Start Rachaad White vs. James Cook vs. Kareem Hunt vs. Rhamondre Stevenson vs. Gus Edwards vs. Darrell Henderson vs. Alexander Mattison | Fantasy Football Week 8 RB Start Decision
The running back position continues to be a tricky one to predict this fantasy football season.
The FantasySP start/sit tool has several trending decisions involving running backs, and two of them play in Thursday’s game. Let’s not waste any more time and jump right into things.
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Why You Should Start Rachaad White
White is part of the Thursday night matchup between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Buffalo Bills. White has been the Bucs’ workhorse to this point of the season, which gives him a leg up on some of his competition in this discussion.
White has played 297 snaps this season, which is 246 more snaps than any other back on his team. White has 85 more touches than anyone else.
White has rushed for 266 yards and a touchdown on 83 attempts and caught 22 of the 23 passes thrown his way for 163 yards. He’s gotten 14 of the team’s 16 red zone carries.
While the Bills’ defense is above average against most positions, they are actually below average against running backs. They allow 23 fantasy points a game.
Even being a workhorse and with an average matchup, White is only ranked 22nd in the weekly projections.
Why You Should Start James Cook
Cook has led the Bills’ backfield this season, but he’s split the snaps with Latavius Murray a bit more as of late. Cook has played 113 more snaps and gotten 61 more touches for the season.
Cook has rushed for 419 yards, but only one touchdown, on 88 attempts. He’s caught 17-of-21 passes for 186 yards and a touchdown. He’s received 12 red zone carries, which is the same number Murray has gotten.
He’ll be going up against an above-average Buccaneers’ defense, as the unit only allows 18 fantasy points to backs per week.
Cook is ranked 20th in the weekly projections.
Why You Should Start Kareem Hunt
The Cleveland Browns’ backfield has been banged up all season. Nick Chubb was lost for the season in week 2, and now new lead back Jerome Ford is expected to miss at least one week. That leaves Hunt, who is also dealing with an injury, although he’s expecting to play.
Hunt joined the team in week 3 and has started getting more work of late. He’s played 76 snaps and received 37 touches - 25 of which came over the past two games. Hunt has rushed for 103 yards and three scores on 32 attempts, while catching five passes on seven attempts for an additional 46 yards. He’s gotten six of the team’s 13 red zone carries.
Pierre Strong also figures to factor into the gameplan after getting eight touches last week, so Hunt won’t be a true workhorse.
The Browns are facing the Seattle Seahawks this week. The Hawks’ defense is a touch better than average against opposing backs, allowing 19 fantasy points a week.
Hunt is the 23rd-ranked back in the weekly projections.
Why You Should Start Rhamondre Stevenson
Stevenson has been the New England Patriots’ lead back, but Ezekiel Elliott also plays quite a bit. Stevenson still leads the team comfortably in snaps (299) and touches (110).
Stevenson averages 0.6 yards less per rush than Elliott, going for 268 yards and two scores on 87 attempts. He’s got 12 red zone carries, while Elliott is at nine.
Stevenson is the better pass catcher, with 23 receptions on 30 targets, going for 162 yards.
The Pats will face the Miami Dolphins in week 8. It’s a matchup we’ve already seen back in week 2. In that contest, Stevenson rushed for 50 yards and a touchdown on 15 attempts, while adding three receptions for 10 yards. Elliott was held to 13 yards on five touches.
Miami’s defense is average against running backs, allowing 20 fantasy points a game.
Stevenson is the 30th-ranked back for week 8.
Why You Should Start Gus Edwards
There’s rumors floating around that the Baltimore Ravens are looking at adding another running back. For the time being, Edwards figures to be the team’s lead back, although Justice Hill also plays quite a bit.
For the season, Edwards has played 223 snaps and gotten 90 touches. Hill is at 165 snaps and 52 touches, although he’s missed time with injuries.
Edwards has run for 346 yards and two scores on 86 attempts. He’s added four receptions for 93 yards on five targets. He’s got 11 red zone carries, but Hill leads the team with 13.
Baltimore is playing the Arizona Cardinals this weekend. The Cardinals’ defense is poor against the run, allowing 26 fantasy points per week.
Our weekly projections have Edwards as the 21st-ranked back, while Hill is 37th.
Why You Should Start Darrell Henderson
Henderson is now looked to as the Los Angeles Rams’ lead back after injuries to Kyren Williams and Ronnie Rivers. He’ll split the workload with Royce Freeman, and Zach Evans and Myles Gaskin could also factor into things.
Last week, Henderson played 39 snaps, which was the most of the team’s healthy backs. He rushed for 61 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries. He added a 5-yard reception on his two targets.
Freeman was more efficient in the ground game, with 66 yards on 12 carries. Henderson got both of the red zone carries, however.
The Rams will face the Dallas Cowboys in week 8. That’s a tough matchup for Henderson, as the Cowboys allow just 15 fantasy points per game.
Henderson is the top-ranked Rams’ back, coming in 29th overall. Freeman and Evans are also ranked in the top 66.
Why You Should Start Alexander Mattison
We’ll lastly discuss Minnesota Vikings’ Alexander Mattison. He’s been the No. 1 back all season, but there’s some question marks going into week 8 after being outplayed by Cam Akers.
Mattison played 10 more snaps (37) than Akers, but got two less touches. Mattison finished with a better rushing average though, going for 39 yards on eight carries. Mattison caught two of the three passes thrown his way for 3 yards and got both of the team’s red zone carries.
Akers had 31 rushing yards on 10 carries, and added two receptions on three targets for 30 yards.
Mattison has led the team more often than not, and Akers jumped from two touches to 12 in a week, so it’s really a mystery to how things might shake out this week.
It’s a favorable matchup for the Vikings’ backs, as the team heads to Wisconsin to take on the Green Bay Packers. The Packers’ defense is the third-worst rush defense, allowing 27 fantasy points a week.
Our projections still think Mattison leads the backfield, as he’s ranked 27th. Akers is way back at 44th.
Final Numbers and the Recommended Start
Let’s look at the numbers when White is involved in the start/sit decision, as he’s part of the most trending decisions. Fantasy owners currently prefer White over Mattison, Henderson, Edwards and Hunt. Cook and Stevenson are preferred over White. Cook is preferred over Stevenson, if you were wondering.
I actually prefer White over any back in this discussion. He isn’t splitting the workload much and has a decent matchup ahead. His touch total alone is enough for me to take him first of this group. Even if the Bucs have to pass a bunch, he can rack up some fantasy points as a pass catcher.
Give me the other Thursday night back for my second choice. Cook will lose snaps and touches to Murray, but I like the Bills to lead for most of the contest, so Cook should get a good amount of touches. If he can add a score, he might score more than White too.
The rest of the backs in this discussion will be part of split workloads, so I’d target favorable matchups. I like Mattison to bounce back against the Packers, so I’d take him next. I think last week was a fluke and believe Mattison will be the team’s leader in touches again by a decent margin.
I’d take Stevenson next, even though Edwards’ matchup is more favorable. Stevenson was good against the Dolphins in the first contest, and I think he produces another solid showing this time around.
I’d go with Edwards next. Even if he splits snaps and carries with Hill, I like Edwards to outscore Hunt and Henderson.
Hunt and Henderson is basically a coin flip for me. If I owned them both and needed to start one, I’d go with Hunt because of the more favorable matchup. I think Hunt and Strong are going to split the workload almost 50/50, but I expect Henderson and Freeman to be in a similar situation. I like Hunt’s chance of scoring a touch more, so that’s why I’m taking him over Henderson.
