Bruno Boys Fantasy Football

6. Thomas Jones (New York Jets) — Did anyone’s fantasy stock drop more than Thomas Jones’ during the offseason heading in 2009? Here was a guy who had rushed for 1,312 yards with 15 scores in 2008, but was thought of as nothing more than a low-end RB2 by many. He entered the season as our 21st ranked running back and he was ranked even lower in many other fantasy football publications. Not only was there a lot of hype surrounding his backup Leon Washington, who had showed a ton of potential the previous season, rookie Shonn Greene was also expected to get a fair share of the touches. Jones proved the doubters wrong though, as he rushed for 1,402 yards with 14 touchdowns.

A broken leg in Week 7 ended Washington’s season prematurely and Greene was never able to steal enough touches from Jones to put together any type of consistency. When you consider Jones was drafted in the third or fourth round in many fantasy drafts he ended the year as arguably the best value pick at running back. There will be questions surrounding Jones heading into 2010. He is over 30 which is the equivalent of being a senior citizen at the running back position and he will once again be chased by Washington and Greene. Check in with the Bruno Boys throughout the offseason to get the latest information on the depth chart at running back for the Jets.

7. Jamaal Charles (Kansas City Chiefs) — If you are not a big college football fan and if you are fairly novice at fantasy football you might not have even heard of Jamaal Charles before this season. Charles was a second-year running back out of the University of Texas who was drafted strictly as an insurance policy for Larry Johnson fantasy owners. This was an insurance policy that ended up being a very wise investment. As we all know by now, Johnson ran his mouth about his coach, the Chiefs organization and made derogatory remarks about homosexuals. This led to his release by the Chiefs before Week 10. Charles stepped in and rushed for 1,120 yards with eight total touchdowns in 10 starts.

If you still aren’t sold on Charles consider the fact that he rushed for more than 100-yards in each of his last four games and he topped 140 yards in three of those games. He had all seven of his rushing touchdowns after Johnson left the team and he saved his best game for last when he had 25 carries for 259 yards with two touchdowns Week 17 on the road against the Denver Broncos. Charles is an extremely quick back and he averaged 5.9 yards per carry during the season. He should be on your fantasy radar next season and there is a good possibility he doesn’t make it into the second round of your league‘s draft.

8. Joseph Addai (Indianapolis Colts) — After posting back-to-back 1,000 yards rushing seasons during his first two years in the NFL, Joseph Addai had a very disappointing 2008 season. Injuries allowed him to play in just 12 games and he only managed 155 carries for 544 yards with seven trips to the end zone. His 3.5 yards per carry was the lowest of his career and the Colts were so concerned they selected Donald Brown out of the University of Connecticut with their first round pick in the 2009 NFL Draft. Whether it was better health, a push from Brown or the fact that he wanted to prove his critics wrong Addai rebounded with a better season in 2009.

Addai had 219 carries for 828 yards and even though he still averaged under 4.0 yards per carry, he made up for it with 13 total scores in 15 games played. He started the year projected as our 19th ranked running back, but finished the season 9th in scoring amongst fantasy football running backs. There will once again be questions surrounding Addai heading into next season, but even if Brown gets increased touches Addai still has the ability to produce like a No. 2 fantasy running back; especially when you consider that Peyton Manning has a lot of faith in him as a safety valve in the passing game.

9. Chris “Beanie” Wells (Arizona Cardinals) — Many people were surprised when the Cardinals drafted Ohio State University running back Beanie Wells in the first round of last years NFL Draft. There were a lot of experts that thought that fellow rookie Donald Brown’ style would have been a better fit for Arizona’s high flying passing offense. Wells is a powerful runner who gets better the more he carries the ball, but the problem is the Cardinals don’t run the ball very often and they had a pretty good second year running back in Tim Hightower who would be the team’s starter.

Hightower did start every game for Arizona, but Wells finished the season as the team’s top ball carrier. He had 190 carries for 884 yards with seven touchdowns, but did most of his damage after Week 9. He scored double digit fantasy points in five of his last eight games and he had six touchdowns during that span. Wells appears to be the running back of the future for the Cardinals. He should enter 2010 as the team’s No. 1 rushing option and he will make a strong case to be a starting RB2 for your fantasy team.

10. Ryan Grant (Green Bay Packers) — One thing fantasy football owners look for when they are looking to draft a starting running back is consistency and Ryan Grant ended up being one of the most consistent running backs of the 2009 season. He played in all 16 games for the Packers and he recorded double digit fantasy points 11 times. He rushed for 1,253 yards on 282 carries with 11 touchdowns. Not only was Grant consistent throughout the season, he showed up when it mattered most for fantasy owners as he scored six touchdowns over the last four weeks of the season.

In 2008 Grant had a lengthy contract holdout and missed most of training camp and the preseason. He still managed to rush for more than 1,200 yards, but he scored just five touchdowns on the season. In 2009, Grant finished with 197 fantasy points and finished tied for seventh amongst running backs, which exceeded our preseason expectations. Grant should enter the 2010 season as the Packers No. 1 running back and will once again be a very solid starting fantasy running back.

Missing The Cut: Adrian Peterson (Minnesota Vikings), Maurice Jones-Drew (Jacksonville Jaguars), Frank Gore (San Francisco 49ers), Michael Turner (Atlanta Falcons), Steven Jackson (St. Louis Rams), DeAngelo Williams (Carolina Panthers) and Jonathan Stewart (Carolina Panthers)

2009 The Good:  QB  |  RB  |  WR  |  TE  |  K  |  DEF

2009 The Bad:  QB  |  RB  |  WR  |  TE  |  K  |  DEF

2009 The Ugly:  QB  |  RB  |  WR  |  TE  |  K |  DEF

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