Have we seen the last greatness out of Derrick Henry? He’s closing in on 29, and he’s trying to run behind an offensive line that’s a shell of what it’s been in the past. He averaged under 2 yards per carry on Monday night, and he finished short of 4 yards per attempt in the opener against the Giants.

With a lot of carries on his odometer and the years adding up, I’m not confident that Henry is quite the same back he’s been. And whatever he’s lost is being magnified by the cast around him being not as good. The OL took another hit on Monday night when left tackle Taylor Lewan suffered a knee injury that might be a season ending. (Though an optimist would point out that Henry went over 2,000 yards two years ago despite Lewan playing in only five games.)

But in a dynasty league, I would be more interested in casting my lot with a younger guy. I’ve seen 21-year-old Breece Hall pop a couple of runs. He looks like he’s going to be a good pro for a lot of years (even if he hasn’t yet become a starter for the Jets). And 22-year-old Dameon Pierce, I think, holds more dynasty value than Henry.

With dynasty rankings, you’re trying to strike a balance of what players are doing right now, and what they’re going to be doing a few years from now. When you have two players who are anywhere close to ability, the tendency is to go with the younger player.

At running back, the top 3 on my board (for dynasty purposes) are all under 24. I would go with Jonathan Taylor first, and then I think it’s a toss-up between Javonte Williams and D’Andre Swift. I went with Williams. He hasn’t quite done it yet, but I think he will. And with Swift, I’m a little worried about his ability to stay healthy.

I turn my attention to dynasty leagues each Saturday, rotating between the four notable positions. I’m hitting running backs today. Last week it was quarterbacks (to access those, click on the “past issues” dates on the right, and next week it will be tight ends.

Our 2022 rankings (both seasonal and weekly) are generated by projecting stats for each player. These ones are different. They’re done by hand. I put together a list of all the running backs, then go through a few times, moving guys up and down until it feels right.

Rankings here assume PPR scoring, and rookies are tagged with black dots. With them being “dynasty” rankings, the assumption is that teams would have the ability to hold onto players indefinitely.

DYNASTY LEAGUE RUNNING BACKS
RkTmPlayerAge
1.INDJonathan Taylor23.7
2.DENJavonte Williams22.4
3.DETD'Andre Swift23.7
4.NYGSaquon Barkley25.6
5.CARChristian McCaffrey26.3
6.PITNajee Harris24.6
7.CINJoe Mixon26.2
8.MINDalvin Cook27.1
9.CLENick Chubb26.8
10.NYJ• Breece Hall21.3
11.LACAustin Ekeler27.4
12.GBAJ Dillon24.4
13.GBAaron Jones27.8
14.TBLeonard Fournette27.7
15.NOAlvin Kamara27.2
16.HOU• Dameon Pierce22.6
17.TENDerrick Henry28.7
18.ARIJames Conner27.4
19.SFElijah Mitchell24.4
20.CHIDavid Montgomery25.3
21.LVJosh Jacobs24.6
22.NEDamien Harris25.6
23.PHIMiles Sanders25.4
24.BALJ.K. Dobbins23.8
25.JACTravis Etienne23.7
26.CLEKareem Hunt27.2
27.NERhamondre Stevenson24.6
28.KCClyde Edwards-Helaire23.5
29.DALEzekiel Elliott27.2
30.WAS• Brian Robinson23.5
31.SEARashaad Penny26.7
32.BUFDevin Singletary25.1
33.LARCam Akers23.3
34.DALTony Pollard25.4
35.ATLCordarrelle Patterson31.5
36.JACJames Robinson24.1
37.SEA• Ken Walker21.9
38.LARDarrell Henderson25.1
39.WASAntonio Gibson24.3
40.TB• Rachaad White23.7
41.NYJMichael Carter23.4
42.BUF• James Cook23.0
43.MIAChase Edmonds26.5
44.INDNyheim Hines25.9
45.KC• Isiah Pacheco23.6
46.LV• Zamir White23.0
47.CHIKhalil Herbert24.4
48.DENMelvin Gordon29.5
49.MIARaheem Mostert30.5
50.SFJeff Wilson26.9
51.MINAlexander Mattison24.3
52.PHIKenneth Gainwell23.5
53.WASJ.D. McKissic29.1
54.LACJoshua Kelley24.9
55.PIT• Jaylen Warren23.9
56.ATL• Tyler Allgeier22.5
57.KCJerick McKinnon30.4
58.HOURex Burkhead32.3
59.SF• Tyrion Davis-Price21.9
60.DETJamaal Williams27.5
61.BUFZack Moss24.8
62.PHIBoston Scott27.4
63.MIN• Ty Chandler24.4
64.NETy Montgomery29.7
65.NOMark Ingram32.8
66.ARIEno Benjamin23.5
67.CARD'Onta Foreman26.4
68.CINChris Evans25.0
69.LAR• Kyren Williams22.1
70.CLE• Jerome Ford23.0
71.TENDontrell Hilliard27.6
72.NYGGary Brightwell23.6
73.LACSony Michel27.6
74.CINSamaje Perine27.0
75.ARIDarrel Williams27.5
76.NE• Pierre Strong23.8
77.CLED'Ernest Johnson26.6
78.LAC• Isaiah Spiller21.1
79.SEADeeJay Dallas24.0
80.MIASalvon Ahmed23.8

—Ian Allan