Christian McCaffrey, Saquon Barkley Headline List of Dynasty Running Back Rankings

When it comes to dynasty fantasy football leagues, the Panthers and Giants playmakers are the cream of the crop for running backs.

Every fantasy football player knows the importance of having a stud running back on your team. Perhaps that strategy is even more important when it comes to Dynasty Leagues. We all know the shelf-life for running backs is much shorter compared to wide receivers but finding a stud running back that has a lengthy career is like coming across a million-dollar scratch-off.

Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey and Giants rusher Saquon Barkley are not only the consensus top pick in re-draft leagues but also in dynasty leagues. Both superstars are just 23-years-old and are the focal point of their offenses.

Sports Illustrated’s fantasy football analysts Jaime Eisner and Frank Taddeo discuss the importance of securing players like McCaffrey and Barkley in dynasty formats.

Read the full transcript from their conversation: 

Bill Enright: When it comes to running backs, there are a handful of studs in fantasy football. Let's identify who those up for are in dynasty leagues by going to Jamie Eisner and Frank Taddeo. Two of our fantasy football analysts here at Sports Illustrated. Jaime, I'm going to tie you up with his ego, Elliot and Alvin Kamara. Give me your thoughts.

Jamie Eisner: Yeah. Kamara and Elliott rank number three. Number four on Matt De Lima Dynasty Running back List. If you were to start a dynasty draft today, Alvin Kamara is coming off of a down year for him, but a lot of it was just negative touchdown luck. That's going to positively regress this year as we've talked about on SI gambling a lot that we expect him to be over ten touchdowns again this season like he's been for pretty much every other year of his career, except last year catches the ball. The backfield still gonna be a focal point of that Saints offense. And it's going to be a focal point even when Drew Brees does decide to retire, whether it's after this year or after two years from now or whenever that's going to happen. And for Zeke, look, all he does is just put up boatloads of rushing yards every year. There's now a little bit more talent around him. So while that might take away some touches overall, it's helping him be more productive with those touches not going up against as many stack boxes going forward. These all of these guys are major studs in their early 20s and should be the cornerstones of your fancy football dynasty team. 

Bill Enright: Frank, I'll go over to you, as Jamie just revealed, the number three in four running backs, one of you take it away with the number of one and two running backs.

Frank Taddeo: Yeah. Bill, obviously, Christian McCaffrey tops the list. I mean, what can't this guy do? I mean, he was actually able to put up a record-breaking year without having any kind of real a semblance of a quarterback for the majority of the season under Center and Carolina. Now, this year, he's going to have Teddy Bridgewater. I think there's going to be a regression to his overall rushing numbers as well as his rushing attempts. But I actually believe that he could actually even surpass the numbers in the passing game that he saw last year in terms of Saquon Barkley. What's not to love about him? If he can stay healthy, 6'1 is absolutely a player who can probably even surpass the numbers by McCaffrey this year. I mean, he actually has an ability to really take off and run with this offense. I mean, the Joynes raps fully loaded on that and all the positions. If Daniel Jones can take the progression in year two, we're running this offense taking over for Eli Manning. I actually believe that Cinquanta is somebody that you're going to want to build around both these players. If you can land either one of these two in your dynasty leagues or in your redraft weeks, you're talking about a team that's destined for success. 

Bill Enright: Great analysis. Thank you, Jaime and Frankie, for all of that. Plenty more fantasy football advice and rankings. You can find it by going to si.com/fantasy 

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