I see in today’s edition of The Seattle Times, they’re saying Rashaad Penny might be activated for the game tomorrow at Washington. It’s a reminder that Penny makes a lot of sense with a stash roster spot in dynasty leagues.

Penny won’t make much of an impact this year. Maybe they give him a few carries in their final games and in the postseason. But he definitely factors into their 2021 plans.

Seattle selected Penny at the end of the first round in 2018. He hasn’t done much thus far as a pro, in part because of injuries, but there have been a few splash games. He suffered a torn ACL last year.

But Penny will be 100 percent heading into the offseason, and they’ll be counting on him to be one of their two main backs next year. Penny hasn’t done enough for the Seahawks to be able to pick up the fifth-year option on his contract, so he’ll be heading into the 2021 season in a contract year. Also on this front, note that Chris Carson’s contract is expiring at the end of this season. I expect they’ll re-sign him, but if Penny pops a couple of impressive runs here at the tail end of the season, it might make them be more willing to walk away from Carson if some other team wants to sign him to a big deal.

For dynasty purposes, I think Penny right now looks like an above-average backup. If we were walking into a dynasty draft today, I would think he should be one of the first 40 running backs I would select.

Below see my current top 100 running backs for dynasty leagues. This is assuming PPR scoring, with teams holding the rights to players indefinitely (so I’m looking not only at 2020 and 2021, but seasons beyond). Rookies are tagged with black dots. The final column shows where the players ranked when I last looked at this position four weeks ago.

For dynasty leagues, I look at a different position each Saturday, rotating between QB, RB, WR and TE. To see the most recent installments at other positions, use the “past issues” navigation tools on the page.

Next week: tight ends.

DYNASTY RANKINGS, RUNNING BACKS
RkTmPlayerAgePrev
1.MINDalvin Cook251
2.CARChristian McCaffrey242
3.NOAlvin Kamara253
4.NYGSaquon Barkley235
5.LVJosh Jacobs 224
6.TENDerrick Henry266
7.LAR• Cam Akers2127
8.CLENick Chubb248
9.DALEzekiel Elliott257
10.LACAustin Ekeler2512
11.CINJoe Mixon249
12.GBAaron Jones2610
13.DET• D'Andre Swift2111
14.IND• Jonathan Taylor2115
15.BAL• J.K. Dobbins2216
16.PHIMiles Sanders 2314
17.KC• Clyde Edwards-Helaire2113
18.JAC• James Robinson2217
19.WAS• Antonio Gibson2220
20.SEAChris Carson2618
21.CLEKareem Hunt2521
22.CHIDavid Montgomery 2322
23.TBRonald Jones2323
24.BUF• Zack Moss2325
25.ARIKenyan Drake2626
26.SFRaheem Mostert2819
27.PITJames Conner2524
28.DENMelvin Gordon2728
29.DENPhillip Lindsay2631
30.MIAMyles Gaskin 2334
31.ARIChase Edmonds2432
32.NEDamien Harris 2335
33.INDNyheim Hines2439
34.MINAlexander Mattison 2237
35.BALGus Edwards2541
36.LARDarrell Henderson 2329
37.DALTony Pollard 2348
38.SEARashaad Penny2452
39.GB• AJ Dillon2236
40.BUFDevin Singletary 2347
41.NYGWayne Gallman2645
42.CARMike Davis2746
43.TBLeonard Fournette2538
44.NEJames White2853
45.MIA• Salvon Ahmed2140
46.NOLatavius Murray3042
47.GBJamaal Williams2558
48.KCLeVeon Bell2843
49.ATLTodd Gurley2630
50.HOUDavid Johnson2949
51.WASJ.D. McKissic2761
52.LACKalen Ballage2544
53.INDMarlon Mack2462
54.LVDevontae Booker2854
55.NESony Michel2559
56.PITBenny Snell 2233
57.CHITarik Cohen2563
58.DETKerryon Johnson2372
59.KCDamien Williams2864
60.PHIBoston Scott2551
61.SF• JaMycal Hasty2466
62.HOUDuke Johnson2755
63.NYJ• LaMical Perine2257
64.NYGDevonta Freeman2877
65.SEACarlos Hyde2960
66.BALMark Ingram3150
67.LAC• Joshua Kelley2373
68.TB• KeShawn Vaughn2368
69.PIT• Anthony McFarland2180
70.SEA• DeeJay Dallas2274
71.NERex Burkhead3065
72.CINTraveon Williams23--
73.INDJordan Wilkins2676
74.SFTevin Coleman2775
75.LACJustin Jackson2469
76.ATLIto Smith25--
77.MIAMatt Breida2581
78.TENJeremy McNichols2578
79.NYJTy Johnson 2379
80.BALJustice Hill 2395
81.SFJeff Wilson25--
82.NOTy Montgomery2797
83.PITJaylen Samuels24--
84.TEN• Darrynton Evans2284
85.CINSamaje Perine2582
86.ATLBrian Hill2571
87.MINAmeer Abdullah27--
88.SFJerick McKinnon2870
89.DENRoyce Freeman2494
90.PHI• Jason Huntley2285
91.ARI• Eno Benjamin2192
92.MIADeAndre Washington27--
93.SEATravis Homer 2290
94.LARMalcolm Brown2767
95.CINGiovani Bernard2956
96.LVJalen Richard2787
97.GBTyler Ervin2788
98.JACChris Thompson3098
99.DETAdrian Peterson3586
100.TEND'Onta Foreman24--

—Ian Allan