Week 8 Fantasy Football Rankings: Breaking Down Best Options at Skill Positions

Week 8 is going to be potentially rough for fantasy owners. Not only are six teams on a bye, but countless fantasy stars were injured on Sunday. 

In one league, I had a team with Doug Martin, Reggie Wayne, Jermichael Finley (all three potentially lost for the season) and Jay Cutler (out at least four weeks). Oh, and I also have Matt Forte on a bye. That team is now in pretty dire straits (though thankfully I at least have Matt Ryan at quarterback and Jimmy Graham at tight end) and probably isn't going to win this week. 

But we all get hit with injuries, and we've all got to keep on keeping on. And remember, this is just fantasy football—we all wish those players a speedy and safe recovery from their respective injuries. 

Here, I'll provide a look at this week's rankings for the skill-position players and list all of the players that will be missing in action. 

Notes: All point totals for standard-scoring leagues. Points against stats via ESPN. The Chicago Bears, Tennessee Titans, Indianapolis Colts, San Diego Chargers, Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans are on bye.

Quarterbacks

Rank	Player	Team	Opponent	Proj. Points
1	Peyton Manning	Denver Broncos	Washington	30
2	Drew Brees	New Orleans Saints	Buffalo Bills	26
3	Aaron Rodgers	Green Bay Packers	Minnesota Vikings	25
4	Cam Newton	Carolina Panthers	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	23
5	Matt Stafford	Detroit Lions	Dallas Cowboys	22
6	Robert Griffin III	Washington	Denver Broncos	20
7	Michael Vick	Philadelphia Eagles	New York Giants	19
8	Tony Romo	Dallas Cowboys	Detroit Lions	18
9	Colin Kaepernick	San Francisco 49ers	Jacksonville Jaguars	17
10	Russell Wilson	Seattle Seahawks	St. Louis Rams	17

Players M.I.A. This Week (Or Beyond): Jay Cutler, Jake Locker, Sam Bradford, Andrew Luck, Philip Rivers, Joe Flacco, Matt Schaub and Case Keenum

Analysis: With the exception of Luck and Rivers, most of the top options will not only be in action this week, but also presented with some juicy matchups. Of the players in my top 10 at the position, only Cam Newton, Russell Wilson and Colin Kaepernick face defenses that are ranked better than No. 20 in pass defense. 

And remember, Newton faces the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a defense that allowed Nick Foles and Matt Ryan to combine for 51 fantasy points the past two weeks, while Kaepernick takes on the Jacksonville Jaguars. 

I don't think I need to go into much more detail about why that's a great matchup for Kaepernick, but here goes—the Jags stink.

Oh, and Matt Ryan is essentially 10b on this list against the Arizona Cardinals. I like Wilson's matchup just a bit more, but I would understand if you had both Ryan and Wilson and went with the Atlanta man. It's a close call. 

Running Backs

Rank	Player	Team	Opponent	Proj. Points
1	Marshawn Lynch	Seattle Seahawks	St. Louis Rams	26
2	Adrian Peterson	Minnesota Vikings	Green Bay Packers	24
3	Reggie Bush	Detroit Lions	Dallas Cowboys	21
4	Alfred Morris	Washington	Denver Broncos	19
5	Knowshon Moreno	Denver Broncos	Washington	18
6	Eddie Lacy	Green Bay Packers	Minnesota Vikings	17
7	LeSean McCoy	Philadelphia Eagles	New York Giants	16
8	Frank Gore	San Francisco 49ers	Jacksonville Jaguars	15
9	Jamaal Charles	Kansas City Chiefs	Cleveland Browns	15
10	Stevan Ridley	New England Patriots	Miami Dolphins	14

Players M.I.A. This Week (Or Beyond): Matt Forte, Doug Martin, Chris Johnson, Trent Richardson, Ryan Mathews, Arian Foster, Danny Woodhead, Ray Rice, David Wilson

Analysis: No other position was as thin coming into Week 7 as running back, and no position will be as painfully thin coming out of it. At least nine players worth starting won't be in action this week, a major blow for fantasy owners. 

Chances are, you are going to have to start a running back facing a bad matchup. Gio Bernard versus the New York Jets? Start him. Fred Jackson and C.J. Spiller, Buffalo's pair of value vultures? Start them. Maurice Jones-Drew against the San Francisco 49ers or Zac Stacy against the Seattle Seahawks?

Well, okay, maybe we have to draw the line somewhere. 

If you have one of the top 10 options this week, you'll probably be fine. If you have two of them, there's a good chance you'll win, because running back is going to be a mess in Week 8. 

Wide Receivers

Rank	Player	Team	Opponent	Proj. Points
1	Calvin Johnson	Detroit Lions	Dallas Cowboys	24
2	Victor Cruz	New York Giants	Philadelphia Eagles	22
3	Vincent Jackson	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Carolina Panthers	20
4	Dez Bryant	Dallas Cowboys	Detroit Lions	19
5	Demaryius Thomas	Denver Broncos	Washington	17
6	Jordy Nelson	Green Bay Packers	Minnesota Vikings	16
7	DeSean Jackson	Philadelphia Eagles	New York Giants	16
8	A.J. Green	Cincinnati Bengals	New York Jets	15
9	Wes Welker	Denver Broncos	Washington	14
10	Antonio Brown	Pittsburgh Steelers	Oakland Raiders	13

Players M.I.A. This Week (Or Beyond): Julio Jones, Brandon Marshall, Alshon Jeffery, Reggie Wayne, Keenan Allen, Torrey Smith, Andre Johnson, Randall Cobb, 

Analysis: Sanity returned to this position in Week 7, with Calvin Johnson, Vincent Jackson, A.J. Green and Demaryius Thomas all finishing in the top 10 at the position, alongside a familiar face like Eric Decker. 

Meanwhile, surrogates for their talented but injured counterparts in Atlanta (Harry Douglas scored 20 fantasy points with Jones and Roddy White sidelined) and Green Bay (Jarrett Boykin scored 16 points with Cobb and James Jones out) replicated familiar levels of production at the position for those teams.

With Wayne out, it may be time to hope Darrius Heyward-Bey can follow suit, at least when the Colts return to action in Week 9 after their bye. 

Like the running back position, trust your studs. The only potentially surprising name in these rankings is Antonio Brown, and he has a very tasty matchup against the Oakland Raiders.

Don't worry if one of the superstars has a tough matchup—as Megatron proved this week against the Bengals, it's better to roll with a safe commodity than put all your money on one risky wideout and hope the fantasy roulette wheel beats the odds and lands on him.

Hence the lack of surprises in the wide receivers rankings.

Tight Ends

Rank	Player	Team	Opponent	Proj. Points
1	Jimmy Graham	New Orleans Saints	Buffalo Bills	20
2	Rob Gronkowski	New England Patriots	Miami Dolphins	18
3	Julius Thomas	Denver Broncos	Washington	16
4	Vernon Davis	San Francisco 49ers	Jacksonville Jaguars	16
5	Jason Witten	Dallas Cowboys	Detroit Lions	14
6	Jordan Cameron	Cleveland Browns	Kansas City Chiefs	13
7	Jordan Reed	Washington	Denver Broncos	11
8	Tony Gonzalez	Atlanta Falcons	Arizona Cardinals	11
9	Heath Miller	Pittsburgh Steelers	Oakland Raiders	10
10	Greg Olsen	Carolina Panthers	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	9

Players M.I.A. This Week (Or Beyond): Martellus Bennett, Antonio Gates, Jermichael Finley, Coby Fleener, Owen Daniels, Garrett Graham

Analysis: Definitive tiers have formed at the tight position this season.

In the Elite Tier, we have Jimmy Graham, Rob Gronkowski and Julius Thomas. In the Excellent Tier, we have Jordan Cameron, Vernon Davis and Tony Gonzalez. In the Viable Starter Tier, we have Antonio Gates, Jason Witten, Martellus Bennett, Charles Clay and Jermichael Finley. And finally, we get to the Everyone Else Tier.

If you have to dip into the Everyone Else Tier this week, you could be in some trouble. Go out and get an up-and-coming player like Jordan Reed from Washington if he's available. 

Hit me up on Twitter—I'll answer your fantasy lineup questions and commiserate with you over underachieving players. It's all the fun of the NFL, but without the concussions.