Play your studs. It’s not exactly the most profound bit of philosophy for fantasy football players, but sometimes it bears repeating. It’s easy for fantasy owners with loaded rosters to look at a star running back that draws a difficult matchup and pivot to a lesser back in a juicy setup, only to see the inferior player fail while the stud overcomes the statistical disadvantage with a monster game.
We’ve all done that. We then vow to never do it again. And, invariably, we do it again.
This could be one of those weeks. In our rankings of the top running back plays in standard leagues, we’ve identified our top three sections as David Johnson, DeMarco Murray, and Ezekiel Elliott. We really went out on a limb picking that trio, didn’t we?
That’s because they are studs in 2016. If you have them, you are playing them. But, truth be told, this might be the week some of them struggle, or at least underperform relative to their level from the first seven weeks.
The Arizona Cardinals travel to Carolina this week, and while the Panthers are having one of the worst post-Super Bowl loser hangovers in recent memory, they still have a pretty formidable run defense, allowing the seventh-fewest rushing yards and just five rushing touchdowns over their first six games. Angry, desperate, playing at home, and coming off a bye week, the Panthers might render Johnson close to ordinary in Week 8.
Elliott has been exactly as advertised in his rookie season, and the Cowboys come off their bye with a home date against the Philadelphia Eagles, who have struggled recently on the road. But the Eagles are no slouches against the run, either. Although middle of the pack in terms of yards, the Eagles have allowed just three rushing touchdowns all season. Divisional games are always tough to read, and if Elliott gets held out of the end zone, he will struggle to reach his usual output.
Murray is easily the safest of this week’s Big 3. The Jacksonville Jaguars allow a shade under 110 rushing yards per game and have surrendered seven touchdowns. But here’s what’s interesting about Murray: For all his gaudy stats this season, the Titans have faced a bottom-eight defense against the run in each of the past five weeks. In the four weeks before facing Indy on Sunday, Tennessee’s opponents all ranked in the bottom five.
The Jaguars are No. 18 against the run. Hardly anything special, but they’re the 1970s Steelers compared to what Murray has been seeing lately.
The guy at the top of our lists with the true cake matchup this week is our fourth-ranked back, Christine Michael. He might not be inspiring anyone after getting bottled up by the Cardinals on Sunday night, but this week, the Seattle Seahawks go from one extreme to the other, facing the Saints in the Superdome. The Superdome is to fantasy football what Coors Field is to fantasy baseball, and the running game is no exception. The Saints have allowed a league-leading 11 rushing touchdowns this season and are 23rd out of 32 teams in yards allowed per game. Of the 11 rushing touchdowns, nine have come at the Superdome – three each over three games, with a receiving touchdown by a running back thrown in for good measure.
You may not think of Michael as a stud right now, but you probably will come Monday. So play him.
Running backs (standard), Week 8
(ZS: Zach Senvisky, JM: Jason Marcum, SK: Scott Kaliska, JG: Jeff Goldberg, KB: Kyle Bennett, DG: Derek Gordon)
| Rk | Consensus | Tm | Opp. | ZS | JM | SK | JG | KB | DG |
| 1 | David Johnson | ARI | @ CAR | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Ezekiel Elliott | DAL | vs. PHI | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| 3 | DeMarco Murray | TEN | vs. JAC | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| 4 | Christine Michael | SEA | @ NO | 7 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 |
| 5 | Spencer Ware | KC | @ IND | 4 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 8 |
| 6 | Lamar Miller | HOU | vs. DET | 8 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 |
| 7 | Matt Forte | NYJ | @ CLE | 6 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 9 |
| 8 | Melvin Gordon | SD | @ DEN | 9 | 7 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 7 |
| 9 | Devonta Freeman | ATL | vs. GB | 5 | 13 | 7 | 11 | 7 | 11 |
| 10 | C.J. Anderson | DEN | vs. SD | 12 | 6 | 12 | 8 | 11 | 6 |
| 11 | Jacquizz Rodgers | TB | vs. OAK | 18 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 14 |
| 12 | LeGarrette Blount | NE | @ BUF | 10 | 14 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 16 |
| 13 | Frank Gore | IND | vs. KC | 13 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 12 |
| 14 | Jeremy Hill | CIN | vs. WAS | 14 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 15 |
| 15 | Mark Ingram | NO | vs. SEA | 15 | 16 | 15 | 18 | 15 | 10 |
| 16 | Jonathan Stewart | CAR | vs. ARI | 15 | 11 | 19 | 15 | 18 | 13 |
| 17 | Giovani Bernard | CIN | vs. WAS | 16 | 18 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 18 |
| 18 | Latavius Murray | OAK | @ TB | 21 | 19 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 22 |
| 19 | James White | NE | @ BUF | 11 | 26 | 17 | 20 | 17 | 29 |
| 20 | Jerick McKinnon | MIN | @ CHI | 17 | 17 | 27 | 17 | 26 | 17 |
| 21 | Isaiah Crowell | CLE | vs. NYJ | 25 | 20 | 20 | 23 | 20 | 21 |
| 22 | Matt Jones | WAS | @ CIN | 24 | 22 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 23 |
| 23 | Ryan Mathews | PHI | @ DAL | 26 | 23 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 19 |
| 24 | Jordan Howard | CHI | vs. MIN | 27 | 21 | 26 | 24 | 23 | 20 |
| 25 | Chris Ivory | JAC | @ TEN | 30 | 27 | 28 | 27 | 27 | 26 |
| 26 | Matt Asiata | MIN | @ CHI | 31 | 28 | 24 | 25 | 24 | 33 |
| 27 | Devontae Booker | DEN | vs. SD | 23 | 33 | 25 | 30 | 28 | 28 |
| 28 | T.J. Yeldon | JAC | @ TEN | 29 | 25 | 32 | 30 | 29 | 27 |
| 29 | Jamaal Charles | KC | @ IND | 36 | 24 | 37 | 26 | 25 | 24 |
| 30 | Chris Thompson | WAS | @ CIN | 19 | 30 | 29 | 29 | 31 | 37 |
| 31 | Duke Johnson | CLE | vs. NYJ | 22 | 32 | 30 | 33 | 32 | 30 |
| 32 | Mike Gillislee | BUF | vs. NE | 20 | 37 | 23 | 31 | 34 | 35 |
| 33 | Darren Sproles | PHI | @ DAL | 44 | 29 | 35 | 28 | 30 | 25 |
| 34 | LeSean McCoy | BUF | vs. NE | 41 | 35 | 33 | 32 | 33 | 34 |
| 35 | Theo Riddick | DET | @ HOU | 32 | 34 | 40 | 37 | 38 | 31 |
| 36 | Bilal Powell | NYJ | @ CLE | 28 | 41 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 41 |
| 37 | Ka'Deem Carey | CHI | vs. MIN | 37 | 38 | 39 | 36 | 37 | 40 |
| 38 | Dwayne Washington | DET | @ HOU | -- | 31 | 47 | 34 | 35 | 32 |
| 39 | Derrick Henry | TEN | vs. JAC | 38 | 43 | 41 | 39 | 40 | 36 |
| 40 | DeAndre Washington | OAK | @ TB | 45 | 39 | 38 | 38 | 39 | 39 |
| 41 | Knile Davis | GB | @ ATL | 35 | -- | 31 | 47 | 47 | 43 |
| 42 | Zach Zenner | DET | @ HOU | 34 | 49 | 36 | 43 | 44 | -- |
| 43 | Alfred Morris | DAL | vs. PHI | -- | 46 | 45 | 42 | 42 | 38 |
| 44 | Alfred Blue | HOU | vs. DET | 39 | 44 | -- | 44 | 45 | 44 |
| 45 | Andre Ellington | ARI | @ CAR | 46 | 42 | -- | 40 | 43 | 45 |
| 46 | Reggie Bush | BUF | vs. NE | -- | 45 | 50 | 41 | 41 | 42 |
| 47 | Cameron Artis-Payne | CAR | vs. ARI | 39 | 47 | -- | 46 | 48 | -- |
| 48 | Robert Kelley | WAS | @ CIN | 37 | -- | 42 | -- | -- | -- |
| 49 | Don Jackson | GB | @ ATL | -- | -- | 48 | 45 | 46 | 46 |
| 50 | C.J. Spiller | SEA | @ NO | -- | 36 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| -- | Jalen Richard | OAK | @ TB | 43 | -- | 44 | -- | -- | -- |
| -- | Charcandrick West | KC | @ IND | 42 | 49 | -- | 48 | 50 | -- |
| -- | Justin Forsett | DET | @ HOU | 47 | -- | 43 | 50 | 49 | -- |
| -- | Kenjon Barner | PHI | @ DAL | 49 | 48 | -- | 49 | -- | -- |
| -- | Peyton Barber | TB | vs. OAK | 50 | -- | 46 | -- | -- | -- |
| -- | Robert Turbin | IND | vs. KC | 48 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 49 |
| -- | Dexter McCluster | TEN | vs. JAC | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 47 |
| -- | Wendell Smallwood | PHI | @ DAL | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 48 |
| -- | Fozzy Whittaker | CAR | vs. ARI | -- | -- | 49 | -- | -- | -- |
| -- | Tim Hightower | NO | vs. SEA | -- | 50 | -- | -- | -- | 50 |