Fantasy Football Running Backs On The Move: Who’s The King?

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Count with me. Twelve stud running backs now play for different teams, so who remains a king of fantasy football? Are we better off, or infinitely worse?

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Last week, we touched on the new rookies entering the league and the fantasy impact they might have in 2024. Interestingly enough, the fantasy football landscape as a whole is in a major time of flux. The running back market around the league is so volatile that no one is a comfortable or safe option, and even though RBs’ value has been downgraded in the sport, their fantasy necessity is still as high as ever. We don’t know who is good, but we need to start three of ’em anyway!

We know the story by now. We’re more focused on the running back faces in new places for the ’24 season because so many of the top names changed teams. The landscape is almost unrecognizable. First, let’s run down who is where now. 

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Saquon Barkley is in Philadelphia, Derrick Henry is in Baltimore, Josh Jacobs in Green Bay, Joe Mixon in Houston, Aaron Jones in Minnesota, DeAndre Swift in Chicago, Tony Pollard in Tennessee, Zack Moss in Cincinnati, Devin Singletary in New York, Austin Ekeler in Washington, Gus Edwards in Los Angeles, Ezekiel Elliott in Dallas. Phew.

This is pretty much an unprecedented level of movement for big names in fantasy circles. That is a dozen guys who are potentially new fantasy starting RBs for 2024, not counting rookies or players promoted up the depth chart on their own squad.

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Now, obviously, the availability of a lot of these guys was due to teams no longer being thrilled with their level of output or health or some combination of both. The Austin Ekeler from two years ago is not being signed to a barebones, prove-it deal by a new team.

So, we can take this in a couple of different directions. Are there favorites out of the guys suiting up for new clubs? Who remains a fantasy football king? Perhaps that is too simple. We can take draft position (all draft positions courtesy of fantasypros.com as of May 13.) and value into consideration. Now who is the real king?

 

Fantasy Football RBs On The Move

 

Todd Salem: Barkley Still The Man

Saquon Barkley is likely the best performer of this bunch, but his draft position reflects as much. He is being projected as a round-two guy, the sixth RB off the board. I…might actually take him even higher than that in a snake draft. We know the injury concerns, and joining a new club has its own set of perils, but there is no scenario where the move from NYG to PHL is not an upgrade for Barkley. And, is he more of an injury risk than Breece Hall or Jonathan Taylor going ahead of him? I’m not buying that. Barkley could easily finish as the best RB in the league, and that is worth a pick in the second round for sure.

After Barkley, there is a drop in draft projection, and it is warranted. I don’t love many of these other guys in new places. The thing is, as the math indicates, they make up a large percentage of all RB options in the league, so you can’t avoid them all. If forced to choose, I’ll stick in the NFC East, with Singletary and Ekeler.

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Singletary is RB32 right now, coming off the board near pick 100. He is far and away, with no competitor in sight, the starting and bell cow back for an offense that could be kind of fun. The Giants have invested heavily everywhere in the offense except RB; Singletary is all there is. Behind an improved offensive line, with incredible speed stretching the defense wide, why can’t Singletary become a top-20 back?

Ekeler is coming off the board in nearly an identical spot. He has greater risk than Singletary and greater competition for carries. But the upside is very intriguing. With Jayden Daniels needing an outlet in the passing game, he could turn Ekeler back into the guy who was catching 80+ passes a season, even if he never gets back to a 20-touchdown pace again. In partial or full PPR leagues, Ekeler has to be a dark horse fantasy darling.

 

 

Dan Salem: Henry and Jacobs Will Dominate

The risk is infinitely higher when selecting a running back on a new team, as opposed to one staying put in his established offense. For example, do the Eagles move to run the ball more with Barkley, or do they continue to keep it in their quarterback’s hands? None of the teams who signed a new running back were happy with the one they had last season (at least not for the price), but many of them were playoff teams. This means they did fine without dominance at the position, with one or two exceptions. Are we to suddenly believe their offense will be different with a new running back? That is what fantasy football managers must decide.

Personally I’m excited about three of the players in new places, all three being on teams who have a history of running the football successfully. Ezekiel Elliott back in Dallas, Derrick Henry in Baltimore, and Josh Jacobs in Green Bay all scream minimal risk with high reward. All three players have been studs at one time or another, while all three teams love to run the ball when they actually have a running back who is good and healthy. All three are also playoff teams.

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Barkley has been great and the only thing that scares me off his scent is the cost. Last season he outperformed his draft position, but this year I doubt he will. The Eagles have so many weapons in their offense that I just don’t see him dominating with the ball like he did in New York. That’s not to say he won’t do great, but he’s more likely to fall short of his high draft position, while the other three players I noted can easily eclipse their perceived draft value. Heck, Elliott is all the way down in tier 6 of the fantasypros.com rankings. He did decent in New England and Dallas loves him.

If I was picking just one player to target, it would be Henry in Baltimore. The Ravens love to run the football and love to protect Lamar Jackson. Their offense could be scary with Henry, especially with him catching passes from the backfield. Singletary is a solid reach, we agree on that, but everyone else should scare fantasy managers a bit. Personally I’d prefer to overdraft a rookie than a veteran, because usually you are spending less on the rookie. What a fun fantasy season this will be!

 

Meet our Writers:

Dan Salem is Lead Editor and Co-owner of BuzzChomp. He’s an award winning Actor, Director and Producer. Visit M Square Productions for his film work, or get lost in his old-school comedy on Pillow Talk TV. You can follow him on X, TikTok and Instagram. His latest film ‘Alone’ is now on Amazon.

Todd Salem is a Staff Writer and Contributing Editor at BuzzChomp. He’s also a champion of fantasy football and fantasy baseball, dominating leagues for over two decades. Comment below on his unfiltered opinions.

Fantasy Football Photo Credits: bleedinggreennation.com and baltimoreravens.com via Getty Images

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