The PFW staff says Maurice Jones-Drew and Trent Richardson are must-starts and health is a big factor for Ryan Mathews, in this week's fantasy running back tips.

The Bills are surrendering 134.0 rushing yards per game. Browns RB Trent Richardson comes off a strong game vs. Cincinnati (145 combined yards, two scores) and was much better than he was in Week One. With Richardson seemingly in better form, he’s just about a must-start for most fantasy owners unless you have stellar RB depth.

Jaguars RB Maurice Jones-Drew has shown little rust the first two weeks after his lengthy contract holdout, but his numbers have been pedestrian because he didn’t start in Week One and the Jaguars quickly fell behind last week. Sunday against the Colts represents Jones-Drew’s best opportunity thus far to make a big-time fantasy splash, as the Colts, despite holding up fairly well against the run thus far, are far from an upper-tier run defense. With Jaguars QB Blaine Gabbert regressing badly against the Texans in Week Two, look for the Jaguars to feed Jones-Drew as much as he can handle. Though there are many new faces on the Colts’ “D,” it is worth mentioning that the Jaguars have had their mojo working in recent games against the Colts, with Jones-Drew rushing for at least 100 yards in four of the last five meetings.

Ryan Mathews is expected to return Sunday in the Chargers’ game against the Falcons. Keep an eye on him over the next 48 hours, but if Mathews is back, he’ll get his touches. The Chargers may still take it slow, as Mathews has been injury prone in his career and they have depth with RBs Ronnie Brown, Curtis Brinkley and Jackie Battle — who had two scores last week. The Broncos had success on the ground against Atlanta last Monday night, and fantasy owners should plug Mathews into their lineups if he is healthy and ready to return. Once he is 100 percent, he has the potential for 25-30 touches a game.
 
Texans RB Arian Foster is obviously a must-start player each week; the bigger dilemma facing fantasy owners with regards to Houston’s backfield is what to do with talented backup Ben Tate. After a very quiet Week One (five carries, six yards), Tate exploded last week against the Jaguars, racking up 97 total yards and a pair of TDs on 16 touches. Of course, the Texans also carried the ball a franchise-record 48 times as they ran roughshod over the hapless Jaguars. The Texans travel to Denver this week, where the Broncos have held the Steelers and Falcons to 2.6 yards per carry in the first two weeks. This figures to be a more closely contested affair, making it unlikely Tate will have as many chances as he did in Week One. Even so, with the Texans’ desire to run the football, Tate is a reasonable flex play.