Top Ten Sleeper Running Backs (RBs) in Fantasy Football 2009 for Week 2

Well folks, week 1 for the 2009 NFL season is officially over, and what a week it was. The running backs brought delight and disappoint this past week. High round draft picks like Michael Turner and LT produced very little while forgotten names like Julius Jones and Cedric Benson helped owners win their fantasy leagues this week. I would say this is crazy but the same thing happens every year, it's kind of like reconciliation for all those months of drafting.

This reconciliation will in short will give us a more realistic look at week 2. For the record if you read my articles then you know I named both Julius Jones and Cedric Benson as sleepers. Other picks I had that turned out decent were Kevin Smith who in my opinion will be a beast this year. Calvin Johnson is fine and dandy but mark my words, the offense will flow through Kevin Smith. I also pegged Thomas Jones, Ray Rice, and Joseph Addai. Not bad considering 6 out of 10 picks were decent. I did stink up the house with my Brandon Jacobs and Matt Forte picks which weren't really sleepers but I thought had a decent shot a putting up good numbers.

That leads us to this week's pick. And by all means if you like my advice and like what I'm saying then spread the word and subscribe to my articles. Click the recommended link, click the share button, and click the RSS button. I'm here all season long and will be posting my stats as well. A little teaser stat for you, I went 12-6 in my fanball.com leagues this past week. 2 of those losses were by less than 5 points. So I might not be the next coming of Matthew Berry but I do put out sound advice...

1) Darren McFadden - Run DMC just got started. Monday night was a teaser for this Sunday's matchup between Oakland and Kansas City. Michael Bush was solid but look for McFadden to reach the end zone twice and put up a 100+ yard game. Oakland played a great game on the ground against the mighty San Diego defense; I expect some returns on the DMC investment this week.

2) Jamal Lewis - Look if you were playing the Denver defense I would put you in the lineup. Benson ran for some decent yardage and didn't have a healthy Palmer to take away some pressure. I know Brady Quinn isn't fantastic but I'm starting Jamal Lewis and he should produce a decent game. Something on the lines of a Julius Jones performance last week. 100+ and at least a TD. Davis may take a few carries away but the bulk will go to Lewis.

3) Ryan Grant - From last week to this week, Grant makes the list again. He was OK last week but the Green Bay offense was sputtering at best. I think Cincinnati will rebound as well. I'm thinking a decent shootout that should see Grant getting the ball a lot. I'm going to say Grant's week 2 performance will outshine his week 1 ho-hum debut.

4) Darren Sproles - I know they are playing Baltimore this week. LT rolled his ankle and I expect Sproles to literally run with it. LT may play but there should be at least a 50-50 split here. Sproles is a small Westbrook type and I'm confident that he'll get around 80 yards and a score. On top of that if your league counts return yardage then bonus deal because he'll rack up some more nice returns. Plus if you ask me the Ravens aren't the same defense they were last year, I mean they did give up 24 points to a Kansas City team without their number one QB.

5) Willie Parker - OK this guy was miserable on Thursday night football. The bears just lost Urlacher for the season and the defense will bend if not break. I heard rumors the Steelers are going to cut back on the run and Parker is in a time share. This pick is a theory but I believe Parker will have a couple of big plays for the black and gold.

6) Chris Johnson - The Tennessee running game sucked against Pittsburgh. A lot of fantasy owners were scratching their heads with both LenDale White and Chris Johnson. Neither produced an effort that led your team to victory. However, I believe Houston will run and gun this week and Tennessee will attempt to slow the game up by pounding the defense. Leon Washington and Thomas Jones did it now the more effective White and Johnson duo are at home.

7) Brandon Jacobs - OK really this time he will get it right. The Dallas run defense was nothing spectacular and the Giants still have Eli Manning so they have to establish some kind of running game and Jacobs is still the favorite back. Look for good things from this guy after a forgettable experience last week.

8) Fred Jackson - This guy really doesn't have an immediate threat to him. If Monday night's game proved anything about the Bills it's that they miss Marshawn Lynch. So until he comes back expect Jackson to rush and receive against a Tampa Bay team that is somewhat porous on run defense.

9) Michael Turner - If you got him you start him all 16 weeks so no surprise here. But I do think the numbers put up in this game will turn some heads. Carolina is looking pretty shaky and I would expect Turner to bust loose a few solid runs and amassing over 100+ yards. The only downside I see is that unless the ball is on the goal line then Matt Ryan has a few other options in the red zone unlike Kevin Smith.

10) Kevin Smith - I know a few readers will never come back to my articles again after this. I just picked a running back against the Minnesota defense. You know what Detroit is improved over last year and they will score this year. I think the Vikes take the game because Favre will match Peterson's yardage this game. But I also think Smith will have a solid receiving and running day reaching the end zone at least once.

Well there you go my week 2 2009 fantasy football picks for running backs. This week's picks include a few sleepers and few hunches. But above all I'm playing fantasy football this year too and I will be starting the above running backs. So good luck this week and remember to share the article or subscribe to my stuff as I will be giving winning tips all year long.