It’s mid-December, and many of those in dynasty leagues are adjusting their rosters – making trades or picking up prospects who might amount to something in the 2018 season. Here’s a look at the lay of the land at the running back position.
For this one, I’m assuming standard scoring, and I’m assuming that once you’ve got a player you can keep him as long as you want.
Running back is a volatile position, with short careers and constant change. So I’m not putting too much weight here into 2020 and beyond. But when you have a younger player – 23-25 years old, I’m tending to rank him higher than a comparable player who’s 28 or 29.
Kenyan Drake, I think, is the biggest mover up this week. Looks pretty solid, and Adam Gase has a track record of being willing to feed the ball to his running backs. We’ll see what Drake does in these upcoming games, but I’m wondering if they might hook it up behind him pretty good next year. He’s definitely much faster than Jay Ajayi, and a far better receiver. Miami plays Buffalo twice in the final three weeks, and that defense has been pretty awful against the run – Drake has a chance to really solidify his grasp on that job.
At the top, there are five running backs who look really elite. I’ve got the two 25-year-olds (the old guys) pushed to the bottom of that tier. Four of those backs catch the ball really well, which tends to help a lot in fantasy leagues. (Jordan Howard is a great young back, for example, but he’s a liability as a pass catcher).
DYNASTY RUNNING BACKS | |||
---|---|---|---|
Rk | Tm | Player | Age |
1. | LAR | Todd Gurley | 23 |
2. | DAL | Ezekiel Elliott | 22 |
3. | NO | Alvin Kamara | 22 |
4. | PIT | LeVeon Bell | 25 |
5. | ARI | David Johnson | 25 |
6. | KC | Kareem Hunt | 22 |
7. | LAC | Melvin Gordon | 24 |
8. | MIN | Dalvin Cook (inj.) | 22 |
9. | ATL | Devonta Freeman | 25 |
10. | JAC | Leonard Fournette | 22 |
11. | CHI | Jordan Howard | 23 |
12. | CAR | Christian McCaffrey | 21 |
13. | CIN | Joe Mixon | 21 |
14. | NO | Mark Ingram | 27 |
15. | PHI | Jay Ajayi | 24 |
16. | BAL | Alex Collins | 23 |
17. | IND | Marlon Mack | 21 |
18. | CLE | Isaiah Crowell | 24 |
19. | SF | Carlos Hyde | 26 |
20. | BUF | LeSean McCoy | 29 |
21. | MIA | Kenyan Drake | 23 |
22. | ATL | Tevin Coleman | 24 |
23. | TEN | Derrick Henry | 23 |
24. | HOU | Lamar Miller | 26 |
25. | NE | Rex Burkhead | 27 |
26. | CHI | Tarik Cohen | 22 |
27. | DET | Ameer Abdullah | 24 |
28. | TEN | DeMarco Murray | 29 |
29. | HOU | D'Onta Foreman (inj.) | 21 |
30. | CLE | Duke Johnson | 24 |
31. | NE | Dion Lewis | 27 |
32. | WAS | Samaje Perine | 22 |
33. | DEN | Devontae Booker | 25 |
34. | SEA | Mike Davis | 24 |
35. | CAR | Jonathan Stewart | 30 |
36. | DEN | C.J. Anderson | 26 |
37. | NE | James White | 25 |
38. | SEA | Chris Carson (inj.) | 23 |
39. | WAS | Chris Thompson | 27 |
40. | NYJ | Elijah McGuire | 23 |
41. | PIT | James Conner | 22 |
42. | DET | Theo Riddick | 26 |
43. | PHI | Corey Clement | 23 |
44. | GB | Ty Montgomery (inj.) | 24 |
45. | JAC | T.J. Yeldon | 24 |
46. | NYJ | Bilal Powell | 29 |
47. | GB | Jamaal Williams | 22 |
48. | SF | Matt Breida | 22 |
49. | OAK | DeAndre Washington | 24 |
50. | LAC | Austin Ekeler | 22 |
51. | NYG | Wayne Gallman | 23 |
52. | CIN | Giovani Bernard | 26 |
53. | MIN | Jerick McKinnon | 25 |
54. | NYG | Orleans Darkwa | 25 |
55. | OAK | Jalen Richard | 24 |
56. | TB | Peyton Barber | 23 |
57. | OAK | Marshawn Lynch | 31 |
58. | GB | Aaron Jones | 23 |
59. | MIA | Damien Williams | 25 |
60. | CIN | Jeremy Hill (inj.) | 25 |
61. | MIN | Latavius Murray | 27 |
62. | NYJ | Matt Forte | 32 |
63. | DAL | Rod Smith | 25 |
64. | KC | Spencer Ware (inj.) | 26 |
65. | SEA | Thomas Rawls | 24 |
66. | WAS | Robert Kelley | 25 |
67. | SF | Joe Williams (inj.) | 24 |
68. | DAL | Alfred Morris | 29 |
69. | TB | Doug Martin | 28 |
70. | JAC | Chris Ivory | 29 |
71. | DEN | DeAngelo Henderson | 25 |
72. | SEA | J.D. McKissic | 24 |
73. | NYG | Paul Perkins | 23 |
74. | ATL | Terron Ward | 25 |
75. | NE | Mike Gillislee | 27 |
76. | HOU | Alfred Blue | 26 |
77. | BAL | Javorius Allen | 26 |
78. | LAR | Malcolm Brown | 24 |
79. | NYG | Shane Vereen | 28 |
80. | ARI | T.J. Logan (inj.) | 23 |
81. | SEA | C.J. Prosise (inj.) | 23 |
82. | BAL | Kenneth Dixon (inj.) | 23 |
83. | BUF | Mike Tolbert | 32 |
84. | KC | Charcandrick West | 26 |
85. | TB | Charles Sims | 27 |
86. | CAR | Cameron Artis-Payne | 27 |
87. | ARI | Kerwynn Williams | 26 |
88. | IND | Frank Gore | 34 |
89. | SF | Kyle Juszczyk | 26 |
90. | BAL | Danny Woodhead | 32 |
91. | ARI | Adrian Peterson (inj.) | 32 |
92. | HOU | Andre Ellington | 28 |
93. | JAC | Corey Grant | 25 |
94. | CHI | Benny Cunningham | 27 |
95. | CLE | Matt Dayes | 23 |
96. | DEN | Jamaal Charles | 30 |
97. | DET | Tion Green | 24 |
98. | LAC | Branden Oliver | 26 |
99. | LAR | Lance Dunbar | 27 |
100. | PHI | Wendell Smallwood | 23 |
—Ian Allan