Fantasy Football Week 8: The Week of the Running Back

Chris Johnson sucks, Tim Hightower blew out his ACL, DeMarco Murray tore apart the Rams, and Peyton Hillis is feeling the full force of the Madden Curse. That's only touching the top of the running back craziness going on in football right now.

Hope you all caught the new Waiver Wire edition earlier this week because it's not longer a part of this article. Here goes another week of fantasy football advice...

QB Starters

Matt Hasselbeck

Colts are the weakest defense in the NFL as they demonstrated this last week against the Saints. Hasselbeck will have a fine day. Start him.

Eli Manning

This funny looking, wanna be version of Peyton should have a good day playing against the Dolphins. Start him.

Tony Romo

This could turn into a shoot out with the Eagles and Romo's got the weapons to win it. Start him.

Andy Dalton

Seahawks defense against what appears to be a pretty potent passing offense, which is also missing it's number one back. Start him.

QB Benchers

Tim Tebow

He was horrible besides the end of the 4th quarter last week. He's facing an angry Lions team and I don't think any amount of praying can win this game. Bench him

Colt McCoy

It's a tough matchup and it most certainly doesn't favor him. Bench him.

Ben Roethlisberger 

He's had a nice few weeks against a few week teams. It ends this week. He's overdue for some sloppy play and I think the Patriots are gonna catch him on snooze. Bench him.

RB Starters

Roy Helu, Jr.

My sleeper of the week, I expect Helu to get more done than the guy he'll be splitting carries with, Ryan Torrain. Start him.

Chris Johnson

This is it. It's literally now or never. He's thrown my fantasy football season down the drain thus far, as I'm sure he has for many others. If he can't do anything against the Colts (who are basically the worst in the league against the run) then he is no longer a viable fantasy option. However this week I retain my optimism. Start him.

Bernard Scott

I wouldn't expect this guy to light up the board, but he will probably do decent enough to be a bye week replacement. Start him.

DeMarco Murray

I'm not as high on this guy as everybody else is, but against the Eagles run defense I can't think of a reason not to start a guy who ran for over 250 yards last week. Start him.

RB Benchers

Willis McGahee

He's broken his hand and will be out till at least week 10. It's too bad. He's been much better than KnoShow Moreno. Make sure you've got him benched.

Peyton Hillis

He sat out of practice Friday and even if he does end up going, Hardesty will still probably handle most of the carries, if not all. Bench him

Beanie Wells

He's a little gimpy and will be a game time decision. That being said, he is also going up against the Ravens. Bench him.

WR Starters

Michael Crabtree

He had 15 targets before the bye week and was looking good. I would be a little surprised if he didn't have a good game against the Browns, though Joe Haden is cause for a little concern. Start him.

Damian Williams

I'm pretty sure I'm one of the few fans still supporting this guy, but in the fantasy world there are lots of advocates for him. He's been pretty consistent besides last week when he was forced to leave early with the head injury. He'll be back on the field this week and going up against possibly the worst secondary in the league. He's been a consistent red-zone target for Hasselbeck. Start him

Nate Washington

The most consistent receiver for the Titans, he'll earn his keep this Sunday. Start him.

Brandon Lloyd

He saw a surprising amount of receptions this last week. Far more than I expected. He did well. Against a generous Saints defense I see no reason not to start him. So.... Start him.

Anquan Boldin

Arizona is a push over and has a sketchy secondary still trying to learn the ropes. Boldin should rebound well from last week. Start him

WR Benchers

Andre Johnson

It's not quite clear yet whether he'll play, but even if he does I think the Texans let him have a little more time to heal up. The Jaguars still aren't that scary of a team and the Texans showed how well they can play, even without Johnson. Bench him.

Greg Little

He has been consistent this season, even in the fact that he has yet to find the end zone. This is a gonna be a tough go against the 49ers. Bench him.

Jonathan Baldwin

We gotta see more than we did last week before he's worth thinking about starting. Bench him.

Demaryius Thomas

Tebow did nothing last week to strengthen the case for starting Thomas. We need to see improvement in the passing game before this is a sure go ahead and start thing. Bench him.

TE Starters

Rob Gronkowski

He's been getting more yards than Aaron Hernandez, Hernandez has just been the one to find the end zone of late. I'd still take Gronkowski over Hernandez. Start him.

Brandon Pettigrew

I think he finds the end zone this week against a Broncos defense that is still in a rebuilding phase. When he does get passed to it seems to come in bunches and I also think the Broncos put a lot of effort into trying to keep Calvin Johnson under wraps, which also benefits Pettigrew. Start him.

Fred Davis

He's a prime target and he does well with the ball in his hands. Chris Cooley is also out of the picture for the season with a torn ACL. Start him.

Antonio Gates

I think it's safe to say he has returned successfully, though he does have a minor foot injury. I'm not worried about it. Start him.

Jared Cook

I'm not crazy about this one but it's a favorable matchup and Cookie is a beast. Add in the fact the Titans should be working hard on getting this offense going and it's just that much better. If you need a TE and aren't afraid

TE Benchers

Benjamin Watson

It's looking a little doubtful as the whether he will start or not. It doesn't help that he's going against a 49er's defense that has been playing well. Either way it leads to one thing. Bench him.

I'm not gonna lie. There's not a lot of match ups I don't like for TE's this week besides the usual duds you wouldn't start anyway.

D/ST Starters

Giants

Texans

Ravens

49ers

Lions

D/ST Benchers

Vikings

Redskins

Browns

Broncos

Steelers

And just because it made me giggle, here is a fantasy article from BleacherReport. Thank you captain obvious.

As always feel free to ask questions! Good luck!

You can follow me on Twitter @JustinBozemanMT