This week’s Fantasy Football Start ‘Em and Sit ‘Em will be pretty short. Start Marcel Reece. Given the Saints’ propensity to give up yards to living players (Michael Turner doesn’t count), I can’t play with the distribution enough to suggest he should be out of the lineup. Unless the Raiders were sandbagging us last week with how they are going to distribute carries, Reece is gold with this matchup. Even if he gets just 50% of expected production from Raiders’ backs, he is a mid-RB2. I’ve got him at RB11, because I think he’ll get a little more than that.

The running back rankings this week have a clear top 5 that are head and shoulders above the others in projection, then a muddled mess because of bad matchups for some top players (Gore, Forte among them), some great matchups for guys further down the list (Benjarvus Green-Ellis and Woodhead, the Saints running backs).

QUARTERBACKS

  1. Drew Brees at OAK
  2. Aaron Rodgers at DET
  3. Tom Brady vs. IND
  4. Peyton Manning vs. SD
  5. Matt Stafford vs. GB
  6. Carson Palmer vs. NO
  7. Andrew Luck at NE
  8. Matt Ryan vs. ARI
  9. Tony Romo vs. CLE
  10. Cam Newton vs. TB
  11. Robert Griffin III vs. PHI
  12. Andy Dalton at KC
  13. Josh Freeman at CAR
  14. Matt Schaub vs. JAC
  15. Nick Foles at WAS
  16. Joe Flacco at PIT
  17. Sam Bradford vs. NYJ
  18. Philip Rivers at DEN
  19. Mark Sanchez at STL
  20. Brandon Weeden at DAL
  21. Byron Leftwich vs. BAL
  22. Jason Campbell at SF
  23. Colin Kaepernick vs. CHI
  24. John Skelton at ATL
  25. Blaine Gabbert at HOU
  26. Matt Cassel vs. CIN

RUNNING BACKS

  1. Arian Foster vs. JAC
  2. Doug Martin at CAR
  3. Stevan Ridley vs. IND
  4. Ray Rice at PIT
  5. Trent Richardson at DAL
  6. Jamaal Charles vs. CIN
  7. Benjarvus Green-Ellis at KC
  8. Alfred Morris vs. PHI
  9. LeSean McCoy at WAS
  10. Felix Jones vs. CLE
  11. Marcel Reece vs. OAK
  12. Willis McGahee vs. SD
  13. Steven Jackson vs. NYJ
  14. Frank Gore vs. CHI
  15. Danny Woodhead vs. IND
  16. Matt Forte at SF
  17. Shonn Greene at STL
  18. Ryan Mathews at DEN
  19. Chris Ivory at OAK
  20. Rashad Jennings at HOU
  21. Michael Turner vs. ARI
  22. Rashard Mendenhall vs. BAL
  23. Mark Ingram at OAK
  24. Jonathan Stewart vs. TB
  25. Mikel LeShoure vs. GB
  26. Vick Ballard at NE
  27. Joique Bell vs. GB
  28. Alex Green at DET
  29. Darren Sproles at OAK*
  30. Isaac Redman vs. BAL
  31. Daryl Richardson vs. NYJ
  32. Larod Stephens-Howling at ATL
  33. Jacquizz Rodgers vs. ARI
  34. Ronnie Brown at DEN
  35. Peyton Hillis vs. CIN
  36. Justin Forsett vs. JAC
  37. Jeremy Stewart vs. NO
  38. Lance Dunbar vs. CLE
  39. DeAngelo Williams vs. TB
  40. Shane Vereen vs. IND

WIDE RECEIVERS

  1. Calvin Johnson vs. GB
  2. Reggie Wayne at NE
  3. Roddy White vs. ARI
  4. A.J. Green at KC
  5. Demaryius Thomas vs. SD
  6. Marques Colston at OAK
  7. Wes Welker vs. IND*
  8. Brandon Lloyd vs. IND
  9. Eric Decker vs. SD
  10. Steve Smith vs. TB
  11. Larry Fitzgerald at ATL
  12. Brandon Marshall at SF
  13. Randall Cobb at DET
  14. Julio Jones vs. ARI*
  15. Miles Austin vs. CLE
  16. Denarius Moore vs. NO
  17. Vincent Jackson at CAR
  18. DeSean Jackson at WAS
  19. Jordy Nelson at DET
  20. Dez Bryant vs. CLE
  21. Danny Amendola vs. NYJ
  22. Mike Wallace vs. BAL
  23. Lance Moore at OAK
  24. Andre Johnson vs. JAC
  25. James Jones at DET
  26. Jeremy Maclin at WAS
  27. Dwayne Bowe vs. CIN
  28. Titus Young vs. GB
  29. Darrius Heyward-Bey vs. NO*
  30. Josh Gordon at DAL
  31. Malcom Floyd at DEN
  32. Michael Crabtree vs. CHI
  33. Pierre Garcon vs. PHI
  34. Mike Williams at CAR
  35. Cecil Shorts at HOU
  36. Jeremy Kerley at STL
  37. Donnie Avery at NE
  38. Torrey Smith at PIT
  39. Anquan Boldin at PIT
  40. Emmanuel Sanders vs. BAL

 

TIGHT ENDS

  1. Jimmy Graham at OAK
  2. Rob Gronkowski vs. IND*
  3. Tony Gonzalez vs. ATL
  4. Jason Witten vs. CLE
  5. Antonio Gates at DEN
  6. Greg Olsen vs. TB
  7. Heath Miller vs. BAL
  8. Dwayne Allen at NE
  9. Brandon Myers vs. NO*
  10. Owen Daniels vs. JAC*
  11. Brent Celek at WAS
  12. Jermaine Gresham at KC
  13. Brandon Pettigrew vs. GB
  14. Vernon Davis vs. CHI
  15. Dennis Pitta at PIT
  16. Dustin Keller at STL
  17. Logan Paulsen vs. PHI
  18. Jacob Tamme vs. SD
  19. Lance Kendricks vs. NYJ
  20. Tony Moeaki vs. CIN

[photo via US Presswire]