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FanDuel advice: Running backs in conference championships
The big names are all gone. You never dreamed in the preseason you’d be using these guys.
Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
A week ago, I noted that we were running out of running backs who were highly drafted in fantasy football this season. The purging continued a week ago, as highly drafted Eddie Lacy and Marshawn Lynch were both eliminated from the playoffs.
That means, entering conference championship weekend of the NFL playoffs, there are two remaining running backs who were drafted in the top 20 at the position this season. The first, C.J. Anderson, has at least been productive of late. The second is Andre Ellington, who had all of three yards a week ago and hasn't reached 50 yards or a touchdown since mid-November.
We aren’t picking superstars in FanDuel fantasy football this weekend. We’re picking productive running backs who are members of strong offenses, guys who are in situations to succeed moreso than guys who are the best running backs in the league. That makes it even more difficult to pick the ones to use for FanDuel.
Below, I’ve ranked the top 10 running backs for the weekend, taking their salary into account. I only went 10 deep, because if you’re looking beyond these guys ... well, that’s a poor decision, if you ask me. The chart is to follow, with rationales afterward:
Running backs
| Rank | Running Back | Team | Opp. | Salary |
| 1 | Jonathan Stewart | CAR | ARI | $7,000 |
| 2 | David Johnson | ARI | @CAR | $8,000 |
| 3 | C.J. Anderson | DEN | NE | $6,300 |
| 4 | Steven Jackson | NE | @DEN | $5,700 |
| 5 | James White | NE | @DEN | $6,400 |
| 6 | Ronnie Hillman | DEN | NE | $5,700 |
| 7 | Mike Tolbert | CAR | ARI | $4,600 |
| 8 | Andre Ellington | ARI | @CAR | $5,000 |
| 9 | Cameron Artis-Payne | CAR | ARI | $4,900 |
| 10 | Brandon Bolden | NE | @DEN | $5,000 |
- Personal, 99.9-percent-positive guarantee: Every single winning FanDuel lineup will have one of the top three up there, and almost certainly Jonathan Stewart and/or David Johnson. Those two have their teams' jobs basically to themselves, while the others are in optimistically described timeshares. It's just hard to imagine finding success deeper than that.
- If I were picking someone from the bottom of the barrel as my No.1 running back, it'd be Cameron Artis-Payne. Even that would require Stewart, who is banged up, to suffer a setback before Sunday or early in the game, but if Stewart can't get healthy, Artis-Payne would get every shot. Interestingly, if I were digging deep for a second running back, it'd be Mike Tolbert, who has as good a shot at a vulture touchdown of anyone near the bottom of the pricing barrel.
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