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Fantasy football rankings, Week 8: Running backs for standard, PPR leagues

Injuries and ineffectiveness have led to numerous changes in running back depth charts over the first eight weeks. Here are SB Nation's staff running back rankings for Week 8.

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Fantasy football leagues have passed the midway point of the regular season, which means everyone is scrambling to find any players who can fill a hole created be injury or ineffectiveness. Heading into Week 1, Zac Stacy and Toby Gerhart were two guys who had some question marks, but were expected to be solid starting options in a lot of leagues. As we enter Week 8, Denard Robinson and Benny Cunningham have surged past them into fantasy relevance. This kind of thing happens frequently in fantasy football, and yet each year the particular players always catch us off guard.

The biggest running back injury news this week belongs to the Buffalo Bills. In Week 7, C.J. Spiller broke his collarbone and has been placed on injured reserve with a return designation. Earlier in that game, Fred Jackson suffered a groin injury that will cost him at least a couple weeks. That leaves Anthony Dixon and Bryce Brown as the two options in Buffalo. We have both ranked close to each other because this has "running back by committee" written all over it. Dixon got the first look last Sunday, but anything is possible.

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Trent Richardson suffered a hamstring injury in Week 7, but it is not considered too serious. Richardson had his best game of the season prior to the injury, but Ahmad Bradshaw is the better running back. Richardson is expected to play in Week 8, but if the Colts play this conservative, it could bode well for Ahmad Bradshaw.

On to our Week 8 rankings.

Running back rankings (Standard), Week 8

(DK: Daniel Kelley; DC: Dan Ciarrocchi; SK: Scott Kaliska; John Daigle has the week off)

Rank Consensus Team Opponent DK DC SK
1 DeMarco Murray DAL WAS 1 1 1
2 Matt Forte CHI @NE 2 2 2
3 Jamaal Charles KAN STL 4 4 4
4 Arian Foster HOU @TEN 5 5 3
5 Le'Veon Bell PIT IND 3 6 6
6 Marshawn Lynch SEA @CAR 8 3 5
7 LeSean McCoy PHI @ARI 6 7 7
8 Andre Ellington ARI PHI 7 8 8
9 Lamar Miller MIA @JAC 13 9 9
10 Giovani Bernard CIN BAL 11 11 11
11 Eddie Lacy GB @NO 9 12 13
12 Ben Tate CLE OAK 18 10 10
13 Jerick McKinnon MIN @TAM 10 15 15
14 Joique Bell DET ATL (London) 17 13 12
15 Ronnie Hillman DEN SD 16 14 14
16 Ahmad Bradshaw IND @PIT 12 16 17
17 Alfred Morris WAS @DAL 14 19 20
18 Justin Forsett BAL @CIN 15 20 19
19 Branden Oliver SD @DEN 19 17 18
20 Shane Vereen NE CHI 21 18 16
21 Chris Ivory NYJ BUF 23 21 21
22 Darren McFadden OAK @CLE 25 24 22
23 Mark Ingram NO GB 27 22 23
24 Reggie Bush DET ATL (London) 24 25 24
25 Doug Martin TAM MIN 26 23 26
26 Denard Robinson JAC MIA 22 28 28
27 Tre Mason STL @KAN 29 26 25
28 Bishop Sankey TEN HOU 33 27 27
29 Trent Richardson IND @PIT 32 29 30
30 Anthony Dixon BUF @NYJ 28 31 34
31 Jeremy Hill CIN BAL 30 32 33
32 Bryce Brown BUF @NYJ 20 -- 29
33 Steven Jackson ATL DET (London) 31 34 36
34 Isaiah Crowell CLE OAK 42 30 31
35 James Starks GB @NO 34 35 35
36 Jonathan Stewart CAR SEA 43 33 32
37 Benny Cunningham STL @KAN 35 39 39
38 Bernard Pierce BAL @CIN 39 37 37
39 Bobby Rainey TAM MIN 37 38 41
40 Chris Johnson NYJ BUF 47 36 38
41 Khiry Robinson NO GB 38 42 45
42 Roy Helu Jr. WAS @DAL 45 43 42
43 Antone Smith ATL DET (London) 36 47 48
44 Travaris Cadet NO GB 50 41 40
45 Jonas Gray NE CHI 41 44 46
46 Matt Asiata MIN @TAM -- 40 43
47 Storm Johnson JAC MIA 48 45 44
48 Brandon Bolden NE CHI 40 -- --
49 Stepfan Taylor ARI PHI 46 46 50
50 Zac Stacy STL @KAN 44 -- --
-- Knile Davis KAN STL -- 48 47
-- Juwan Thompson DEN SD 49 -- --
-- Terrance West CLE OAK -- 49 --
-- Daniel Thomas MIA @JAC -- -- 49
-- Lorenzo Taliaferro BAL @CIN -- 50 --

Running back rankings (PPR), Week 8

(DK: Daniel Kelley; DC: Dan Ciarrocchi; SK: Scott Kaliska; John Daigle has the week off)

Rank Consensus Team Opponent DK DC SK
1 DeMarco Murray DAL WAS 2 1 1
2 Matt Forte CHI @NE 1 2 4
3 Jamaal Charles KAN STL 5 3 3
4 Arian Foster HOU @TEN 6 4 2
5 Le'Veon Bell PIT IND 3 5 5
6 Andre Ellington ARI PHI 4 7 7
7 Marshawn Lynch SEA @CAR 8 6 6
8 LeSean McCoy PHI @ARI 7 8 9
9 Lamar Miller MIA @JAC 14 9 8
10 Jerick McKinnon MIN @TAM 9 12 12
11 Giovani Bernard CIN BAL 10 11 13
12 Ahmad Bradshaw IND @PIT 11 10 14
13 Joique Bell DET ATL (London) 15 17 11
14 Ben Tate CLE OAK 20 14 10
15 Ronnie Hillman DEN SD 16 13 16
16 Eddie Lacy GB @NO 12 16 18
17 Shane Vereen NE CHI 17 15 15
18 Justin Forsett BAL @CIN 13 18 17
19 Branden Oliver SD @DEN 18 19 19
20 Darren McFadden OAK @CLE 25 20 20
21 Alfred Morris WAS @DAL 19 24 24
22 Reggie Bush DET ATL (London) 21 23 23
23 Tre Mason STL @KAN 32 21 21
24 Mark Ingram NO GB 30 22 22
25 Denard Robinson JAC MIA 24 25 25
26 Chris Ivory NYJ BUF 23 26 26
27 Trent Richardson IND @PIT 26 29 28
28 Doug Martin TAM MIN 29 28 27
29 Bishop Sankey TEN HOU 37 27 29
30 Jeremy Hill CIN BAL 28 34 35
31 Bryce Brown BUF @NYJ 22 -- 30
32 Roy Helu Jr. WAS @DAL 41 31 32
33 James Starks GB @NO 35 35 34
34 Steven Jackson ATL DET (London) 27 38 40
35 Anthony Dixon BUF @NYJ 31 37 37
36 Isaiah Crowell CLE OAK 47 30 31
37 Jonathan Stewart CAR SEA 43 33 33
38 Benny Cunningham STL @KAN 33 40 39
39 Travaris Cadet NO GB 45 32 38
40 Bobby Rainey TAM MIN 34 39 43
41 Chris Johnson NYJ BUF 48 36 36
42 Bernard Pierce BAL @CIN 39 45 41
43 Khiry Robinson NO GB 38 46 48
44 Antone Smith ATL DET (London) 36 50 --
45 Storm Johnson JAC MIA 49 41 47
46 Knile Davis KAN STL -- 42 44
47 Jonas Gray NE CHI 46 49 42
48 Matt Asiata MIN @TAM -- 43 45
49 Zac Stacy STL @KAN 42 48 --
50 Brandon Bolden NE CHI 40 -- --
-- Stepfan Taylor ARI PHI 44 -- --
-- Devonta Freeman ATL DET (London) -- 44 --
-- Maurice Jones-Drew OAK @CLE -- -- 46
-- Terrance West CLE OAK -- 47 --
-- Daniel Thomas MIA @JAC -- -- 49
-- Dexter McCluster TEN HOU 50 -- --
-- Juwan Thompson DEN SD -- -- 50