Backup Running Backs To Buy In Dynasty Fantasy Football Leagues

You can never have enough running backs in fantasy football, just like you can never have enough lobster tails at your favorite seafood establishment.

While the NFL has transformed into a pass-first league, and the fantasy values of quarterbacks and wide receivers have increased over the past decade, running backs still rule the fantasy roost. This is especially true since there are fewer workhorse backs since more NFL teams have opted to go with the dreaded running-back-by-committee game plan, which ruins all of their backs’ fantasy values because they have to split time and touches.

In dynasty fantasy leagues, having depth at running back is a must. That is why the offseason is so important. Fantasy managers can retool their rosters and add running backs for a cheap price that can turn into major contributors the following season and for years to come. So, which backup backs should dynasty league managers buy right now? Here are my top two picks and other options as well:

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Backup Running Backs To Buy In Dynasty Fantasy Football

MarShawn Lloyd, Green Bay Packers

Fantasy footballers thought Green Bay’s third-round pick in the 2024 draft had the chance to overtake veteran Josh Jacobs and become a super sleeper. Instead, Lloyd missed seven weeks with an ankle sprain and then suffered from appendicitis and landed on the season-ending injured reserve.

While Jacobs ran like a battering ram to the tune of 1,329 yards, Lloyd provided his fantasy managers with a measly 15 yards on a scant six carries. Unlike Tampa Bay’s Bucky Irving, another rookie runner drafted in the early rounds who became a fantasy force, Lloyd was a fantasy farce.

There are reasons why Green Bay used a third-round pick on Lloyd, however. He was supposed to add a pass-catching element to the backfield that Jacobs cannot. He also has explosive speed (when healthy) that can help him turn a short gain into a 70-yard touchdown. These special skills have not disappeared just because he had an injury-marred rookie season.

MarShawn Lloyd is my guy in the 2024 NFL Draft class

With how anti-RB Dynasty has become, you’re going to likely be able to regularly get Lloyd in the 2nd round. That’s an awesome pick.

Plays like the love child of D’Andre Swift and Doug Martin.

pic.twitter.com/vhduAlQe39

— JC (@JCJDynasty) January 10, 2024

2025 will be a healthier season for Lloyd. How can’t it? Lloyd should enter the campaign as the primary backup to ball hog Jacobs, and do not be surprised if the Packers start lessening Jacobs’ workload and allow Lloyd more opportunities to shine as the season wears on.

Jacobs is signed for three more years, but he has over 1,600 carries to his credit over the first six seasons of his NFL career. He will start showing signs of wear and tear soon, and Lloyd will be the one getting the extra workload when it happens. Buy him for a low price now. His fantasy value has nowhere to go but up.

Isaac Guerendo, San Francisco 49ers

Isaac Guerendo was fourth on the running back depth chart at the start of training camp last year, but you know how San Francisco’s backfield always is. 49ers running backs last about as long as J-Lo’s husbands and boyfriends do.

Elijah Mitchell was the first SF back to go down with a season-ending injury. Then Christian McCaffrey. Then Jordan Mason. Maybe Mason got hurt before McCaffrey? It is hard to keep up with San Fran’s running back carousel, that’s for sure.

Guerendo even dealt with some minor injuries once he was installed as the team’s top tailback late in the season, but when he was healthy, he proved he could handle 10-20 touches per game when pressed into duty.

In a two-game span in December, Guerendo carried the ball 31 times for 135 yards and two touchdowns while also adding six receptions for 68 yards. He proved he has burst, he can pass protect, he can catch passes out of the backfield, and he can follow the holes the 49ers’ above-average offensive line open.

Who knows what San Francisco’s depth chart will look like at the onset of the 2025 season? Roger Craig could be the Niners’ RB1 for all we know next year. Guerendo will definitely be in the mix, though, thanks to his upside and low cap number since he is on a rookie contract. No time like the present to make a move for him.

Other Backup Backs To Buy

Audric Estime, Denver Broncos

The days of Javonte Williams being the Broncos; bell cow back are over, as it is painfully obvious he is not the runner he was a few years ago before he tore his ACL.

Estime averaged 4.1 yards on 76 carries during his rookie season and was able to find the field more often as the year wore on. Do not be surprised if he moves up the depth chart and is battling Jaleel McLaughlin for the right to be Sean Payton’s new RB1 in 2025 and beyond.

Rookie year!✔️Time to go back to work, more hungry than ever. #Broncoscountry pic.twitter.com/X93ikyt6kW

— Audric Estime (@AudricEstime) January 14, 2025

Antonio Gibson, New England Patriots

New head honcho Mike Vrabel might not want to put up with Rhamondre Stevenson’s lackadaisical attitude and running style. Gibson is a proven veteran who can provide grit and toughness to the running attack if given more touches and scoring opportunities.

Gibson can rush for 1,000 yards if handed the ball enough and can add 200-300 receiving yards on passing downs, too. And Gibson is only 26, so he is far from done despite some heavy usage earlier in his career.

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