Note- fantasy points determined as follows (based on eleven or more games played)

• 1 point every 10 rushing yards
• 1 point every 10 receiving yards
• 6 points per touchdown

Over the past four seasons, the following average fantasy points' totals have resulted in these rankings

We will be using the average totals above for comparison purposes.

Current NFL running backs in last four seasons

Shawn Alexander, Seattle Seahawks

• Has averaged over 267 fantasy points in the past three seasons
• Has averaged 16.7 fantasy points per game in each of the last three seasons
• His fantasy points put him in our 'Stud RB' category all three seasons
• Hasn't missed a game in the last three seasons

Mike Alstott, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

• Has seen his numbers drop each of the past three seasons
• He averaged 9.8 fantasy points per game during the 2001 season
• He has only had one season as a dependable starting RB since the 2000 season (157 FP in 2001)

Mike Anderson, Denver Broncos

• He had 256.9 fantasy points during the 2000 season despite playing in only fourteen games
• Since the 2000 season, Anderson has never achieved even 'Decent backup RB' status

Richie Anderson, Dallas Cowboys

• He has never been beyond a decent fantasy backup in the past four seasons.
• His 2003 season has his best over this span

Tiki Barber, New York Giants

• He has been at least a dependable starting running back all four seasons
• He enjoyed one season in our 'Stud RB' tier during the 2002 campaign

Kevan Barlow, San Francisco 49ers

• He has never had a season better than 'Dependable starting RB'
• He has never finished worse than a 'Decent backup'
• He enjoyed his finest season to date in 2003 with 10.9 fantasy points per game

Michael Bennett, Minnesota Vikings

• He has never enjoyed a season above 'Dependable starting RB'
• He averaged 12.5 fantasy points per game in 2002
• He was injured much of last season

Jerome Bettis, Pittsburgh Steelers

• He has only had one season as a 'Dependable starting RB' in the last four seasons (2000 campaign)
• His fantasy points per game were pretty good until last year (12.0, 12.4 and 10.5 in the previous three seasons)
• If you grade by FP/game, Bettis has been a dependable starter in three of the last four years

Shawn Bryson, Detroit Lions

• He has only had one season as a 'decent fantasy backup' in the past four seasons

Correll Buckhalter, Philadelphia Eagles

• He has never progressed beyond the 'decent backup' level

Domanick Davis, Houston Texans

• Davis finished as a 'Dependable starting RB' in his first NFL season
• His points per game total was good enough to bump him up to 'Good starting RB' level if projected over 16 games

Stephen Davis, Carolina Panthers

• He has enjoyed two seasons at the 'good starting RB' level
• His FP/game have kept him right near the 'good starting RB' level in all four seasons

Corey Dillon, New England Patriots

• Until last season's disaster, Dillon finished very near the 'good starting RB' level in three straight seasons

T.J. Duckett, Atlanta Falcons

• Last year was his first as a 'dependable starting RB'
• In 2002, his FP/game ranked him as a 'decent backup RB'

Warrick Dunn, Atlanta Falcons

• He has had one season as a 'good starting RB' and one as a 'dependable starting RB' in the last four years
• However his FP/game is good enough to put him in the 'dependable starting RB' tier or better in all four years

Kevin Faulk, New England Patriots

• He has never been better than a 'decent backup'

Marshall Faulk, St. Louis Rams

• Faulk has had two seasons at the 'Stud RB' level, another as a 'good RB' and the final season as a 'dependable RB'
• His fantasy points have gone down in each of the last four seasons (from a high of 374.9 in 2000 to only 176.8 in 2004)
• His FP/game numbers put him in the 'Good RB' or better category in all four seasons

Charlie Garner, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

• He has enjoyed two seasons at the 'Good RB' level and one at the 'Dependable RB' level
• He was very close to being a 'Stud RB' in 2002 (only 6 fantasy points away from that tier)

Eddie George, Dallas Cowboys

• He enjoyed one year as a 'Stud RB' during the 2000 campaign
• He has been a dependable starter or better in all four seasons

Ahman Green, Green Bay Packers

• Green has enjoyed four straight seasons as a good fantasy RB or better
• He has reached 'Stud RB' status in two of the last four years and narrowly missed it in two others

William Green, Cleveland Browns

• He has only been at the decent backup level once in his career
• He has never been at a dependable starting RB or better level

Troy Hambrick, Oakland Raiders

• Despite playing all 16 games as a starter last year, he still only slotted in as a decent backup RB.

Garrison Hearst, Denver Broncos

• He reached a dependable starting level in two of the last three years
• If you use FP/game, Hearst has reached that level in the past three years

Travis Henry, Buffalo Bills

• Henry has been at the 'good starting RB' level for the past two seasons
• He narrowly missed the 'Stud RB' level during the 2002 season (by 3.3 fantasy points)

Priest Holmes, Kansas City Chiefs

• Holmes has had three straight seasons at the 'Stud RB' level
• He has averaged over 23 points per game in the last two seasons

Edgerrin James, Indianapolis Colts

• Has had one season in each category over the last four seasons
• If you use FP/game, James has reached the 'Stud RB' level in three of the four seasons

Rudi Johnson, Cincinnati Bengals

• Johnson was a 'dependable starting RB' in 2003

Jamal Lewis, Baltimore Ravens

• One season at each of the three starting tiers (Stud RB, Good Starting RB and Dependable Starting RB)

Curtis Martin, New York Jets

• Very consistent in the four years with two seasons in the 'good RB' tier and two more in the 'dependable RB' tier
• Hasn't missed a game in the past four seasons
• His FP/game in a season has been very consistent as well with it ranging from 10.6 to 15.2 in the four years.

Deuce McAllister, New Orleans Saints

• He has produced at the 'Stud RB' level in each of the last two years

Michael Pittman, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

• Pittman hasn't been able to exceed the 'dependable starting RB' tier
• He has had two seasons as only a 'decent backup RB'
• He has never averaged more than 10.4 FP/game in a season

Clinton Portis, Washington Redskins

• He has easily reached the 'Stud RB' tier in the last two seasons

Dominic Rhodes, Indianapolis Colts

• He finished in the 'dependable starting RB' tier in 2001

Marcel Shipp, Arizona Cardinals

• He has one 'dependable starting RB' and one 'decent backup RB' over the last two seasons
• He only averaged 6.3 FP/game in 2003

Antowain Smith, Tennessee Titans

• He finished in the 'good running back' tier in 2001 and the 'dependable starting RB' tier in 2002 before his fall from glory last year

Emmitt Smith, Arizona Cardinals

• He has only had one season as a 'dependable starting RB' since the 2000 season
• He hasn't averaged more than 9.4 FP/game since the 2000 season

Duce Staley, Philadelphia Eagles

• He has had one season each as a 'good starting RB', a 'depending starting RB' and a 'decent backup RB'

James Stewart, FA

• He enjoyed one season as a 'good starting RB' during the 2000 campaign

Fred Taylor, Jacksonville Jaguars

• He hasn't been at the 'Stud RB level' in the last four years
• He has been at the 'good starting RB' level for three of the past four years
• His FP/game during the 2000 season put him in the 'Stud RB' tier

Anthony Thomas, Chicago Bears

• He has had only one season as a 'dependable starting RB' (2001 season)
• If FP/game is used, Thomas has been at that level for all three seasons and barely missed out on the 'good starting RB' tier in 2001 (by 1.1 fantasy points)
• He hasn't been able to stay healthy in his first three seasons

LaDainian Tomlinson, San Diego Chargers

• He has enjoyed two straight seasons as a 'Stud RB' and was a 'good starting RB' in 2001
• He hasn't missed a game yet in the NFL

Brian Westbrook, Philadelphia Eagles

• He was a 'dependable starting RB' in 2003

Tyrone Wheatley, Oakland Raiders

• He hasn't been a 'dependable starting RB' since the 2000 season

Jamel White, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

• He was a 'decent backup RB' for two straight seasons

Moe Williams, Minnesota Vikings

• He was a 'dependable starting RB' last year and a 'decent backup RB' in 2002

Ricky Williams, Miami Dolphins

• He has been a 'good starting RB' or better for the last three seasons
• He was at the 'Stud RB' level in 2002 with 20.2 FP/game

Amos Zereoue, Oakland Raiders

• He has never been better than a 'decent fantasy backup' and hasn't even hit that tier in two of the last three seasons