2007 has been a bizarre year for running backs. Who would have thought at the beginning of the season that we would be talking about Ryan Grant, Earnest Graham, and Kolby Smith as three of the top-ten running back plays for week fourteen? All three began the season as third-string or lower on their own team’s depth charts and did not figure to play at all. Injuries have taken their toll and thrust these three players into the spotlight. Green Bay thought they had addressed their running back problem by drafting Brandon Jackson in the second round and DeShawn Wynn in the seventh round to go with Vernand Morency. When all three of them fell to injury, undrafted rookie Ryan Grant was the last man standing and capitalized on the opportunity. Earnest Graham had fallen into the NFL journeyman category, good enough to make a roster but not good enough to play. When injuries knocked out both Cadillac Williams and Michael Pittman, Graham proved he belonged in the Bucs backfield. All it took for Kolby Smith to see the field was a mid-season trade of Michael Bennett and a subsequent injury to workhorse Larry Johnson.

Good luck to all this fantasy football season!

Below are the weekly player rankings. As a reminder, these rankings are specific to the Week Fourteen match-ups.

Quarterbacks 1. Tony Romo, Dal 2. Matt Hasselbeck, Sea 3. Tom Brady, NE 4. Peyton Manning, Indy 5. Derek Anderson, Cle 6. Carson Palmer, Cin 7. Drew Brees, NO 8. Brett Favre, GB 9. David Garrard, Jax 10. Jason Campbell, Wash 11. Ben Roethlisberger, Pit 12. Kurt Warner, Ari 13. Philip Rivers, SD 14. Kellen Clemens, NYJ 15. Marc Bulger, Stl 16. Eli Manning, NYG 17. Vince Young, Ten 18. John Kitna, Det 19. Luke McCown, TB 20. Rex Grossman, Chi 21. Donovan McNabb, Phi 22. Trent Edwards, Buf 23. Tarvaris Jackson, Min 24. Jay Cutler, Den 25. Chris Redman, Atl 26. Damon Huard, KC 27. Kyle Boller, Bal 28. Josh McCown, Oak 29. John Beck, Mia 30. Sage Rosenfels, Hou 31. Trent Dilfer, SF 32. Vinnie Testaverde, Car 33. Byron Leftwich, Atl (inj) 34. David Carr, Car (inj) 35. Donovan McNabb, Phi (inj) 36. Alex Smith, SF (inj) 37. Matt Schaub, Hou (inj) 38. Jeff Garcia, TB (inj) 39. Brodie Croyle, KC (inj) Running Backs 1. Adrian Peterson, Min 2. LaDainian Tomlinson, SD 3. Brian Westbrook, Phil 4. Steven Jackson, Stl 5. Joseph Addai, Ind 6. Ryan Grant, GB 7. Marion Barber, Dal 8. Earnest Graham, TB 9. Kolby Smith, KC 10. Clinton Portis, Wash 11. Willie Parker, Pitt 12. Reggie Bush, NO 13. Jamal Lewis, Cle 14. Frank Gore, SF 15. Maurice Jones-Drew, Jax 16. Brandon Jacobs, NYG 17. Shaun Alexander, Sea 18. Edgerrin James, Ari 19. Justin Fargas, Oak 20. Chester Taylor, Min 21. LenDale White, Ten 22. Travis Henry, Den 23. Laurence Maroney, NE 24. Ron Dayne, Hou 25. Adrian Peterson, Chi 26. Fred Taylor, Jax 27. DeShaun Foster, Car 28. Thomas Jones, NYJ 29. Selvin Young, Den 30. Maurice Morris, Sea 31. Rudi Johnson, Cinn 32. Warrick Dunn, Atl 33. Willis McGahee, Bal 34. Jesse Chatman, Mia 35. Fred Jackson, Buf 36. Jerious Norwood, Atl 37. Reuben Droughns, NYG 38. Julius Jones, Dal 39. Kenny Watson, Cin 40. Kevin Faulk, NE 41. Kevin Jones, Det 42. Chris Brown, Ten 43. Lamont Jordan, Oak 44. Michael Pittman, TB 45. DeAngelo Williams, Car 46. T.J. Duckett, Det 47. Ladell Betts, Wash 48. Michael Turner, SD 49. Kenton Keith, Indy 50. Correll Buckhalter, Phil 51. Leon Washington, NYJ 52. Aaron Stecker, NO 53. Leonard Weaver, Sea 54. Musa Smith, Bal 55. Brian Leonard, Stl 56. Michael Robinson, SF 57. Vernand Morency, GB 58. Maurice Hicks, SF 59. Jason Wright, Cle 60. Tatum Bell, Det 61. Tony Hunt, Phil 62. Chris Henry, Ten (susp) 63. Larry Johnson, KC (inj) 64. Derrick Ward, NYG (IR) 65. Marshawn Lynch, Buff (inj) 66. Ahman Green, Hou (inj) 67. Andre Hall, Den (inj) 68. Najeh Davenport, Pitt (inj) 69. Anthony Thomas, Buf (inj) Tight Ends 1. Kellen Winslow, Cle 2. Antonio Gates, SD 3. Tony Gonzalez, KC 4. Jason Witten, Dal 5. Dallas Clark, Ind 6. Chris Cooley, Wash 7. Jeremy Shockey, NYG 8. Heath Miller, Pitt 9. Donald Lee, GB 10. Ben Watson, NE 11. Alge Crumpler, Atl 12. Tony Scheffler, Den 13. Vernon Davis, SF 14. Owen Daniels, Hou 15. Eric Johnson, NO 16. Desmond Clark, Chi 17. Leonard Pope, Ari 18. Greg Olsen, Chi 19. Chris Baker, NYJ 20. Alex Smith, TB 21. Jeff King, Car 22. L.J. Smith, Phi 23. Randy McMichael, Stl 24. Zach Miller, Oak 25. Marcedes Lewis, Jax 26. David Martin, Mia 27. Quinn Sypniewski, Bal 28. Anthony Fasano, Dal 29. Daniel Graham, Den 30. Visanthe Shiancoe, Min 31. Marcus Pollard, Sea 32. Robert Royal, Buf 33. Bo Scaife, Ten 34. Jerramy Stevens, TB 35. Bubba Franks, GB (inj) 36. Todd Heap, Bal (inj)

Wide Receivers 1. Randy Moss, NE 2. Terrell Owens, Dal 3. Braylon Edwards, Cle 4. Reggie Wayne, Ind 5. Marques Colston, NO 6. Torry Holt, Stl 7. T.J. Houshmandzadah, Cin 8. Hines Ward, Pitt 9. Brandon Marshall, Den 10. Bernard Berrian, Chi 11. Andre Johnson, Hou 12. Wes Welker, NE 13. Chad Johnson, Cin 14. Greg Jennings, GB 15. Bobby Engram, Sea 16. Plaxico Burress, NYG 17. Calvin Johnson, Det 18. Joey Galloway, TB 19. Laveranues Coles, NYJ 20. Santana Moss, Wash 21. Chris Henry, Cin 22. Patrick Crayton, Dal 23. Donte Stallworth, NE 24. Chris Chambers, SD 25. Dwayne Bowe, KC 26. Roydell Williams, Ten 27. Donald Driver, GB 28. Derrick Mason, Bal 29. Roddy White, Atl 30. Justin Gage, Ten 31. Arnaz Battle, SF 32. Reggie Brown, Phil 33. Kevin Curtis, Phil 34. Kevin Walter, Hou 35. Brandon Stokley, Den 36. Joe Jurevicius, Cle 37. James Jones, GB 38. Steve Smith, Car 39. Shaun McDonald, Det 40. Bryant Johnson, Ari 41. Deion Branch, Sea 42. Lee Evans, Buff 43. Muhsin Muhammad, Chi 44. Amani Toomer, NYG 45. Ronald Curry, Oak 46. Lance Moore, NO 47. Ike Hilliard, TB 48. Ernest Wilford, Jax 49. Michael Jenkins, Atl 50. Brad Smith, NYJ 51. Nate Washington, Pitt 52. Reggie Williams, Jax 53. Anthony Gonzalez, Indy 54. Cedric Wilson, Pitt 55. Brandon Jones, Ten 56. Javon Walker, Den 57. Sidney Rice, Min 58. Ted Ginn, Jr., Mia 59. Drew Bennett, Stl 60. Josh Reed, Buff 61. Dennis Northcutt, Jax 62. Mike Furrey, Det 63. Jerry Porter, Oak 64. Darrell Jackson, SF 65. Roscoe Parrish, Buff 66. Isaac Bruce, Stl 67. Mark Clayton, Bal 68. Nate Burleson, Sea 69. Bobby Wade, Min 70. Drew Carter, Car 71. Andre Davis, Hou 72. Devery Henderson, NO 73. Marty Booker, Mia 74. Antwaan Randle El, Wash 75. Vincent Jackson, SD 76. Demetrius Williams, Bal 77. Matt Jones, Jax 78. Derrick Hagan, Mia 79. Terrance Copper, NO 80. Joe Horn, Atl 81. Seneca Wallace, Sea 82. Samie Parker, KC 83. Troy Williamson, Min 84. Eddie Kennison, KC (inj) 85. Marvin Harrison, Indy (inj) 86. Santonio Holmes, Pitt (inj) 87. D.J. Hackett, Sea (inj) 88. Anquan Boldin, Ari (inj) 89. Roy Williams, Det (inj) 90. Jericho Cotchery, NYJ (inj) 91. Larry Fitzgerald, Ari (inj) Team Defenses 1. Dallas Cowboys 2. Green Bay Packers 3. Minnesota Vikings 4. New England Patriots 5. Washington Redskins 6. Jacksonville Jaguars 7. San Diego Chargers 8. Seattle Seahawks 9. Indianapolis Colts 10. Tampa Bay Bucs 11. New Orleans Saints 12. Pittsburgh Steelers 13. Buffalo Bills 14. Denver Broncos 15. Kansas City Chiefs 16. New York Giants 17. Tennessee Titans 18. Philadelphia Eagles 19. St. Louis Rams 20. Chicago Bears 21. Miami Dolphins 22. Baltimore Ravens 23. Atlanta Falcons 24. Arizona Cardinals 25. New York Jets 26. Carolina Panthers 27. San Francisco 49ers 28. Cincinnati Bengals 29. Detroit Lions 30. Houston Texans 31. Cleveland Browns 32. Oakland Raiders Kickers 1. Nick Folk, Dal 2. Mason Crosby, GB 3. Phil Dawson, Cle 4. Rob Bironas, Ten 5. Shaun Suisham, Wash 6. Steven Gostkowski, NE 7. Robbie Gould, Chi 8. Jason Elam, Den 9. Neil Rackers, Ari 10. Josh Brown, Sea 11. Nate Kaeding, SD 12. Shayne Graham, Cin 13. Matt Stover, Bal 14. Ryan Longwell, Min 15. David Akers, Phil 16. Kris Brown, Hou 17. Josh Scobee, Jax 18. Matt Bryant, TB 19. Jay Feely, Mia 20. Mike Nugent, NYJ 21. Adam Vinatieri, Indy 22. Jeff Wilkins, Stl 23. Morten Andersen, Atl 24. Jason Hanson, Det 25. Sebastian Janikowski, Oak 26. Jeff Reed, Pitt 27. Joe Nedney, SF 28. Rian Lindall, Buff 29. John Carney, KC 30. John Kasay, Car 31. Olindo Mare, NO 32. Lawrence Tynes, NYG

How high does Aaron Stecker move up the rankings?

Would you start him over Willie Parker or Frank Gore in a PPR league?

Even with the Bush injury and the Falcons defense, I have trouble moving Stecker into the top-20 running backs this week. Stecker has never been able to capitalize on starting opportunities in the past and I expect no different this time. Even though Parker and Gore have tough match-ups, they still rank ahead of Stecker.

Thanks
MARC