Fantasy football: Can we get a running back mulligan?

By Chris Carr, Star Tribune

Last update: September 20, 2007 - 11:28 PM

On Wednesday in New Jersey, golfer Thomas Brady stepped up to a 179-yard par-3 and holed it. High-fives all around, and beers to come. Playing partner Dennis Gerhart, a 57-year-old "weekend hacker," was probably still shaking his head when he smacked his 5-iron. Didn't matter. His ball landed in almost the same spot, and it ended up in exactly the same spot: the jar. Back-to-back aces, a 17 million to 1 stunt, according to Golf Digest. In honor of those two, we're putting our preseason Top 10 running back rankings back on the tee and taking a mulligan. Of all the early surprises, the slow-starting studs and overachieving middle-tier guys have us baffled the most:

1. LaDainian Tomlinson (17th in scoring/1 preseason rank): Still has to be the king, despite the worst yards per carry (1.9) in the league.

2. Frank Gore (2/4): The yardage (20th) will catch up with his TD production (1st).

3. Steven Jackson (28/2): Currently a walking argument for taking the preseason seriously.

4. Marion Barber (1/21): We thought Julius Jones (contract year) would get half the points in that backfield. We don't think that anymore.

5. Joseph Addai (4/5): He gave us a scare on the season's first play, but he's been solid since. A lock for the Top 5.

6. Larry Johnson (26/3): Can the vibe out of KC be any worse? A tough schedule, but c'mon.

7. Shaun Alexander (6/7): He should make his good start a great one this week vs. Cincinnati.

8. Rudi Johnson (9/10): Our favorite workhorse is somehow still under the fantasy radar.

9. Willie Parker (12/8): We thought he could make the leap to the Top 5 this year, and he's done nothing so far to scare us away from that.

10. Edgerrin James (3/18): He leads the league in carries (50). Another bet we would've lost.

Bonus RB thoughts: Travis Henry belongs on this list, but his schedule scares us. And is it Amber Alert time yet for Maurice Jones-Drew? ... Maurice?

THE LINE LAST WEEK: 2-1 / SEASON: 2-4

Nate Burleson -3 over Lee Evans

Speaking of Amber Alert, who's that guy wearing Evans' No. 83 Bills jersey?

Santana Moss -4 over Braylon Edwards

Start your WRs vs. N.Y. And let's not all get on that spacious Browns bandwagon until we see a repeat performance.

Ladell Betts -1 over Deshawn Wynn

We'll play the matchup game in this waiver-wire battle.

PICK 'EM UP

Brandon Marshall (Den), Roydell Williams (Ten) and Dwayne Bowe (KC) are three receivers to watch. Jacoby Jones (Hou) is a sneaky start this week. We like Wynn, just not vs. SD. And we'll take Jason Campbell over Derek Anderson.

Chris Carr • fantasy@startribune.com