Adrian Peterson definitely showed he’s back less than nine months after an ugly injury he suffered on Christmas Eve. Where does he fall in our starter rankings after a big week one? Brace Hemmelgarn-US PRESSWIRE
The running back landscape shifts as we head into week two of the 2012 NFL season. Adrian Peterson and Maurice Jones-Drew are back in their usual places in the top ten while Fred Jackson’s injury may have opened the door for a new talent to emerge as C.J. Spiller showed off his skills in a dominant week one performance while his team was getting crushed.
Our panel was divided on what to do with Spiller as you can see in the rankings below, but we weren’t divided on #1 as Arian Foster received all five first-place votes as he and the Texans head to Jacksonville in week two. Check out the rest of our starter rankings below.
In these rankings, my picks (ZT) are averaged with Matthew Tuckness (MT), Matthew Bonini (MB), Steve Copps (SC), and Jeffrey Littrell (JL). The rankings are averaged together to come up with a solid composite ranking which should give you an idea of what defense will step up this week. NR stands for not rated and counts as a 35th ranking in the composite.
| ZT | MT | MB | SC | JL | |||||
| 1 | Arian Foster | Hou | at Jac | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Ray Rice | Bal | at Phi | 2.4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | LeSean McCoy | Phi | Bal | 4.2 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
| 4 | Adrian Peterson | Min | at Ind | 5.4 | 3 | 8 | 9 | 4 | 3 |
| 5 | Matt Forte | Chi | at GB | 5.8 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 6 |
| 6 | Darren McFadden | Oak | at Mia | 6.8 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 6 | 10 |
| 7 | Chris Johnson | Ten | at SD | 10 | 9 | 21 | 6 | 9 | 5 |
| 8 | C.J. Spiller | Buf | KC | 10.2 | 6 | 18 | 3 | 8 | 16 |
| 9 | DeMarco Murray | Dal | at Sea | 11.2 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 13 | 18 |
| 10 | Maurice Jones-Drew | Jac | Hou | 11.4 | 11 | 10 | 17 | 7 | 12 |
| 11 | Ahmad Bradshaw | NYG | TB | 12.4 | 16 | 16 | 5 | 17 | 8 |
| 12 | Marshawn Lynch | Sea | Dal | 12.8 | 14 | 6 | 19 | 11 | 14 |
| 13 | Jamaal Charles | KC | at Buf | 13 | 13 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 11 |
| 14 | Frank Gore | SF | Det | 13.2 | 18 | 9 | 11 | 19 | 9 |
| 15 | Steven Jackson | STL | Was | 15 | 10 | 19 | 15 | 24 | 7 |
| 16 | Darren Sproles | NO | at Car | 17.8 | 19 | 13 | 18 | 18 | 21 |
| 17 | BenJarvis Green-Ellis | Cin | at Cle | 18.2 | 21 | 24 | 7 | 16 | 23 |
| 18 | Reggie Bush | Mia | Oak | 19.8 | 25 | 12 | 30 | 15 | 17 |
| 19 | Doug Martin | TB | at NYG | 20.2 | 17 | 28 | 16 | 20 | 20 |
| 20 | Michael Turner | Atl | Den | 20.4 | 27 | 20 | 24 | 12 | 19 |
| 21 | Stevan Ridley | NE | Ari | 21.2 | 12 | NR | 14 | 10 | NR |
| 22 | Trent Richardson | Cle | Cin | 22.8 | 26 | 22 | 21 | 21 | 24 |
| 23 | Alfred Morris | Was | at StL | 23.8 | 22 | NR | 22 | 25 | 15 |
| 24 | Willis McGahee | Den | at Atl | 24.4 | 20 | 17 | 28 | 22 | NR |
| 25 | Shonn Greene | NYJ | at Pit | 24.6 | 28 | 11 | NR | 23 | 26 |
| 26 | Ryan Mathews | SD | Ten | 27 | 15 | 15 | NR | NR | NR |
| 27 | Jonathan Dwyer | Pit | NYJ | 28.4 | 26 | NR | 26 | 30 | 25 |
| 28 | DeAngelo Williams | Car | NO | 29.4 | NR | 26 | 25 | 26 | NR |
| 29 | Cedric Benson | GB | Chi | 29.6 | 24 | NR | NR | 27 | 27 |
| 30 | Michael Bush | Chi | at GB | 30 | NR | 25 | 20 | NR | NR |
Topics: Adrian Peterson, C.J. Spiller, NFL Week 2, RB Rankings
I'm an avid Boston sports fan and fantasy sports enthusiast. When I'm not blogging, I serve as Audio and Video producer as well as High School History teacher at Harvest Ministries on the island of Guam. The 14-hour time difference can make things challenging, but I'll play any fantasy sports just about anytime I can.
Zach Thompson
Fantasy CPR
