News and Notes

• After suffering a scary concussion (and losing a touchdown) Thanksgiving night, Le’Veon Bell has practiced this week and passed all the mandatory concussion tests needed to play Sunday against Miami, reports ESPN. Bell says he hasn’t experienced any post-concussion symptoms – although it’s hard to tell how truthful athletes are in regards to concussions – and he expects a full workload Sunday. The rookie is averaging 94 total yards and 3.5 catches a game this season, and he should do just fine against Miami’s 25th-ranked defense against running backs.

• Adrian Peterson missed another day of practice Thursday, but don’t be alarmed: He followed this same routine last week and then gashed the Bears for 211 yards. He’s just resting throughout the week to be able to perform at 100 percent on game day.
• Rashad Jennings also suffered a concussion on Thanksgiving and has practiced some this week, but, unlike Bell, hasn’t cleared all his league-mandated concussion tests to be cleared to play Sunday, according to ESPN. Darren McFadden didn’t practice Thursday and there’s no plan for him to play this week. No other Oakland running back recorded a carry for Oakland last week, so the Raiders’ ground game is one you should stay away from unless Jennings is cleared to play.

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.

At DraftKings you can qualify for the chance to win a million dollar prize starting with just a $2 investment. It’s all right here at the DraftKings Millionaire Grand Final.

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

Jamaal Charles – $8,700 – at Washington – Charles’ price tag is the highest at DraftKings, and rightfully so – he’s the top scorer at his position. Charles has scored in nine of 12 games and has at least 96 total yards in every game but one this season. Washington’s the league’s second worst defense fantasy-wise against running backs, giving up over 137 total yards to backs each game this year as well as 16 total touchdowns. He’ll take up a lot of your budget this week, but Charles has proven to be the most consistent back in fantasy this season.

Matt Forte – $8,100 – vs. Dallas – Forte has the best matchup this week, facing a Dallas team that surrenders the most fantasy points to running backs in ESPN standard settings. Dallas is allowing over 163 total yards, seven receptions and 1.25 touchdowns to running backs per game. Forte has gained at least 91 yards in every game except one this season and has nine 100-total-yard games.

Reasonable

DeMarco Murray – $7,400 – at Chicago – The Bears have given up 1,160 rushing yards and 5.6 yards per rush in their last seven games. Murray’s not going to score three times again like he did last week, but he’s consistently putting up a good amount of rushing and receiving yards as well as reception totals. This game should be a shootout so both Forte and Murray should eclipse 100 total yards.

Andre Brown – $7,000 – at San Diego – San Diego’s allowed eight touchdowns and over five yards a carry to running backs in its last five games. In each of his four games this year Brown has had at least 17 touches, averaging over three catches a game. He’s scored over 20 points at DraftKings in three of four games (Only four running backs are averaging over 20 points a game at DK).

Low-priced values

Shane Vereen – $6,700 – vs. Cleveland – Vereen was very close to a monster game last week, scoring once and coming close two other times. His snap percentage went up again after rising in Week 12, too; he was heavily involved in the passing game (six targets) and saw 10 carries for the second straight game. Vereen’s the Pats’ most dynamic back, and as long as Stevan Ridley remains in the doghouse Vereen remains a smart play.

Bobby Rainey – $5,900 – vs. Buffalo – In the first nine weeks of the season Buffalo allowed only one touchdown to running backs. In its last three games Buffalo’s allowed five touchdowns to backs and at least 111 rushing yards in each game. After Rainey’s three touchdown Week 11 he’s taken a step back, but he’s still seen over 70 percent of Tampa’s offensive snaps and averaged 18.5 touches in the past two games.