2025 Fantasy Football Dynasty Running Back Rankings (July Updates): Ashton Jeanty, Saquon Barkley, Jonathan Taylor, Chase Brown, RJ Harvey

RotoBaller's 2025 fantasy football dynasty running back rankings with July updates. These updated dynasty RB rankings are for dynasty drafts, rookie drafts and more.

Dynasty leagues are complex and take a lot of things falling into place to win a title, but a good place to start is having a great group of stud running backs. Our 2025 fantasy football dynasty running back rankings are here to assist your draft-day decisions or identify buy and sell candidates. In the ranking set below, you will find out where key ball carriers like Ashton Jeanty, Saquon Barkley, Jonathan Taylor, Chase Brown, and RJ Harvey stand, among others, for dynasty leagues.

These freshly updated dynasty rankings are consensus staff rankings by Matt Donnelly, Jorden Hill, and Chris Gregory. Bookmark the leading fantasy football rankings portal and check back regularly for updates. Updates will be made all year long to keep up with the latest news, injuries, and other developments.

In addition to these dynasty rankings, be sure to check out our team's fantasy football dynasty articles and analysis -- we discuss all things dynasty! Most importantly, our brand new free mobile app is a must-have -- download it and configure your notifications. We deliver all the top NFL news, injuries, and fantasy analysis 24x7 with our free push notification alerts!

Editor's Note: Explore RotoBaller’s Dynasty Fantasy Football hub for year-round dynasty rankings, trade tips, rookie analysis, and long-term player outlooks. Dominate your league with our sleepers, stash targets, and dynasty draft advice. Click here for Dynasty rankings and strategy.

Dynasty Running Back Rankings for Fantasy Football (July Updates)

Be sure also to check out our 2025 fantasy football rankings dashboard. It's already loaded up with tons of other great rankings.

Dynasty Running Back Analysis for Fantasy Football

James Cook, Buffalo Bills

We have always wondered what it would look like in fantasy if James Cook scored touchdowns. In 2024, we got our answer.

Cook was tied for the NFL lead in rushing touchdowns in 2024 (16), which led him to his first top-12 finish as a running back in PPR points per game (16.7). Despite the uptick in touchdown production, the third-year running back failed to crack the top 10 scorers due to a downward trend in his carries (207), targets (38), receptions (32), and total yardage (1,267).

Dynasty managers who roster Cook have an opportunity to sell high on a player who has seen his workload diminish but was able to get there in fantasy due to an unrealistic touchdown rate (12.6%). Cook also benefits from being on the Bills, but his contract is due to expire, and Buffalo seems to be in no rush to meet his initial demands ($15 million per year).

Additionally, the Bills showed a willingness to split their backfield three different ways in 2024 with Cook, Ty Johnson, and rookie Ray Davis (not to mention the rushing ability of Josh Allen). Both Johnson and Davis return in 2025 and have earned bigger roles based on their play last season.

Cook benefits greatly from being on the Bills thanks to their ability to find the end zone. While other teams in the league could be more willing to give him more work, that doesn’t necessarily mean he would score more fantasy points (see his 2023 season as proof of concept).

There is a very real chance that 2024 will go down as the best fantasy season in Cook’s career when all is said and done. Now is the time to trade him to a manager who believes his touchdown rate is sustainable.

- Dan Fornek

Trey Benson, Arizona Cardinals

We've been waiting for James Conner to fall over that age cliff forever, and we've been waiting... and waiting. Don't be surprised if this is the year it finally happens. That's where Trey Benson comes in; the running back drafted by the Cardinals in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft. He flashed a bit in 2024 but took a backseat to Conner's career season.

Conner handled a career-high 236 carries last year, adding an additional 47 receptions on 55 targets. The RB saw 1,518 yards from scrimmage and tallied nine scores but ended up injuring his knee in Week 16. In Week 17, the veteran back tried to power through but landed on injured reserve before Week 18. For a 30-year-old back drafted in 2017, this was an incredible feat. But it also left fantasy managers scratching their heads, wondering how many more productive years Conner can bring to the table.

Looking at Benson last season, he averaged 4.6 yards per carry and caught all six of his targets. There were bright spots in his fantasy game, like Week 9 when he posted 12.5 PPR points, and Week 10 when he tallied 10.7.

Benson himself is aiming big for year two. "I feel like we can have two RB1s on this team, and that's my mindset this year; is two RB1s," he told Bob McManaman of the Arizona Republic. For managers, that would also be a positive for fantasy. A true one-two punch could give the youngster value early on, and he'll have league-winning upside if Conner's age and durability catch up to him.

If Father Time catches up with Conner or if he gets hurt, Benson should take over the role and never give it up. Find the dynasty manager who rosters the Florida State product and see if they're down on the back after his quiet rookie season. It's time to pounce before Benson gets his shot to shine.

- Kacey Kasem

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