Over the next few weeks, we’ll be breaking down the running back situation for each NFL team by division from a fantasy perspective. We’ll start with the AFC East, home to the Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, and New York Jets. There are many intriguing stories in the AFC East this year at the running back position, from retirements to new signings. There’s also a common theme in the AFC East as each team will try to find value at running back with younger players in 2012.

The Buffalo Bills had a very successful year running the ball in 2011/12 because of a career year by veteran Fred Jackson, and some late year contributions from the youngster C.J. Spiller. From a fantasy stand point the running back tandem had a solid year. Fred Jackson finished fourteenth in the league in fantasy points and the backup C.J. Spiller finished thirty-first.

Buffalo in the 2012/13 season will see a lot of change and the running game shouldn’t be as effective as a season ago. With Fred Jackson nearing thirty-two years old, the average age of an NFL running back being twenty-three (the lowest average of all positions), and the emergence of the twenty-four year old Spiller it is safe to assume that the carries will be split fairly evenly between the two backs. Fred Jackson spoke of the upcoming season and said, “We have to work both me and C.J. into the game in order to win games this year.”

Now if this happened to be the only problem in Buffalo I would certainly say either of the two backs could be productive in the upcoming season, but apparently the situation is not this simple. Based on next seasons schedule the Bills have the twenty-fifth hardest schedule for fantasy running backs based on the amount of fantasy points their opponents gave up to opposing running backs last season. If Buffalo can’t get their opponents to respect their passing game, their running backs will have a tough time besting their 2012 fantasy performances.

The curious case of Reggie Bush. I’m not sure if there is a better fragment to start with when talking about the running back situation in Miami. In the 2011/12 season, Bush had a great year by amassing over a thousand yards for the first time in his career, showing a sort of toughness that hadn’t been seen from him before, and most importantly finished with the thirteenth most fantasy points in the NFL out of all running backs.

You may think Bush wasn’t able to shine in New Orleans because of their pass heavy offense, but even when he did get the ball in his five seasons with the Saints he averaged under four yards per carry. It is also generally easier to have a higher rushing average when on a team that focuses on the passing game because it becomes the defenses focus as well.

Bush accumulated more yards last season then he has in the three previous seasons combined.  So if there was one running back in the NFL that I had to assume had a lucky break last season and shouldn’t be in store for big numbers again this year, I’d have to pick Reggie Bush.

It’s not only the numbers that make Bush a scary fantasy option next season but also the situation he is in with Miami. Their head coach, who was a big Reggie Bush advocate, is now gone. They also still have running back Daniel Thomas who suffered injuries last season and was expected to split carries with Bush; many even believed that Thomas would be the starter over the often injury prone Reggie Bush. Then in the 2012 NFL Draft the Dolphins used a fourth round pick on running back Lamar Miller. Miller was born and raised in Miami. He even played college ball with the Miami Hurricanes and was considered by many to be one of the top five running backs in the 2012 draft class. I fully expect Miller to quickly become a fan favorite in Miami and take away carries from the two backs currently ahead of him on the Dolphins RB chart.

The New England Patriots are going to be seeing a lot of change on the offensive side of the ball in the upcoming NFL season. Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and wide receivers Jabar Gaffney and Donte Stallworth are all returning to New England. The Patriots also added offensive guard Robert Gallery, wide receiver Brandon Lloyd, and running back Joseph Addai. The Patriots let go of wide receiver Chad Ocho Cinco and starting running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis.

Last year, I hoped that the two young running backs the Patriots drafted, Stevan Ridley and Shane Vereen, would get the opportunity to become starting running backs. Now with BenJarvis Green-Ellis out of the picture the opportunity has arrived. They also have a great veteran in Joseph Addai to learn from. Addai has been one of the top pass blocking half backs in the NFL for a while now.

Stevan Ridley has shown he can handle the NFL stage by averaging over five yards a carry last year although it came on limited carries. He still needs to work on his technique and has said he needs to work on carrying the ball high and tight to prevent fumbles. Shane Vereen could be a great all-around back, but missed a lot of time with injuries and hasn’t shown the same explosiveness as Ridley. If he stays healthy he’ll get plenty of opportunities to showcase his explosiveness and could be a big play RB for the Patriots.

With the loss of LaDainian Tomlinson and addition of Tim Tebow the running game of the New York Jets has lost and gained a dimension in the same off-season.  Shonn Greene had a good 2011/12 campaign when he ran for over a thousand yards, lost no fumbles, and was the eighteenth highest scoring RB in fantasy.

The good news for Shonn Greene is the head coach who led Reggie Bush to the best year of his career is now the offensive coordinator for the New York Jets. Greene seems to be adapting to the new offense pretty quickly. In a recent interview he said, “There’s some different terminology but for the most part it’s been pretty easy…. Best thing is the tempo of the game we’ll be playing, much faster.”

The Jet’s new backup running back is Joe McKnight. I have felt this kid has serious star potential and he’ll be the lead receiving running back in New York for the foreseeable future. He will help lessen the impact of losing L.T. to retirement and hopefully learned a thing or two from him while he was still playing.

Shonn Greene will be a workhorse and should put up similar numbers compared to last season. The Jets are set up for him to be more productive, but he has one of the hardest schedules for fantasy backs this upcoming season so it balances out. If Joe McKnight emerges as a legit back and coach Sparano likes him Greene may start to see a decrease in his carries.