I've compared our dynasty fantasy football rankings to the Keep Trade Cut crowdsourced dynasty rankings and found three running backs you should consider pushing up your board.

Jonathan Taylor, RB - Colts

Over his first two seasons, Jonathan Taylor amassed a staggering workload:

  • 640 total touches
  • 3,639 scrimmage yards
  • 32 total TDs

However, his production and efficiency dipped in Years 3 and 4, and he only appeared in 21 of 34 possible games (62%). They say availability is the best ability, and Taylor has struggled in that regard.

So why are we so much higher on Taylor? We have him as a Round 1 pick, while the community has him falling to almost the end of Round 2.

Taylor signed a three-year, $42 million contract that ties him to the Colts through 2026. In addition, Zack Moss and his 183 rushing attempts from last season are gone, and the Colts didn't add to their backfield.

The biggest potential roadblock comes from Anthony Richardson, who handled a high rate of designed rushing attempts last year.

It sounds like Richardson is a full-go for offseason activities, and the Colts have worked to surround him with talent. They re-signed Michael Pittman and drafted Adonai Mitchell in Round 2 of the NFL Draft. This comes just one year after they drafted Josh Downs in Round 3.

In his team preview series, Ian Hartitz offered this outlook for Taylor:

Some of the highs from a usage perspective were HIGH during this stretch. A legit every-down role emerged with season-high snap rates of 74%, 77% and 88% — this was the league's sixth-most-willing offense to leave a single RB on the field for at least 80% of the offense's snaps last season.

Fantasy Life Projections have Taylor racking up an NFL-high 262 carries next season. However, his ability to finish closer to the overall RB1 than the RB12 comes down to how many fantasy-friendly goal-line carries and targets he's afforded in an offense commanded by a true high-volume dual-threat signal-caller.

Taylor is 25 years old and has a track record of both high volume and production. Assuming health, he could be a steal come draft day.

De'Von Achane, RB - Dolphins

It's hard not to think of cliches like "highlight reel" or "human joystick" when watching De'Von Achane, but, as the kids say, he's built different.

The Dolphins backfield put on a show last season. Despite Raheem Mostert being a literal decade older than Achane, the veteran scored 18 rushing TDs.

Neither RB assumed what we would call a workhorse role, but they were perfect complements to each other.

The concern for Mostert is his age. At 32 years old, we're well into the age cliff discussion. The Dolphins traded a 2025 third-rounder to move up and select Jaylen Wright this spring.

That leaves us with Achane. Hartitz highlighted just how record-breaking his season was in his team preview series:

Achane's rookie-year efficiency essentially broke RB performance charts. The man skews everything thanks to his regular placement DEEP in the upper right quadrant.

The absurd efficiency on hand naturally led to more than a few blowup performances, as Achane wound up posting top-12 PPR numbers in five of his nine full games last season — that 56% mark was only topped by Christian McCaffrey (81%, lol), Kyren Williams (75%) and Derrick Henry (59%).

In dynasty, we have Achane as an early Round 2 selection, while the community has him near the end of Round 3. Don't overthink this one. Draft the 22-year-old speedster with confidence.

Saquon Barkley, RB - Eagles

The Eagles made one of the biggest moves this offseason when they signed Saquon Barkley to a three-year, $37.7 million contract. Barkley's peak performances are in the past, but the opportunity and landing spot couldn't be better.

Barkley posted strong numbers over the last two seasons despite the overall struggles of the New York Giants. From 2022-2023, he tallied:

  • 640 total touches
  • 2,892 scrimmage yards
  • 20 total TDs

Hartitz summarized Barkley's transition to Philly in his team preview series:

Intriguingly, Eagles RBs do in fact rank first in rush attempts from their opponent's 2- to 5-yard lines during this span; Barkley should get at least one opportunity to score when the Eagles get around the goal line — he just better take advantage of it.

Ultimately, Barkley does profile as the team's every-down workhorse back; it'd be surprising if he doesn't finish with around 300 combined carries and targets with a little help from the injury gods. This makes him worthy of mid-tier RB1 treatment alongside guys like Jonathan Taylor and Kyren Williams, who also aren't expected to carry that large of a fantasy-friendly pass-down role.

Of course, we're alluding to the infamous "Tush Push" that became a near-lock to either pick up a first down or score a TD from the one-yard line. We'll see if the departure of Jason Kelce and/or arrival of Barkley changes how the Eagles operate in short yardage situations.

Fantasy Life is bullish on Barkley this season. We have him projected to finish among the league's best RBs in:

  • Rushing attempts - 4th
  • Rushing yards - 5th
  • PPR scoring - 8th

The massive disparity between our rankings and the masses means that Barkley carries significant value. Dynasty managers shouldn't be afraid to snag an "older" RB who could re-establish himself as a premier fantasy option.