Fantasy Football Week 8 Running Back Rankings

With seven weeks of the 2026 NFL season in the books, the fantasy football season is already approaching its midpoint. The landscape for the best options for your fantasy football team has continued to take shape, with surprise performances, breakout players and fantasy duds shaking up rankings week to week. As we get closer to the halfway point of the season, let’s take a look at my fantasy football running back rankings heading into Week 8.

Key:

Must Start- A player who is in your lineup regardless of the matchup or most circumstances. They will likely finish near the top of the league in points that week and in most weeks.

Starting RB1- A player who makes fantasy owners comfortable starting week after week. Regardless of the matchup, this player has a solid floor.

Low-End Starter- A player who may not be a lock to start for a team every week, but will start more often than not because of depth at the position. Their production is based on whether they can get in the end zone or not. It can be the difference between a top-10 performance and a top-25 performance.

Deep League Starter- A player whose ceiling isn’t high but should put up enough production to be started in deep leagues. When a player like this is started, it is because their production, though it will likely be low, will be better than a few other options.

Status Uncertain- A player who has some sort of injury designation for the week and whose status should be monitored throughout the week to see if they’ll play.

Updates for Week 8:

• Christian McCaffrey, Cam Skattebo, Woody Marks, Kendre Miller and Alvin Kamara are all on bye this week, so fantasy managers should replace these running backs with options off the bench.
• Breece Hall and Jeremiyah Love are both uncertain to play as they deal with injuries heading into Week 8. Hall has been dealing with a quadriceps injury that has kept him out of action for the past couple of weeks. He was a limited participant in practice and will be eyeing a potential return this week against the Raiders. Love has missed the past two games with an ankle injury and is also uncertain to play Sunday. Fantasy managers who have Hall or Love should monitor their statuses throughout the week and be prepared to replace them with options off the bench.
• Zach Charbonnet is eyeing a return in Week 8 after missing the first seven weeks of the season while rehabbing from injury on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list. He tore his ACL in the Seahawks‘ divisional-round win against the 49ers last season and was a full participant in practice last week. Although Charbonnet did not return to action, it appears Seattle may have held him out as a precautionary measure, and he could return to the Seahawks’ lineup in Week 8.
• Keep an eye on Jonathan Taylor in the coming weeks as the Colts have started selling off key players, including Quenton Nelson and DeForest Buckner earlier this week. Taylor, who has had a great season so far, could potentially be another trade candidate. Fantasy managers should monitor his situation as the trade deadline approaches.

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