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Dynasty Running Backs to Buy and Sell

Dynasty / By /

Welcome back for part two of my “buy and sell” series! If you missed Part 1, which covered the tight end position, you can check that out here. In this edition, I’ll look at which running backs you should target or sell in dynasty before the season, based on where your team currently stands. Let’s dive right in. 

Step 1: Figure out what your team is. (Based on 12-team leagues)

Top tier: projected top 4 team in your league, legit contender
Middle tier: projected to finish between spots 5-8 in your league
Bottom tier: projected to finish in the bottom 4 of your league
Top Tier

If you are a top-tier team, you ideally have at least one of the top six running backs (Robinson, Gibbs, Love, Jeanty, Hampton, and Achane). If you don’t and you want to acquire points at a more palatable price, I would be trading for one of the following guys:

Jonathan Taylor – Mid-1st Round
Christian McCaffrey – Late-1st Round
Saquon Barkley – Late-1st Round
Derrick Henry – Early-2nd Round

They all have top-10 scoring potential, but are valued outside the top 10 because of their age. If you’re a strong contender, I would move one of the following players to acquire a name from the list above: Jadarian Price, Bhayshul Tuten, Jonathon Brooks, Jonah Coleman, TreVeyon Henderson.

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RJ Harvey

One Question For EVERY NFL Team: Denver Broncos Edition

Dynasty / By /

Welcome back to my ‘One Question’ series, and thank you to everyone who read my piece on the Kansas City Chiefs — are you buying or selling Travis Kelce (TE – KC) in 2026? We’re staying in the AFC West, which looks to be a division filled with players that we all want for fantasy, and this week’s team is no different. Let’s take a look at the Denver Broncos, who are fresh off a season in which they made it to the AFC Championship Game and added former Miami Dolphins wide receiver Jaylen Waddle (WR – DEN) this offseason to bolster their wide receiver room in a blockbuster trade. Even with Bo Nix (QB – DEN) returning from an ankle injury he suffered in the AFC Divisional Game, all arrows are pointing up for Nix and the Broncos offense in 2026.

But, like most teams, the running back is a key component in the success or lack thereof of NFL offenses, and picking the right one on draft day in your fantasy league can be the difference between making the playoffs and being a true contender.

Last year, the Broncos signed J.K. Dobbins (RB – DEN) and drafted RJ Harvey (RB – DEN) with their second-round pick. After a strong start to the season, Dobbins suffered a season-ending injury. Harvey would immediately pay dividends on the Broncos’ second-round investment, scoring 12 touchdowns, catching 47 passes, and totaling nearly 900 yards from scrimmage.

Fast forward to the 2026 offseason, and the Broncos re-signed J.K. Dobbins to a two-year deal and beefed up their running back room by drafting Washington running back Jonah Coleman (RB – DEN), who scored 27 touchdowns his last two years in college.

These moves would imply the Broncos aren’t ready to give RJ Harvey an expanded role in 2026.

But, should they?

My question for the Broncos is: Is RJ Harvey a buy-low in fantasy?

Yes, the Broncos re-signed Dobbins and drafted Jonah Coleman, but do those moves hurt or help Harvey? Of course, adding a running back to the room could potentially cause another running back to lose touches — but is Coleman taking touches away from RJ Harvey or J.K. Dobbins?

When you compare their running styles, body type, and speed, Jonah Coleman is more like J.K. Dobbins and not like RJ Harvey. Broncos assistant GM Reed Burckhardt was quoted as saying this about Jonah Coleman: “a physical, downhill runner” who “fits our style, fits what we have in our running back group right now.” He also said the comparison between Coleman and J.K. Dobbins was “very valid.”

As we know, J.K. Dobbins’ career has been altered by injuries. Since being drafted in 2020, Dobbins has played a total of 47 games, and in two of his six seasons he’s missed 10 or more games. Dobbins hasn’t been healthy for an entire season since his rookie year.

I’m not saying Dobbins is bad, but as the saying goes, “the best ability is availability” — and Dobbins has shown that he’s not always available. That’s why I believe Denver drafted Jonah Coleman not to replace RJ Harvey, but as the future replacement for J.K. Dobbins.

We’ve seen that the age of the workhorse running back isn’t as prominent as it once was, and while having one is nice, the one-two punch running back systems are better for offenses and great for fantasy!

Sean Payton is notorious for using a two-back system. In his 15 years with the New Orleans Saints, a running back had 200 or more rushing attempts just five times. However, he has eight instances where multiple running backs had 150 or more touches (2006-2009, 2011 and 2013, 2017 and 2018, and 2023). Here are some quotes from Sean Payton on running a two-back system:

“I understand the committee. I’m used to having two running backs. We’re going to have more than just one back. We’re going to stack that position group. It’s too hard in our league to play with just one — rarely does a team do it. Occasionally, it happens.” — Sean Payton, end-of-season press conference, 2024

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jcm

One Question For EVERY NFL Team: Washington Commanders Edition

Dynasty / By /

Welcome back to my One Question series, and thank you to everyone for reading my first installment. I’d love to know what you’ve done or plan to do with George Pickens (WR – DAL) this year. This week, we’re staying in the NFC East.

After a disappointing season following their appearance in the 2024 NFC Championship Game, Jayden Daniels (QB – WAS) and the Commanders didn’t live up to the hype due to an injury-riddled season. After firing offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury and promoting David Blough, the offense is headed in a new direction — and there is genuine excitement within the organization about the new offensive style.

My question to the Commanders is: Who is the RB1?

Jacory Croskey-Merritt (RB – WAS)

Jacory Croskey-Merritt — aka “Bob” — was a Twitter darling last offseason with only Brian Robinson Jr. in his way, playing alongside 2024 Offensive Rookie of the Year Jayden Daniels. What’s not to like? He was primed to take over the Commanders’ backfield and be a league-winner, or so we thought.

Daniels got injured early in the season, tried to fight through it, and ultimately played just seven games. However, even on a bad team with a struggling offense, Croskey-Merritt played all 17 games, totaled almost 900 yards from scrimmage, and scored eight touchdowns — all while playing second fiddle to Brian Robinson Jr. and Chris Rodriguez for most of the season.

Robinson is now with the Atlanta Falcons, and Rodriguez took his talents to Jacksonville. Surely Croskey-Merritt is the favorite to finally make good on his promise as the Commanders’ lead back, right?

One would think. But with Washington adding veteran running backs Rachaad White (RB – WAS) and Jerome Ford (RB – WAS), then drafting sixth-round pick Kaytron Allen (RB – WAS), the question becomes: is Croskey-Merritt the running back on this roster we should trust — or should we take a deeper look at the competition?

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emmett

Finding 2026 Fantasy RB1 Value Before the Draft

Dynasty / By /

In this article, I’ll be reviewing data from the past four seasons to predict the next top 12 fantasy football running backs. I started by analyzing the top 24 running backs by points per game in each season, identifying a total of 49 players. Next, I focused on running backs who achieved multiple top 24 seasons — not just one-hit wonders. This narrowed the list to 26 total running backs. Lastly, I wanted to break it down one more time to get only the elite running backs. So I broke the list down into guys who had multiple top 12 finishes in points per game over the last four seasons and came up with a list of 15 guys. Saquon Barkley Derrick Henry Jahmyr Gibbs Joe Mixon Christian McCaffrey Bijan Robinson Kyren Williams De’Von Achane Breece Hall James Conner Alvin Kamara James Cook Josh Jacobs Jonathan Taylor Aaron Jones These are the 15 guys I will be looking at closely in this article.  15/15 averaged more than 5.0 yards per carry. 14/15 were Power 5 running backs (not Aaron Jones). 14/15 were graded 6.0 or higher for NFL.com grades (not James Conner). 13/15 were drafted in the top 3 rounds (not Aaron Jones or Kyren Williams). 13/15 had more than 30 career catches in college (not Derrick Henry or James Conner). 13/15 had more than .7 touchdowns per game (not James Cook or Josh Jacobs). 13/15 had more than 16 fantasy points per game (not James Cook or Josh Jacobs). 12/15 had more than 95 yards per game (not James […]

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mike

Second Round Dynasty Sleeper: Mike Washington Jr.

Dynasty, Rookie, Rookie Player Profiles / By /

From the University of Arkansas, Mike Washington Jr. has the potential to be one of the second-round steals in 2026 Dynasty Rookie Drafts. The 22-year-old put up some impressive numbers during his final collegiate season. At 6’1” and 223 pounds, his power and speed combination is built to handle a heavy workload. Washington Jr. can run through and past defenders in a hurry, and he’s someone who could very well outperform where he’ll get drafted. To put things simply, he’s someone who will be a problem in the NFL. Washington Jr. is a player who, depending on where he ends up, could quickly become an NFL starter immediately or at some point during the season and become a very valuable Dynasty running back. Let’s take a closer look at him. * Within this article, the statistics were pulled from Sports Reference, KeepTradeCut (KTC), and Sleeper. College Production (2021 – 2025) Washington Jr., a two-star recruit, committed to his first three collegiate seasons at Buffalo, transferred to New Mexico State before entering the transfer portal one more time for his final year of eligibility, where he ended his collegiate time at Arkansas and saw career highs in all statistical categories. This past season, Washington Jr. earned second-team All-SEC, where he rushed for 1,070 yards with eight rushing touchdowns. Additionally, he’s shown he can also be a dual-threat, adding 28 receptions on 226 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown.  In 2025, he became the 16th player in Arkansas history to eclipse 1,000 rushing yards, and he was named second-team All-SEC. The highlight […]

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mcgowan

Seth McGowan: The Long Road Back

Dynasty, Rookie, Rookie Player Profiles / By /

Seth McGowan’s path to the 2026 NFL Draft is one of the more unusual stories in this class. Early in his career at Oklahoma, he looked like the next talented running back to come through that program. Instead, a legal incident nearly ended his career before it really started. What followed was a long road back through smaller programs and multiple stops before he finally returned to the SEC and put himself back on the NFL radar. A Promising Start That Fell Apart In 2020, McGowan showed real promise at Oklahoma. The former four-star recruit played in eight games as a freshman, rushing for 370 yards and catching 13 passes for 201 yards. His 143 total yards in the Cotton Bowl showed the kind of playmaking ability that had people believing he could become the next productive Oklahoma running back. That momentum ended in April of 2021. McGowan was arrested following an armed robbery investigation and was dismissed from the Oklahoma program. He later pleaded guilty to felony larceny, served three months in jail, and received a year of probation. Just like that, his football future was suddenly in doubt. The Long Road Back McGowan did not play football for two seasons while rebuilding his life and career. His first stop was Texas College, an NAIA program where he never appeared in a game. From there, he transferred to Butler Community College in 2023, where he played 6 games and began rebuilding his football reputation. In 2024, McGowan returned to the FBS level at New Mexico State. The talent was […]

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coleman

Jonah Coleman: The Human Bowling Ball

Dynasty, Rookie, Rookie Player Profiles / By /

Jonah Coleman is not hard to figure out. He’s not here to race anyone. He’s not here to bounce everything outside. He’s here to hit you, keep his feet, and move the chains. Every carry looks the same in the best way possible. Square shoulders, low pads, and forward momentum. At 5’9” and around 228 pounds, Coleman is built like a brick. Thick lower half. Low center of gravity. When defenders meet him in the hole, he usually wins. That’s why the “human bowling ball” label fits. He doesn’t avoid contact. He uses it. How He Runs Coleman’s game starts with vision and patience. He presses the line, lets blocks develop, and waits for defenders to declare themselves. He doesn’t dance in the backfield or rush decisions. Once he sees the crease, he commits and explodes through it. He’s decisive. That matters. Four yards on first down is a win, and Coleman understands that. His north-south approach keeps offenses on schedule and keeps him on the field. Footwork and Balance For a back of his size, his feet are better than you’d expect. Coleman has enough lateral quickness to slide between blocks and make decisive cuts in tight spaces. He doesn’t need wide lanes. He can get skinny and squeeze through traffic. The contact balance is the calling card. Arm tackles don’t slow him down. He pinballs off defenders and keeps his legs moving. During stretches of his college career, he averaged over 6 yards after contact. That’s not luck. That’s strength and balance working together. Ball security is another […]

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