As the season marches on to the halfway point we now have enough data to start drawing some significant conclusions. In this piece we'll take a look at some of the players in the AFC that should be highlighted for Week 8.BYE: Baltimore, Buffalo, Cincinnati, HoustonVick Ballard will have another week as the leader in the backfield for the Colts (Donald Brown could play, but it's considered a long shot at this point). He ran for 84 yards last week. The last time the Colts faced the Titans Brown went off for 161 yards and they have been similarly poor most of the year against the run allowing 135 yards a game and seven rushing scores in seven games..Jamal Charles will have a lot of pressure on him this weekend with Brady Quinn under center. Charles has had success in his last three games against the Raiders with 243 yards rushing at 5.8 yards a clip.Jared Cook sure enjoyed his last outing against the Colts as he caught a career best nine passes for 103 yards.Chris Johnson ran for 195 yards last week, his fourth career game of 190-yards, the most among active players. In 24 games against the AFC South in his career he's averaging 84 rushing yards a game, and the Colts have allowed 142 yards a game and eight rushing scores in six trips onto the field.Anthony Fasano has scored four times against the Jets. This season the Jets have allowed five scores to the tight end and the fourth most fantasy points to the position.Rashad Jennings posted 102 yards from scrimmage and seven receptions last weekend. He gets to carry the load in Week 8 against the Packers who have been a middle of the pack run defense this year (15th most fantasy points allowed to RBs).Antonio Gates scored twice in his last game. This season the Browns have allowed only two scores to the tight end.Josh Gordon has four scores in the last three games while averaging 34.3 yards a pop. Amazingly, he has only seven receptions in those games. Greg Little, his pass dropping teammate, caught six balls last week.Shonn Greene has four rushing scores the past two weeks. However, he faces a Dolphins club that has allowed only three rushing scores this season an under 80 yards rushing a contest.Dustin Keller caught seven passes last week and he had a game in 2010 in which he scored twice against the Dolphins. Miami is 14th in fantasy points against tight ends this year.Darren McFadden equals disappointment this season. However, he has run for 199 yards, six yards a carry, against the Chiefs the last two times they have met. The club from K.C. is allowing 125 yards a game on the ground, the 10th worst mark in the game.Carson Palmer is averaging 325.5 yards per game in his last two outings. He only threw for 237 yards and one score, against two interceptions, when he faced the Chiefs at the end of last season though Denarius Moore caught four balls for 94 yards an a score in the outing.Steven Ridley has run for 100 yards three times this season. He's also had a 65 and 71 yard effort and two games in which he failed to run for 40 yards (37 and 34). On the season he is averaging 84.1 yards a game though this weeks matchup against the Rams may not be as easy as you think since the Rams are allowing only 98.9 yards a game on the ground (though six rushing scores in six games).Philip Rivers faces a Brown club that is allowing 277 passing yards a game and 15 passing scores, the second worst mark in football. In three of his last four games this season Rivers has failed to reach that yardage mark, but he has thrown for two scores in each of the past three games.Ben Roethlisberger is 14-1 versus the NFC in home games. Part of the reason for that success is that Mike Wallace has nine career TDs in 13 games against the NFC. They take on the Redskins hideous pass defense (328.4 yards a contest and an NFL worst 16 passing scores allowed).Demaryius Thomas has 100 receiving yards in two of three homes games this season. He gets to face a Saints team that is allowing over 305 yards a game through the air, not to mention two passing scores a game. His running mate, Eric Decker, has scored in each of the last three Broncos' games.Cameron Wake has been killing QBs of late with 6.5 sacks in his last three games. Mark Sanchez better have on his track shoes.Brandon Weeden has thrown for 495 yards and four scores the past two games. He's looking for a 4th straight two TD game. The Chargers are currently the 7th worst pass defense in terms of fantasy points allowed to the quarterback.RANDOM START OF THE WEEK(That one player you would never consider starting but for some reason he might be worth a look if you're desperate.)Brandon Stokley, WR, BroncosStokley caught four balls for 48 yards last week, and he also pulled down six balls for 73 yards in Week 3. Hard to believe, but he's also scored in each of his last two games and in three of four contests for the Broncos. With Peyton Manning looking sharp, and the Saints on the schedule, Stokley is all of a sudden a potential fill in option in Week 8. Folks, the Saints have allowed 12 passing scores in six games while being beat for an average of 305 passing yards a week. They are an awful defensive unit – awful – as I've noted previously in this piece.Ray Flowers can be heard daily on Sirius/XM Radio on The Fantasy Drive on Sirius 210 and XM 87, Monday through Thursday at 7 PM EDT and Friday's at 9 PM EDT. Ray's analysis can be found at BaseballGuys.com and his minute to minute musings can be located at the BaseballGuys' Twitter account.