Week 8 Running Back Rankings

Armando Marsal

Fantasy Writer

@Armando_fbguru on twitter

Looking ahead to this week you'll find most of the regulars in the top ten. Lamar Miller and Ahmad Bradshaw are the two backs that made their way into the top ten. Miller has scored four touchdowns in the last four games. He's scored a touchdown three consecutive weeks now. This week, he faces the Jaguars defense that has allowed 18.1 fantasy points per game to opposing running backs. Bradshaw may get the start if Trent Richardson can't play due to his hamstring injury. Bradshaw heads to Pittsburgh to take on the Steelers who have given up six rushing touchdowns to running backs. Three of those were at Pittsburgh. Bradshaw has scored three touchdowns in the last two games, for a total of seven for the season. This is a good matchup for him.

Right outside the top ten is Shane Vereen who is now starting for the New England Patriots. Last week he caught five passes for 71 yards and two touchdowns. He also led the team in rushing with 11 carries for 43 yards. This week, he faces a Bears defense that doesn't allow many yards, but has allowed three touchdowns in the last four games. Jerick McKinnon cracks the top 15. He is the guy in Minnesota now. The only two times this season he's carried the ball more than 15 times, he's rushed for over 100 yards. He's been the team's starter for the last two weeks. This week, he faces a Bucs defense that's allowing 20.8 fantasy points per game to opposing running backs. A back you're not use to seeing this low is Giovanni Bernard. It has nothing to do with his performance last week; it's solely based on the matchup. The Ravens have allowed just two touchdowns to running backs this season, and that was in week three. Since then, no running back has scored a touchdown on them. They are also allowing the fewest fantasy points per game to running backs.

Some backs outside the top 20 that may seem off are Reggie Bush, Alfred Morris, and Zac Stacy. Bush is playing at less than 100% and was bothered by his ankle injury in Week 7. Stacy has been struggling as of late, and saw Tre Mason (ranked 21st) get the bulk of the carries and be productive with them. It's likely that Stacy takes a back seat to Mason moving forward. Morris has also been unproductive as of late with just a total of 124 rushing yards in the last three games. Below are this week's top 50 backs.