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Fantasy football rankings 2015: Running backs for standard leagues, Week 8
There’s a rookie who is taking over the league. Can it continue? We have fantasy football running back rankings for standard leagues for Week 8.
We're now seven weeks into the 2015 NFL season. On the other hand, we're basically three weeks into Gurley's career (he made his debut in Week 3, but barely played, and the Rams had a Week 6 bye). So, through three games (I'll carve out those tiny Week 3 stats that were basically one sad little pig-in-a-blanket for the main course that has come since), Gurley has 433 rushing yards and 50 receiving yards.
For reference, 11 running backs have more rushing yards right now. Of those, nine have played at least six games, with Le'Veon Bell and Chris Ivory, at five apiece, the exceptions. Gurley is averaging 110.5 rushing yards per game including his Week 3 cameo, with Bell (102.2) and Ivory (100.2) the only others over 100. Again excising his Week 3, Gurley is averaging 144.3 rushing yards per game.
Melvin Gordon has been disappointing and is hurt and quasi-benched. Tevin Coleman looked good early, but after his injury he's firmly behind Devonta Freeman. Ameer Abdullah has just been bad. T.J. Yeldon looks decent, but has dealt with injury and has a rough offensive line. David Johnson, Duke Johnson Jr., Buck Allen and Thomas Rawls have all had moments. Heck, David Cobb is coming back in a handful of weeks. There are a lot of rookie running backs worth discussion so far this year.
But I’m not talking about Gurley as a rookie running back. Yes, we are for all intents and purposes only three games into his career. But through those three games, we’re not comparing Gurley to Gordon, to Yeldon, to the Johnsons. We’re comparing him to Le’Veon Bell, Adrian Peterson and Marshawn Lynch. And he’s doing well. Gurley is our No. 1 running back for Week 8 according to our five rankers, and he’s No. 1 in my personal ranks as well.
On to the rest of our Week 8 running back rankings for standard leagues.
Running backs for standard leagues, Week 8
(DK: Daniel Kelley; DC: Dan Ciarrocchi; AM: Andrew Miller; JD: John Daigle; SK: Scott Kaliska. Buffalo, Jacksonville, Philadelphia and Washington are on bye.)
| Rk | Consensus | Tm | Opp. | DK | DC | AM | JD | SK |
| 1 | Todd Gurley | STL | SF | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Devonta Freeman | ATL | TB | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | Le'Veon Bell | PIT | CIN | 2 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 3 |
| 4 | Adrian Peterson | MIN | @CHI | 6 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 4 |
| 5 | Marshawn Lynch | SEA | @DAL | 9 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 |
| 6 | Matt Forte | CHI | MIN | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 5 |
| 7 | Mark Ingram | NO | NYG | 3 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 |
| 8 | Justin Forsett | BAL | SD | 7 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 7 |
| 9 | Chris Ivory | NYJ | @OAK | 11 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 9 |
| 10 | Lamar Miller | MIA | @NE | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 |
| 11 | Doug Martin | TB | @ATL | 8 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 10 |
| 12 | Chris Johnson | ARI | @CLE | 16 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 12 |
| 13 | Jonathan Stewart | CAR | IND | 17 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 13 |
| 14 | Giovani Bernard | CIN | @PIT | 12 | 15 | 23 | 14 | 14 |
| 15 | Danny Woodhead | SD | @BAL | 18 | 13 | 13 | 18 | 17 |
| 16 | Charcandrick West | KC | DET (London) | 19 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 16 |
| 17 | Jeremy Hill | CIN | @PIT | 20 | 17 | 16 | 17 | 15 |
| 18 | Frank Gore | IND | @CAR | 14 | 18 | 17 | 20 | 18 |
| 19 | Latavius Murray | OAK | NYJ | 15 | 19 | 19 | 21 | 19 |
| 20 | Ronnie Hillman | DEN | GB | 22 | 22 | 18 | 19 | 21 |
| 21 | Carlos Hyde | SF | @STL | 13 | 21 | 27 | 23 | 23 |
| 22 | LeGarrette Blount | NE | MIA | 21 | 25 | 26 | 16 | 20 |
| 23 | Eddie Lacy | GB | @DEN | 24 | 20 | 22 | 22 | 22 |
| 24 | Darren McFadden | DAL | SEA | 26 | 23 | 21 | 24 | 24 |
| 25 | Dion Lewis | NE | MIA | 25 | 24 | 20 | 25 | 29 |
| 26 | Alfred Blue | HOU | TEN | 23 | 28 | 25 | 27 | 26 |
| 27 | Duke Johnson Jr. | CLE | ARI | 29 | 26 | 24 | 29 | 25 |
| 28 | Charles Sims | TB | @ATL | 27 | 27 | 30 | 28 | 28 |
| 29 | James Starks | GB | @DEN | 28 | 30 | 28 | 30 | 30 |
| 30 | Ameer Abdullah | DET | KC (London) | 33 | 31 | 29 | 31 | 31 |
| 31 | Antonio Andrews | TEN | @HOU | 30 | 29 | 48 | 26 | 27 |
| 32 | C.J. Anderson | DEN | GB | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 37 |
| 33 | Theo Riddick | DET | KC (London) | 34 | 39 | 31 | 32 | 32 |
| 34 | Melvin Gordon | SD | @BAL | 40 | 34 | 32 | 36 | 35 |
| 35 | Rashad Jennings | NYG | @NO | 36 | 33 | 45 | 33 | 34 |
| 36 | Isaiah Crowell | CLE | ARI | 32 | 35 | 41 | 39 | 40 |
| 37 | Chris Polk | HOU | TEN | 41 | 37 | 35 | 37 | 38 |
| 38 | Shane Vereen | NYG | @NO | 49 | 36 | 38 | 35 | 33 |
| 39 | Andre Ellington | ARI | @CLE | 48 | 40 | 36 | 38 | 39 |
| 40 | David Johnson | ARI | @CLE | 43 | 42 | 34 | 42 | 41 |
| 41 | Orleans Darkwa | NYG | @NO | 46 | 41 | 43 | 41 | 36 |
| 42 | C.J. Spiller | NO | NYG | 44 | 38 | 47 | 40 | 42 |
| 43 | Khiry Robinson | NO | NYG | 39 | 46 | 40 | 45 | 43 |
| 44 | Christine Michael | DAL | SEA | 37 | 44 | 39 | 49 | 47 |
| 45 | Branden Oliver | SD | @BAL | 35 | 43 | -- | 44 | 45 |
| 46 | Knile Davis | KC | DET (London) | 38 | 49 | 42 | 46 | 48 |
| 47 | Dexter McCluster | TEN | @HOU | -- | 48 | 37 | 48 | 44 |
| 48 | Robert Turbin | CLE | ARI | 42 | 47 | 44 | -- | 50 |
| 48 | Tevin Coleman | ATL | TB | -- | 45 | 49 | 43 | 46 |
| 50 | Buck Allen | BAL | SD | 45 | -- | -- | 47 | -- |
| -- | Joique Bell | DET | KC (London) | -- | -- | 46 | -- | 49 |
| -- | Jonas Gray | MIA | @NE | 47 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| -- | Ahmad Bradshaw | IND | @CAR | -- | 50 | 50 | 50 | -- |
| -- | Thomas Rawls | SEA | @DAL | 50 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
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SB Nation presents: Todd Gurley continues to destroy the NFL
