Chase Brown is looking more and more like the Bengals “guy.”

Running backs remain king fantasy football. While there seem to be more elite defensive backs and wide receivers than ever before, the number of consistent, reliable running backs is dwindling. This makes it even more important to find value in recovery fantasy football. To help you with that, I’m taking a look at a few backfields each week that stand out based on recent trends or new information we’ve learned.

Eight weeks into the season, it’s surprising how confusing the standings look. In the AFC, the 2-6 Patriots somehow find themselves just two games out of a playoff spot, while in the NFC, 11 of 16 teams are .500 or better. With this level of parity, it’s going to be a very fun part of the season as we see which teams are serious about making a playoff push. Let’s talk about some of my top takeaways from Week 8, with a focus on the teams looking to make a difference.

Cincinnati Bengals

After Zach Moss looked like the Bengals had the lead in the first quarter of the season, things have changed lately. Chase Brown has been used a lot more than Moss over the past few weeks and is slated to be the 1A in Cincinnati’s backfield for the last half of the season.

Brown has hit double figures in five consecutive weeks and is the RB12 during that span. His passing usage has been a little less pronounced than expected, but Brown appears to have gotten most of the high-value touches in this offense, making him a viable asset. It’s still a confusing situation because based on the snap count, Brown and Moss actually split reps 50/50; since Week 4, there has been only one game where either Brown or Moss played five or more snaps than the other.

Moving forward, I would feel comfortable starting Brown as a lower grade RB2 while keeping Moss on my bench. Brown’s lack of pass-rushing involvement limits his ceiling, but he should see enough volume to be a solid fantasy starter. At 3-5, the Bengals will need to be near perfect to live up to their lofty playoff expectations, and I expect Brown to be instrumental in providing that offensive spark. Moss is unplayable based on his current volume and must become a legitimate threat through the air if he is to successfully co-exist in fantasy with Brown.

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Miami Dolphins

Tua Tagovailoa returned from five weeks on IR due to a concussion and immediately breathed life into a struggling Dolphins offense. Even though the Dolphins lost to the Cardinals, they scored a season-high 27 points, which was pretty friendly for the running backs.

De’Von Achane returned to his dominant form, rumbling for an efficient 97 yards on 10 carries and adding six catches for 50 yards and a score through the air. Rahim Mostert was the independent scorer, who scored twice near the goal line. Akain and Mostert seem poised to split time on the field fairly evenly in this backfield. On Sunday, Achain saw 38 rebounds to Mostert’s 30, and had another carry.

Fortunately, Tagovailoa’s return means Achane could be a top-10 running back even if he doesn’t dominate the rankings. Achain’s work in the passing game this year has been extremely valuable, and his explosiveness offers him an exciting combination of floor and ceiling. I would also be comfortable playing Mostert as a starter. He’s a bit dependent on touchdowns as he’s been pretty ineffective and doesn’t offer much as a receiver, but betting on the Dolphins scoring touchdowns under Tagovailoa isn’t the worst thing in the world. Preseason favorite Jalen Wright appears to have been sidelined and can safely be dropped anywhere but the deepest leagues when Achain and Mostert are healthy.

Las Vegas Raiders

Alexander Mattison has completely overtaken Zamir White in the Raiders’ offense and is now their leader. This is a rather unexpected development, because before the season, White was going to the fifth round of fantasy drafts.

Mattison has actually been pretty reliable in fantasy since taking over the starting role, mostly due to sheer volume. He has averaged more than 15 carries per game over the past four weeks and has been RB22 during that span despite only running for 2.7 yards per carry. White, meanwhile, has almost completely shut down the offense, with just five carries since returning from injury in Week 6. White also failed to make any impact in the passing game, meaning he can honestly be considered the no. 3 running back in this offense behind Mattison and Ameer Abdullah.

Mattison has worked his way into FLEX territory, and I’d feel good about starting him as a last resort. I don’t recommend watching him play, but Mattison should be good for a safe 10 points every week. However, his upside is obviously severely limited by the greater weakness of the Raiders’ offense. Right now, White is a player to dump, and I expect his 32% Yahoo registry to plummet in the coming weeks.

Denver Broncos

After a merry-go-round of different running back options, it looks like the Broncos have finally settled on their preferred running back usage as they continue to exceed expectations. Javonte Williams was the team’s best running back, usually playing around 60% of the snaps and getting around 15 carries per game. Jalil McLaughlin served as a change-of-pace option, with 30% of the snaps, typically no more than 10 touches. McLaughlin was actually more efficient than Williams, posting higher marks in yards per carry, fumbles, forced fumbles and breakaways. With Odrick Estimé barely playing and Tyler Bedi on IR, Williams and McLaughlin are the only fantasy-relevant players in this backfield.

I think Williams has cemented himself as a lower-end RB2 every week, and he’s a taller version of the aforementioned Alexander Mattison. The Broncos offense isn’t good enough to propel Williams to fantasy glory, but against a softer defense, he’s an underrated option.

The Broncos are quietly 5-1 in their last six games and will have to rely on Williams to prop up the Bo Knicks in the playoffs. McLaughlin deserves to be included, but is currently not runnable. I’d like to see him more involved in the passing game, which could happen in the next few weeks as the Broncos could be in pass-first game scenarios against the Ravens, Chiefs and Falcons. But for now, keep McLaughlin on your bench.

Seattle Seahawks

Zach Charbonneau played 45% of the snaps to Kenneth Walker II’s 55% on Sunday, a change since Walker has usually dominated the snaps when healthy. There’s probably not much to read into that, as the Seahawks were coming off a big loss to the Bills and may have wanted to avoid an injury to Walker.

I don’t care about Walker’s fantasy at all, and I still have him as a weekly top-15 option, but I’d also check my waiver wire this week to see if Charbonneau is available. He offers some value as a pass catcher and has been elite when Walker has missed time, so he should definitely still be included in all formats, but is available in 50% of leagues.