It’s November. The leaves have turned. Temperatures are dropping. Derrick Henry is licking his chops at the thought of punishing defenders. The RB position becomes that much more important as defenses that have been hit with injuries become more susceptible to the run. 

On the other side, we do have some defenses like the Steelers, Ravens, 49ers, Broncos and Bucs that have put RBs into a vise. How do you navigate which RBs are the ones to play and those to avoid? Here is this week’s Adentro y Afuera, the RB edition for Week 8:

ADENTRO

START OF THE WEEK
Kareem Hunt vs. LV
18.33
The Raiders have given up no fewer than 24 points during the season. In week 2, Alvin Kamara gouged them for 174 total yards and 2 TD. Hunt has surpassed 20 touches in 2 of his last 3 games. He’s going to get the rock both on the ground and in the air, where the Raiders are also suspect. Vamonos, Kareem!

Todd Gurley @ CAR
16.66
All the haters who were giving Gurley a hard time for scoring that last TD didn’t have him on their fantasy team. Gurley has seen his touches go up because he’s being targeted in the passing game more, with 9 receptions in the last 3 games. And he had 43 carries in the past couple. The Panthers are #28 against fantasy RBs in FPPG. If you didn’t like drafting him, you’ll like starting him this week.

Jonathan Taylor @ DET
15.32
Think back to D’Andre Swift’s big game coming off the bye week. More of the same could be coming for Taylor, who only has a single 100-yard running game to his name. The Lions are bad against RBs – #29 vs. the position – and the Colts still have that incredible O-line. Taylor got consideration for Start of the Week.

Dalvin Cook @ GB
17.89
Yes, you’re playing Cook after he sat out the last game. He’s missed a game and the Vikings had their bye, and Cook is still tops in the league with 7 TD and 7th in the league with 113.3 fantasy points score. Add to it the Packers are #31 against RBs in FPPG. Look for a 20-point game coming for Cook when he gets the healthy tag. 

Darrell Henderson @ MIA
13.75
The Rams have run the ball almost exactly 50-50 – 222 rushes vs. 223 passes – this season, and Henderson has been the closest thing to a lead caballo they have. The Dolphins are #24 against RBs, and with the way the Rams’ O-line has been blocking, this lhas the makings for a great day for Henderson.

DFS BARGAIN OF THE WEEK
Boston Scott vs. DAL
6.41
This is contingent on Miles Sanders sitting out. Scott’s 92 total yards and a TD helped so many teams as a stopgap, and now he gets Dallas as the lone caballo in the backfield. The Cowboys have been dreadful on defense all around, and fantasy managers well remember the big game Kenyan Drake had in prime time a couple weeks back. This game is Sunday night, and Scott is $6000 on Draft Kings. Vamonos!

AFUERA

JK Dobbins/Gus Edwards vs. PIT
The Steelers just “held” Derrick Henry to 75 yards rushing. They are #3 against RBs thus far, and look as formidable as any run D out there. With Mark Ingram likely sitting out, it should mean more touches for Dobbins or Edwards, but will it matter if they’re running into a brick wall? PFF graded the Baltimore RB position with a 0 in its Strength of Schedule metric.

D’Andre Swift vs. IND
12.05
It hurts me to write this, because he’s on a couple of my teams, but the same problem that the aforementioned Ravens’ backfield will run into is facing Swift. The Colts have allowed a league-low 588 yards (granted in 1 fewer game than most teams). Swift is in a lot of people’s lineups because of his big Week 6. He’ll have big games, but probably in future weeks. 

Justin Jackson @ DEN
10.50
Denver is #2 against RBs, and that’s after facing James Conner and Henry. Jackson looked the part of a caballo in Week 5 with 15 carries, but that dropped to 5 carries and 12 yards last week. And Jackson split carries with Joshua Kelley last week, so Jackson is only an emergency bye-week play. Also, the Bronco secondary is giving up yards in large chunks, so this shapes up like a big Justin Herbert day.

	RB RANKINGS
1	Kareem Hunt (CLE – RB)	vs. LV
2	Dalvin Cook (MIN – RB)	at GB
3	Derrick Henry (TEN – RB)	at CIN
4	Alvin Kamara (NO – RB)	at CHI
5	Mike Davis (CAR – RB)	vs. ATL
6	Jonathan Taylor (IND – RB)	at DET
7	Todd Gurley II (ATL – RB)	at CAR
8	Aaron Jones (GB – RB)	vs. MIN
9	Ezekiel Elliott (DAL – RB)	at PHI
10	Josh Jacobs (LV – RB)	at CLE
11	Boston Scott (PHI – RB)	vs. DAL
12	James Conner (PIT – RB)	at BAL
13	Clyde Edwards-Helaire (KC – RB)	vs. NYJ
14	Myles Gaskin (MIA – RB)	vs. LAR
15	Giovani Bernard (CIN – RB)	vs. TEN
16	Darrell Henderson (LAR – RB)	at MIA
17	Melvin Gordon III (DEN – RB)	vs. LAC
18	D’Andre Swift (DET – RB)	vs. IND
19	David Montgomery (CHI – RB)	vs. NO
20	Leonard Fournette (TB – RB)	at NYG
21	Justin Jackson (LAC – RB)	at DEN
22	Ronald Jones II (TB – RB)	at NYG
23	Jerick McKinnon (SF – RB)	at SEA
24	Devin Singletary (BUF – RB)	vs. NE
25	Le’Veon Bell (KC – RB)	vs. NYJ
26	Jamaal Williams (GB – RB)	vs. MIN
27	James White (NE – RB)	at BUF
28	JaMycal Hasty (SF – RB)	at SEA
29	Joshua Kelley (LAC – RB)	at DEN
30	J.K. Dobbins (BAL – RB)	vs. PIT
31	Damien Harris (NE – RB)	at BUF
32	Lamical Perine (NYJ – RB)	at KC
33	Latavius Murray (NO – RB)	at CHI
34	Zack Moss (BUF – RB)	vs. NE
35	Wayne Gallman (NYG – RB)	vs. TB
36	Gus Edwards (BAL – RB)	vs. PIT
37	Adrian Peterson (DET – RB)	vs. IND
38	Malcolm Brown (LAR – RB)	at MIA
39	Carlos Hyde (SEA – RB)	vs. SF
40	Alexander Mattison (MIN – RB)	at GB
41	Frank Gore (NYJ – RB)	at KC
42	DeeJay Dallas (SEA – RB)	vs. SF
43	Nyheim Hines (IND – RB)	at DET
44	Rex Burkhead (NE – RB)	at BUF
45	Benny Snell Jr. (PIT – RB)	at BAL
46	Brian Hill (ATL – RB)	at CAR
47	Corey Clement (PHI – RB)	vs. DAL
48	Phillip Lindsay (DEN – RB)	vs. LAC
49	Devonta Freeman (NYG – RB)	vs. TB
50	Tony Pollard (DAL – RB)	at PHI

QB RANKINGS