Power I: Specific Week One Strategies for Starting RBs
August 28th, 2008 by Drew Smith
The first week of the season is usually a lot tougher to start the proper running backs than most people realize. However the difficulty exists mainly because of luck so even if you spend a ton of time analyzing the matchups it most often will not help you. Some of you might look at the schedule and see a bunch of lop-sided matchups and say ‘What is so hard about this?’ The problem with these huge mismatched games is that the star running back is not going to get a large work-load so he needs to make the most of his limited carries.
What can you do? Accept the fact that there is more luck involved in Week 1 than any other week of the year and follow these general rule of thumb pointers for choosing running backs to start for this specific week.
* Don’t over-think things and bench your #1 RB. There will be a few duds but there is no way of predicting what back will get 14 carries for 90 yards and 0 TDs and who will get 14 carries for 190 yards and 3 TDs. Start the high drafted superstar.
Chris Wells ( Ohio State ) versus Youngstown St
Knowshon Moreno (Georgia) versus Georgia Southern
Noel Devine ( West Virginia ) versus Villanova
DeMarco Murray ( Oklahoma ) versus Chattanooga
Luke Lippincott ( Nevada ) versus Grambling
Harry Unga (BYU) versus Northern Iowa
Ian Johnson (Boise St) versus Idaho State
* Avoid if you have other options backs that were in a running back position battles as the coaching staff will look for real game confirmation that they made the right decision.
Sam McGuffie ( Michigan ) versus Utah
Charles Scott (LSU) versus Appalachian St
Cordera Eason ( Mississippi ) versus Memphis
Demetrius Sumler ( Colorado ) versus Colorado St
Glen Coffee ( Alabama ) versus Clemson
* When trying to decide between two similar level backs, go with the one that will be in the game in the 4th quarter.
Robert Ferguson ( New Mexico ) versus TCU
Eugene Jarvis ( Kent St ) versus Boston College
James Stark (Buffalo) versus UTEP
Frank Summers (UNLV) versus Utah St
Obviously there are going to be some huge games in the first week like every year and most of the time it is nearly impossible to predict them because the matchups are so lopsided. While a lot of the ‘superstar’ backs will be boom or bust for Week 1, the following list of names are who I think are the Top 5 (in order) ‘Locks’.
#1 – Jahvid Best ( California ) – There isn’t going to be much defense being played in this game so expect lots of points and lots of big plays. Best is the running back that I think is the safest bet to have a blow-up game in Week 1 and is a must start in all leagues, all formats, all rosters. Yes I am drunk on the Jahvid Best Kool-Aid!
#2 LeSean McCoy (Pittsburgh) – The Panthers get to face a respected MAC team in Bowling Green that could keep this game closer than Pitt fans will like but this is the perfect scenario for McCoy owners as he could see 25+ carries against a defense not talented enough to stop him.
#3 Josh Adams (Wake Forest) – Adams plays against Baylor which will see plenty of open space to run all over them and with a revamped offense, the Bearcats should put up enough points to keep Adams in the game into the 4th quarter.
#4 Mike Goodson ( Texas AM) – Goodson is playing Arkansas State and while you could make an argument that this game will be so lopsided that he won’t play much. This could be the case but here are the reasons why I think we see a monster game from Goodson. a) New coach Mike Sherman will be looking to make a splash in his first game meaning look for him to run up the score a little more than usual. b) Sherman has said on numerous occasions that he wants to build the offense around Goodson so expect him try. c) Jorvorskie Lane will most likely miss the game which means he won’t be available to steal goal-line carries.
#5 Tyrell Sutton (Northwestern) – I am so off the Sutton Kool-Aid as I have no confidence on the Wildcats coaching staff to use him properly. However if you drafted Sutton then this matchup against Syracuse doesn’t get any better and if used correctly he should have a monster game.
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