Week 8 Rankings: RBs (aka Your Draft Will Finally Pay Off)

Chris Johnson, LeSean McCoy, Adrian Peterson, Matt Forte, Ryan Mathews, Jamaal Charles. Those were in the top ten runningbacks taken in just about every league. This is the week those draft picks pay off.

Rank	Runningback	Opp	Comments
1	Matt Forte	CAR	Panthers are sixth-worst against RBs and give up the most receiving yards to them as well.
2	LeSean McCoy	ATL	Owners are due for some sort of payoff. Falcons give up 118 yards to RBs and McCoy has yet to break out.
3	Adrian Peterson	TB	He’s proven everybody wrong about everything. No doubting him at this point.
4	Jamaal Charles	OAK	What are the Chiefs going to do, let Brady Quinn throw the ball?
5	Ryan Mathews	@CLE	Browns usually give up points to the QB but Mathews is so prominent in the passing game.
6	Willis McGahee	NO	McGahee is due for a monster game against a Saints D that nearly gives up 200 rushing yards per game.
7	Chris Johnson	IND	Johnson may be coming around. I guess he’s tired of being the butt of everyone’s fantasy football jokes.
8	Darren McFadden	@KC	DMC should have a monster game against a Chiefs D that’s seventh-worst in the league against opposing RBs.
9	Reggie Bush	@NYJ	He’s been the team’s workhorse so far and some bad blood and big talk should will him into a big game.
10	Alfred Morris	@PIT	I can’t make the same mistake as last week when I went low on him because of the matchup. He’s the real deal.
11	Frank Gore	@ARI	He gets a million touches a game. I mean, I rounded up, but it’s close.
12	Marshawn Lynch	@DET	Lynch is the kind of runner who has the size to counter the effects of Detroit’s big D-line.
13	Trent Richardson	SD	If he’s good to go, he’ll be able to hit gaps as the Chargers will only defend the pass downfield.
14	Ahmad Bradshaw	@DAL	Dallas is missing Sean Lee and the WRs draw plenty attention. As long as he makes the most of his carries, should be good.
15	Doug Martin	@MIN	Won’t be running for much but he’s a big part of the passing attack and if the pass rush gets to Freeman, he could benefit.
16	Stevan Ridley	@STL	This is a tough team to run against but
17	Darren Sproles	@DEN	They’ll throw a lot and he’s the only RB on the team involved in the pass game.
18	Vick Ballard	@TEN	Titans give up the fourth-most points to fantasy RBs and Brown's likely still out.
19	Rashad Jennings	@GB	MJD looks to be out for a bit so Jennings is worth a look especially against a diminished Packers defense.
20	Shonn Greene	MIA	If they really are a ground-and-pound team, he should be given the opportunities to succeed.
21	Alex Green	JAC	The Jags are second-worst in the league against fantasy RBs and this game could quickly get out of hand.
22	Michael Turner	@PHI	While I do think his decline is going to be rapid this season, he'll fare well against a D under new reign.
23	Steven Jackson	NE	He's ranked this high on talent alone. He's clearly regressing and the matchup isn't favorable at all.
24	Jonathan Dwyer	WSH	Mendy is still out and Redman hasn't practiced yet this week so it looks to be Dwyer's game once again.
25	Felix Jones	NYG	As long as he can stay healthy, he should be a factor in the passing game.
26	Mikel Leshoure	SEA	He showed a lot last week as he ran some great runs through a very tough D. Expect that to continue.
27	Pierre Thomas	@DEN	Should have one of his quiet 100-yard games here.
28	LaRod Stephens-Howling	SF	The Hyphen's style of play doesn't require an offensive line. Which is good, because he doesn't have one. It's still a committee though, and they are playing the Niners.
29	Jonathan Stewart	@CHI	I'm completely out on ALL Panthers RBs (including Cam Newton) OUT.
30	Michael Bush	CAR	Goal line work should be enough to play him against a terrible defense.
31	Daryl Richardson	NE	One of these games, old man Jackson is going to break down.
32	Shane Vereen	@STL	He just needs to make the most of his carries and it seems he vaulted Bolden for the backup job.
33	Andre Brown	@DAL	If Bradshaw gets hurt again or gets into it with Coughlin, Brown should get major carries.
34	Jackie Battle	@CLE	If game gets out of hand, the Chargers may go conservative with Mathews.
35	Montario Hardesty	SD	See above, apply to Trent Richardson instead.
36	William Powell	SF	Only saw eight snaps last week and the Hyphen's versatility isn't helping Powell at all.
37	Kendall Hunter	@ARI	They run a ton and they're being more careful of running Gore into the ground.
38	Ronnie Hillman	NO	McGahee is the guy, but Hillman could see significant time should the game become one-sided.
39	Shaun Draughn	OAK	See: Battle, Jackie. Apply to Jamaal Charles's case.
40	Phillip Tanner	NYG	Felix Jones cannot be an every-down back and if he struggles early, Tanner could get a lot of looks.
41	Jacquizz Rodgers	@PHI	J-Rod isn't doing as well as I thought he'd do by this point but he's still very versatile.
42	LeGarrette Blount	@MIN	Goal-line work is all his, but this is a very big and tough front seven.
43	Daniel Thomas	@NYJ	They may not throw much against the Jets and Bush has to rest sometime, right?
44	Peyton Hillis	OAK	He should be back this week and he's definitely the go-to guy in short-yardage/goal-line situations.
45	Joique Bell	SEA	Has shown signs of life here and there but he's a reach.
46	Jorvorskie Lane	@NYJ	He's the Michael Bush of the Dolphins except he only gets three or four carries a game.
47	Delone Carter	@TEN	He got 11 carries last week so the workload isn't terrible.
48	Jamie Harper	IND	The ULTIMATE vulture so far this year.
49	Mike Tolbert	@CHI	Somehow managed a TD last week, so who knows? Maybe it keeps ago.
50	Mark Ingram	@DEN	Supposedly, he still gets the redzone work, but I'll see it when I believe it.