The NFL Schedule is into Week 8 and the game on Thursday starts things off, but there are a number of teams this week dealing with byes, including The Chicago Bears, Titans, Indianapolis Colts, Chargers, Ravens and Texans, meaning names like Arian Foster, Matt Forte, Trent Richardson, Ray Rice, Chris Johnson and Ryan Mathews will not be available, making Daniel Thomas and Joseph Randle the top replacements and fill-ins as free agents.
The bye in Week 8 comes about halfway through the season and with fantasy owners moving closer to playoff time, no owner can risk losing just because one of his backs is missing out on the action. All those players listed above are prime starting options in the NFL and in fantasy and losing someone like Forte or Johnson can be deadly for fantasy owners that rely on them for production in 2013. Thomas and Randle are trending upwards for this week and if owners are stacked looking for a back, those two names could be options to consider, even though they can't match the skills of the players they are taking over for.
Foster has been dealing with a hamstring injury, so the bye week actually is a good thing for owners of him, but that still doesn't give them a back to use in relief. Foster had to leave against the Chiefs after four carries with an injury and this season he has over 540 yards and a touchdown and he has once again been one of the best backs in the league. He ranks in the top five in rushing and the top 10 in rushing yards per game and before the injury he had three straight games of at least 98 yards, including 141 yards against the rams a couple weeks ago.
Foster and the Texans are in a free fall and the bye week could be good for them to get things back together. He had 102 yards against a good Seahawks team this season and while he hasn't scored a rushing TD in his past five games, he could get back into things after healing up during the bye week. Matt Forte has been having one of his best seasons so far and his absence in Week 8 could be very bad for fantasy owners, as he ranks in the top 10 in the NFL in yards and rush yards per game while also being second in touchdowns with six.
Forte has been excellent under Marc Trestman and with Jay Cutler injured he will be even more essential and he is coming off of a 91 yard game with three touchdowns and now he has five over his past five games. Fantasy owners love him for his rushing skills but also in PPR leagues for his natural ability to catch passes and now he will be out for this week before the team plays against the Packers on Monday night football.
The Cowboys are dealing with a number of injuries at the position to DeMarco Murray and Lance Dunbar, making Randle a solid option. Last week he had 65 yards on 19 carries and he could be a good Forte replacement after making three catches and five in his past two games. Thomas has been trending up since starting the season slowly and he is coming off of by far his best game of the season, gaining 60 yards on 12 carries, which is more yards than he had over the past four weeks combined.
