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

Running back Jamal Lewis is starting to publicly question the Browns’ play-calling this season.

“You see it for yourself,” Lewis said. “The worst thing about it is how you prepare. You prepare to come out here and do your job and be the best you can be. Then, the most disturbing thing is when you’re not really able to get out there and put that stuff to work on the field. You do all you can do, and then it’s just put to rest come game time.”

He attributed the botched handoff between him and Anderson in the fourth quarter to a bad call. He also said he was surprised by quarterback Brady Quinn’s benching because Anderson hadn’t taken any first-team snaps all week. Anderson was charged with the fumble.

“It’s kind of an awkward position to put the quarterback in, a new quarterback that hadn’t practiced with the starters,” he said. “It’s an awkward handoff, and I think it was just the exchange. I don’t even know if I actually had the ball.”

Lewis said perhaps the coaches rested him for much of the first half because he was dinged on the play on which he coughed up the ball.

“It was bad ball-handling – I should’ve had it up high and tight,” he said. “Somebody came and blindsided me. I was trying to make something happen. I was OK after that, but coach wanted to make sure everything was good with me.”

Lewis stressed that “everyone has to be on point, not just the players that suit up.”

This has more to do about wins and losses than it does play-calling. Lewis is just frustrated that the Browns are losing and that he’s not more involved in the offense. When Cleveland was scoring 25-plus points a game last year, nobody was questioning anything. This is what happens when a team starts to lose – players and coaches start pointing fingers.

Tonight marks the much-anticipated NFL debut of Brady Quinn as the second-year quarterback will make his first career NFL start when his Cleveland Browns host the Denver Broncos on the NFL Network at 8:15 PM ET.

Quinn has been given a fantastic opportunity to succeed tonight. Not only does he make his first start in the comforts of the Dawg Pound, but he’s also facing a Broncos’ defense that has been shredded by air, ground and sea this year, and will also be without cornerback Champ Bailey, who continues to nurse a torn groin muscle.

Some feel that starting Quinn is a final desperation move by Romeo Crennel to save his job. That might be, but former starter Derek Anderson didn’t give him a lot of choice either. He was plagued by dropped passes (see Edwards, Braylon) and injuries (see Winslow, Kellen), but outside of a great game against the Giants and a decent first half against the Ravens, DA flat out hasn’t made as many plays as he did last year.

Quinn is going to be fine…at least tonight. The Browns have done a nice job building a solid offensive line and if they can get the running game going with Jamal Lewis, it’ll allow Quinn to take what the Broncos give him (which should be a lot) in the passing game. As long as offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski doesn’t ask him to do too much, Quinn shouldn’t have any problem moving the ball.

Looking ahead, Quinn has both favorable and nasty defensive matchups. Buffalo will be a decent test next week, but after that he faces two mediocre defenses in Houston and Indianapolis before getting his first huge challenge in Tennessee. He’ll also face Jim Johnson’s blitz-happy Philadelphia defense, as well as the Steelers at the end of the year so we’ll see what kind of mettle the young man has over the next two months.

But the thing to remember over the final eight weeks is that Quinn is still a pup. The torch has been passed, but everyone should give him time to develop. He might have a dazzling performance tonight, but fizzle next week; that’s just what you get from young quarterbacks. Regardless, the Browns have presented a great opportunity for him to succeed tonight. Let’s hope for Quinn’s sake that the offensive line opens holes for Lewis and the onus can be off of their young quarterback. As long as he doesn’t turn the ball over, he should be fine.

Since Denver and Cleveland square off on Thursday night, I thought I’d throw out a few recommendations of some Browns and Broncos that you’ll want to start (or sit) this week. My regular “Love ‘Em/Leave ‘Em” post will go up Friday morning as usual.

LOVE ‘EM

Jamal Lewis has a great matchup with a Broncos rush defense that is 26th against the run. On average, they allow 5.1 ypc (2nd worst in the league) and 1.3 rush TD per game. The Browns are likely planning to establish the running game to help Brady Quinn get settled in his first game as the starter. Lewis should gain 80-100 yards and find the endzone at least once…Braylon Edwards is also a solid start against the Denver pass defense, which is 27th in the league…Brandon Marshall and Eddie Royal are both worth starting against a Browns secondary that hasn’t been great against opposing WRs. On the whole, the Browns have a pretty good pass defense, but they allow quite a few fantasy points to wideouts…Ryan Torain looks like a sneaky good start against a Browns rush defense that is 28th in the league and yields an average of 148 yards and 1.1 rush TD per game. Be warned, Mike Shanahan is just as likely to pull a free agent off the street and go with a RBBC as he is to give Torain a full load.

LEAVE ‘EM

There are no players that I would bench based on the matchup, but I’m not feeling good about the chances of Tony Scheffler returning this week. He’s listed as questionable and didn’t sound positive earlier in the week when asked about the injury.

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