With the draft in the books, it's time for some updated dynasty rankings.
As before, these are for a 12 team league, non-PPR, start 1QB/2RB/3WR/1TE, about 250 position players rostered.
I'll jump right in with running backs. My most recent RB rankings in this thread are from
November, but "Prev" shows my ranking from immediately before the draft (which I did not have online). Age is as of 9/1/14. The tiers mean a lot - don't look only at the rankings.
Tr Rk Player Team Age Prev
1 1 LeSean McCoy PHI 26.1 (1)
2 2 Jamaal Charles KC 27.7 (2)
2 3 Eddie Lacy GB 24.3 (5)
3 4 Doug Martin TB 25.6 (3)
3 5 Giovani Bernard CIN 22.8 (4)
3 6 Le'Veon Bell PIT 22.6 (6)
3 7 DeMarco Murray DAL 26.5 (7)
3 8 C.J. Spiller BUF 27.1 (8)
3 9 Adrian Peterson MIN 29.4 (9)
3 10 Montee Ball DEN 23.8 (10)
3 11 Matt Forte CHI 28.7 (11)
4 12 Marshawn Lynch SEA 28.4 (12)
4 13 Alfred Morris WAS 25.7 (13)
4 14 Christine Michael SEA 23.8 (14)
5 15 Carlos Hyde SF 23.0 (15)
5 16 Ryan Mathews SD 26.9 (18)
5 17 Trent Richardson IND 24.2 (19)
5 18 Bishop Sankey TEN 22.0 (26)
5 19 Shane Vereen NE 25.5 (21)
5 20 Ben Tate CLE 26.0 (25)
5 21 David Wilson NYG 23.2 (20)
5 22 Arian Foster HOU 28.0 (24)
5 23 Ray Rice BAL 27.6 (17)
6 24 Andre Ellington ARI 25.6 (28)
6 25 Zac Stacy STL 23.4 (16)
6 26 Tre Mason STL 21.1 (23)
6 27 Reggie Bush DET 29.5 (29)
6 28 Toby Gerhart JAX 27.4 (33)
6 29 Stevan Ridley NE 25.6 (30)
6 30 Jeremy Hill CIN 21.9 (27)
6 31 Knowshon Moreno MIA 27.1 (31)
6 32 Chris Johnson NYJ 28.9 (32)
7 33 Rashad Jennings NYG 29.5 (34)
7 34 Jerick McKinnon MIN 22.3 (50)
7 35 Devonta Freeman ATL 22.5 (53)
7 36 Bernard Pierce BAL 24.7 (37)
7 37 Mark Ingram NO 24.7 (46)
7 38 Marcus Lattimore SF 22.9 (35)
7 39 Charles Sims TB 24.0 (36)
7 40 Chris Ivory NYJ 26.4 (38)
7 41 Darren McFadden OAK 27.0 (39)
7 42 Jonathan Stewart CAR 27.4 (40)
7 43 Frank Gore SF 31.3 (41)
7 44 Pierre Thomas NO 29.7 (43)
7 45 Steven Jackson ATL 31.1 (44)
7 46 Lamar Miller MIA 23.4 (42)
7 47 Darren Sproles PHI 31.2 (47)
7 48 Joique Bell DET 28.1 (48)
7 49 Andre Williams NYG 22.0 (49)
7 50 Terrance West CLE 23.6 (56)
7 51 Danny Woodhead SD 29.7 (45)
7 52 Maurice Jones-Drew OAK 29.4 (51)
7 53 Denard Robinson JAX 24.0 (52)
7 54 DeAngelo Williams CAR 31.4 (54)
7 55 Dri Archer PIT 23.1 (70)
8 56 Knile Davis KC 22.9 (61)
8 57 Lache Seastrunk WAS 23.1 (22)
8 58 C.J. Anderson DEN 23.6 (58)
8 59 Khiry Robinson NO 24.7 (59)
8 60 Ahmad Bradshaw IND 28.5 (62)
8 61 Johnathan Franklin GB 24.9 (67)
8 62 Lance Dunbar DAL 24.6 (68)
8 63 Fred Jackson BUF 33.5 (71)
8 64 Isaiah Crowell CLE 21.7 (55)
8 65 Bryce Brown BUF 23.3 (65)
8 66 Donald Brown SD 27.4 (74)
8 67 Shonn Greene TEN 29.0 (60)
8 68 Kendall Hunter SF 25.0 (66)
9 69 Roy Helu WAS 25.7 (57)
9 70 LaGarrette Blount PIT 27.7 (69)
9 71 Andre Brown HOU 27.7 (70)
9 72 Vick Ballard IND 24.1 (72)
9 73 Latavius Murray OAK 23.5 (73)
9 74 De'Anthony Thomas KC 21.7 (75)
9 75 Ka'Deem Carey CHI 21.9 (79)
9 76 James White NE 22.6 (84)
9 77 James Starks GB 28.5 (76)
9 78 Jacquizz Rodgers ATL 24.6 (80)
9 79 Robert Turbin SEA 24.7 (81)
10 80 Travaris Cadet NO 25.6 (88)
10 81 Lorenzo Taliaferro BAL unr
10 82 Storm Johnson JAX (89)
10 83 Chris Polk PHI 24.7 (105)
10 84 Stephen Houston NE 22.9 (63)
10 85 Henry Josey PHI 23.0 (64)
10 86 Mikel Leshoure DET 24.4 (94)
10 87 Jonathan Dwyer ARI 25.1 (96)
10 88 Stepfan Taylor ARI 23.2 unr
10 89 Alfred Blue HOU 23.4 unr
10 90 BenJarvus Green-Ellis CIN 29.2 (82)
10 91 George Atkinson III OAK 21.8 (87)
10 92 Bilal Powell NYJ 25.8 (95)
10 93 Brandon Bolden NE 24.6 (102)
10 94 Dion Lewis CLE 23.9 (83)
10 95 David Fluellen PHI 22.6 (86)
10 96 Robert Godhigh ATL 23.2 (85)
10 97 Benny Cunningham STL 24.2 (106)
10 98 Tyler Gaffney CAR 23.4 (90)
10 99 Daniel Thomas MIA 26.8 (91)
10 100 Ronnie Hillman DEN 23.0 (92)
10 101 Daryl Richardson STL 24.4 (93)
10 102 Dennis Johnson HOU 24.5 (97)
10 103 Mike Goodson NYJ 27.3 (98)
10 104 Cierre Wood BAL 23.5 (99)
10 105 Bobby Rainey TB 26.9 (78)
10 106 Mike James TB 23.4 (100)
10 107 LaMichael James SF 24.9 (101)
10 108 Isaiah Pead STL 24.7 (103)
10 109 Marion Grice SD 22.4 unr
10 110 Edwin Baker CLE 23.3 (77)
10 111 Joseph Randle DAL 22.7 (107)
10 112 Jordan Todman JAX 24.5 unr
10 113 Michael Ford CHI 24.3 unr
Some commentary on the tiering:
Tier 3 (RB4-11) are all kinda iffy. In a startup I'd be inclined to wait and grab whichever of these guys is going last (often Murray), rather than spending a 2nd round pick on any of them. Though the last 3 in the tier (Peterson, Ball, Forte) I'd only want if I was in win-now mode - the vast majority of their expected value comes in the next 2-3 seasons (for Ball because of his lack of special skill & his dependence on the Manning offense).
One way to approach the RB field this year is to try to collect several guys in tier 7 or better, without paying too much for the package. There are a bunch of guys who could make decent short-term stopgaps, or who are pretty good prospects if you're looking ahead a year or two.
The tier 10 guys mostly aren't worth owning in a league this size; try to find a better use for that roster spot. Rookie longshots are relatively highly ranked within this tier because of the urgency consideration (they have a chance to shoot a few dozen spots up the rankings if they impress right out of the gate).
On rookies:
See my
pre-draft thoughts, and my
elusiveness rankings (second & third year players are there too). Hyde was alone in my top tier immediately before the draft, and his situation & draft position are only slightly worse than Sankey's, so he remains my top rookie RB.
My thoughts on a few players:
7 DeMarco Murray: He's someone to target - a 26-year-old Pro Bowl caliber (top 10 fantasy) RB who a lot of people are afraid of. He has significant injury risk, but at least he doesn't have much "actually not very good" risk (which Martin, Bell, and Ball have) or committee risk (which Bernard & Spiller have).
13 Alfred Morris: Shanahan's offense was perfect for him. High risk & less upside potential going forward based on the system change and his lack of production in the passing game.
21 David Wilson: I liked him a lot coming into the league, and in many respects he has been less of a bust than Trent Richardson (not traded away by his team, ypc over 4, did not get clearly outplayed by mediocre teammates). His problems seem fixable, and he grades out so far more as an "incomplete" than as an on-the-field disaster.
48 Joique Bell: As impressive as he was last year, he's held back by the fact that it's rare for an offense to be able to support multiple fantasy-relevant backs. He is 28 years old, and Detroit has been adding weapons who are likely to take targets away from the RBs in the passing game.
53 Denard Robinson: He lit it up as a running QB in college, and at the combine, and the Jags liked him enough to draft him as a project within a few picks of where the Niners took Lattimore. Now he's bulked up and he'll get a full offseason at RB - I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do.
60 Ahmad Bradshaw: Never bet against a Colt coming off a neck injury. He is just 28 this year, and topped 4.5 ypc and 75 yfs/g each of the past two seasons, so reports of his demise seem premature. And it's a good thing that the injury that kept him out last year is completely different from his previous injuries.
72 Latavius Murray: Seems to be wildly overrated in a lot of places (e.g.,
42 here). I liked him as a prospect last year relative to his 6th round draft spot, but he has shot up the rankings since then while doing nothing besides being on the same team as McFadden and Jones-Drew.
112 Jordan Todman: He boasts a career 3.3 ypc and is in a three-man competition for the coveted Jaguars backup RB spot.