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The rookie running back is a unique commodity in both real and fantasy football. Todd Gurley II Womens Jersey . If the sport of football is considered a young mans game, the tailback position is undoubtedly a key inspiration for this idiom.Few positions in sport, if any, incur such consistent and constant physical erosion as the NFL running back. The job description is to run through and past large groups of astonishingly strong and athletic men. This means the league, and thus fantasy investors, often look to the next wave of talent at the position for replenishment of workload and production. With an eventual eye on the 2016 class at the position, lets take a look at the past decade of rookie running backs in the context of fantasy football production.A brief history of top-flight rookie RBsThe premise that the league has continually devalued the running back position in the draft and in free agency over the past several seasons might ring true with regards to draft capital and bonus cash in free agency, yet this study revealed the fact that weve seen 19 rookie running backs tally at least 100 rushing attempts over the past two seasons combined. The past two seasons mark the biggest two-year stretch of 100-carry rookie backs over the past decade. Last years mark of 10 such performances was a 10-year high.From 2006 to 2013, we saw an average of 5.8 rookie backs accrue at least 100 carries. So while the sample isnt so sizable, its interesting to consider that while the league isnt allocating draft and cash assets to the position as it once did, on-field opportunity has actually increased over recent seasons.As a fun exercise, we compiled the top 30 fantasy seasons (ordered by standard fantasy points) since 2001. Even though Clinton Portis rookie opus in Denver in 2002 is the high-water mark for rookies since 2001, he finished fourth at the position that season in fantasy production, while Doug Martins 2012 netted him the highest finish (third) at the position for a rookie over the past 15 seasons.For some context for rookie backs in the past decade, consider that 40 rookie backs since 2006 have amassed as many as 150 rushing attempts in their debut season. During the past decade, 29 professional freshmen at the position have been targeted at least 40 times in the passing phase. Just how have rookie backs translated to fantasy production?Taking an overhead look at the league during the past decade, weve produced the production thresholds required for RB1, RB2 and RB3 seasons over the past 10 seasons. In the table below, youll find what each tier of production in both standard and PPR leagues demands for NFL running backs (not isolated solely to rookies). It has required at least 125 standard fantasy points, for example, to finish 24th or better among running backs on average over the past 10 NFL seasons.Lets apply these numbers to rookies at the position since the 2006 campaign.Rare RB1 rookie seasonsUsing 170 fantasy points as the threshold for producing a top-12 fantasy season using ESPN standard scoring, we find 13 rookie tailbacks since 2006 to have met this mark (rounding up Marshawn Lynchs 169 fantasy points in 2007). Using per-game production -- limiting the sample to having played at least eight games during their rookie campaign -- we find 12 backs qualify for the top-12 per-game threshold of 11.6 fantasy points per game.In a PPR (point per reception) format, just 12 rookie backs since 2006 have produced at least 206 fantasy points (the milestone for a PPR RB1 season over the past decade), again proving generous with the inclusion of both LeVeon Bells and Giovani Bernards 2013 efforts that resulted in 205 PPR points for each. Using per-game production, 13 backs since 2006 have met the requirement (14.3 FP/G) for a top-12 PPR finish.Rookie RB2 campaignsFor the top-24 tier, we find 12 tailbacks since 2006 have scored between 125 and 170 fantasy points -- the realistic range for an RB2 finish -- over the past decade (13 met the per-game mark of 9.1 to 11.6 points per game). Adding these tiers together, we find 25 backs have produced a top-24 fantasy season at the position in standard leagues over the past decade.In PPR formats, 10 backs over the past 10 seasons have produced RB2 results -- between 157 and 205 fantasy points -- and nine have met the per-game requirements for RB2 consideration, averaging at least 11 PPR points. This means 22 rookie backs have totaled top-24 efforts in PPR formats over the past decade, expanding to 24 using the per-game confines of the study.Since 2006, 255 rookie running backs have appeared in at least four games during their inaugural pro season, thus we find just less than 1 percent of such rookies have produced RB2-worthy efforts over this sample.Rookie RB3 effortsThe group understandably expands as we lower the bar for fantasy production, as 20 rookie backs have totaled between 92 and 125 standard fantasy points since 2006, the range for RB3 production. The sample grows to 24 backs when looking at point totals in PPR formats over the past decade. When it comes to per-game production, 19 rookie backs have averaged RB3 production in standard scoring formats since 2006, which expands to 20 backs using a PPR key.Looking ahead to 2016Last season saw the Cardinals David Johnson and the Rams Todd Gurley lead fantasy teams to glory, while respectable stretches from the likes of Jeremy Langford, Matt Jones, T.J. Yeldon, Buck Allen, Duke Johnson and Thomas Rawls didnt go unnoticed. With a new crop to study, identifying the top talents in this 2016 class could prove profitable come December.Referencing the table above, weve compiled this years rookie class with ESPNs current fantasy football projections for 2016. Based on the research above, we have Ezekiel Elliott projected for a surefire RB1 campaign in both standard and PPR formats (more on him below).The Titans Derrick Henry is projected within 10 percent of the RB2 tier using standard scoring, while Jordan Howard, C.J. Prosise, Kenyan Drake, Kenneth Dixon and Tyler Ervin are set to achieve or come close to RB3-worthy production this season; all of them are within 22 percent of the RB3 scoring threshold.My personal favorites of this rookie possible RB3 tier would be Dixon and Howard, as I find the depth charts in both Baltimore and Chicago realistically scalable. Dixon has some LeSean McCoy to his game in both negative and positive regards; in that he can get stuffed at the line with some regularity, but then again, he also flashes Shadys rare ability to induce missed tackles from opponents. Of the Ravens trio of backs in Marc Trestmans space-friendly system, Ill take shares of Dixon. As for Howard, hes a between-the-tackles force compared to Langfords more reception-friendly skill set, so meaningful early-down work could come sooner than later for the bruising Hoosier.The key 2016 rookie asset to evaluate is surely Zeke, as the Cowboys top pick is currently going fifth on average at the position and in firmly the first round overall in ESPN drafts so far this summer. Our projection for Elliott this season, powered by the ever-accurate Mike Clay, has him set for the fourth-most carries in the league, with roughly 280. Fittingly, Brett Jepsen of the teams website has Elliott projected for 280-300 carries this season.Elliott is also projected for the 11th-most catches at the position, with 51, netting him the fourth-most projected yards from scrimmage (1,673) among all players at the position. Converting this gaudy expected workload into fantasy numbers, were projecting Elliott for the fourth-most fantasy points at the position in both standard and PPR formats.From Week 6 on last season, when he began to receive feature work, the Cowboys Darren McFadden averaged 107.8 yards per game, the most in the league over the final 12 weeks of the season. The Rams remarkable rookie, Gurley, rushed for just 17 more yards than McFadden on 10 fewer attempts last season. Which is to say, Dallas vaunted run-blocking line helped McFadden, in his eighth season, keep pace with the leagues elite talents at the position.Nine rookie running backs have been afforded at least 250 rushing attempts since 2006, with eight of these efforts resulting in RB1 production (at least 170 standard fantasy points). Of those nine rookie workhorse campaigns, six earned at least 40 targets and 260 receiving yards. This select six averaged 210 standard and 259 PPR points -- good for RB1 production in each of the past 10 seasons -- thanks to such voluminous workloads.Opportunity is a monumental influence for fantasy success with rookie running backs. We are banking on Elliott to join Doug Martin and Matt Forte in fantasy lore with a top-five finish at the position as a freshman thanks to such a hefty workload. Meanwhile, savvy shares of his draft peers also could pay off given the trends weve witnessed at the position over the past decade. Cory Littleton Youth Jersey . The team also announced Tuesday that the Braves will wear a commemorative patch on the right sleeve during the season. The patch, shaped like home plate, carries the number 715, Aarons autograph and a "40th Anniversary" banner. Jack Youngblood Womens Jersey . Rinne played two periods in his first game since left hip surgery in early May. Gabriel Bourque scored 3:07 into the second period and Austin Watson tallied 5:15 later for Nashville. http://www.ramsrookiestore.com/Rams-Marshall-Faulk-Jersey/ .ca NHL Power Rankings for the second straight week, ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Colorado Avalanche. A roundup of the past weeks notable boxing results from around the world:Saturday at Manchester, EnglandJorge Linares W12 Anthony Crolla - Fight recap Wins a lightweight title Scores: 117-111, 115-114, 115-113 Records: Linares (41-3, 27 KOs); Crolla (31-5-3, 13 KOs)Rafaels remarks: On another big night for boxing in the United Kingdom, where so many big fights now take regularly place, Linares, 31, of Venezuela, went to Crollas hometown and turned in an outstanding performance during a tremendous action fight to not only lift Crollas alphabet title but stake his claim to the lineal title, since most viewed them as the top two fighters in the 135-pound division.It was the second time that Linares went to England and scored a big win over a British fighter. In May 2015, he knocked out Kevin Mitchell in the 10th round of a fight of the year candidate to retain his belt. However, earlier this year, when Linares had a hand injury, he was stripped of the title and made a titleholder in recess.Crolla, 29, who was making his second defense and facing a formidable opponent for the fourth fight in a row, gave a great effort and applied pressure, but he was simply not as good as the more skillful Linares, whose fast hands, high work rate and outstanding body attack gave Crolla problems throughout the fight.Linares closed strong to take the final few rounds as he went the 12-round distance for the first time in his 14-year career. Theres a good chance there will be a rematch back in Manchester next year.Also on the card, British welterweight Conor Benn (5-0, 3 KOs), the son of former two-division world titleholder and British legend Nigel Benn, went the six-round distance in a shutout of 27-year-old countryman Ross Jameson (1-2, 0 KOs), winning 60-55 on the scorecard of referee Darren Sarginson. Benn, who turns 20 on Wednesday, was fighting just two weeks after notching a second-round knockout of Joe Ducker on the Gennady Golovkin-Kell Brook undercard.Saturday at Carson, CaliforniaDonnie Nietes W12 Edgar Sosa Flyweight Scores: 120-108 (three times) Records: Nietes (39-1-4, 22 KOs); Sosa (52-10, 30 KOs)Rafaels remarks: Nietes, 34, of the Philippines, made four strawweight world title defenses and then won a junior flyweight world title, which he defended nine times during his 2011 to 2016 reign. But he vacated the belt and moved up to flyweight, looking to make another title run and took on Sosa, 37, of Mexico, a former longtime junior flyweight titleholder who has seen better days.Fighting in the United States for the second time, Nietes, who has been unbeaten for 12 years, rolled to a shutout decision against the game Sosa. Sosa had no answers for the busier, more accurate and more skilled Nietes, who clobbered him with right hands throughout the fight. Two right hands rocked Sosa in the final round, who lost for the second time in three fights, having also been drilled in two rounds by pound-for-pound king Roman Chocolatito Gonzalez in a flyweight world title bout in May 2015. Nietes is hoping for a flyweight world title shot against the winner of the Nov. 5 vacant title bout between Zou Shiming and Kwanpichit Onesongchaigym, who will fight on the Manny Pacquiao-Jessie Vargas undercard.Also on the card, 21-year-old Filipino prospect Mark Magsay (15-0, 11 KOs), fighting in the United States for the second time, rolled to a lopsided decision against 23-year-old Mexican southpaw Ramiro Robles (13-6-1, 8 KOs), knocking him down in the second and seventh rounds and winning on scores of 120-106, 119-107 and 118-108 to hand him his fifth loss in his past six bouts.Saturday at Cancun, MexicoJhonny Gonzalez KO1 Hirotsugu Yamamoto Junior lightweight Records: Gonzalez (62-10, 52 KOs); Yamamoto (19-13-2, 3 KOs)Rafaels remarks: Former bantamweight and two-time featherweight world titleholder Gonzalez, 35, of Mexico, made quick work of Yamamoto, 33, of Japan, handing him his second loss in a row. Gonzalez, who won his fourth fight in a row since an upset decision loss to Jonathan Oquendo last September on the Floyd Mayweather-Andre Berto undercard, dropped an off-balance Yamamoto to all fours with a left hook with just under a minute to go in the opening round. Yamamoto did not appear hurt and got up immediately. But then, just before the round ended, Gonzalez nailed him with a left hook to the chin and he went down hard flat on his back and the fight was waved off. Even with the fight over, he eventually got up but stumbled into the ropes and was out of it.Friday at Miami, OklahomaRadivoje Hot Rod Kalajdzic TKO5 Travis Peterkin Light heavyweight Records: Kalajdzic (22-1, 15 KOs); Peterkin (16-1-1, 7 KOs)Rafaels remarks: Kalajdzic, 25, who hails from Bosnia and Herzegovina and lives in St. Petersburg, Florida, is viewed as undefeated by many because his only loss came in his last fight in April when he was the victim of a very shaky split decision to Marcus Browne, who was credited with a non-existent knockdown in the first round that was the difference in the scoring. He looked good against Peterkin, 26, of Brooklyn, New York, dropping him twice in the fifth round.Kalajdzic, who said he wanted to make a statement his first appearance on Showtimes ShoBox: The New Generation, did just that as he scored the first knockdown with a right-left combination and then finished him with clean right hand on the chin. As Peterkin went down in a neutral corner, referee Gerald Ritter stopped the fight at 1 minute, 32 seconds. After the fight Kalajdzic called for a rematch with Brown, a 2012 U.S. Olympian. Kalajdzic deserves one.Ivan Baranchyk W10 Wang Zhimin Junior welterweight Scores: 100-90 (twice), 99-91 Records: Baranchyk (12-0, 10 KOs); Zhimin (7-1, 3 KOs)Rafaels rremarks: The Beast Baranchyk, 23, a Byelorussia native fighting out of Brooklyn, New York, had appeared twice previously on Showtimes ShoBox: The New Generation and scored first-round knockouts. Todd Gurley II Youth Jersey. This time, Zhimin, 30, a China native based in Nutley, New Jersey, took him the distance, although Baranchyk rolled to the near-shutout decision. Baranchyk got cut over his left eye in the fifth round, the first time he has been cut, but he cruised to the win. Zhimin fought hard, especially over the second half of the bout, but Baranchyk was busier, more accurate and a lot stronger. It was a good fight for Baranchyk because he got much-needed rounds: It was the first time he had been past the fourth round in his career.Trey Lippe Morrison TKO1 Ed Latimore Heavyweight Records: Lippe Morrison (12-0, 12 KOs); Latimore (13-1, 7 KOs)Rafaels remarks: The 6-foot-2, 221-pound Lippe Morrison, who turns 27 on Tuesday, is the son of the late Tommy Morrison, a former heavyweight titlist and one of the most popular heavyweights of the 1990s. Lippe Morrison, a former college football player who had no amateur boxing background, is trained by Hall of Famer Freddie Roach and made his television debut on Showtimes ShoBox: The New Generation in an impressive performance against Latimore, 31, of Pittsburgh.Fighting in a scheduled six-round bout in front of a vocal home region crowd, Tulsas Lippe Morrison demolished Latimore, who was a major step up in competition. He dropped Latimore twice -- first with a right hand and then with two rights and a left hook -- and was on the verge of flooring him for a third time after cracking him with another right hand when referee Gary Ritter stopped the fight at 2 minutes, 19 seconds. Lippe Morrison seems to have inherited his fathers punching power.Ivan Golub TKO3 James Stevenson Welterweight Records: Golub (13-0, 11 KOs); Stevenson (23-3, 16 KOs)Rafaels remarks: Golub, a Ukraine native fighting out of Brooklyn, New York, continued to look good as he has in recent fights, taking out 33-year-old Baltimore native Stevenson -- easily his best opponent -- with relative ease. After a competitive opening round, Golub hurt Stevenson with a straight left hand in the second round and had him on the verge of going down. In the third round, Golub, a 27-year-old southpaw who went 270-32 as an amateur and was a five-time Ukrainian national champion, dropped Stevenson with a solid right hook to the chin. He beat the count but was a bit shaky, and Golub went after him. He unloaded more than 20 unanswered punches until referee Gerald Ritter waved it off at 2 minutes, 51 seconds. This was a very impressive performance for Golub.Friday at Kissimmee, FloridaChristopher Diaz W8 Raul Hirales Featherweight Scores: 80-71, 79-72, 77-73 Records: Diaz (18-0, 11 KOs); Hirales (22-6-1, 11 KOs)Rafaels remarks: In the hard-fought and crowd-pleasing main event of Top Ranks Solo Boxeo card on UniMas, Diaz, 21, of Puerto Rico, dropped Hirales to his rear end with an overhand right on top of the head about 30 seconds into the first round, but Hirales was not badly hurt and fought back hard. He made Diaz work for his victory, even if the scores were lopsided in a fight that marked a solid step up in competition for him. Hirales, 32, of Mexico, who went the 12-round distance in a loss to Carl Frampton in 2012, lost his fourth fight in a row, including third straight against an undefeated prospect.Julian Rodriguez W8 Claudionel Lacerda Welterweight Scores: 78-72 (twice), 77-73 Records: Rodriguez (14-0, 10 KOs); Lacerda (17-16-1, 12 KOs)Rafaels remarks: Nicknamed Hammer Hands, Rodriguez, 21, of Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey, was nonetheless forced to the go the distance with Lacerda, 37, of Brazil, who lost his sixth fight in a row. Although Rodriguez got knocked down to all fours about 10 seconds into the fight when Lacerda nailed him with a left hand on the chin and followed up with two right hands, he recovered quickly and earned the unanimous decision despite the intense pressure Lacerda tried to apply. Referee Frank Santore Jr. docked one point from Lacerda for holding and then hitting behind the head in the fourth round.Also on the card -- and in a shocking upset -- blue-chip featherweight prospect Toka Kahn Clary (19-1, 13 KOs), a 24-year-old southpaw and former amateur standout from Liberia and living in Providence, Rhode Island, got knocked out in the first round by John Gemino (15-7-1, 7 KOs), 24, of the Philippines.Friday at Santo Domingo, Dominican RepublicJavier Fortuna TKO2 Marlyn Cabrera Junior lightweight Records: Fortuna (30-1-1, 22 KOs); Cabrera (22-1, 10 KOs)Rafaels remarks: Fortuna won a vacant secondary junior lightweight belt by unanimous decision against Bryan Vasquez in May 2015, defended it by 10th-round knockout of Carlos Ivan Velasquez last September and then lost it when Jason Sosa scored a major upset by rallying for an 11th-round knockout on June 24 in Beijing. In his first fight since the loss, Fortuna, a 27-year-old southpaw, faced Dominican countryman Cabrera, 29, and dropped him twice in the utterly one-sided fight. Entering the bout, Cabrera was unbeaten but against poor opposition and Fortuna outclassed him. Just before the bell ended the first round, Fortuna floored him with a right hand. In the second round, Fortuna was all over him with a sustained flurry of punches as he battered him around the ring. As he was landing a combination and sending Cabrera to the canvas for the second time during the second round, Cabreras corner threw in the towel and the referee waved off the fight. ' ' '