Weekly rankings: Running backs find a new Forte

Published: Oct 08, 2013 at 04:02 AM

Adam Rank

NFL.com Writer

The moment Tony Romo threw that critical interception against the Denver Broncos, the Twitterverse was on fire with people deriding the Cowboys quarterback. I don't have the exact statistics, but I think I saw a number where about 3.5 million tweets occurred seconds after Romo threw that fateful pick.

All right, I might have exaggerated the number. But don't think I missed all of those memes and other nonsense going out there. All the jokes at Romo's expense. Even I sent out a tweet after it happened.

To borrow a phrase from Michael Cole, that's vintage Romo. #DENvsDAL
— Adam Rank (@adamrank) October 6, 2013

But mine was not facetious. It was vintage Romo in that he won me another fantasy game. In fact, this guy has been clutch when it has mattered most. Romo had over 400 yards and four touchdowns against the Saints in Week 16 of the fantasy playoffs last year. That performance won me a fantasy title.

Romo had four touchdowns against the Giants in Week 14 and three touchdowns against the Bucs in Week 15 of the 2011 fantasy playoffs on the way to another fantasy title for me. This guy has been beyond clutch.

So you need to back off Romo here. Save your disdain for somebody who truly deserves it. Like Dana from "Homeland" or something. Seriously, she is on the verge of killing the series. If anybody with the capabilities could make a copy of the show with all of the Dana bits edited, I would be your best friend.

Let's get to the rankings.

Quarterbacks

If the Twitter war between the Broncos and Jags is any indication, I hope this is a game that has a lot of points thrown out there. But we're almost wasting a great matchup because we're already starting the Broncos stars.

What kind of world are we living in when Jay Cutler is a better option than Tom Brady? But if we're going straight matchups, he certainly is. Oh no, this is when the Giants rise up, right? Against my Bears. Oh boy.

Cam Newton was bad against the Birds, but he's got a better matchup this week. I'm not yet ready to give up on him.

Matthew Stafford could move up when we hear more about Calvin Johnson.

Running backs

Matt Forte has a great matchup and the Bears have lost two consecutive games, so you hope there is no chance this team overlooks the Giants.

Don't tell LeSean McCoy he's just No. 3 this week. No offense, of course.

I'm not sure how comfortable I feel in a world where Bilal Powell is a much better fantasy option than C.J. Spiller and MJD. Do you even need to draft a running back in the second round anymore?

Wide receivers

We are going to leave Calvin Johnson out of the No. 1 spot because even if he comes back, how healthy will he be? Plus, Dez Bryant has become the man for the Cowboys. He's just ridiculous.

Yes, doubling down hard on all the Bears' offensive players. If this is a low-scoring Thursday night game, well, it was fun while it lasted.

Is it my imagination or has Torrey Smith taken the crown of most-underappreciated WR1 from Brandon Marshall? Just saying.

T.Y. Hilton will end the season as the Colts' leading receiver. This guy is legit. This reminds me of when Reggie Wayne finally pushed Marvin Harrison aside.

The overcorrection is coming for Demaryius Thomas, isn't it?

Tight ends

Jimmy Graham will always be No. 1, but we have a new No. 2 this week with Julius Thomas. Don't look at this as a demotion at all. All three guys would be top 20 WRs if you could play them in the flex spot.

Maybe this will be the week Rob Gronkowski returns. You know he's just about guaranteed a touchdown the first game back, right?

I hope you noticed I've removed Jared Cook completely from this list. And I'm cool with that.

Kickers

Again, going all-in on Bears players. I really, really hope this doesn't come back to haunt me.

Mason Crosby is available in way too many leagues for this to be possible.

Defense

No obvious choice for a defense to shuffle in this week, but if you've played along all year, we've ridden Kansas City rather well, so we still have that working for us. Tennessee has been great lately, so there is a possibility. Cleveland is a possibility, but check out the Indianapolis Colts. Late game in San Diego, so you can get some late-Monday points to help you out.

Did you know that Adam Rank won last year's Expert's League title? Oh that's right, it's like the only thing he ever talks about. Well congratulations, Rank. You finally did something. What have you done for us lately? Let's worry about 2013 and stop living in the past. Typical Lakers fan, am I right? Oh, if you found this useful (as if) check him out on the latest "Dave Dameshek Football Program". And follow him on Twitter, please. He's taking us to lunch if he gets 17 more Twitter followers today. And we only got 15 the last time, so step up fantasy enthusiasts!

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