Fantasy Football Week 2 Projections: Running Back Sleeper Picks (Preliminary)

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In Fantasy Football Week 2, there are a couple of young running backs that are poised to have big games against two pretty good football teams. Here are our Fantasy Football Week 2 sleeper picks at the running back position.

Shonn Greene, New York Jets vs. New England Patriots

In my intro, I said that these two running backs would be up against two pretty good teams, not two pretty good defenses. The New England Patriots are a team that struggled on defense last season, and that defense may have gotten even younger this year. The Patriots defense has some trouble in the trenches, as they lack a dominant defensive end and their entire linebacking core has a lot to prove. That’s not the type of front seven you want to go into a game with when you’re facing the New York Jets, the NFL’s most productive rushing team from a season ago. Quite frankly, unless the Patriots decide to let Mark Sanchez have total free reign in the passing game, I don’t see how New England can slow down the Jets and Shonn Green with their front seven as it stands. Thus, our Fantasy Football Week 2 projections have Greene easily eclipsing the 100-yard rushing mark against this less-than-optimal Bill Belichick-coached defense.

Jahvid Best, Detroit Lions vs. Philadelphia Eagles

Jahvid Best may be a rookie, but even that have their day in the sun every once in a while. While I’m not 100% sure that Best is going to be THE back for the Detroit Lions this season, I am sure that the Philadelphia Eagles have several holes in their defense. However, those holes aren’t where you would expect them to be. Actually, up front, the Eagles are pretty solid. They are a little light, but they can defend the run well enough when they blitz and put that extra player in the box. However, the threat of Calvin Johnson and Matthew Stafford may be just enough to take that extra Eagles defender out of the box. And while the Eagles will still blitz, their blitzes will have to be more pass-oriented than anything else, or they risk leaving a suspect secondary vulnerable to the skills and talents of Calvin Johnson. The lack of the extra defender and run blitzes should open up a few lanes for the Detroit Lions. Given Jahvid Best’s speed, agility and versatility, I believe Best will take advantage of one or two of those lanes and produce a couple of big plays for the Lions rushing game. I’m not in anyway saying the Lions will look like offensive juggernauts, nor that they will even make this a close game. But the Eagles rushing defense isn’t exactly the best in the NFL, and a football player and running back with Best’s skills should be able to produce big plays against a defensive unit like that of the Eagles.

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