RADIO
The NFL might be a pass-first league, but fantasy football is still ruled by those who have the best running backs.
Now that there are more teams that employ the dreaded running-back-by-committee approach, getting your hands on a workhorse in a fantasy league is harder than finding a person who thinks Kathy Griffin is funny. If you can find that workhorse back that can be the centerpiece of your fantasy team’s running attack, your dynasty squad will be nicely set up for the next several seasons.
Here are three running backs whose fantasy stock is rising in dynasty leagues, and three running backs whose stock is falling this offseason. Note: 2017 average draft positions from Fantasy Football Calculator are in parentheses.
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Stock Rising
LeSean McCoy, Buffalo Bills (4.04)
2016 Stats: 1,267 rushing yards, 13 TDs, 50 receptions, 356 receiving yards, 1 TD.
McCoy had his best season since 2013 last year as he proved critics wrong who assumed that he could never be the same gamebreaker he was during his Philadelphia days. The extra miles on his body just meant more smiles for the fantasy owners who drafted him last year. The good news for McCoy and any fantasy owners with their eyes on him in dynasty leagues is that he could be even more productive this season.
“Shady” no longer has to allow Mike Gillislee (577 rushing yards, 8 TDs) on the field to dent his fantasy worth. Gillislee took his talents to New England, copying what Chris Hogan did the year prior by signing an offer sheet with the Patriots that the Bills refused to match. So unless Jonathan Williams, an unproven fifth-round pick from the 2016 draft who had 27 rushing attempts last year, somehow supplants McCoy in a humongous fantasy upset, the only thing standing in McCoy’s way from having another monster season is an untimely injury.
Dalvin Cook, Minnesota Vikings (7.11)
2016 Stats: N/A
Cook is a first-round talent that slipped to the second round and right into the lucky laps of the Vikings, who needed to bolster their Adrian Peterson-less rushing attack. Cook galloped for 1,765 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns during his final season with Florida State, and he also added 33 receptions for 488 receiving yards and another score. He is a tackle-breaking, downfield runner who could immediately become a top-10 fantasy RB this season.
Cook’s competition to be Minnesota’s top tailback is newly-signed Latavius Murray (788 yards, 12 TDs) and holdover Jerick McKinnon (539 yards, two TDs). Murray could rob Cook of some touchdowns because he has a nose for the end zone, but he had offseason ankle surgery and will not get any work in until training camp at the earliest, so the odds of Murray splitting carries with Cook have gotten longer. McKinnon is no threat to Cook as the No. 3 guy in the pecking order. Cook should be a cornerstone of dynasty league teams as long as he stays out of trouble off the field.
Marshawn Lynch, Oakland Raiders (8.09)
2016 Stats: N/A
Welcome back, Marshawn! Popping Skittles on the couch on football must have gotten boring. Lynch is back in the league after a year hiatus and has been pretty much handed the starting RB spot with Oakland. He rushed for 1,000 yards six times and scored double-digit touchdowns four times during his storied career, so even though he will be 32 years old when the season starts, fantasy owners have to think another 1,000-yard year is very possible for Lynch.
Lynch has the same cast of backups behind him on the depth chart that could not overtake the aforementioned Latavius Murray last season. Jalen Richard, DeAndre Washington and Jamize Olawale are role-playing runners who can offer a nice change-of-pace from Lynch, but unless Lynch has no explosion in his legs or decides halfway through the season to end his comeback, nobody in the threesome should steal his starting spot. Lynch is a better pick in year-to-year leagues, but he should still be sought-after in dynasty leagues as well.
Stock Falling
LeGarrette Blount, Philadelphia Eagles (13.09)
2016 Stats: 1,161 rushing yards, 18 TDs, 7 receptions, 38 receiving yards, 0 TDs.
The chances of Blount rushing for 18 touchdowns again this season are as slim as Ron Jaworski coming out of retirement and beating out Carson Wentz for Philadelphia’s starting quarterback job. Without having Tom Brady and his talented band of pass catchers setting him up with constant touchdown opportunities in the red zone, Blount will be hard-pressed to run for 10 touchdowns in 2017, let alone 18.
Blount does not have much competition in the Eagles backfield. Darren Sproles and the other Philly backs are on the small side, so Blount should be the main rusher on early downs and near the goal line. Just do not expect him to supplant Sproles as the third-down guy who catches the screen passes, and definitely do not expect Wentz and Co. to give Blount as many chances to rack up touchdowns as the high-powered offense Blount came from did.
Mark Ingram, New Orleans Saints (4.02)
2016 Stats: 1,043 rushing yards, 6 TDs, 46 receptions, 319 receiving yards, 4 TDs.
Ingram had the best year of his career last season as the centerpiece of New Orleans’ rushing attack. He set career-highs in rushing yards, total touchdowns and yards per carry and did not miss a game for the first time since 2012. Ingram was all set to be ranked as a top-12 fantasy RB for the 2017 campaign when his Saints signed the wrong running back…wrong for Ingram’s fantasy value, that is.
New Orleans signed somebody named Adrian Peterson that may have been forgotten by fantasy owners because two of his past three seasons have been ruined by injury and suspension. A.P. ran for 1,485 yards and 11 touchdowns just two years ago, though, so he probably has enough in his tank and legs to keep Ingram off the field 40 percent of the time. Just when Ingram had cemented himself as New Orleans’ top tailback, look for Peterson to vulture his touchdowns and prevent Ingram from being the clear-cut starter this upcoming season.
Jonathan Stewart, Carolina Panthers (13.05)
2016 Stats: 824 rushing yards, 9 TDs, 8 receptions, 60 receiving yards, 0 TDs.
Stewart had to split playing time and carries with DeAngelo Williams for the first part of his Carolina career, but he had been enjoying and prospering the past two seasons as Carolina’s workhorse, rushing for 1,813 yards and 17 touchdowns between 2015 and 2016. But for Stewart and his fantasy owners, the gravy on the gravy train got a lot thinner once the Panthers drafted Christian McCaffrey.
There is no way around all-purpose pup McCaffrey cutting into Stewart’s touches in 2017. Carolina did not take McCaffrey eighth overall so he could help Kelvin Benjamin drop a couple pounds. Stewart will be back to carrying the ball 10-12 times per game like when Williams was around and will watch the dynamic McCaffrey steal his spotlight while Stewart is on the sidelines. Penciling Stewart in for 650 rushing yards and six scores sounds about right to me.
Check out all of RotoBaller's 2017 fantasy football rankings. Staff rankings are updated regularly for all positions and include standard formats, PPR scoring, tiered rankings and dynasty leagues.
