Week 8 Running Back Rankings- PPR Leagues

It is now Week 8 and once again there are four teams on bye. The Redskins, Bills, Jaguars and Eagles are all on bye so fantasy owners will be without LeSean McCoy, T.J. Yeldon, DeMarco Murray, and Alfred Morris or Matt Jones. There was also a big injury in Week 7 as Arian Foster is out for the season, leaving Alfred Blue, Chris Polk and Jonathan Grimes in a committee moving forward.  Now that we are up to speed on things, let's take a look at this week's PPR running back rankings.

Once again Freeman is atop the rankings for the second week in a row. Last week was the first time in five games that Freeman did not score a touchdown or record at least four catches. In fact, he was targeted just three times which is the lowest amount of targets he's received in a single game this season. However, he still topped 100 total yards and caught two passes. This week he faces the Bucs who have not allowed more than 82 rushing yards or a touchdown in the last three weeks. However, in their first three games, they allowed 100+ rushing yards in each game and five touchdowns. They're also yielding 3.5 receptions per game, 6.1 yards per receptions, and have allowed two receiving touchdowns to opposing backs. The Falcons opened as a seven point favorite which bodes well for Freeman as backs that are favorite have a higher chance to score a touchdown. Forsett at four may come to a surprise, but after scoring 12 fantasy points or less in the first three games, he is averaging 19.63 fantasy points per game in the last four games. His worst outing was in Week 7 against the stingy Cardinals defense where he scored just 13.4 fantasy points, but did manage to score a touchdown. He's been targeted 17 times in the last three games and has caught 14 of those passes. He has a good matchup against the Chargers who are the worst defense against opposing backs. They've surrendered 100 or more rushing yards in all but one game this season, including in six consecutive games and have yielded seven rushing touchdowns. Opposing backs are also averaging 6.1 receptions per game, 8.7 yards per reception, and have scored three receiving touchdowns against the Chargers. This is a great spot for Forsett to continue playing well. Cracking the top 10 is Woodhead who is sitting right at the number 10 spot. Last week he scored a good amount of his fantasy points at the end of the game, but he remains a focal point of this offense. He's now tied for first with the most targets at the running back position with 46 targets. Woodhead has caught five or more passes in three straight games, and has been targeted at least seven times in each of those games. He averages 6.6 targets per game and remains the team's red zone back as he has accounted for 80 percent of the red zone carries. The Ravens are yielding 5.3 receptions and 50.3 receiving yards per game to opposing backs, while allowing four total touchdowns. While Woodhead won't get you a ton of yardage on a weekly basis, he's averaging 5.3 receptions per game which is five points in PPR formats. He will continue to produce quality fantasy points on a weekly basis and is fairly consistent which is tough to say about many players at this position.

Doug Martin and Dion Lewis are sitting right outside the top 10 and both have upside to finish as RB1 in Week 8. Martin has been playing lights out in the last three games. He's topped 105 rushing yards each of those games and has scored four touchdowns. He has not scored fewer than 20 fantasy points in three consecutive games. Martin isn't highly involved in the passing game, but has caught 11 of his 11 targets in the last three games. The Falcons struggle greatly against opposing backs. They've surrendered 10 rushing touchdowns and have allowed the most receptions by running backs this season. Backs are averaging 8.3 receptions per game and 8.03 yards per reception against the Falcons. Game flow is the only concern I have with Martin this week, but if the game stays close he's in a great spot to find the end zone and produce a quality stat line. Lewis is dealing with an abdomen injury that kept him out of last week's game against the Jets. He was limited in Monday's participation report, so it's definitely something worth monitoring. Nonetheless, if he's active he remains one of the best PPR backs in the game. Despite missing one game with injury and already having his bye week, Lewis remains tied in fourth amongst backs in targets with 36. He actually leads all backs in targets per game with 7.2. The Miami Dolphins are surrendering 108.2 rushing yards per game and have allowed six total touchdowns to opposing backs. Charcandrick West is someone that can be very helpful to fantasy owners who are dealing with injuries and/or byes. He handled nearly 76 percent of the team's rushing attempts last week. He carried the rock 22 times for 110 yards and a score, averaging five yards per carry. The Lions have surrendered 135+ rushing yards in two of their last three games and five rushing touchdowns in their last three games. West should be able to run right through this suspect run defense so long as he receives the volume.  Outside the top 20, Theo Riddick, Duke Johnson, and Dexter McCluster are all serviceable PPR backs for those fantasy owners in need of help.

Best of luck to everyone this week!