Dynasty Leagues

November 21, 2020

Long-term RB rankings

Is D'Andre Swift the best of the rookie runners?

We’re over halfway through the season, and I don’t think we’re any closer to knowing with any certainty which of the rookie running backs will have the best career. There are eight, I think, that could wind up being that guy.

Most recently, I’ve been liking D’Andre Swift more. He’s really outstanding in the passing game, and he’s been coming on as a runner. Teammate Adrian Peterson says he noticed Swift’s talent early on (and was surprised they didn’t move him into a more featured role sooner). Swift (concussion) won’t play this week, but he’s looking like he’ll be a successful back.

Neither Clyde Edwards-Helaire nor Jonathan Taylor has had a great rookie season, but I’m not giving up on either guy. They’re both on good teams, and I think both will get better with more experience.

Similarly, J.K. Dobbins hasn’t lit it up in his first year, but the talent is apparent. I think he’ll bubble to the surface of Baltimore’s backfield – he’s 9 years younger than Mark Ingram.

James Robinson wasn’t even drafted, but he’s got more yards in his first season than all of those guys. He doesn’t have elite-level speed, quickness or power, but he runs hard. Doesn’t look like he’ll be leaving the starting lineup in Jacksonville anytime soon.

Antonio Gibson has more than met expectations for Washington. I think he’ll be their starting running back next year, and that’s a coaching staff that really knows how to feature a tailback. Will be no surprise if he puts up top-10 numbers in 2021.

I am also warming up to Zack Moss. The dude runs hard; he’s strong below the waist. He seems to have more juice than their other young running back, Devin Singletary, and seems to be moving up in that backfield.

And finally, I will include Cam Akers among the eight rookie running backs with some chance of being the Best of Class. Akers hasn’t done much yet, but if he can take charge of the backfield for the Rams, that’s an offense that can make a running back looking really good. Sean McVay likes calling run plays around the goal line.

Two other rookie running backs are worth a mention. Something less than those top 8, but guys who could make some noise next year: AJ Dillon and Salvon Ahmed.

The rankings below show how I would select the running backs if walking into a dynasty draft today. Dynasty as in long-term, with teams allowed to keep players for as long as they want. You draft D’Andre Swift, and you get him not only for 2020 but also 2021, 2022 and all of his other remaining seasons. So when in doubt in this kind of league, the tendency is to go with the younger players.

I’m assuming PPR scoring, and rookies are tagged with black dots. The final column (“Prev”) shows where the player ranked when I did running backs last time four weeks ago.

For dynasty leagues, I address a different position each week, rotating between RB-RB-TE-WR. To see previous weeks use the “Past Issues” navigation tools on the right side of the page.

Last week: Quarterbacks.

Next week: Tight ends.

DYNASTY RUNNING BACKS
Rk	Tm	Player	Age	Prev
1.	MIN	Dalvin Cook	25	5
2.	CAR	Christian McCaffrey	24	1
3.	NO	Alvin Kamara	25	3
4.	LV	Josh Jacobs	22	7
5.	NYG	Saquon Barkley	23	10
6.	TEN	Derrick Henry	26	6
7.	DAL	Ezekiel Elliott	25	2
8.	CLE	Nick Chubb	24	13
9.	CIN	Joe Mixon	24	9
10.	GB	Aaron Jones	25	11
11.	DET	• D'Andre Swift	21	14
12.	LAC	Austin Ekeler	25	17
13.	KC	• Clyde Edwards-Helaire	21	4
14.	PHI	Miles Sanders	23	12
15.	IND	• Jonathan Taylor	21	8
16.	BAL	• J.K. Dobbins	21	15
17.	JAC	• James Robinson	22	25
18.	SEA	Chris Carson	26	16
19.	SF	Raheem Mostert	28	19
20.	WAS	• Antonio Gibson	22	27
21.	CLE	Kareem Hunt	25	21
22.	CHI	David Montgomery	23	18
23.	TB	Ronald Jones	23	22
24.	PIT	James Conner	25	20
25.	BUF	• Zack Moss	22	42
26.	ARI	Kenyan Drake	26	26
27.	LAR	• Cam Akers	21	39
28.	DEN	Melvin Gordon	27	24
29.	LAR	Darrell Henderson	23	23
30.	ATL	Todd Gurley	26	34
31.	DEN	Phillip Lindsay	26	31
32.	ARI	Chase Edmonds	24	29
33.	PIT	Benny Snell	22	32
34.	MIA	Myles Gaskin	23	28
35.	NE	Damien Harris	23	45
36.	GB	• AJ Dillon	22	35
37.	MIN	Alexander Mattison	22	33
38.	TB	Leonard Fournette	25	37
39.	IND	Nyheim Hines	24	58
40.	MIA	• Salvon Ahmed	21	--
41.	BAL	Gus Edwards	25	54
42.	NO	Latavius Murray	30	41
43.	KC	LeVeon Bell	28	30
44.	LAC	Kalen Ballage	24	--
45.	NYG	Wayne Gallman	26	56
46.	CAR	Mike Davis	27	48
47.	BUF	Devin Singletary	23	36
48.	DAL	Tony Pollard	23	52
49.	HOU	David Johnson	28	38
50.	BAL	Mark Ingram	30	43
51.	PHI	Boston Scott	25	47
52.	SEA	Rashaad Penny	24	57
53.	NE	James White	28	40
54.	LV	Devontae Booker	28	86
55.	HOU	Duke Johnson	27	49
56.	CIN	Giovani Bernard	29	55
57.	NYJ	• LaMical Perine	22	68
58.	GB	Jamaal Williams	25	60
59.	NE	Sony Michel	25	50
60.	SEA	Carlos Hyde	29	51
61.	WAS	J.D. McKissic	27	69
62.	IND	Marlon Mack	24	61
63.	CHI	Tarik Cohen	25	53
64.	KC	Damien Williams	28	74
65.	NE	Rex Burkhead	30	73
66.	SF	JaMycal Hasty	24	46
67.	LAR	Malcolm Brown	27	71
68.	TB	• KeShawn Vaughn	23	67
69.	LAC	Justin Jackson	24	44
70.	SF	Jerick McKinnon	28	62
71.	ATL	Brian Hill	25	65
72.	DET	Kerryon Johnson	23	76
73.	LAC	• Joshua Kelley	23	59
74.	SEA	• DeeJay Dallas	22	84
75.	SF	Tevin Coleman	27	66
76.	IND	Jordan Wilkins	26	79
77.	NYG	Devonta Freeman	28	63
78.	TEN	Jeremy McNichols	24	82
79.	NYJ	Ty Johnson	23	72
80.	PIT	• Anthony McFarland	21	78
81.	MIA	Matt Breida	25	70
82.	CIN	Samaje Perine	25	--
83.	LAC	Troymaine Pope	26	--
84.	TEN	• Darrynton Evans	22	77
85.	PHI	• Jason Huntley	22	89
86.	DET	Adrian Peterson	35	64
87.	LV	Jalen Richard	27	80
88.	GB	Tyler Ervin	27	87
89.	ATL	Qadree Ollison	24	--
90.	SEA	Travis Homer	22	98
91.	MIN	Mike Boone	25	83
92.	ARI	• Eno Benjamin	21	90
93.	WAS	Bryce Love	23	99
94.	DEN	Royce Freeman	24	93
95.	BAL	Justice Hill	23	94
96.	NYJ	Frank Gore	37	81
97.	NO	Ty Montgomery	27	85
98.	JAC	Chris Thompson	30	75
99.	CLE	D'Ernest Johnson	24	88
100.	KC	Darrel Williams	25	92

—Ian Allan

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