It’s mid-December, and many of those in dynasty leagues are adjusting their rosters – making trades or picking up prospects who might amount to something in the 2018 season. Here’s a look at the lay of the land at the running back position.

For this one, I’m assuming standard scoring, and I’m assuming that once you’ve got a player you can keep him as long as you want.

Running back is a volatile position, with short careers and constant change. So I’m not putting too much weight here into 2020 and beyond. But when you have a younger player – 23-25 years old, I’m tending to rank him higher than a comparable player who’s 28 or 29.

Kenyan Drake, I think, is the biggest mover up this week. Looks pretty solid, and Adam Gase has a track record of being willing to feed the ball to his running backs. We’ll see what Drake does in these upcoming games, but I’m wondering if they might hook it up behind him pretty good next year. He’s definitely much faster than Jay Ajayi, and a far better receiver. Miami plays Buffalo twice in the final three weeks, and that defense has been pretty awful against the run – Drake has a chance to really solidify his grasp on that job.

At the top, there are five running backs who look really elite. I’ve got the two 25-year-olds (the old guys) pushed to the bottom of that tier. Four of those backs catch the ball really well, which tends to help a lot in fantasy leagues. (Jordan Howard is a great young back, for example, but he’s a liability as a pass catcher).

DYNASTY RUNNING BACKS
RkTmPlayerAge
1.LARTodd Gurley23
2.DALEzekiel Elliott22
3.NOAlvin Kamara22
4.PITLeVeon Bell25
5.ARIDavid Johnson25
6.KCKareem Hunt22
7.LACMelvin Gordon24
8.MINDalvin Cook (inj.)22
9.ATLDevonta Freeman25
10.JACLeonard Fournette22
11.CHIJordan Howard23
12.CARChristian McCaffrey21
13.CINJoe Mixon21
14.NOMark Ingram27
15.PHIJay Ajayi24
16.BALAlex Collins23
17.INDMarlon Mack21
18.CLEIsaiah Crowell24
19.SFCarlos Hyde26
20.BUFLeSean McCoy29
21.MIAKenyan Drake23
22.ATLTevin Coleman24
23.TENDerrick Henry23
24.HOULamar Miller26
25.NERex Burkhead27
26.CHITarik Cohen22
27.DETAmeer Abdullah24
28.TENDeMarco Murray29
29.HOUD'Onta Foreman (inj.)21
30.CLEDuke Johnson24
31.NEDion Lewis27
32.WASSamaje Perine22
33.DENDevontae Booker25
34.SEAMike Davis24
35.CARJonathan Stewart30
36.DENC.J. Anderson26
37.NEJames White25
38.SEAChris Carson (inj.)23
39.WASChris Thompson27
40.NYJElijah McGuire23
41.PITJames Conner22
42.DETTheo Riddick26
43.PHICorey Clement23
44.GBTy Montgomery (inj.)24
45.JACT.J. Yeldon24
46.NYJBilal Powell29
47.GBJamaal Williams22
48.SFMatt Breida22
49.OAKDeAndre Washington24
50.LACAustin Ekeler22
51.NYGWayne Gallman23
52.CINGiovani Bernard26
53.MINJerick McKinnon25
54.NYGOrleans Darkwa25
55.OAKJalen Richard24
56.TBPeyton Barber23
57.OAKMarshawn Lynch31
58.GBAaron Jones23
59.MIADamien Williams25
60.CINJeremy Hill (inj.)25
61.MINLatavius Murray27
62.NYJMatt Forte32
63.DALRod Smith25
64.KCSpencer Ware (inj.)26
65.SEAThomas Rawls24
66.WASRobert Kelley25
67.SFJoe Williams (inj.)24
68.DALAlfred Morris29
69.TBDoug Martin28
70.JACChris Ivory29
71.DENDeAngelo Henderson25
72.SEAJ.D. McKissic24
73.NYGPaul Perkins23
74.ATLTerron Ward25
75.NEMike Gillislee27
76.HOUAlfred Blue26
77.BALJavorius Allen26
78.LARMalcolm Brown24
79.NYGShane Vereen28
80.ARIT.J. Logan (inj.)23
81.SEAC.J. Prosise (inj.)23
82.BALKenneth Dixon (inj.)23
83.BUFMike Tolbert32
84.KCCharcandrick West26
85.TBCharles Sims27
86.CARCameron Artis-Payne27
87.ARIKerwynn Williams26
88.INDFrank Gore34
89.SFKyle Juszczyk26
90.BALDanny Woodhead32
91.ARIAdrian Peterson (inj.)32
92.HOUAndre Ellington28
93.JACCorey Grant25
94.CHIBenny Cunningham27
95.CLEMatt Dayes23
96.DENJamaal Charles30
97.DETTion Green24
98.LACBranden Oliver26
99.LARLance Dunbar27
100.PHIWendell Smallwood23

—Ian Allan