It is finally here, the last edition of my top 30 dynasty fantasy football rankings series. This one was tough and some players pained me to leave out. There are so many really great dynasty players in about the top 60 and I am sure an argument could be made to move some players down or up these rankings but this is where I see it as we sit at this very moment.
21| Derrick Henry 27yrs RB11 2016 2nd Round
Derrick Henry is a monster of an RB at 6’3″ 247lb for the Tennessee Titans. He doesn’t even look like a real person when he is lined up in the backfield. He may have almost zero pass-catching upside but he is one of the few true workhorse RBs in the league. He has totaled 681 carries for 3,567 yards and 33 TDs on the ground over the past two seasons and seems to only be getting better. He has improved by about 500 yards rushing per season since 2018.
Henry led the league in carries for the second year in a row receiving 378 carries in 2020. He turned that into a league-leading 2,027 rushing yards and was second in total TDs with 17. He averaged 20.8 points per game in PPR fantasy football leagues which were third among RBs. He posted 21 breakaway runs due to people probably not wanting to tackle him and also just pure volume. Seriously though he creates yardage better than almost anyone with 997 yards created in 2020. That is 2.51 yards created per touch which is second in the NFL.
With the volume he receives, he would put up decent numbers even if he wasn’t one of the best runners in recent memory. Henry evaded 112 tackles and broke 35 tackles. He is one of the rare RBs that can finish high in PPR fantasy football leagues with hardly any passing game work. Henry had four games under double-digit PPR fantasy points in 2020 but he completely won games for fantasy football managers a few times. He went over 30 points four times in 2020. The guy is just a baller and they will use him plenty even with the addition of Julio Jones.
Henry may be getting up there in age, but he is under contract until 2024. I expect him to continue playing at a high level because I truly believe he is just built different. It is nice to have a high-end RB even if it is only for a short period of time. Fantasy football is more enjoyable when you are winning championships. I obviously have my reservations with his age and am being a little precautionary, placing him down at 21 overall in the dynasty fantasy football rankings.
22|Nick Chubb 25yrs RB12 2018 2nd Round
Nick Chubb is also one of the most talented pure runners at the RB position. He however shares a backfield with another solid RB in Kareem Hunt with the Cleveland Browns. This caps his fantasy football value. He also is only on contract through the 2021 season and will become an unrestricted free agent in 2022. He should re-sign or sign with another team as their lead back but there is uncertainty on where he could end up.
Nick Chubb came onto the scene as a rookie and nearly hit 1,000 yards rushing while only starting nine games! Chubb went over the 1,000-yard mark in each of his next two seasons. He received almost 300 carries in his second year and then only 190 last year as injuries hindered his season and he only appeared in 12 games.
In 2020 Chubb rushed for 1,067 yards on those 190 carries and had his best yards per attempt in his career of 5.6. His targets plummeted as Hunt received a lot of the passing game work. As long as these two share a backfield that could be a problem for his fantasy football ceiling. He however did still average 17.3 PPR fantasy points per game in 2020. This was seventh in the league.
He was also seventh in the league in rushing yards in just three-quarters of a season. He posted 12 total TDs as well which was fourth at the position. His breakaway run percentage was 7.4% which was third in the league showing he is a threat for a big gain on any play. He is also had 3.15 yards created per touch which paces the league and he received ten goal line carries which was seventh in the league. He created plenty of yards and had plenty of breakaway runs in 2019, too, so this is no fluke.
Nick Chubb is a proven stud and while he is not a threat to finish as the overall RB1 in PPR fantasy football leagues this season, barring injury to Hunt, he is sure to be a back-end RB1. Then if he moves on to lead a different backfield following this season he could push to be the overall RB1 in a season. I love Chubb moving forward for dynasty fantasy football.
23|Calvin Ridley 26yrs WR9 2018 1st Round
It looks like Calvin Ridley is taking over as the WR1 in the pass-happy Atlanta Falcons offense with Julio Jones being traded to the Tennessee Titans. Some worry about him taking the Juju Smith-Schuster step back once the WR1 leaves but this is a much different situation. Ridley has already proven he can perform without Julio on the field.
In five games without Julio last season, Ridley passed the century mark for receiving yards in all but one game! Ridley is a truly special WR who could get even better and push for a WR1 overall season without Julio in 2021. He can be a target monster as he already received 143 targets in 2020 which is huge for PPR fantasy football leagues.
He is a big-time contributor in the red zone as well with 22 targets ranking second in the league and I can see him becoming the next Davante Adams type of player. A crafty route runner who has sticky TD numbers and massive target volume. In 2020 he hauled in 90 receptions for 1,374 yards (fourth in the NFL) and nine TDs (ninth in the NFL).
Ridley is also part of a Falcons team who has a terrible defense and less than stellar options at RB (sorry Mike Davis truthers). This means that this should be a very pass-heavy offense yet again and Matt Ryan will sling it until his arm comes off. Ridley ranked fourth in PPR fantasy points per game with 18.8. He is good for splash plays as well as he had the most deep targets in the league with 40! He had a 25.1% target share which could get a slight bump with the Julio departure as well. Russell Gage, Kyle Pitts, and Hayden Hurst will get their targets but Ridley is clearly the best/ most proven pass catcher in this offense.
Ridley is under contract until 2023 as the Falcons picked up his fifth-year option. The future at QB is a little foggy but Matt Ryan seems like he can keep up his level of play as they search for a QB of the future and I expect them to keep Ridley for years to come. If not he can produce even in a different situation. He is a great player to roster in dynasty fantasy football as I believe he is still an ascending talent and can see his value rise.
24|Aaron Jones RB13 26yrs 2017 5th Round
The Green Bay Packers got a steal in the draft with Aaron Jones and every year he gets a little slept on. In dynasty fantasy football many had concerns heading into last season because no one thought the Packers would re-sign him after drafting A.J. Dillon in the second round of the 2020 NFL draft. They shocked everyone and signed him to a four-year deal this offseason and that has moved him up in my dynasty fantasy football rankings.
Aaron Jones has been a very efficient explosive runner in the NFL. He also has a nose for the end zone, finding it 19 times in 2019 and then 11 times in 2020. In only 14 games in 2020, he posted 1,104 yards on 201 carries and caught 47 of 63 targets for 355 yards. The receiving work helps his fantasy football performance and with them letting Jamaal Williams walk in free agency it is highly doubtful they take him off of the field in passing situations in favor of A.J. Dillon.
Aaron Jones was fourth in PPR fantasy points per game with 18.5 which was slightly less than his 19.7 points per game in 2019. He is versatile as he even received 17 slot snaps in 2020 which was 12th at the position. He finished fourth in yards per touch and continued the efficiency he is known for. He averages 5.2 yards per carry in his career, and I don’t expect him to slow down any time soon.
With the Aaron Rodgers drama, it looks like we may get our first look at Jordan Love this year. With a rookie at the helm, Lafleur may decide to lean more heavily on the run game. And Jordan Love may be checking it down at a decent rate. I am not afraid of Rodgers leaving affecting Aaron Jones’s performance aside from slightly bringing down his TD numbers. If Rodgers does get traded it may be time to shoot out an offer to your league-mates and buy low on this talented RB.
25| D.J. Moore 24yrs WR10 2018 1st Round
D.J. Moore has produced extremely good numbers in his first three seasons, going over 1,000 yards receiving in year two and year three. He is still a very young 24 years old! We do not know for sure that Sam Darnold is the answer at QB for the Carolina Panthers but he should take more chances trying to fit balls into tight windows to his WRs. This could lead to better numbers for fantasy football purposes.
D.J. Moore ranked fourth in yards per reception with 18.1 last season and was tenth in yards per target with 10.1. He had an air yards share of 41.6%, which was second in the league and was targeted deep 26 times, sixth in the league. He also just never comes off of the field with 100% route participation.
Moore has continued to grow as an NFL WR and I expect him to put up even better numbers this season. The team lost Curtis Samuel in free agency but brought in Terrace Marshall via the draft. They also still have Robby Anderson on contract through this season. Even with this talent, Moore is still the top target in this offense, especially for dynasty fantasy football purposes. Moore posted 15.4 and 14.1 PPR fantasy points per game the past two seasons respectively.
In 2020 Moore only received 118 targets but he turned them into 66 receptions for 1,193 yards and four TDs. That is 17 less target than the prior season and 21 fewer receptions yet he still managed to increase his yardage total from 1,175 yards in 2019. The Panthers have a brilliant offensive mind in Joe Brady as offensive coordinator and hopefully their QB of the future. I’m excited to watch this offense grow together!
26| Najee Harris 23yrs RB14 2021 1st Round
Najee Harris is my favorite RB to come out of the 2021 class. He is a great pass catcher/ route runner who has the ability to adjust to the ball in the air. He also is a punishing runner at 6’1″ 232lbs. He may not possess breakaway speed, but landing on a Pittsburgh Steelers team that likes to use a true workhorse RB he should get plenty of volume to be a fantasy football RB1 from the jump.
Najee has posted two seasons in the SEC over 1,000 rushing yards. Najee had 209 carries for 1,224 yards rushing with 13TDs as a junior and added 27 catches for 304 yards and seven additional TDs. He then kicked it up and produced even better as a senior. He rushed the ball 250 times for 1,466 yards and 26 TDs! Through the air, he caught 43 balls for 425 yards and four more TDs.
Najee is joining a pretty thin RB corps for the Steelers and comes in as the day one starter. Pittsburgh can put points up and he should have plenty of opportunities to punch it in at the goal line and be used in similar ways as they used Le’Veon Bell in the past, being spread out wide and receiving touches galore. Najee is a first-round pick as well so is on contract for at least four and possibly five years. That type of stability is nice to have for your dynasty fantasy football roster especially with his upside.
27| Clyde Edwards-Helaire RB15 2020 1st Round
The Kansas City Chiefs selected Clyde Edwards-Helaire in the first round and the fantasy football world went crazy ranking him atop the running back class. I was one of them. He may not have deserved this but he also was not as bad as some people think he was in 2020. Now could be a great time to buy low on him as he posted four TDs and 803 yards rushing on 181 attempts in just 13 games. He also was utilized through the air securing 36 of his 54 targets for 297 yards and another TD.
Clyde is tied to one of the most lethal offenses in the league and the top QB for at least another three years with the ability for the Chiefs to pick up his fifth-year option giving him another year. The Chiefs only have Clyde, Darrel Williams, and Darwin Thompson at RB so Clyde’s role as the lead back should be very secure for years to come especially with the draft capital they spent on him. He averaged 13.5 fantasy points per game which are not league-winning numbers, but he should improve on that going into year two.
Clyde has proven to be a solid pass catcher so I could see him drawing even more targets since the Chiefs did not add much in the way of pass-catching options this offseason. This is huge in PPR fantasy football leagues. I think the time to buy Clyde is prior to this season because I think he can truly break out if he can stay healthy. The Chiefs added to their offensive line trading for OT Orlando Brown and also adding OG Joe Thuney, C Austin Blythe, and OT/OG Kyle Long. This should also help create even more running room for CEH in 2021.
28| Ja’Marr Chase 21yrs WR11 2021 1st Round
I honestly probably have this guy ranked too low. What is there not to love about Ja’Marr Chase. He put up incredible numbers for LSU and links up with his former QB Joe Burrow who helped him put up those amazing stats after being drafted to the Cincinnati Bengals. His athletic measurables are also off the charts! He ran a 4.34 forty-yard dash on his pro day placing him in the 86th percentile for weight-adjusted speed score. He also has a 97th percentile burst score, an 82nd percentile agility score, and a 94th percentile catch radius! He also has a 77th percentile breakout age and averaged 21.2 yards per catch (96th percentile) in college!
Chase did not do much as a freshman but absolutely went crazy as a sophomore playing across from Justin Jefferson. Chase actually outproduced Jefferson in their offense as we all well know. Chase played in 14 games put up 1,780 receiving yards on 84 receptions (111 targets) and 20 TDs. He won the Biletnikoff and was a consensus All-American.
He now joins his former teammate on an offense that is on the rise. They have plenty of weapons with Tyler Boyd, Tee Higgins, and Joe Mixon. The offense will have to score plenty to keep up as well since they have a pretty atrocious defense. Chase could step in and produce right away since he already has a rapport with Burrow. He may not put up WR1 numbers right away but it is easily within his range of outcomes and he can do that for years to come for your fantasy football teams.
29| Terry McLaurin 25yrs WR12 2019 3rd Round
Terry McLaurin has been a stud for the Washington Football Team and fantasy football managers alike. He has done so even though he has had subpar QB play. He nearly hit 1,000 yards receiving as a rookie and then exceeded it in his second season posting 1,118 yards on 87 receptions while commanding 134 targets. He has proven himself to be an alpha receiver in the NFL.
His target accuracy was 51st in the league which is not ideal. Only 73.9% of his targets were even catchable which ranks 75th in the league! The target quality rating per PlayerProfiler ranked 69th (noice) in the league. Even with this poor QB play he still ranked 11th in receiving yards in 2020 and was 20th in fantasy points per game.
McLaurin averages 14.3 points per game in his career in PPR. He gets an upgrade in gunslinger Ryan Fitzpatrick. Fitzmagic always seems to elevate his WRs fantasy football production. He also now has a true second WR across from him after Washington picked up Curtis Samuel in free agency. Washington is building quite the offense with Antonio Gibson going into his second season at RB and they added Dyami Brown at WR in the draft. This team should move the ball much better this year especially in a weak NFC East.
McLaurin has played well even against strong competition. I expect him to keep growing as a receiver and build on his numbers from the past two seasons. With Fitzpatrick at QB, I think 140 targets, 95 receptions, for 1,300 yards, and 9 TDs is a pretty attainable line. Washington has a great bridge QB and they will probably look to acquire a QB of the future next year. Washington seems to be building the right way and I trust Ron Rivera to keep Terry involved and this will mean great things for those of us that roster him in our dynasty fantasy football leagues!
30| Patrick Mahomes 25yrs QB1 2017 1st Round
I had to fit QB1 into these rankings. I would be remiss to not put him in my top 30 dynasty fantasy football rankings! Patrick Mahomes is the clear QB1 for fantasy football and NFL purposes. This man is amazing and just dripping with talent. He is tied to head coach Andy Reid and some great weapons with CEH, Travis Kelce, and Tyreek Hill who are all in my top 30 rankings. This just shows how ridiculous that offense is for the Kansas City Chiefs and they provide us with so many options for our fantasy football rosters.
Rostering Mahomes on your dynasty roster means you never have to question that position for the rest of the years he plays you just lock him in until bye weeks. He provides your fantasy football team with a huge positional advantage. Mahomes has put together a 38-8 regular-season record and has passed for over 4,000 yards in his three seasons as the starter. He also earned three pro bowls and one First-Team All-Pro selection, was the 2018 NFL MVP, and the 2019 Super Bowl MVP when he became a very young Super Bowl Champion. He also has a season with the sixth, twelfth, and twenty-third highest QBR in league history!
Mahomes is tied to the Chiefs for the foreseeable future after signing a 10 year $450,000,000 contract which includes a $10,000,000 signing bonus and $141,481,905 of guaranteed money. Giving him an average annual salary of $45,000,000. He is set to become an unrestricted free agent in 2032. This is the kind of stability that is great to have on your roster.
Mahomes averaged 30 PPR fantasy points per game in 2020 and there is no reason he will slow down. As I wrote earlier, they have bolstered their offensive line and he returns all of his main weapons. I am sure we will see Mahomes reach 5,000 yards passing a few more times in his career with the extra game the NFL has added. The kid is money with his throws and honestly, there is no point in going over all of the reasons why he is great because this would just become a Pat Mahomes article. Dynasty fantasy football QB1 for years to come!
This concludes my top 30 Dynasty Fantasy Football Rankings series. Stats courtesy of PFR, PlayerProfiler, and Fantasy Data. Contract info courtesy of Sportrac. Thank you for following along with this fantasy football series. Check out the OTH Twitter page here, the OTH Football Twitter page here, go to OvertimeHeroics.net for all of your sports needs, and don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @FF_Schmuck for more fantasy football content! Be sure to send me any and all of your fantasy football questions for dynasty fantasy football or redraft. @ me on Twitter or send a direct message.
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