July 27, 2016

Justin Bales provides his 2016 fantasy football tiered dynasty PPR rankings for NFL running backs (RB). In part two, he ranks the top running backs in tiers, and provides their outlooks.

What's up RotoBallers. Welcome to part two of our 2016 fantasy football tiered running back rankings for dynasty leagues. You can read the rest of our 2016 dynasty league rankings. Fantasy football covers multiple different types of leagues now. There are Standard Leagues, PPR Leagues, Half-PPR Leagues, Rookie Leagues, and arguably the most popular, Daily Fantasy Football. In this article, I, Justin Bales, will be taking you through my most recent Dynasty League Rankings.

Dynasty Leagues are one of the most difficult types of rankings to project. There are multiple aspects that need to be equally balanced while making the rankings. Each owner needs a mix of players that can produce this season along with players that have the potential to produce for years to come. These rankings take every aspect into consideration, as some younger players may be ranked higher than players that are ready to produce this season.

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Tier 7 – Dynasty Running Back Rankings

1. DeMarco Murray
2. Ameer Abdullah
3. Dion Lewis
4. Matt Forte
5. Ryan Mathews
6. Derrick Henry
7. Jonathan Stewart
8. Tevin Coleman
9. Chris Ivory

This tier has a little bit of everything in it. It has a combination of running backs that can help now and running backs that are better for the future. Murray, Forte, Mathews, and Stewart are all running backs that will produce this season, but may not be able to produce at a high level for the next few years. Depending on your draft in the early rounds, these running backs would make fine RB2s for this season, but they won’t be very beneficial after the first couple years of the dynasty draft.

Abdullah, Lewis, Coleman, and Henry all are high upside running backs. Of the four, Henry is the least likely to contribute this season because he’s behind an established running back in DeMarco Murray. Abdullah and Lewis are both high upside, young running backs that have great ceilings, but also have fairly low floors. They have the ability to contribute this season, as well, which is great for young running backs this late in the draft. Coleman is more of a high upside running back if an injury happens to Freeman, but he’ll have limited opportunities as long as Freeman stays on the field.

Tier 8 – Dynasty Running Back Rankings

1. Kenneth Dixon
2. Danny Woodhead
3. Isaiah Crowell
4. Justin Forsett
5. Theo Riddick
6. C.J. Prosise
7. Rashad Jennings

Once again, this is a mixed bag of running backs. Dixon, Riddick, and Prosise are high upside, young players, but all three are stuck in crowded backfields, which is why they are ranked slightly lower. Woodhead, Forsett, and Jennings are older backs that can still produce at a decent level, but will likely be making way for the younger backs to take over as the season progresses. Crowell is a bit of an outlier in this group. He will be the early down back for the Browns, but he really lacks upside. With that being said, he’s young and could remain the early down worker if he plays well this season. He’s a high risk, decent reward options, but a guy that could produce immediately and for the next few years if all goes well.

Tier 9 – Dynasty Running Back Rankings

1. Karlos Williams
2. Javorius Allen
3. Darren McFadden
4. Paul Perkins
5. Charles Sims
6. Kenyan Drake
7. Jordan Howard
8. Devontae Booker

Aside from McFadden, who is essentially a handcuff to Zeke Elliott this season, this tier is filled with young running backs. Each back has great upside, but they may not all get equal opportunities at playing time. Regardless, all of the running backs in this tier are essentially going to start the season as dynasty holds. They’ll need an injury or an opportunity because of poor performances ahead of them to find their way to the field. Overall, these backs won’t be drafted high, but they do have good upside if given the opportunity.

Tier 10 – Dynasty Running Back Rankings

1. LeGarrette Blount
2. Frank Gore
3. Jerick McKinnon
4. Wendell Smallwood
5. Darren Sproles
6. Charcandrick West
7. DeAndre Washington
8. DeAngelo Williams
9. Bilal Powell
10. Shane Vereen
11. Spencer Ware
12. Ka’Deem Carey
13. Cameron Artis-Payne

Gore worked his way to this tier because he’s likely going to retire after this season, and he would be a one year rental. That isn’t ideal for dynasty leagues, although he will be able to produce this season. Blount, Sproles, and Williams all have the ability to produce this season, as well, but none make great dynasty holds.

McKinnon and Artis-Payne are two running backs waiting in the wings of older backs. These backs are being groomed to be the starters in a couple of season, which makes them good dynasty holds. With that being said, they are so low because they are far from guaranteed to take over as the starting running backs on their teams. They aren’t going to be expensive to get, but they have very low floors with solid ceilings.

Smallwood and Carey are two interesting prospect. They both are working in running back by committees, but they also will both have the opportunity to take over as young running backs. Carey isn’t the type of back to take the full time job, but he could earn a passing down role. Smallwood, on the other hand, has the ability to be the main running back on the Eagles. He’s a high upside player, but he may not see the field this season.

West and Ware are the final two backs, and they both have limited upside if Charles comes back healthy. It’s a less than ideal situation, but Charles is a bit injury prone, and West and Ware would both receive a bigger workload if he’s out.

Tier 11 – Dynasty Running Back Rankings

1. Andre Ellington
2. Chris Thompson
3. Arian Foster
4. James White
5. Ronnie Hillman
6. James Starks
7. Keith Marshall
8. Chris Johnson
9. Alfred Morris

Foster is the big name in this tier because he recently signed with the Dolphins. He’s still likely to start behind Jay Ajayi on the depth chart and he’s coming off a serious injury. In a dynasty league, Foster carries much more risk than reward, which is why he’s so low.

The rest of the running backs in the tier are essentially handcuffs that will need an injury to be a decent fantasy option. Starks could have good upside if Lacy struggles again, but he will start the season firmly behind Lacy on the depth chart. For the most part, this tier is full of running backs that could work into a third down role, which will give them some fantasy relevance, but they don’t have enough upside to be taken higher than a late round flier.

Tier 12 – Dynasty Running Back Rankings

1. Tyler Ervin
2. Tim Hightower
3. David Cobb
4. Zach Zenner
5. Shaun Draughn
6. Tre Mason
7. Lance Dunbar
8. Christine Michael
9. Antonio Andrews

There are a few running backs in this tier, but they need more than luck to make their way onto the field. Ervin, Cobb, and Zenner are the best dynasty stashes, but that’s more because of their ages than situations. They could turn into something later in their careers, and they aren’t anything more than dynasty holds this season.

Tier 13 – Dynasty Running Back Rankings

1. C.J. Spiller
2. Khiry Robinson
3. Robert Turbin
4. Alfred Blue
5. Denard Robinson
6. Benny Cunningham

This tier is essentially throwing darts and hoping to hit on a late running back. No one in this tier has a ton of upside or dynasty value really. These are the guys that can fill out your roster in deep dynasty leagues.

Running Back Dynasty Rankings (Part 2)

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