Below you will find our Week 8 running back rankings, to help determine your WR starts/sits for this week, brought to you by Edward Gorelik (@EdwardGorelik) and Zach Wilkens (@LopsidedTrades).

Featured fantasy football writer Zach Wilkens also highlights some WR rankings and matchups analysis for Week 8, and draws some matchup conclusions. He tells you who he likes, who he doesn't, and most importantly who he thinks you should be starting in Week 8.

You can also check out our 2015 fantasy football ranking dashboard, for more in depth rankings analysis on all positions including rookies and dynasty leagues.

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Week 8 Fantasy Football Rankings - Running Backs

Week 8 Running Back (RB) Rankings Analysis

By Zach Wilkens (@LopsidedTrades)

Most of my top ten at RB this week won’t surprise anyone. The one player I am a little bit lower on is Matt Forte. I really like the Vikings defense and they are now far removed from getting destroyed by Carlos Hyde. In addition, they are one of just a few teams that haven’t allowed an RB rec touchdown. The Vikings held Forte to just 74 total yards and no score in their last meeting in the final week of the 2014 season.

I have something to admit: I was totally wrong on Charcandrick West. I didn’t think he stood a chance to do anything against the Steelers defense (no RB touchdowns allowed heading into last week). He played really well and as a result I have him at RB17 this week. Perhaps most importantly, he was in on 87% snaps. Knile Davis? He saw just 3 snaps and it’s clear that he is not going to be a threat anytime soon. If you grabbed West, congrats.

Another RB that really impressed me last week? Darren McFadden. That doesn’t make me want like him this week against the Seahawks though. The Seahawks have not allowed a 100 yard rusher and the only RB touchdowns both came at the hands of Jonathan Stewart. I actually like McFadden quite a bit going forward but I have no reason to think he can do much this week.

When Orleans Darkwa scored last week it left many saying ‘Who?’. This week his consensus rank is RB41 so it’s clear many aren’t really buying into his value just yet. At the very least I think he needs to be stashed. I do have him at RB31 this week so I think he could be flexed if you are suffering from some bye week blues. Rashad Jennings and Andre Williams have both looked very underwhelming. The Giants should definitely continue to give Darkwa some opportunities to run away with the job this week.

The Texans situation is pretty ugly but I think if anyone ends up with the lead role it will be Chris Polk. I mostly think it’s going to be a committee situation that doesn’t do much good for fantasy. As a result none of the RBs are in my top 30 this week. Alfred Blue has had a couple big games in his career but for the most part he has looked really bad. Very few backs have gotten off to a 3.3 YPC over their first two seasons (Blue’s current career YPC) and gone on to make a solid career out of it. Let’s play wait and see here but both backs should be owned just in case.

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