We’ve been working our way through the Fantasy Index Open ballots, seeing how the votes of the general public compare to our own board. Running back is the final position.
The general consensus is that there are four running backs at the top of the draft. LeSean McCoy has an edge at the top; he received 93 percent of a perfect score, while both Adrian Peterson and Jamaal Charles are at about 89.
Very little difference between Peterson and Charles. When you look at those guys head-to-head, it’s an 83-83 tie.
There’s a slight drop down to Matt Forte, who’s at 83 percent. Only 52 (less than a third) but Forte in the top 3, and only three contestents ranked him No. 1 at this position.
Eddie Lacy finished at 79 percent, so I guess you could say it’s not four backs at the top but five. There’s less of a difference between Forte and Lacy then the drop down to Marshawn Lynch and Montee Ball. And that’s a pre-appendectomy Ball. If we were to give everyone a mulligan, most would probably move him down a spot or two or three.
One rookie running back got a smattering a votes. Bishop Sankey, with 11 percent, placed 23rd. But just a vote here and there for the other rookie runners – Terrance West, Devonta Freeman, Carlos Hyde, Tre Mason, Andre Williams, Charles Sims and Jeremy Hill.
Strangest vote: one contestant wrote in Lance Dunbar.
The winner of the Fantasy Index Open will win a monster-sized trophy from the team at Affordable Trophies. In addition, the top 2 finishers will win berths in the Fantasy Experts Poll in the 2015 edition of Fantasy Football Index.
The Fantasy Index Open will be scored in January, with results emailed to all participants and also posted on the website.
| FANTASY INDEX OPEN (running backs) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Rk | Player | Pct |
| 1. | LeSean McCoy | 92.9% |
| 2. | Adrian Peterson | 89.3% |
| 3. | Jamaal Charles | 89.1% |
| 4. | Matt Forte | 83.3% |
| 5. | Eddie Lacy | 79.0% |
| 6. | Marshawn Lynch | 68.3% |
| 7. | Montee Ball | 66.8% |
| 8. | DeMarco Murray | 60.1% |
| 9. | Giovani Bernard | 59.2% |
| 10. | Arian Foster | 57.3% |
| 11. | LeVeon Bell | 57.0% |
| 12. | Alfred Morris | 48.5% |
| 13. | Zac Stacy | 42.9% |
| 14. | Doug Martin | 38.4% |
| 15. | Andre Ellington | 37.6% |
| 16. | Toby Gerhart | 29.7% |
| 17. | C.J. Spiller | 28.0% |
| 18. | Ryan Mathews | 26.9% |
| 19. | Ray Rice | 17.6% |
| 20. | Reggie Bush | 17.2% |
| 21. | Frank Gore | 13.6% |
| 22. | Chris Johnson | 12.4% |
| 23. | Bishop Sankey | 10.7% |
| 24. | Shane Vereen | 10.5% |
| 25. | Joique Bell | 8.4% |
| 26. | Rashad Jennings | 7.6% |
| 27. | Trent Richardson | 7.3% |
| 28. | Lamar Miller | 6.0% |
| 29. | Ben Tate | 4.7% |
| 30. | Maurice Jones-Drew | 3.5% |
| 31. | Terrance West | 3.3% |
| 32. | Stevan Ridley | 3.3% |
| 33. | Khiry Robinson | 2.2% |
| 34. | Steven Jackson | 1.6% |
| 35. | Pierre Thomas | 1.4% |
| 36. | Devonta Freeman | 1.4% |
| 37. | Carlos Hyde | 1.0% |
| 38. | Tre Mason | 0.7% |
| 39. | Andre Williams | 0.6% |
| 40. | Christine Michael | 0.4% |
| 41. | Darren McFadden | 0.4% |
| 42. | Fred Jackson | 0.3% |
| 43. | Charles Sims | 0.3% |
| 44. | David Wilson | 0.2% |
| 45. | Ronnie Hillman | 0.2% |
| 46. | Danny Woodhead | 0.2% |
| 47. | DeAngelo Williams | 0.2% |
| 48. | Knowshon Moreno | 0.2% |
| 49. | Bryce Brown | 0.2% |
| 50. | Bernard Pierce | 0.1% |
| 51. | Jonathan Stewart | 0.1% |
| 52. | Jeremy Hill | 0.1% |
| 53. | Lance Dunbar | 0.1% |
—Ian Allan