CJ Spiller

Week Seventeen Analysis: Last week C.J. Spiller touched the ball a career-high 26 times against Miami's top-five run defense, and his 173 total yards marked his best output since the opener. He's now scored and/or topped 100 total yards in nine of his last 10 games, and there's no reason to expect a deviation from the trend this week. The Jets rank bottom-10 against opposing backs in both rushing yards and touchdowns, with 13. Just two weeks ago the stylistically similar Chris Johnson ran for 122 yards and a score against the Jets, and Spiller could easily surpass that.

Week Sixteen Analysis: C.J. Spiller got right back on track against Seattle last week, turning a healthy 20 touches into over 100 total yards and a score. After a wild and crazy week of NFL action, the premium on consistency is at an all-time high, and Spiller has now scored and/or topped 100 total yards in eight of his last nine games. Miami's top-five run defense has held four consecutive starters under 90 total yards. However, they've allowed a touchdown per game to the position over that four-game span, and Spiller went for 130 against them last month. You're starting him with confidence again this week.

Week Fifteen Analysis: With Fred Jackson sidelined, Chan Gailey has already come out and promised a big workload for C.J. Spiller against Seattle. The last time Gailey made this kind of public declaration was just last month, and Spiller proceeded to log a career-high 25 touches for 130 combo yards against a tough Miami defense. Spiller scored four times and averaged 131 combo yards without Jackson in the season's first three games, so he has clear top-five potential any time he's the featured back. Seattle shut down Beanie Wells last week, which doesn't count, but in their previous six games they'd surrendered 170 combo yards and a touchdown per game to the position. Start Spiller with confidence.

Week Fourteen Analysis: Just when we'd stuck a fork in Fred Jackson, he inexplicably received 27 touches to C.J. Spiller's 15 against Jacksonville last week. Spiller's six-game streak of 100 combo yards was snapped, but he made up for it by scoring his first touchdown in his last six games. Surprisingly, the Rams rank sixth in rushing yardage, but have given up eight touchdowns to opposing backs in their last five games alone. While this matchup favors the veteran goal-line back on paper, there's a major talent gap between Spiller and Jackson. Expect the workload to even out, and Spiller to be very productive with his typical 15-ish touches.

Week Thirteen Analysis: The torch has officially been passed in Buffalo. C.J. Spiller has touched the ball 40 times to Fred Jackson's 27 in the Bills' last two games, and he's now eclipsed 100 combo yards in six straight. Spiller's only downfall has been his lack of touchdowns—he hasn't scored in his last 92 touches. On the season, Jacksonville has given up a touchdown per game to opposing backs, but they haven't surrendered a score in their last three, and that includes matchups with Arian Foster and Chris Johnson. Still, they rank 29th with 118 rushing yards allowed per game, so even if Spiller can't break out of his scoring slump, he should continue to pile up big yardage.

Week Twelve Analysis: With Fred Jackson sidelined against Miami last week, C.J. Spiller notched a career-high 25 touches, and his 130 combo yards marked his fifth consecutive game of at least 100 combo yards. Unfortunately he's scored just once in his last seven games, and it looks like he'll go back to splitting the workload with Jackson this week in Indianapolis. The Colts have been a surprisingly average run defense in terms of yardage, but they've given up 12 touchdowns to opposing backs, including scores for both Stevan Ridley and Shane Vereen last week. In addition to strong yardage numbers, Spiller has a nice opportunity to snap out of his scoring funk. If Jackson doesn't play, Spiller becomes an elite start.

Week Eleven Analysis: C.J. Spiller has eclipsed 100 combo yards in four straight contests, despite averaging just 14.5 touches over that span. With Fred Jackson now sidelined, Chan Gailey has hinted that Spiller could approach 30 carries Thursday night, but take that with a grain of salt—in the nine games Jackson's missed over the last two seasons, Gailey's only given Spiller more than 18 total touches twice. Prior to last week, Miami was surrendering just 3.5 yards per carry, and no opposing back had reached even 80 rushing yards. However, the stylistically similar Chris Johnson rolled up 134 combo yards and a score, so Spiller is very startable in a featured role.

Week Ten Analysis: Although he's locked in a 50-50 timeshare with Fred Jackson, C.J. Spiller is still delivering solid fantasy production. He's scored just once in his last three outings, but he's used his 15 touches per game to eclipse 100 combo yards in each of the three contests. This week he draws a New England run defense that's ceded just two touchdowns and 3.6 yards per carry to opposing backs. Fortunately, the Patriots are giving up a charitable 47 receiving yards per contest to opposing backs. While Spiller was a non-factor in the first meeting between these teams, his role has grown, and a big play is always a possibility.

Week Eight Analysis: Through the last two games, Chan Gailey has found a way to get both C.J. Spiller and Fred Jackson plenty of work—Spiller has averaged 17 touches for 106 combo yards, while Jackson has averaged 19 for 102. Although Jackson remains the preferred goal line back, that's probably irrelevant this week, as the impenetrable Houston Texans are the only team that's yet to give up a rushing score. The one glimmer of hope in this matchup actually belongs to Spiller, not Jackson, as Houston's only hiccup came when the physically and stylistically similar Chris Johnson rolled up 157 combo yards. Keep that in mind if you're flipping a coin between the two Buffalo backs.

Week Seven Analysis: While the Bills are essentially splitting their backfield workload right down the middle, C.J. Spiller has never needed a ton of work. In fact, he's only hit 20 touches once in his career, yet in the eight games in which he's accumulated at least 16 touches, he's scored nine times and averaged 131 combo yards. Last week Fred Jackson touched the ball 21 times to Spiller's 16, yet C.J. still racked up 110 combo yards and a touchdown against a tough Arizona defense. Through six games, Tennessee has given up seven touchdowns and over 173 combo yards per game to opposing backs, so Spiller should make at least one big play.

Week Six Analysis: So far the timeshare between Fred Jackson and CJ Spiller has yielded nothing positive for either as they have each squashed each other's value. Spiller is the more dynamic of the two backs and Chan Gailey has promised to try and get both on the field at the same time, so you probably have to start each of them as a flex this week with all the byes and injuries. Spiller has a career average of 5.3 yards-per-carry, to go along with a season average of 7.6 yards-per-carry, which is 5 yards-per-carry more than Fred Jackson has accomplished this year. Arizona is middle of the road when it comes to running backs yards allowed but they are stingy at the stripe.

Week Three Analysis: Fred Jackson, meet Wally Pipp. Exactly one year ago, C.J. Spiller was in the midst of a demotion to slot receiver duties in Buffalo. Today, he's reached the pinnacle of the fantasy universe. Over his last five games, Spiller has now scored seven times and totaled a ridiculous 759 yards. I've seen enough—at this point you need to lock him into your lineups and throw away the key, the same way you would if his name was Foster or Rice. Spiller is stylistically similar to LeSean McCoy, who racked up 136 combo yards on Cleveland's lousy run defense in the opener, so this is a great matchup.

Week Two Analysis: An early Fred Jackson injury opened the door for C.J. Spiller to shine, and just like the second half of last season, Spiller took full advantage. In his last seven games, Spiller has now scored six times and averaged 118 combo yards. Over a full season, that extrapolates out to nearly 1,900 total yards and 14 touchdowns. The Chiefs were a bottom-10 fantasy run defense last season, and after being lulled to sleep by Michael Turner in the opener, they'll be ripe for the picking this week for the electric Spiller.

NEXT: #2 ARIAN FOSTER