The fantasy football week got started on Thursday and heading into the weekend with the playoffs here, some names to watch out for dealing with injuries at the RB position includes names like Eddie Lacy, Reggie Bush, Adrian Peterson, Shane Vereen and Ben Tate and owners may need to look to other players to help win this weekend.
Lacy missed practice this week while dealing with an ankle injury and the team will look to see whether he can start this weekend and that makes James Starks a prime pickup for fantasy owners. Lacy has been out for two days and he has been one of the best rookies in the league. Ben Tate has been dealing with broken ribs for weeks and he could be limited, as could Bush, who has been dealing with a calf injury, but he looks set to get back into action. Adrian Peterson is dealing with a foot issue and Toby Gerhart is a player to watch as his backup, as he has a hamstring problem after suffering it against the Ravens.
The Rams have a couple running backs to keep an eye on and here is a look at their performance from the past few weeks overall: The Rams continued to rush the ball despite dealing with injuries, as Benny Cunningham stepped in and rushed for 100 yards on the day in the win over the Chicago Bears.
Stacy had been one of the most productive running backs in football over the past five weeks and now fantasy owners should probably look towards Benny Cunningham after he had to leave the game with a concussion. Cunningham had a very solid day coming in for Stacy, rushing for over 100 yards on the day with a touchdown on 13 carries for over eight yards per attempt in the matchup. The Rams suddenly look much better on offense after losing Sam Bradford weeks ago and the main reason has been the success of the running game, with Stacy getting the bulk of the production.
The Rams came into the season with Daryl Richardson and Isaiah Pead looking like the starting running backs for Jeff Fisher, but injuries and poor play gave Stacy the chance to step up and for a stretch he was one of the most productive backs in football. Stacy had rushed for over 100 yards in two of the previous three games before playing the Bears and he was on his way to another solid day against Chicago with 12 attempts for 87 yards and a touchdown to average over seven yards per carry and now his status going forward is up in the air. Stacy had been a factor in the passing games as well and has nine receptions over the past three games and he had been finding his way into the red zone as well, scoring four times in the past three games, including two rushing scored against the Titans a few weeks ago.
Coming into the game Stacy had over 530 yards on the season and the bulk of that came over the previous four weeks and now Cunningham looks like the next man up in the rotation. Richardson has done nothing this season and Pead has been a disappointment as well and heading into the back stretch of the season, Cunningham will be looked at to make up for Stacy's production. The rookie finished the game with 13 carries and 109 yards and a touchdown and he nearly made up his entire total after heading into the game with 129 yards on the season. Cunningham had the bulk of that with 72 yards last week in the win over the Colts and before that he had less than 15 yards in three straight games.
The Rams haven't been the most productive offensive team in football, but the rushing attack has been much better and more productive with Stacy and Cunningham over Richardson and Pead and Stacy was just one of a number of players that left the game on Sunday with head injuries. The Rams ended up scoring over 40 points for the first time this season and they have some tough matchups coming up on the schedule, playing on the road against the San Francisco 49ers and then again on the road against the Arizona Cardinals before hosting the New Orleans Saints and Buccaneers. The team ends the season on the road with a tough game against the Seattle Seahawks.