With the Week Five Running Back Rankings now complete, there are a couple key observations that I need to discuss before we dive into this week's list.
Was Chris Johnson's Week Four Fact or Fluke?
For a guy who was pretty close to being dumped in a majority of leagues, Johnson sure saved his ass by rushing 25 times for 141 against the Texans. But is this really a sign that Johnson will turn the corner? According to beat writer Paul Kuharsky, Johnson was "still going east-west too much and failing to "zip" around the edge like he used to." Kuharsky also mentions that 60 of Johnson's yards came after the game was out of reach. I had written a small prediction in last week's rankings:
I get the feeling Johnson will have a monster game, everyone will ride the bandwagon and then he will go back to being nothing. Just wait.
Was this the game? Johnson doesn't exactly have the best matchup this week going up against the Vikings. And Kuharsky has a really good feel on the team right now. I will rank Johnson, but he won't be as high as you may think.
Don't buy into Norv Turner's BS.
Ryan Mathews was barely a blip on the radar at the beginning of the Chargers' game against the Chiefs. Jackie Battle not only started, but handled most of the early-down work in the team's first scoring drive. Mathews did wind up getting in the stat box, but not as much as we had hoped. Afterwards, Turner claimed that the team wasn't sending a message to Mathews regarding his fumbling issues, but that Battle starting gave the team the best chance to win. What a crock. Mathews might have problems putting the ball on the ground, but there is no way Battle is a better talent than he is. The guy looks like he's running in mud. If it wasn't because the team was facing the Chiefs, Battle would not have put up the numbers that he did. With a juicy matchup against the Saints, I'd like to think Turner will come to his senses and feed Mathews the ball as much as possible. Taking the ball away from him does nothing but kill his confidence going forward.
Now that I got all my frustrations out of the way, lets take a look at the Week Five Running Back Rankings. Like every week, make sure to check out the rest of our rankings in our RANKINGS SECTION (Including IDP).
Also, make sure to check the rankings again on Friday to see if anyone has been downgraded going into the weekend.
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