Running Backs: Projected Stats

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Last season was a horrible disappointment for Beanie Wells as a late preseason knee injury forced him out of action to begin the season and contributed to a lack of success on the field. With the addition of Ryan Williams in the second round of this years’ draft, many fantasy owners have written off Wells as a potential top twenty fantasy back of the future, but I’m not ready to give way to that thinking.

While Williams will be a part of this offense he should pose more of a threat to Tim Hightower’s playing time as the two running backs have the same style of play. Wells is healthy this off-season and will be motivated to win the starting job over the rookie, and I believe he will do just that. Before Wells’s injury, last summer, Coach Ken Whisenhunt was more than complimentary of his second year backs’ progression in pass protection and his hands out of the backfield. This development shows me that Wells was close to breakout if he had a respectable offense to play in, and was healthy.

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At the end of the day, it was hard for the Cardinals to run the football when they had one of the worst quarterback situations in all of football but that is expected to change with the addition of Kevin Kolb via trade. A respectable passing attack will help set up more chances in the running game and especially around the goal line.

As you can see by the projected stats below, I believe Wells will run for just over 1,000 yards and at least eight touchdowns this season. Those numbers may seem a bit high compared to many around the web, but I still believe this young runner has the work ethic and drive to be a successful starting running back in this league.

Because Wells had a disappointing season, you can probably grab him as an easy third and even fourth running back to stash on your squad. For that price, he’s worth a speculative addition in the middle rounds, and if he wins the starting job he should give you a sound return on your investment.

Below we have our projected stats for all our running back play profiles found on our website. Feel free to click on the players’ names if you want further current information on that specific player as we head into drafts this summer and a new fantasy football season.

Last Update – August 23rd

2011 Projected Running Back Stats

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