Five Underrated Fantasy Running Backs

One of the secrets to successfully navigating a fantasy football draft is sorting through the noise that comes out of the various media sources and uncovering the hidden values. Every season, fantasy football pundits will sway the general consensus in a particular direction, making forgone conclusions that cause a good percentage of players to rethink what they already know, thus causing some stalwart players to become significantly underrated. Over the next couple of weeks, Fantasy FanHouse will provide a rundown of our perceived five most underrated players at the key fantasy skill positions, starting today with the five most underrated running backs.

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Joseph Addai (Indianapolis Colts) – After an entirely mediocre 2008 campaign, Addai owners are all but ready to proclaim him an automatic bust for the 2009 season. The Colts helped solidify this notion when they snatched up University of Connecticut running back, Donald Brown, with the 27th pick of the draft. While Brown may steal away some of Addai's carries, former backup Dominic Rhodes is now gone to Buffalo and Addai will be battling to prove he is still worthy as a starter and heavy-load back. Hence, Addai is likely to fall significantly from his first-round glory days of yore, but keep an eye on him, because he may fall too far. Plus, Brown is not the most athletic running back, so his production is anything but guaranteed.

LaDainian Tomlinson (San Diego Chargers) – Darren Sproles proved his worth in gold as Tomlinson's understudy in 2008, averaging 5.4 yards per carry and scoring seven all-purpose touchdowns. The Chargers responded by awarding him a ridiculous one-year contract worth $6.6 million, thus initiating concerns about Tomlinson's workload for 2009. Plus, Tomlinson is flirting with the fantasy purgatory that is age 30, so he will likely see his expected value drop. A closer look, however, reveals that five of Sproles' touchdowns came on receptions and one on a punt return. Hence, he only posted 330 yards and one score on the ground. Also, the word out of minicamp is that Tomlinson looks and feels great and is lobbying to remain the workhorse.

LenDale White (Tennessee Titans) – White will see his fantasy value drop simply because of the expectation that Chris Johnson will emerge into the fantasy elite in 2009. Plus, he left the playoffs as a goat after losing a critical fumble in the loss to the Ravens. In all honesty, Johnson very well might take it to the next level, but that makes an underrated White a great pickup if he falls to a reasonably low round. White enters a contract year in 2009 and showed up in his best offseason shape since entering the NFL in 2006. The Titans will likely still give White plenty of touches and a lot of goal-line chances. Remember, he tallied 15 rushing touchdowns in 2008, despite carrying the ball more than 20 times in only two games.

Jonathan Stewart (Carolina Panthers) – Jonathan Stewart will suffer the same fantasy fate as White as he shares a backfield with 2008 fantasy stud of the year, DeAngelo Williams. Still just a rookie, Stewart showed off his potential last season, gaining over 800 yards on the ground and scoring 10 rushing touchdowns. With all fantasy eyes on Williams and owners doubting the Panthers' ability to produce two fantasy backfield stars, Stewart should wind up undervalued.

Pierre Thomas (New Orleans Saints) – The backfield situation in New Orleans presents a sticky situation for fantasy owners. On one hand you have Reggie Bush, the "anointed one" who nobody wants to sleep on, because he is so explosive that one of these years we all secretly expect him to stay healthy and explode for 2,000 all-purpose yards and 15 touchdowns. Alternatively, the Saints claim to want a power back and have not signaled that Pierre Thomas suits that need. Yet, Thomas still sits quietly atop the depth chart and posted great numbers at the end of 2008, so he looks like a great underrated option for 2009. And, according to Drew Brees, Pierre Thomas is the "total package."