It is fine and dandy to look at what each top fantasy player is doing statistically. It is a completely different thing to actually take a deeper look and see what they have done against good or bad competition.
Stevan Ridley might be one of the most productive fantasy running backs at this point in the season, but the competition he has gone up against thus far hasn't been too great. Meanwhile, Adrian Peterson's production has come against some of the top run defenses in the NFL this season.
Let's take a gander at these advanced statistics for a second.
| Player | Team | Yards | Per Game | TD | Opponent AVG |
| Adrian Peterson | Minnesota | 775 | 96.9 | 4 | 14.3 |
| Marshawn Lynch | Seattle | 757 | 94.6 | 3 | 14.1 |
| Arian Foster | Houston | 659 | 94.1 | 9 | 17.8 |
| Alfred Morris | Washington | 717 | 89.6 | 5 | 17.9 |
| Stevan Ridley | New England | 716 | 89.5 | 5 | 21.8 |
Of the top fantasy running backs, Adrian Peterson has played the most difficult run defenses thus far this season. Just add that to a myriad of different achievements the former All-Pro player has accomplished since his remarkable recovery from late-season knee injury last December. Not only does AP lead the NFL in rushing through the first eight weeks of the season, he has done it against the likes of the San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals..Two of the top three overall defenses in the league.
Meanwhile, Stevan Ridley has been pretty damn impressive in the Patriots' backfield. He is fourth in the league in rushing, but has gone up against some of the worst rush defenses in the NFL through eight weeks. The Buffalo Bills, Baltimore Ravens, New York Jets and Tennessee Titans all rank in the bottom five in the league against the rush. That is probably one of the primary reasons that Ridley has been so successful.
One' can't help but be impressed by the performance of Marshawn "Skittles' Lynch thus far this season. He is second in the NFL in rushing yards and has gone up against some of the most difficult rush defenses in the NFL during that span. The New England Patriots and San Francisco 49ers both rank in the top 10 against the rush. Lynch averaged 84 total yards per against those two teams. Not great numbers, but acceptable for a RB1 going up against an elite defensive front.
Remaining Schedule | Player | Team | AVG Opponent |
| Arian Foster | Houston | 20.2 |
| Alfred Morris | Washington | 19.1 |
| Stevan Ridley | New England | 16.3 |
| Marshawn Lynch | Seattle | 15.4 |
| Adrian Peterson | Minnesota | 8.1 |
It is interesting to see that Arian Foster has the easiest remianing schedule against run defenses of any running back in the top five in the league in rushing. After all, he has scored a league-leading nine touchdowns thus far this season. Just imagine what Foster will be able to do against the Buffalo Bills (32nd), Tennessee Titans (28th), Indianapolis Colts (27th) and Jacksonville Jaguars (25th). I don't really need to say too much here. Do I?
I am somewhat concerned about Adrian Peterson's ability to be the top fantasy running back during the second half of the season. He has, by far, the most difficult remianing schedule of the top running backs in the NFL. The Minnesota Vikings have to go up against the Chicago Bears (1st) twice, Houton Texans (4th) and Seattle Seahawks (5th). That is incredibly difficult.