DYNASTY RUNNING BACK TIER 2 BREAKDOWN AND ANALYSIS
If you haven’t had a chance to check out my last article, please do so. I touch on the 2nd tier of dynasty WRs and how I value them going forward. I thought it only natural that I next cover the2nd tier of dynasty Running Backs.
Running Backs aren’t valued as highly as WRs in dynasty, at the moment. If we look closely, my opinion is that they are being severely undervalued. The pendulum of positional value swings and we will find that these league winning players are getting pushed down draft boards. Many times, you end up with these assets into the late 2nd to mid 3rd round in 1QB or late 4th to early 5th round in Superflex dynasty startups.
Jonathan Taylor
Let’s start with the player with the highest league winning upside. Jonathan Taylor is a personal sweetheart of mine. I just love the runner he is and have multiple shares of him in dynasty.
It was 2021 that JT was the #1 overall RB. He was a MACHINE. 1,811 yards on 332 carries and 18 TDs to boot rushing. I had the number 1 pick in my home redraft league in 2022 and bet it all on JT. Bought a Fanatics shirt and made the popcorn for that season. Then came the missed games over 2022 and 2023.
Injuries happened over the next two seasons sidelining him for 6 games in 2022 and 7 games in2023. I recently had a thread on X talking about JT’s health. Go read it if you want more detail. Fantasy is about taking risks and he’s worth it, considering he can break the game in a single season.
JT is a great value in startups. Sitting around the mid to late 2nd round in 1QB and the late 3rdto early 4th in SF startups. For me? If he’s in any of that range in a startup, it’s a smash.
Saquon Barkley
Saquon (also better known as Saquads) has been a premier running back in the league since he was drafted 2nd overall in 2017 to the New York Football Giants. When Saquon has been healthy and on the field, he has dominated. Even with a horrid Giants offense.
The concern is Barkley’s health for almost every season since coming into the league. He has dealt with various ailments. A hamstring strain in ‘18, a grade 2 ankle sprain in ‘19, ACL/MCL tear in ‘20, and an ankle sprain again in ‘21. He continued to have more non-serious injuries in following seasons, but those didn’t stop him from playing for longer periods of time.
Saquon is 27 and is at the age of concern for running backs, but as I’ve said previously in other articles, we play dynasty football in 3-year windows.
Saquon enters into his 7th season with a great upgrade in situation. After signing with the Philadelphia Eagles, I can’t imagine a better landing spot than next to Jalen Hurts and the “tushpush.” A lot of people are talking about Hurts and the potential of him losing production, because of Saquon. We can look at the inverse and see that Saquon is now splitting carries with another competent runner in Hurts. In my opinion, this will help Saquon’s efficiency. He also has the best offensive line he’s had to play behind.
There is concern as stated before regarding age and health. That said, Saquon has been an elite RB in the league and would be a great asset on a contender. If your team is a rebuilder, I would stay away.
Saquon is going between the early to mid 3rd round in 1QB formats. He is going between the mid to late 4th round in SF.
Devon Achane
Duh-Vonn A-Chan... we finally got his name right!
Achane took over the minds of fantasy owners in 2023 with their rout over the Denver Broncos in week 3. Achane burst onto the scene that game with 203 rushing yards and 2 rushing TDs. He added on 2 receiving TDs and won weeks for fantasy owners. He rushed for over 100 yards in 3 additional games last season. His upside was capped by the monstrous play of Raheem Mostert in 2023.
Achane was not a consistent producer for the Dolphins. Take that how you will. You could argue that he had Mostert competing for touches, and now that Mostert is one year older that the Fins phase him out.! There’s also the argument against Achane that fantasy analysts have banged the drum for- his size. For multiple seasons now, Tutu Atwell (at times), Tank Dell, De’Von Achane, and Jahmyr Gibbs have shown us that size is only a piece of the puzzle to fantasy success.
Of course, Miami had to muddy up the waters drafting, combine standout, Jaylen Wright. If Achane is truly the player some think he is or can be, that won’t matter. Talent wins out in the NFL. Achane has game breaking speed. I’ve said it time and time again: you have to take risks to win championships!
Achane is going early to mid 3rd round in 1QB and late 4th to early 5th round in SF.
Travis Etienne
I have a battered relationship with Etienne. For some reason, he has a stench on him that limits his fantasy value from being in the higher end of this tier. Between the Jags drafting Tank Bigsby and the scare that he brought as a rookie (that was unfounded after the fact) and just an overall feeling that the floor could fall out from underneath us with this team.
Etienne was 4th in the NFL in carries last year with 267. He was 11th in yards with 1,008 and9th in rushing TDs with 11. The big problem?? 3.8 yards/carry!! Etienne is a very inefficient runner, and he had a “good” season because he had insane volume.
I’m an Etienne owner in multiple leagues and I’m shopping him and hoping to sell high. Maybe you could get Pacheco/Cook/White + 25 1st and run with it.
Etienne is going in the late 2nd to early 3rd round in 1QB and mid to late 4th round in SF.
What separates this tier from tier 1 is that there are question marks to each of these gentlemen. Between injuries and inconsistency of play, all of them have inherent risk that you could lose value quickly if things go the wrong way. That said, each of them can be an RB1 next season.
I think JT has the highest ceiling of all four. Achane could go on a tear, but I’ll be size-ist. JT is a unit of a human being compared to Achane and I am going to take the guy that was the RB1 back in 2021.
If you enjoyed this article, give Ben a follow over on twitter Ben Mccown as well as the official Dynasty DNA twitter page, @DynastyDNA_
If you like the content check out what we all have to say over on the Dynasty DNA Fantasy Football Podcasting Network on Spotify and Apple Podcast and follow us on Twitter Links Below!!