NFL Fantasy 2026 Start 'Em, Sit 'Em: Running backs for Week 8
As always, Start 'Em, Sit 'Em is geared toward helping fantasy managers make difficult roster decisions. You won’t see “start Jahmyr Gibbs” here. Instead, I'm exploring the players closer to the perceived fringe and aiming to optimize your lineup for a win each week. Importantly, the new “Start of the Week” and “Sit of the Week” are the calls I have deemed the most notable in each category, not necessarily the most essential players to start or sit.
Also, you’ll see quite a few references in this year’s column to NFL Pro, spotlighting insights provided through Next Gen Stats data dashboards, matchup evaluations, All-22 film and the uniquely trained Fantasy AI Assistant. You can get access to all of those tools yourself with an NFL+ Premium subscription!
P.S. Feel free to follow me on X (@MattOkada) or Instagram (@mattokadaNFL) and hit me with your questions, congratulations or complaints throughout the year.
Start 'Em
Start of the Week
There's no denying Brown has been disappointing, given his fantasy draft price, but Week 8 brings some optimism. While he has suffered from rushing inefficiency -- 3.5 yards per carry, a 36.6% success rate and just 2.2 yards after contact per carry -- Brown does have at least 15 touches in every game. And the Titans' run defense has struggled in recent weeks, allowing 4.9 yards per carry and a 14.7% explosive run rate to RBs since Week 5. They gave up 34.1 fantasy points to Quinshon Judkins/Dylan Sampson, 21.1 to Jonathan Taylor and even 12.5 to Woody Marks over that span. Brown should fall somewhere in that range on Sunday, so he should be started with confidence.
Notable starts
Hubbard is coming off his worst rushing performance of the season by far -- 33 yards on seven carries -- in a wildly unfriendly game script against the Buccaneers. That won't happen again, and Hubbard scored 14-plus points in every game prior. Keep him in your lineup.
Tuten is the RB17 in points per game, and Jacksonville is heavily favored against the Colts, who have allowed huge fantasy days to Derrick Henry, Kenneth Walker III and Jaylen Warren in their high-scoring losses this season. Tuten should be right back in the heart of RB2 territory.
In his first game off the Commissioner's Exempt List, Jacobs totaled 91 yards and a touchdown on 16 touches. In Week 8, that might be the floor against a Panthers defense that just surrendered 258 rushing yards and three TDs to Tampa Bay.
Over the last three weeks, Corum has totaled 37 touches, 233 yards and three touchdowns, while Kyren Williams has posted 53 touches, 264 yards and two scores. Corum has been the RB11 over that span, with a meaningful role in an excellent offense. He is playable once again with the Rams heavily favored over the Chargers.
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Sit 'Em
Sit of the Week
After scoring a rushing touchdown in three straight weeks, Dobbins might feel like a decently trustworthy start moving forward. I'm not buying it. He'd averaged just 49.5 scrimmage yards per game entering Week 7 and then saw his opportunities get slashed by the return of rookie RB Jonah Coleman. Dobbins played just 21.4% of the snaps last Sunday and had just 23 yards on six carries. Meanwhile, Kansas City has allowed the fifth-fewest rushing yards per game to running backs (73.7) and the second-lowest red-zone touchdown rate in the league (26.7%). They're an awful matchup for Dobbins in particular, and he shouldn't even crack FLEX territory in Week 8.
Notable sits
Hampton has scored fewer than eight fantasy points in three of his last four games. While the Rams have been tagged by James Cook III and Ashton Jeanty in recent weeks, Hampton does not have Cook's rushing ability or Jeanty's receiving upside.
Scoring fewer than five fantasy points in five straight games, Henderson has reached must-sit territory and is a borderline drop candidate. He's not even playable in a theoretically favorable game script against Miami, since Rhamondre Stevenson and Corey Kiner are just as likely to shoulder the run-the-clock-out carries.