News and Notes

•  Terrelle Pryor returned to practice Thursday, but is “unlikely to play” Sunday and hasn’t been cleared for contact yet by team doctors. If Pryor doesn’t go Oakland will start Matt Flynn, and that makes pretty much every Raider besides Darren McFadden not startable. McFadden should see a ton of run against a bad Washington defense so the pass-catching opportunities for Oakland’s receivers will be limited.
• Christian Ponder is practicing this week with a rib injury, but if he’s still limited today in practice the Vikings could name Matt Cassel the starter for Sunday’s game against Pittsburgh. Neither player should be starting in any 1-QB league, but in 2-QB leagues, if you’re dealing with a bye week, just keep an eye out here if you need someone to fill in.
• Both Ray Rice (hip) and Marlon Brown (neck) practiced Thursday, Rice’s second straight day of practice and Brown’s first practice of the week. Both players should be ready to go on Sunday, and if Rice plays Bernard Pierce shouldn’t start for you, considering he’s averaging just 2.8 yards a carry and is virtually non-existent in the passing game.

DraftKings Running Back Recommendations

If you’ve never played on DraftKings before, you can get a deposit bonus by signing up. And there are different options to pick from at DraftKings for any skill level.

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Here are the rules for the different NFL games DraftKings offers, and I’ll go ahead and list the running back scoring settings here:

• 10 Rushing Yards = +1PT (+0.1PT per yard is awarded)
• Rushing TD = +6PTs
• 100+ Yard Rushing Game = +3PTs
• 10 Receiving Yards = +1PT (+0.1PT per yard is awarded)
• Reception = +1PT
• Receiving TD = +6PTs
• 100+ Yard Receiving Game = +3PTs
• Punt/Kickoff Return for TD = +6PTs
• Fumble Lost = -1PT
• 2 Point Conversion (Pass, Run, or Catch) = +2PTs

Expensive

Adrian Peterson – $8,000 – vs. Pittsburgh – Pittsburgh’s given up the fifth most points to opposing RBs this season, a number that includes five total touchdowns. And if there’s one thing Peterson does well it’s score touchdowns: He’s got four this season already, as well as at least 107 total yards in every game.

Matt Forte – $7,300 – at Detroit – Detroit has yielded the second most points to running backs this season, including a whopping six touchdowns. Forte ranks fifth in DraftKings and ESPN scoring, scoring between 13 and 16 points all three weeks. The Lions are giving up 4.5 yards a carry and 10 yards a catch, so Forte should be beasting this week.

Reasonable

Darren McFadden – $6,000 – vs. Washington – McFadden had a bad game last week against a rough Broncos’ run D, but this week it should be like Christmas for him. Washington is giving up the third most fantasy points to opposing RBs, as well as 5.1 yards a carry and 12 yards a catch. It looks like Matt Flynn will be starting for the Raiders so they’ll be relying heavily on DMC.

Lamar Miller – $5,600 – at New Orleans – After a stinker in Week 1 Miller has been very solid the past two weeks, averaging 5.95 yards a carry. The Saints are giving up over five yards a carry and five catches a game to running backs. All three New Orleans’ opponents this season have rushed for at least 4.8 yards a carry.

Cheap

Brandon Bolden – $4,300 – at Atlanta – Bolden’s body of work is still very small, but in the limited sample size he’s impressed. He broke off a 46-yard run last week, caught five passes for 49 yards and averaged 4.9 yards a carry on 56 attempts last year. In last week’s game Bolden played 25 snaps to Stevan Ridley’s 26 and LeGarrette Blount’s 23. He’s by far the team’s best healthy pass-catching running back so he should have plenty of plays to get involved this week, too.

Bilal Powell – $4,200 – at Tennessee – Powell has quietly taken over lead-back duties in the Jets’ backfield and has put up some nice numbers to currently rank tied for 13th among running backs in standard ESPN scoring. He’s averaging 4.3 yards a carry and has caught eight passes for 66 yards. The Titans rank right in the middle of the pack in opposing running back fantasy points, but they’re giving up 4.4 yards a carry. Powell is averaging 22 rushes+targets this season, and with Chris Ivory probably out for Sunday Powell is a great value this week.