Fantasy Rankings for Week 8: Adrian Peterson Might Re-Write His Own Record

10. Chris Johnson (vs. IND)

Would it shock me to see Chris Johnson flop against one of the worst rush D’s in the league at this point? Not in the slightest, but that’s not what I’m expecting.

There’s no doubt “CJ2K” has been the most disappointing player in fantasy so far this season, but things could turn around real quick for the former all-world RB this week with the Colts having allowed the most fantasy points to opposing running backs so far this season.

He has a nice schedule ahead of him the rest of the way, so let’s hope he proves himself worthy here of some more fantasy starts down the stretch.

9. Steven Jackson (vs. NO)

Steven Jackson has faced two top-of-the-line rushing defenses in a row now (Green Bay and Dallas) and put up double-digit fantasy points against both of them. Watching him play in those two games, not only does he look bigger than normal, but he also looks to be running with more purpose than I’ve ever seen him play with before.

The New Orleans defense is nowhere close to the caliber of Green Bay’s or Dallas’, so with the punch S-Jax seems to have in his legs right now, 100 yards and a TD sounds pretty good.

8. Frank Gore (vs. CLE)

Frank the Tank is silently putting up a real nice fantasy season, though it might not be so silent anymore after putting together a string of three straight games with 125 rushing yards or more plus a TD. His numbers are especially impressive when you consider how banged up the 49ers WR corps has been…along with the fact that no defense is ever really scared of what QB Alex Smith can do anyway.

Looking from the outside, it might seem like the Browns have been strong against the rush this season. However, up close, you’ll notice that they’ve given up four 90-plus-yard rushing games (with two 100-yarders) while in the two games a RB didn’t hit that mark, they were facing two of the worst rushing offenses in the league in Indianapolis and Seattle.

Bank on a nice one this weekend.

7. LeSean McCoy (vs. DAL)

This could be a real tough matchup for McCoy with the Cowboys being a top-three rush defense this season, but the Eagles offense isn’t exactly normal either.

Because of DeSean Jackson’s speed and Michael Vick’s arm, opposing defenses need to play further back than normal while at the same time, they should also probably use a linebacker to shadow Vick because of his legs. This sort of situation opens things up for McCoy no matter who the Eagles play, which is just one of the reasons why he’s a top-three fantasy back in the league this season.

Another reason, of course, is simply because he’s awesome.

6. Maurice Jones-Drew (@ HOU)

The Baltimore Ravens have allowed just one 100-yard game this year and only six since the beginning of the 2007 season, so what Maurice Jones-Drew did against a stacked line (due to Blaine Gabbert's ineptitude) last Monday night was pretty special.

Houston has had a real nice season against the rush as well, but if a rookie RB (Daniel Thomas) can rush for 100 yards against them, I’m pretty sure MJD can as well.

With no real passing game to speak of, you can be sure that the Jags are going use him like crazy once again.

5. Ryan Mathews (@ KC)

Mathews has run for 10 touchdowns so far in his career…with three of them coming against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Earlier in the season, Ryan had his best game of the year against KC, racking up 149 total yards and two TDs, so it looks like the young RB has an affinity for playing these guys.

With the Chiefs down near the bottom of the pack in rushing defense, look for Mathews to have yet another nice fantasy stat line this Monday night.

4. Ray Rice (vs. ARI)

Ray Ray had a tough day against the Jaguars last Monday night as he was held to his lowest total yards in a game since Week 13 of 2010 (including playoffs). However, don’t be discouraged as Rice loves him some home cookin’, averaging 147 total yards and a TD in home games so far this season.

The Cardinals defense has trouble against both the run and the pass, so one way or another, I expect R2D2 to have himself a nice rebound fantasy game.

3. Fred Jackson (vs. Was)

Fred Jackson has been pretty unstoppable this year averaging the most fantasy points per game for RBs so far in 2011.

Not just that, but he absolutely loves playing at home where he’s averaged almost 101 rushing yards, 166 total yards, 1.3 TDs and 24.6 fantasy points in three games this season.

One more thing: The guy seems to love playing the NFC East as well, as he’s had two 100-yard rushing games while averaging 182 total yards and a TD against the Eagles and Giants.

Sounds like a win-win-win situation to me.

2. Arian Foster (vs. JAX)

Jacksonville did really well to bottle up Ray Rice and the Ravens offense last weekend, but that’s not going to happen with Mr. Foster.

Arian seems to have finally gotten his legs under him with that three-touchdown, 234-total-yard output last week against the Titans, so don’t be surprised to see an explosion coming over the next month or two.

Here’s a nice little stat about Foster to take home with you: In 11 career starts at home, Arian has eight 100-yard rushing games, one 100-yard receiving game and 12 total touchdowns.

Thought you might like that with a home game on the docket this week.

1. Adrian Peterson (@ CAR)

The Panthers have been giving up a crazy amount of fantasy points to opposing RBs this year, and Purple Jesus will be no exception to that trend.

In seven weeks of games, four different starting tailbacks had their best fantasy games of the year (MJD, Matt Forte, Mark Ingram and Michael Turner), two others had their second-best game (Beanie Wells and James Starks) and Tim Hightower was well on his way to his best day when he left the game with an injury.

If Christian Ponder didn’t play so well against the Packers last weekend, I might have said AP would have just a top-three fantasy day as Carolina would have simply stacked the box against him…but that’s not the case.

That’s why Peterson is the top back this week. Well, that and the fact that the guy is an utter beast of biblical proportions of course.

Click here to see Full List of RBs 1-50

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