After recently unveiling the top-25 quarterback rankings, it’s time to move on to the most important position in fantasy football: running back. Due to its vital nature, we’re going much deeper with the quarterbacks, taking a look at the top-50 runners.

1. Adrian Peterson: An across-the-board choice for most as the No. 1 back, nobody will be surprised if he puts together the sixth season ever of at least 2,000 rushing yards. As it is, his 1,760 rushing yards last season ranked 21st in history in a single season.

2. Michael Turner: Turner’s 376 carries last season are a bit of a concern to some. Outside of that, there’s little reason to think he won’t be good for double-digit touchdowns once again.

3. Maurice Jones-Drew: His first season without Fred Taylor promises to be a big one for the diminutive back. Among backs with at least 150 carries, only DeAngelo Williams and Brandon Jacobs averaged fewer carries per touchdown than MJD’s mark of 16.4.

4. Matt Forte:A major find as a rookie, he did it all for the Bears a year ago. As the graph below shows, he was fifth in fantasy points with 12 total touchdowns and over 1,700 total yards. He ran for just 3.9 yards-per-carry last season, but that number should improve with an opened-up passing game led by Jay Cutler.

5. Steven Jackson: Should he stay healthy all season, he’s a candidate to lead the league in all-purpose yards, and lead fantasy backs in scoring. There’s precious few other offensive options in St. Louis, so Jackson should see more than his share of touches.

6. Chris Johnson: LenDale White won’t continue to take every goal-line carry from Johnson, who still ran for nine scores and added one more via reception. It’ll be difficult for him to replicate his yards-per-carry average of 4.9 from last year, but that will be fine if the trade-off is a few more touchdowns from the two-yard line.

7. DeAngelo Williams: Twenty touchdowns isn’t happening again; that was a one-time shot. Jonathan Stewart should continue to evolve and steal some of those scores, but even so, Williams has proven throughout his career to be dynamic with the ball in his hands and should surpass 10 scores yet again.

8. LaDainian Tomlinson: Reports of his demise have been somewhat exaggerated. No, he isn’t going to score you 31 total touchdowns like he did in 2006. But even if he gets 8-10, with 1,400 combined rushing and receiving yards, is that so bad?

9. Marion Barber: The Barbarian is more than just a bruiser, as he also has soft hands which helped him grab 52 passes in 2008. However, fantasy owners probably better remember his untimely injury situation last season which helped him amass a total of two fantasy points from Weeks 14-16. That was simply bad luck, and had it come in Weeks 4-6 instead, we’re not talking about it.

10. Steve Slaton: The Texans were criticized for taking Slaton in the third round because the rest of the world figured he was too small to be an every-down back. Whoops. He proved everyone wrong with nearly 1,700 total yards and 10 scores.

11. Clinton Portis: It seems as if Portis has been in the league forever, but he’ll only be 28 when the season starts. He’s one of the more reliable players in fantasy, having played fewer than 15 games just twice in his seven seasons.

12. Brandon Jacobs: A bulldozer who is one of the most enjoyable players to watch, Jacobs is also enjoyable to have on your fantasy team. Inside the five-yard-line, good luck stopping him.

13. Frank Gore: With 49ers head coach Mike Singletary vowing a renewed faith in the running game in San Francisco, Gore and his fantasy owners should be the beneficiary. This is especially true if the rookie Glen Coffee - reach in the third round - can’t become a dependable backup.

14. Brian Westbrook: The single scariest player in all of fantasy football, Westbrook’s injury history is far too checkered to ignore. He’s already getting over an ankle injury that has him missing reps in training camp.

15. Ryan Grant: Grant disappointed last season by scoring just four rushing touchdowns. That’s not the production fantasy owners were expecting, especially because he was ninth in the league with over 1,200 rushing yards last season. He should rebound somewhat, but don’t be totally shocked if Brandon Jackson starts to eat up some of his playing time.

16. Pierre Thomas: He’s the best running back on the New Orleans roster, and if sanity prevails, will be the Week 1 starter and get the goal-line carries.

17. Joseph Addai: No doubt he busted out for fantasy owners far and wide last season. But that just means he should be available in later rounds than usual. With Donald Brown on board, Addai’s 2007 numbers may be unattainable, but he’ll certainly do better than what we all suffered through last season.

18. Ronnie Brown: Brown should take even more carries from Ricky Williams this season, and has the receiving skills to produce more than the 33 catches he amassed last season. Hopefully, he gets the opportunity.

19. Marshawn Lynch: The three-game suspension at the beginning of the year will hurt Lynch, but his ability to catch the ball as well as run with it out of the backfield is too much to ignore.

20. Darren McFadden: If those turf toe issues are behind him, watch out. He’s got all the physical talent to become a perennial top-10 fantasy back.

21. Jonathan Stewart: Inconsistency plagued him last season, and fantasy owners couldn’t know on a week-to-week basis what they were getting. In his second season, don’t expect quite the weekly contrast.

22. LenDale White: Don’t expect 15 rushing touchdowns again this season. He’ll lose some of those to backfield mate Johnson.

23. Larry Johnson: There’s still something left in the tank for Johnson, so don’t count him completely out just yet. His days of being a fantasy stalwart are gone, but he can still be useful to fantasy owners.

24. Thomas Jones: He’s 31, the Jets just drafted Shonn Greene, Leon Washington has made his presence felt, and he’s not thrilled with his contract. Jones will regress more than any other fantasy back from 2008.

25. Derrick Ward: Goes to the Bucs to form another 1-2 punch, this time with Earnest Graham. Look for Ward to get the bulk of the carries for the team, but it’s a question as to how many looks inside the 10-yard line he’ll get over Graham.

Best of the Rest

26. Reggie Bush
27. Kevin Smith
28. Le’Ron McClain
29. Chris Wells
30. Jamal Lewis
31. Cedric Benson
32. Willie Parker
33. Earnest Graham
34. Donald Brown
35. Julius Jones
36. Knowshon Moreno
37. Ahmad Bradshaw
38. Tim Hightower
39. LeSean McCoy
40. Maurice Morris
41. Rashard Mendenhall
42. Darren Sproles
43. Sammy Morris
44. Willis McGahee
45. Fred Jackson
46. Felix Jones
47. Chester Taylor
48. Fred Taylor
49. Ricky Williams
50. Shonn Greene

With the NFL Draft now complete, analysts across the country will now put on their teacher’s hats and hand out grades to each team. We’re going to go a different way and take a look at some of the fantasy implications of the draft, along with some other thoughts. So, in the immortal words of the Joker, here … we … go:

 - Chris “Beanie” Wells: Drafted by the Arizona Cardinals with the second-to-last pick in the first round, Wells immediately becomes a RB2 for fantasy owners. Edgerrin James seems destined to get cut, and Tim Hightower did little to establish himself as anything more than a decent backup, despite his touchdown vulturing.

- Michael Crabtree: There really isn’t any reason that Crabtree shouldn’t be starting opposite Isaac Bruce in Week 1 for San Francisco. His diva attitude apparently turned a number of teams off prior to the draft, leading to him slipping to the  10th overall pick, but it worked out well for the 49ers and fantasy owners alike. Call him a legit WR3 to start the year, with the potential to do even more.

- Knowshon Moreno: We’re not entirely sure where Moreno fits with the Broncos in terms of playing time, not because of lack of talent, but because Denver has 11 running backs on it’s roster. That number will certainly come down before the season starts, but Moreno will still be sharing time with a number of veterans, and even if he does get his share of the carries,  it’s difficult to envision him as anything more than later-round depth for fantasy owners.

- Donald Brown: This was an interesting selection by the Colts, who certainly had other needs than a backup to Joseph Addai. Still, Addai was a killer for fantasy owners last season, as he had just four games that he averaged at least 4.0 yards per carry (not counting his one carry, four-yard performance in Week 17), and one contest where he gained 100 yards. All this for a guy who was undoubtedly a first-round selection in fantasy drafts. Due to that performance, Brown becomes an essential handcuff, but likely one you’ll have to select a bit earlier than you may truly want to.

- James Laurinaitis, Rey Maualuga: This is for the IDP owners out there. As the first two middle linebackers taken, Laurinaitis by the St. Louis Rams and Maualuga by the Cincinnati Bengals, each should become immediate starters. We think Laurinaitis could have the better overall value because he has the ability to play all three downs, whereas Maualuga is likely only a two-down ‘backer. But both will have value to IDP owners.

DRAFTS WE DIDN’T LIKE

Oakland Raiders - We’re as confused  as everyone else as to what the hell the Raiders are doing. The knock isn’t on the players they chose. It’s possible Darrius Heyward-Bey and Michael Mitchell become perennial All-Pros and Hall of Fame players. We guess. The issue is that they could have had each of these players later down the line. Especially Mitchell. If they felt that strongly about him, all accounts are they still could have gotten him in the fourth round - and though it would have still been called a reach, it would have been far less egregious.

Detroit Lions - I’ve been on record saying that I have little faith in Matthew Stafford, and greatly prefer Mark Sanchez. In time, we’ll see who develops into the better signal-caller. I dont’ quite understand the selection of tight end Brandon Pettigrew when the team  had such bigger needs elsewhere. They would have been wise to try and trade back and take one of the aforementioned middle linebackers in Laurinaitis or Maualuga.

DRAFTS WE LIKED

- Philadelphia Eagles: Getting Jeremy Maclin to line up alongside DeSean Jackson and Kevin Curtis gives the Eagles arguably the fastest trio of wideouts in the NFL. Taking running back LeSean McCoy - an underrated back in our estimation - to backup and eventually fill the shoes of Brian Westbrook was a great move, as were the fifth-round selections of tight end Cornelius Ingram and defensive back Victor “Macho” Harris.

- Chicago Bears:  Jarron Gilbert will only help fortify the Bears’ defensive line, as he is a great athlete for a defensive tackle who can get to the quarterback. Receiver Juaquin Iglesias brings a much-needed refined route runner to Chicago, and he was a player who very easily could have gone in the early portions of the second round. However, one of the steals of the draft came in the team’s selection of cornerback D.J. Moore from Vanderbilt. Only his relative lack of speed and height, at five-foot-nine, hurt him. He played offense, defense, and special teams at Vandy, and all he did was produce, with 13 interceptions in three seasons.