Adrian Peterson will be turning 28 years old next month, yet you will find him perched atop my RB rankings. Because elite running backs often fall of the cliff quickly around 30 years of age, their late twenties is usually the area where I start to slowly downgrade them. However, Peterson is anything but the typical player at this position. His 2012 season was amazing for numerous reasons and I am starting to believe that “All Day” has a real shot of producing big numbers well into his thirties. Following behind Peterson in my rankings is Trent Richardson in the second spot. Richardson didn’t have the breakout rookie season that many expected, but some of this can likely be chalked up to the broken ribs he dealt with for a good portion of the season. Arian Foster put up an impressive TD total in 2012, but his drop in yards per touch was the main contributor to him slipping to third on my board.

Running Backs Chg Rk Player Team 1 Adrian Peterson MIN 2 Trent Richardson CLE 3 Arian Foster HOU 4 Ray Rice BAL Tier 2 5 Doug Martin TB 6 Jamaal Charles KC 7 LeSean McCoy PHI 8 C.J. Spiller BUF 9 Marshawn Lynch SEA 10 Matt Forte CHI Tier 3 11 Chris Johnson TEN 12 Darren McFadden OAK 13 Maurice Jones-Drew JAX 14 David Wilson NYG 15 Alfred Morris WAS 16 DeMarco Murray DAL 17 Stevan Ridley NE 18 Ryan Mathews SD 19 Jonathan Stewart CAR Tier 4 20 Darren Sproles NO 21 Mark Ingram NO 22 Lamar Miller MIA 23 Frank Gore SF 24 Steven Jackson STL 25 Mikel Leshoure DET 26 BenJarvus Green-Ellis CIN Tier 5 27 Reggie Bush MIA 28 Rashard Mendenhall PIT 29 Ahmad Bradshaw NYG 30 Ryan Williams ARI 31 Ben Tate HOU 32 Vick Ballard IND 33 Bernard Pierce BAL 34 Bryce Brown PHI 35 Beanie Wells ARI 36 Shonn Greene NYJ Tier 6 37 Ronnie Hillman DEN 38 Knowshon Moreno DEN 39 Jacquizz Rodgers ATL 40 Andre Brown NYG 41 Bilal Powell NYJ 42 Joique Bell DET 43 Shane Vereen NE 44 LaMichael James SF 45 Daniel Thomas MIA 46 Isaiah Pead STL 47 Daryl Richardson STL 48 Fred Jackson BUF 49 Robert Turbin SEA Tier 7 50 Jonathan Dwyer PIT 51 Willis McGahee DEN 52 Kendall Hunter SF 53 DeAngelo Williams CAR 54 Felix Jones DAL 55 Chris Ivory NO 56 Pierre Thomas NO 57 DuJuan Harris GB 58 Toby Gerhart MIN 59 Michael Bush CHI Tier 8 60 Marcel Reece OAK 61 Cedric Benson GB 62 Alex Green GB 63 Donald Brown IND 64 Michael Turner ATL 65 Isaac Redman PIT 66 Mike Tolbert CAR 67 Peyton Hillis KC 68 LeGarrette Blount TB 69 Brandon Bolden NE 70 Mike Goodson OAK

The second tier of RBs consists of guys you can largely rely on as a cornerstone for your dynasty team. Jamaal Charles was great in the clear lead role for Kansas City last season. The team’s move to Andy Reid as head coach should result in nice overall numbers for the former Longhorn. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Charles post 50+ receptions this coming season. LeSean McCoy is on the other side of the equation having just lost Andy Reid as his head coach. However, he could really benefit from the high-octane system that Chip Kelly will be implementing, even if Bryce Brown gets a good handful of touches per game. Matt Forte is another second-tier RB experiencing a change in head coach and offensive system. Overall, it is unlikely that his role will change materially in the near-term. He’s the clear top back on the team and a very strong receiver out of the backfield.

The third and fourth groupings of RBs have a wide variety of players. Guys like Darren McFadden, Maurice Jones-Drew and David Wilson all could be huge, but each has significant some question marks. McFadden and Jones-Drew have injury issues and play in less-than-dynamic offenses and Wilson is largely unproven and could very well lose many of the goal line touches to Andre Brown. Lamar Miller is moving up and is in a position to greatly benefit with Reggie Bush likely done in Miami. Daniel Thomas is still in town, but it is looking more and more like the lead gig is Miller’s to lose. Frank Gore is “Mr. Reliable” in San Francisco. He’ll be 30 years old in a few months, so the end is probably near, but he still is running hard and effectively. BenJarvus Green-Ellis posted the second 1,000-yard campaign of his career in 2012, yet because of his limitations, the Bengals are reportedly looking to bring in some help in the backfield. Green-Ellis owners can only hope that the help comes in the form of merely a 3rd down scat-back.

The fifth tier has several players that have proven capable of being effective in the lead role at RB for their teams, yet they find themselves now searching for a home. Reggie Bush, Rashard Mendenhall, Ahmad Bradshaw and Shonn Greene have a combined seven 1000-yard rushing seasons between them, but it may be a tall task for any of them to reach that mark in 2013. Any of them could climb my rankings in the coming months if they secure a clear starting gig. The sixth tier is made up mostly of committee backs with limited upsides and players that are largely unproven. Jacquizz Rodgers is currently in a nice spot in Atlanta, but if the team drafts an early RB this year, then Rodgers might not have a lot to offer his dynasty owners in the coming seasons. Isaiah Pead and Daryl Richardson could be fighting for touches going forward if Steven Jackson moves on from St. Louis. Richardson clearly outplayed Pead last season, but Pead’s use was so limited as a rookie that I’m not yet ready to write him off.

The final two tiers at this position are littered with numerous players that are now past their prime and are seeing their fantasy stock plummet. Willis McGahee has been very good in his time in Denver, but he is 31 years old and coming off of a broken leg, so his career is potentially winding down. DeAngelo Williams has had some big moments in Carolina, and even had an impressive 200-yard game versus the Saints in Week 17 last year, but he has been largely quite the last couple of years. It seems unlikely he’ll be anything more than a committee back at his stage of his career (and that’s probably a best-case scenario). Michael Turner clearly wasn’t the same runner last season that he was 2-3 years ago and he now finds himself on the roster bubble for Atlanta. If the team does cut him, his best bet to retain some level of fantasy relevance could come via a role as a short-yardage specialist in a new city.

Next: Quarterbacks