There have been times over the course of the last couple of years where it looked like Laurence Maroney was finally going to turn the page in New England.

Like the time when he rushed for 125 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries against the Bengals his rookie year – a performance that earned him both FedEx Ground NFL Player of the Week and Diet Pepsi Rookie NFL Player of the Week honors.

Or like during the 2007 playoffs, when he compiled 244 rushing yards and two touchdowns in two games before being limited to 36 yards on 14 carries (with one touchdown) against the Giants in the Super Bowl.

But whenever it appeared that Maroney was ready to make more out of his career, injuries, inconsistent play or Bill Belichick’s desire to keep Corey Dillon, Kevin Faulk or Fred Taylor relevant would get in his way.

After receiving zero action in the final two preseason games this year, Maroney appeared to be in Belichick’s doghouse for good. And even when Belichick insisted that his former first round pick was still in the Patriots’ plans, you got the sense that Maroney wasn’t long for New England.

On Tuesday, Belichick shipped Maroney and a sixth rounder to Denver in exchange for a fourth round pick. Maroney will now be reunited with Josh McDaniels, who was his former offensive coordinator in New England. He joins a backfield that also includes Knowshon Moreno and Correll Buckhalter, although the latter has shown signs of decline, which is probably why the Broncos felt the need to acquire Maroney.

Maybe now that he’s out of Foxboro, Maroney will start to live up to his first round status. He’s still going to have to split carries, but at 25 he has plenty of time to turn things around if he can make the most out of the situation.

In New England, Belichick is now relying on the combination of Taylor, Faulk and Sammy Morris in the running game. Should be interesting.

Knowshon Moreno owners can relax. He’s the clear RB1 in Denver. If anything, the main guy hurt by Maroney’s arrival is Correll Buckhalter, who may not get as many reps if Maroney thrives with the Broncos. I think the big benefactor from this trade is probably Fred Taylor, who is now even more cemented in as the Pats‘ RB1. Maroney was up-and-down while in New England, but he clearly has some talent and he was still a threat to Taylor’s touches. Now Taylor will surely be the main ballcarrier while Kevin Faulk takes all the third-down and receiving duties. It looks like BenJarvus Green-Ellis (5 carries on Sunday) is next in line for carries if Taylor were to go down.

When it comes to fumbles, nobody drops the ball more than quarterbacks, because they handle the ball more than anyone besides the center. Brett Favre has 157 of them, which leads active players (yes, we’re considering Favre active). But many times when a QB fumbles, he can pounce right back on the ball. Running backs are a different story. The ones who fumble a lot often wind up in their coach’s doghouse because most of the time it’s because of careless ball handling. As for fantasy football, you’ll want to be careful with these guys too because they take points off your scoreboard, both by negative points for fumbles, and for lost opportunities on offense. So here is the active Top 10 in fumbles by running backs…..

1. Edgerrin James (43)—James isn’t as bad as early in his career, like when he fumbled 8 times during his rookie year of 1999 with the Colts. But you tend to look the other way when the other numbers offset the fumbles—and James was an All Pro that year with 2139 yards from scrimmage and 17 total touchdowns.

2. Ricky Williams (41)—Ricky definitely comes down with fumble-it is pretty often, and that has to drive Bill Parcells crazy. I wonder if it would help if Ricky thought he was carrying a bag of..…oh forget it.

3. Jamal Lewis (39)—Lewis has improved drastically in this area, fumbling only twice last season. But he fumbled 8 times in back to back seasons in 2002 and 2003 while with Baltimore. Yikes.

4. Ahman Green (37)—He hasn’t fumbled since 2006, but that’s only because Green has carried the ball just 144 times since then.

5. Michael Pittman (31)—Pittman was one of like 15 running backs used by the Broncos last season.

6. Shaun Alexander (31)—For a few years there, Alexander was putting up such ridiculous numbers that Mike Holmgren was forced to accept some drops.

7. Warrick Dunn (26)—He’s never had more than 4 fumbles in a season, but he’s been playing for so long that he wound up on here. Dunn may be one of the most underrated RBs in the history of the NFL.

8. Fred Taylor (26)—Taylor has fumbled less in recent years, but he’s also carried the ball less. It should be interesting to see if his career is re-ignited in a Patriots’ uniform.

9. LaDainian Tomlinson (25)—He fumbled 8 times in his rookie year, and only 17 times since. With 2657 total carries, that’s not bad at all.

9 (tie). Clinton Portis (25)—Portis is a solid RB, but he does have two quirks—he’s injury prone and he drops the ball a few too many times.

Source: Pro Football Reference

So you still want to draft a running back with your number one pick after we crunched the numbers to find that quarterbacks have become equally or more valuable in fantasy football? Well, I can’t blame anyone that goes the traditional route here, especially with guys like Michael Turner and Adrian Peterson looking like legitimate #1 picks. Here are last season’s Top 10 running backs in fantasy points, keeping in mind that this is based on my league, and stats vary from league to league:

1. DeAngelo Williams, Carolina Panthers—I know some players take a few years to develop, but I live in Tennessee and saw Williams play on TV a lot when he was with Memphis. I drafted him in 2006 because I knew what not everyone knew—his upside was tremendous. Of course, he had 501 yards and a TD that year. But once DeShaun Foster was gone, Williams exploded, and last year racked up 1639 yards from scrimmage and 20 touchdowns. Potential realized, and there’s more where that came from despite Jonathan Stewart sharing the load.

2. Michael Turner, Atlanta Falcons—Turner “The Burner” finally got out from under LT’s shadow in San Diego and showed with his new team that he can be a #1 RB—in a big, big way. In fact, Turner out-rushed LT by almost 600 yards. Take that, AJ Smith.

3. Thomas Jones, New York Jets—Jones had a big year, with 1519 total yards and 15 scores. But something tells me to expect a substantial drop-off this year. I mean, this is the same guy who scored 1 rushing TD in 2007.

4. Matt Forte, Chicago Bears—A rookie in 2008, Forte was a pleasant surprise and was basically the Bears’ entire offense. Now they have Jay Cutler at QB, which could mean just a bit less focus on the running game. Still, it’s the Bears, and plus Forte is just as valuable a receiver as he is a runner. Don’t expect a re-run of 2008 (1715 yards and 12 total touchdowns) but don’t expect a crappy season either.

5. Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings—He may be frequently injured but AP is about as explosive as any player in the NFL. In fact, he may be what everyone expected Reggie Bush to be. Who? Yeah, I know. Anyway, Peterson had 1885 all-purpose yards but only 10 TDs. This season, I’m looking for 2400 yards from scrimmage and 15-20 scores. I can feel it.

6. Brian Westbrook, Philadelphia Eagles—Off-season surgery is either going to hamper Westbrook or make him better. I’ll still take a Brian Westbrook at 70% than, say, a Willis McGahee at 100%. When Westbook is on the field (1338 total yards, 54 catches, 14 total TDs in ‘08), he’s fantasy money.

7. Brandon Jacobs, New York Giants—Jacobs seemed to perform best when he shared carries with Derrick Ward, who is now in Tampa. Jacobs will still share carries, but with Ahmad Bradshaw. Jacobs had his second straight 1000-yard season (Ward also topped 1000 yards) with 15 touchdowns, and there is no reason to believe he’ll fall short of that in ’09. Well, unless the injury bug bites again.

8. LaDainian Tomlinson, San Diego Chargers—I’m still sick about drafting LT #1 last season in my league. I know that having the top pick doesn’t happen too often, and this guy just killed my season and probably everyone else’s that picked him first or second.
I mean, 1536 yards from scrimmage and 12 scores is not bad, but consider LT’s 2006 season—2323 overall yards and 31 TDs. Last year, LT was more like Thomas Jones in a good year.

9. Maurice Jones-Drew, Jacksonville Jaguars—Streaky yes, but a solid player who can run and catch passes effectively. MJD had 824 rushing yards, and 62 receptions for 565 with 14 total touchdowns. With Fred Taylor in New England, expect those numbers to jump this season.

10. LenDale White, Tennessee Titans—This guy was the touchdown bogart for Chris Johnson, with only 773 yards but 15 scores. Should we expect an encore? It’s hard to say, but Jeff Fisher is definitely a creature of habit.

It was bound to happen at some point.

Running back Fred Taylor wanted to end his career in Jacksonville, hoping to join the small list of standout players who spent an entire career with the same team.

He won’t get the chance.

The Jaguars released Taylor on Monday, parting ways with their all-time leading rusher after 11 seasons and continuing the team’s offseason makeover.

Coach Jack Del Rio flew to Fort Lauderdale earlier Monday to meet with Taylor and deliver the news. Del Rio made it clear the team has no plans to re-sign Taylor, who turned 33 last month and was scheduled to make $6 million next season.

This is mostly a salary cap move, but the Jags also appear ready to move on with Maurice Jones-Drew as their main back. MJD gained a total of 1,052 yards from scrimmage over the last 11 games, scoring 11 touchdowns in that span. The Jags will likely try to find a cheap power runner to keep Jones-Drew fresh. Greg Jones could fill that role, or the team could look elsewhere.

Taylor is 33 and should be able to latch onto a team if he wants. He does appear to have something left in the tank, though his ypc in 2008 (3.9) was a career low.

Racking up yards in the NFL looks easy, but these guys take a beating like nobody else in football. The ones that do it year in and year out are just tough physical specimens who are also quick and elusive, and probably work their butts off in the gym. Here is a list of the active career rushing leaders…..

1. Edgerrin James, Arizona Cardinals (11,970)—Most of these yards were in Indianapolis playing in one of the best offenses in NFL history. But Edge is still only 30…and no, that’s not a typo.

2. LaDainian Tomlinson, San Diego Chargers (11,096)—LT needs to get over his toe injury and have a few LT-like games to climb past James. If he doesn’t do it this season, he will in 2009.

3. Fred Taylor, Jacksonville Jaguars (10,957)—Taylor and WR Joey Galloway are those older players who just won’t go away. Just when you think they have reached the peaks of their careers, they drink from the fountain of youth, as Taylor did last year with 1202 yards.

4. Warrick Dunn, Tampa Bay Bucs (10,604)—Dunn only has 48 career touchdowns, but this guy has always had breakaway speed in the open field.

5. Jamal Lewis, Cleveland Browns (9508)—He tormented Cleveland for years with those “former Browns” known as the Baltimore Ravens. Now he’s one of the good guys.

6. Shaun Alexander, Washington Redskins (9437)—Was it as weird for you to see Alexander in a Redskins uniform last week as it was for me? Clinton Portis has rushed for the equivalent of a few country miles the last few weeks, so Alexander could see some action soon.

7. Ahman Green, Houston Texans (8929)—He can’t seem to stay on the field, but when he does, he still has skills. Could Green now be used as a touchdown vulture to Steve Slaton?

8. Clinton Portis, Washington Redskins (8533)—I always want to avoid this guy in my fantasy drafts, but then he always comes back to haunt me when I play against him.

9. Ricky Williams, Miami Dolphins (7363)—Williams, who likes to smoke reefer, missed the 2004 season, the 2006 season, and 15 games of the 2007 season. Yet, he’s still on this list. Well, those 1853 yards in 2002 have something to do with that.

10. Thomas Jones, New York Jets (6981)—Julius’ older brother has had a nice career, but you get the feeling he is on the downside of it, don’t you?

Source: Pro Football Reference