8 Fantasy Football Sleepers for Week 8

Doug Martin, RB, Oakland Raiders

The Oakland Raiders have placed Marshawn Lynch on the injured reserve, likely ending his season, and leaving a big void in their backfield. Lynch had been on the field for 50% of the team's offensive snaps to start the year, and he had handled a team-high 90 carries, which was 70.3% of the workload they had given to running backs.

Next in carries is Doug Martin, with 27, and head coach Jon Gruden has said that Martin is ready to go as a "feature back".

If his role mirrors what we saw from Lynch, Martin is likely to get some work in the passing game (Lynch averaged 3.0 targets per game), and he's likely to get volume on the ground regardless of game flow. Despite being 1-5, the Raiders have shown commitment (however misguided) to running the football, with Lynch posting carry totals of 9, 11, 13, 18 and 19 in their 5 losses. In their lone win, he toted the rock 20 times.

Like Lynch, Martin is set to play second-fiddle to Jalen Richard (also a more-than-viable running back flyer, though he's owned in more leagues than he's not) on passing downs, but the potential for rushing volume and moderate passing game work makes Martin well worth owning.