | 3.9 | 0.81 | 5.7 | 38.8 | 0.31 | 7.3 | 26.5 | 26 |
In this matchup, I’d like to target the Titans’ rush defense. Last season, they gave up the most rushing yards per game, the eighth-most yards per carry, and the second-most rushing touchdowns. And even though Tennessee is facing a Buccaneers team that couldn’t run the ball to save their lives last year, but that’s where value might creep in.
Player | Team | PPG | $ |
---|---|---|---|
Doug Martin | TB | 6.8 | 6,900 |
Charles Sims | TB | 6.4 | 6,200 |
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Fantasy Football Rankings
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Chet Gresham's Fantasy Football Quarterback Rankings - 9/4 (Chet)
2015 Fantasy Football Rankings: Running Backs - 9/10 (Walt)
Chet Gresham's Fantasy Football Running Back Rankings - 9/4 (Chet)
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Chet Gresham's 2015 Fantasy Football Overall Cheat Sheet - 9/4 (Chet)
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