Fantasy Football Week 8 Running Back Projections & Rankings: Jonah Coleman, Seth McGowan Feature Sleepers
The following running back projections highlight what may happen in Week 8 fantasy football. Players are adjusted for matchups, injuries, weather, and much more. Breece Hall's return is expected to be big, while Jonathan Taylor's trade talk adds uncertainty, among many other noteworthy rankings.
Top-12 Running Backs
Jahmyr Gibbs is far above anyone else as the RB1. He is unthreatened at RB in Detroit and almost always gets touches ahead of Sione Vaki. He is also leading all NFL running backs in targets per game.
Breece Hall is an RB1 this week as he returns. As good as Braelon Allen has been, Hall should retain two-thirds of the rushing work, and the Raiders have a bottom-10 run defense. I expect the Jets' offense to perform very well overall.
In Josh Jacobs' Week 7 return, he had 11 of 17 rushing attempts. That number should continue to rise above 70% of the Packers' team rushing volume.
High-Upside Running Backs
D'Andre Swift is ranked a bit lower than usual, but his ceiling remains slightly high given how good Chicago's offense can be. Swift has at least 14 rushing attempts in any game and 43 over his last two games. If Kyle Monangai stays out, Swift's ranking will move back up.
The game script negatively affected Rhamondre Stevenson's Week 7 output. But in Weeks 4-6, Stevenson averaged 16.3 rushing attempts per game. He is 8th in PFF rushing grade, and the Patriots are expected to take the lead in this game, favoring a run script.
Bench These Running Backs
JK Dobbins is one of the least happy running backs right now. Jonah Coleman's return will eat into Dobbins' workload. In fact, he already did, leading the team in rushing attempts last week with 9, compared with Dobbins' 6.
TreVeyon Henderson has 13 rushing attempts over his past three games. Corey Kiner has outrushed him in that time, making Henderson barely an outrushed RB2.
Sleeper of the Week
Seth McGowan does not have an easy matchup. The Jaguars are the NFL's best team in EPA per Rush Allowed. However, I will take a risk here. The Colts have been rumored to potentially sit Jonathan Taylor this Sunday if a trade becomes likely. Regardless, I think the Colts limit Taylor's workload. McGowan could easily lead the Colts in rushing attempts, and the volume alone is noteworthy.
Week 8 Projected Statistical Leaders
- Attempts: Bijan Robinson (24.5)
- Rushing Yards: Bijan Robinson (125.0)
- Targets: Jahmyr Gibbs (8.9)
- Receptions: Jahmyr Gibbs (7.1)
- Anytime Touchdown: Jahmyr Gibbs (72.4%)
More Fantasy Sports On SI News:
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Thomas Carelli is a sportswriter based on Northern New Jersey. He is a massive New York Jets and Mets fan, but that is not where is sports fandom stops. He loves to watch and play golf, all things football, baseball, and much more. If he can watch it, he will. Thomas graduated from William Paterson University in 2018 with a Bachelor's Degree in Sport Management. He spent 4 years working at a local golf course, volunteered past PGA events, and spent some part-time experience with the New York Jets events team. His passions for sport runs deep and his articles show for it.