Each week during the NFL season, we will rank enough players at each position to appease everyone from those in 8-team leagues to 16-team leagues, those that can start two QBs, two TEs, three RBs and four WRs. We cut out the rest, because if you're looking at who the 50th-best running back or the 17th-best kicker is for that week, you need more help than any Web site can give you.

Baltimore, Buffalo, Cincinnati and Houston are all on bye.

Each week during the NFL season, we will rank enough players at each position to appease everyone from those in 8-team leagues to 16-team leagues, those that can start two QBs, two TEs, three RBs and four WRs. We cut out the rest, because if you're looking at who the 50th-best running back or the 17th-best kicker is for that week, you need more help than any Web site can give you.

Baltimore, Buffalo, Cincinnati and Houston are all on bye.

Only four teams are on bye in Week 8, compared to six last week. While owners will welcome some familiar faces back to their lineups, others will be faced with some difficult decisions. That’s especially the case at running back as Arian Foster, Ray Rice, C.J. Spiller and Fred Jackson are all unavailable this week. Here are two ball carriers that may be able to fill in along with two other names worth starting in Week 8.

Whether you are stuck at .500 or trying to stay atop your league standings, the next two weeks will likely determine your playoff fate.  We’ve tried to identify as many on-the-fence players as we could to help with some of the tougher roster decisions.  As always, if you have any start/bench questions or need additional insight on roster decisions, please reach out to us via email or twitter.

Start

This list was originally designed to assist fantasy owners with injury-riddled rosters, bye-week dilemmas, and unfavorable matchups, but the Emergency Starters has evolved into our Waiver Wire 2.0.  Over the past six weeks, many players listed in our Emergency Starters earned spots in our Waiver Wire report the following week, so don’t underestimate their long-term value. 

Joe DiSalvo (@theCFFsite)

In the world of fantasy football, some team owners are relentless in their search for information that will give them a competitive edge over their competition.  Others just simply rely on projections from so-called experts, who try to convince everyone they have devised a computer program that accurately projects player stats by using a scientific formula so complicated that it makes the Drake equation seem elementary.  Eventually, those computer-driven computations prove no more accurate than an old-fashioned gut feeling.  However, in a quest to find a formula for fantas

The NBA season is upon us (yes, a full one this year), and it’s time to name your 2012-13 fantasy basketball team. It’s difficult to win a championship in your league each season, but you can have the best team name every year. Our goal was to stay above board for the most part, so we’ll leave the Chris Kaman-inspired names to you. Here’s our list, in no particular order of swag.

Unlike last week when six teams were on bye, Week 8 only has four teams not in action. However, it’s another week full of unavailable fantasy firepower, highlighted by the running backs. No Arian Foster, Ray Rice, Fred Jackson or C.J. Spiller this week.