Falcons
There was a small interesting development in this one as Brian Hill saw quite a few more snaps than he has in weeks past. There was no reports that Gurley was dealing with any sort of injury so it is possible the Falcons staff just wanted to manage his workload a bit against the Panthers in this contest. His 51% of the offensive snaps played was the fewest he has seen since Week 1 when he played just 45% of the offensive snaps. As we hit the mid-point of the NFL season and given Gurley's history of knee ailments fantasy, fantasy owners should be watching this one.
Ravens
Whelp, with no Mark Ingram against the Steelers it was nice to see Dobbins take the majority of the team's snaps after Ravens invested a second round pick on him in the draft this season. Dobbins rushed for 113 yards on 15 carries. Edwards also had himself a nice day, finishing with 16 carries for 87 yards and a touchdown. The Ravens face another tough defenes in the Colts in Week 9 but with Ingram expected to be out again, we should see if either back repeats their Week 8 performance.
Bills
The backfield carries continue to be split and both backs was far more productive in Week 8 against the Patriots than they had been in the past. Moss rushed for 81 yards and two touchdowns while Singletary added 86 yards on 14 carries of his own. Neither back was overly involved in the passing attack but that was not needed in this match up. I expect Moss to continue to be used in the red zone as that was the plan heading into the season prior to his injury.
Panthers
Christian McCaffery is expectd to be activated in time for the Panthers Week 9 matchup against the Chiefs which will spell the end of the RB1 fantasy value for Mike Davis moving forward.
Bears
Monty remains the top guy here. As I have pointed out since the Cohen injury, the usage in the passing game is an absolute delight for fantasy owners. Since Week 4, Montgomery has not seen less than five targets per game. In Week 9 the Bears have a nice match up against a surprisingly soft Titans defense that made some wholesale changes heading into this week by releasing veterans Vic Beasely and Jonathan Joseph due to poor performances.
Bengals
Both backs found the end zone in Week 8 with Bernard again leading the way in touches and snaps. As long as Joe Mixon is dealing with a foot injury then fantasy owners should be able to rely on Bernard for solid RB2 level of production. The Bengals are on a bye in Week 9 so we shall see if Mixon re-enters the fray heading into Week 10.
Browns
Hunt has dominated the snap share since the injury to Nick Chubb but that will soon be ending as it is widely expected that Chubb will return to the Browns following the team's Week 9 bye. Now, I doubt Chubb immediately jumps into a huge role after his IR activation but we should be looking at something closer to 60/40 split sooner rather than later for Hunt.
Cowboys
As bad as the Cowboys are, Elliott will remain the team's lead running back. It's worth noting that Zeke is dealing with a hamstring injury that has him limited in practice and questionable for Week 9 against the Steelers who were just torched on the ground by the Ravens in Week 8.
Broncos
Gordon had absolutely nothing working on the ground in his "revenge" game against the Chargers but the six catches on seven targets is nice to see. it was also great to see Lindsay have a strong day on the ground, as he broke off a 50-yard touchdown run. Gordon should ultimately get the majority of the work in this backfield with Lindsay being an elite change of pace option for Denver to turn to.
Lions
The snap count usage is exactly what we want to see but how are you only getting Swift nine total touches in this game? The Lions will face a weak Vikings defense in Week 9 and hopefully Matt Patricia has a better game plan on how to get Swift more carries. Of course, the Adrian Peterson "revenge" game is also staring at us in the face as well.
Packers
Well, this one is interesting, Williams again dominated with Aaron Jones out of the lineup but as we head into Week 9 against the 49ers we have Williams and Dillon on the Covid-IR list with Ervin, Dexter Williams and a likely returning but not 100-percent healthy Aaron Jones for Thursday night football. Williams was just a close contact and did not have a positive covid test so he should be ready to go in Week 10.
Colts
Jonathan Taylor was banged up in this one so we saw Jordan Wilkins dominate the carries and Nyheim Hines find the end zone twice. If Taylor is healthy then he should go back to seeing the majority of the snaps but judging with how well Wilkins ran, I doubt the Colts completley cut off his snap shares.
Chiefs
Great to see CEH get 50-percent of the snaps and honestly he should be in a 60/40 split in games where the Chiefs are in a competitive contest however Week 8 against the Jets was not that and quite frankly their Week 9 match up against the Panthers seems unlikely to be competitive either.
Chargers
Big stunner here to see Pope as involved as he was. Joshua Kelley owners are likely shook following Week 8 against the Broncos. The Chargers have a soft match up against the Raiders in Week 9. Those who own Justin Jackson are sitting pretty as he not only dominated the snaps and carries but he continues to get work in the passing game.
Rams
Darrell Henderson was banged up here so we finally got to see Cam Akers. This is likely going to be short lived however with the Rams on a bye and Henderson's injury only considered to be mild.
Raiders
No real contest here. Jacobs saw 31 carries and nearly 70-percent of the snaps for a reason. Unless he gets hurt fantasy owners can rely on him to be on the field for almost every down.
Dolphins
The Dolphins backfield is in rough shape heading into Week 9 as Gaskins was placed on IR with a sprained MCL and Breida is missing practices due to a hamstring injury. Jordan Howard is likely going to be the lead running back with Patrick Laird as the third-down option. It would not shock to see Lynn Bowden get more snaps this weekend as well.
Vikings
Dalvin Cook returned and Dalvin Cook conquered as he totaled 30 carries for 163 yards and three touchdowns while adding two catches for 63 yards and a score. His 88-percent snap share should put all fears about his health aside and fantasy owners should roster him with great confidence this week against the Lions.
Patriots
Damien Harris ran for 100-yards for the second time in his career. The Patriots offense was much better this past week against the Bills and have another favorable match up on tap against the Jets in Week 9. I would look for Harris to be the primary back in this offense moving forward.
Saints
Michael Thomas may finally return so some of Kamara's targets may dissipate but not by much. He is on pace for an NFL record in receptions for a running back and outside of an injury there is no threat to his job or snaps.
Giants
Gallman has actually looked pretty good over the past two weeks. With Devonta Freeman still dealing with an injury the Giants should look to feature Gallman in Week 9 against the Washington Football team.
Jets
The Jets get a soft Patriots run defense in Week 9 and after giving Perine a huge snap share in Week 7 we saw a closer split of the workload in Week 8 with Gore actually getting more carries while equalling Perine in touches. We should expect a similar one-two punch in Week 9 against New England who allowed over 160 yards rushing to Zack Moss and Devin Singletary last week.
Eagles
The Eagles are on a bye this week so it's possible that Miles Sanders comes back in Week 10. Those who roster Boston Scott have to be very pleased with his recent efforts in place of Sanders.
Steelers
No real contest here. The Steelers have a great match up against the Cowboys this week and I expect Conner to feast in this one against a paper thin Cowboys defense.
Seahawks
Dallas was really the only healthy running back the Seahawks had in Week 8. Even with Homer playing 10-percent of the snaps he too was banged up. Seattle does not expect Carlos Hyde to play against the Bills in Week 9 and all reports say that Chris Carson is a true 50-50 play. We could very well see Dallas as the feature back here again against a Bills defense that has been struggling.
49ers
Whelp, Coleman got hurt again which levaes McKinnon and Hasty as the lone options for the 49ers this week and the team will need that as their entire starting WR group is on Covid IR and George Kittle is also on IR with an injury. Things are not looking good for San Francisco here.
Buccaneers
Ronald Jones fumbled and that cost him big in this one as Leonard Fournette took over as the primary back following the turnover. Fournette looked good here so we will have to see how the backfield rotation plays out in Week 9 against the Saints.
Titans
I mean, it's Derrick Henry. It was interesting to see D'Onta Foreman however so that was noteworthy and those looking for a handcuff to Henry may actually be better suited to pick him up.