Ben Tate, Terrance West, Isaiah Crowell's Post-Week 8 Fantasy Reaction

The Oakland Raiders entered Week 8 surrendering the second-most points to backs on average, so fantasy football owners of Ben Tate, Terrance West and Isaiah Crowell were surely confident in the trio of Cleveland Browns backs.

That trio combined for 10 points.

This is not some case of the staff preferring the aerial attack in the eventual 23-13 win, either—not with the team throwing it 28 times to 25 rushes. The trio was used as so:

	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	REC	YDS	TD	TGTS	Fantasy Pts.
B. Tate	16	25	1.6	1	1	8	0	1	8
T. West	7	11	1.6	0	1	10	0	2	2
I. Crowell	1	1	1.0	0	1	8	0	1	0

Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal later broke down the snap count for the trio:

Those miserable averages for all involved are becoming par for the course, too, as ESPN's Matthew Berry illustrates:

For owners, this is what living on the edge feels like: One week removed from a three-point performance, Tate's touchdown came late in the fourth quarter of what would have otherwise been a resounding dud.

While a difficult trend to digest, there is reason to stick with Tate regardless of what trade offers roll in: His upcoming schedule is great. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Cincinnati Bengals, Houston Texans and Atlanta Falcons all rank poorly against backs in terms of points surrendered on average, with the last team on the list coming in at No. 32 overall.

Granted, this approach relies on the offensive line playing better. But usage equals production. That is a problem for West and Crowell owners, though. The former started the season with a pair of double-digit outings, but he has since careened off a cliff into becoming a non-factor.

Crowell has three trips into double digits. But in the past two weeks, he has been ignored by the staff. He and West are worth cautionary stashes thanks to Tate's problematic injury history, but in no way are they viable starting options given their current usages.

That brings the conversation back to Tate, who is shaping up to be more of an RB2 in his first real stint as a starter. Owners should be happy with that, especially when paired with the upcoming schedule. He isn't somebody to break the bank over via trade, but he should be started in each of the next four weeks without hesitation as long as his health holds thanks to his potential for a major day.

All scoring info courtesy of ESPN standard leagues, as is points-against info and ownership stats. Statistics courtesy of ESPN.