Free agency preview: running back

Running back

Top 10 UFA RBs:

1 - Mike Tolbert: just 26, excellent goal line back, excellent pass protector, has excelled as a feature back. (Signed by Panthers 3/19)

2 - Michael Bush: power back with big-play ability, only 27, has improved every year, does not have a ton of carries. (Signed by Bears 3/22)

3 - BenJarvus Green-Ellis: tough inside runner who NEVER fumbles. (Signed by Bengals 3/22)
Brandon Jacobs: big, hard-to-tackle runner, no doubt, but he's declined sharply since 2008 and his mouth and attitude may make him more trouble than he's worth. (Signed by 49ers 3/28)

4 - Justin Forsett: just about as dangerous a change-of-pace back as there was in the league a couple of years ago. (Signed by Texans 6/1)

5 - Cadillac Williams: not as fancy as his name suggests. Just runs hard and hits the hole. Good team player, generally takes good care of the ball. Not a big-play threat.

6 - Kevin Smith: has flashed major potential but has been even more of a major injury risk. (Re-signed by Lions, 3/26)
Joseph Addai (cut by Colts 3/9, signed by Patriots): injuries have reduced him to an unexplosive third-down back.

7 - Mewelde Moore: clutch player with good receiving skills, though he only had 11 catches last year. Actually ran for 7.1 yards a carry last year. (signed by Colts 6/19)

8 - Jason Snelling: effective big back who had 44 catches two years ago and has been an effective goal-line weapon. (Re-signed by Falcons, 3/8)

9 - Jackie Battle: back with some quickness who could help a team in a platoon role. Unfortunately, Rotoworld calls him a "poor man's Justin Fargas."

10 - Tashard Choice: had great seasons in 2006-07 but fell back down the Dallas depth chart to harder times. (Sigend by Bills, 3/24)

Top 5 UFA fullbacks:

1 - Michael Robinson: Pro Bowler led Marshawn Lynch to a big season. (Re-signed by Seahawks, 3/20)

2 - Le'Ron McClain: run production has dropped off the cliff but is still a good blocker and pass protector. (Signed by Chargers, 3/17)
2a - Lousaka Polite: cut by Patriots 3/26. Big, strong, better lead blocker than anybody the Rams have, has been highly reliable short-yardage back.

3 - Owen Schmitt: classic thumper but doesn't do much else.

4 - Jacob Hester: undersized, decent blocking back, pass protector, special teams contributor. (Re-signed by Chargers 4/14)

5 - Kris Wilson: good blocker, but more of an H-back who helps on special teams.

Sleepers: This post really overuses the phrase "poor man's", but Forsett is a poor man's Darren Sproles whose dropoff in production the last couple of seasons I can't really explain. He's quick and scary elusive and I know the Rams could never stop him on screen passes. Another dropoff I can't explain is Le'Ron McClain's. He looked like a feature back a few years ago, then the Ravens got Ray Rice and let him go to Kansas City. Good thing the draft class looks pretty deep at RB again this year.

Wild card: Peyton Hillis. Talk about Jekyll-and-Hyde. If this were spring 2011, Hillis would be at the top of the free-agent list. Instead, he suffered through injuries throughout the season and had his desire to play questioned. Did marriage take away his killer instinct? Was it the Madden Jinx? Does he really want to retire and join the CIA? (This was apparently a planted rumor.) What are you getting if you sign Peyton Hillis? A 1,000-yard hammer? Or a hammerhead? Talk about a tester for a front office... (Signed by Chiefs, 3/15)

Tag you're it: Matt Forte, Ray Rice

Out of the running: Kevin Faulk (retiring if Patriots don't want him), Marshawn Lynch (re-signed by Seattle), Antone Smith (re-signed by Falcons), LaDainian Tomlinson (retired 6/19), Rickey Williams (retired); Lawrence Vickers (cut by Texans 3/13, signed by Cowboys 3/14); Peyton Hillis (signed by Chiefs)

Voting present: Maurice Morris, Ronnie Brown (signed by Chargers 6/8), Ryan Grant, Rock Cartwright (signed by 49ers 3/16), Steve Slaton (signed by Dolphins 3/21), Ahmard Hall (fb), Lex Hilliard (fb, signed by Vikings 3/21), Moran Norris (fb) (signed by Texans, June), Jerious Norwood, Thomas Jones, Derrick Ward, Chester Taylor, Sammy Morris, Jerome Felton (fb, signed by Vikings 3/21)

The doctor will see you now: Earnest Graham (coming off torn Achilles), Bruce Hall, Jerome Harrison (brain tumor, successfully removed), Tim Hightower (ACL, re-signed by Redskins 5/13), Matt Lawrence, Spencer Larsen (MCL, signed by Patriots 3/22), Ovie Mughelli (knee, cut by Falcons 5/8)

Gawd no: Cedric Benson, Brock Bolen (fb, re-signed by Jagwires 4/3). Benson's productive enough, but he's 29 and is enough of a character risk I doubt he fares well outside of Cincinnati. Rotoworld describes Bolen as "a poor man's Brian Leonard." OMG.

RamView’s moves: Steven Jackson is one of the best running backs in the league, and Jeff Fisher believes he still has a lot of carries left in him, but he'll be 29 to start the season, and one thing Billy Devaney can never be accused of is having prepared for his successor. Devaney also can't be accused of having acquired a decent change-of-pace back to spell Jackson. Cadillac Williams was capable and somewhat productive last season but isn't any sort of gamebreaker, unless you count breaking games for the Rams by failing to run down loose backwards passes. RamView had high hopes for Jerious Norwood, but multiple knee injuries in Atlanta appear to have denied his once-dangerous speed and big-play ability. But where this running game hurts the most, and has hurt since the days of James Hodgins, is at fullback, where they can't find a guy who can throw a decent block, and fail repeatedly on 3rd-and-1s and goal line situations. Brit Miller's got the size and the grit but not the skill. I am the president of the Ben Guidugli International Fan Club, but it's hard to go into a season relying on a career practice-squad player to take over a starting role. I do believe Guidugli's earned a long look from Fisher during training camp.

RamView proposes to remake the entire backfield behind Jackson. Keen as I am on fixing things with a hammer, I'd replace Miller with Owen Schmitt, definitely a Fisher type of player and a guy who'll make defenses pay for loading the box to stop Jackson. Schmitt should come cheaper than the more versatile Pro Bowler Michael Robinson, and is a little younger. (And Guidugli would be even cheaper and even younger should he pan out.) I'd replace Norwood with Justin Forsett to take over as a third-down, Darren Sproles-type back. Last, I'll look to the draft for the future replacement for Jackson and RB to absorb the carries Cadillac was getting. If Boise State RB Doug Martin, a Ray Rice-type, is available for the Rams at #33, I think he'd be a hell of a pickup.

Shoot the moon: If the Rams trade down with Washington for the #6 pick, odds are that Alabama RB Trent Richardson figures into their plans, with Justin Blackmon, Matt Kalil and Morris Claiborne all likely to be off the board. That doesn't exactly land the Rams an immediate starter for their first pick, so I'd want the Redskins to provide me one as part of that trade. How about franchised tight end Fred Davis?

Prediction: Jackson stays the Rams' feature back. I apparently missed the Post-Dispatch article that reported that neither Cadillac nor Norwood are likely to be retained by the Rams. But Cadillac's decent enough at what he does, and I think Fisher likes Auburn guys anyway. When he's not concussed, former Fisher Titan Ahmard Hall has been a quite effective fullback, and his time seems to be up in Tennessee. I'm guessing he at least gets a look. And Fisher has been pretty damn strong at drafting running backs, from Eddie George to Chris Johnson. Yeah, I know, LenDale White, but I still like the odds of the Rams coming away with a future feature back in the top half of this year's draft.

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