In Dynasty leagues everyone always wants to know who is "next" and the answer is generally someone who is still in college. But there are a few intriguing running backs who have been in the league and could be next if everything goes right. Guys like Khalil Herbert and Alexander Mattison immediately come to mind. The problem with them is that they may have no value at all if the starters on their team stay healthy. Much like Kareem Hunt. A.J. Dillon and Tony Pollard look more like high-end flexes who could be top-12 running backs with an injury.
I rank Dillon the highest because I'm more confident he could eventually land a workhorse role and because he's almost exactly a full year younger than Pollard. At 25 years old, Pollard runs the risk of being all the way into his prime before he ever gets a shot at a feature role if Elliott can stay healthy.
One of the biggest blights on Pollard's potential future is Elliott's contract. The team could theoretically get out of it after this season, but they would have to eat more than $11 million. Considering how fond Jerry Jones is of Elliott, it's likely to take another injury or some truly atrocious play for Jones to swallow that loss. The details are not that dissimilar from Aaron Jones' contract (he's guaranteed $9 million in 2023), but there is a path for Dillon to have more value with Jones on the roster.
We've seen Jones moved to receiver more in the past without Davante Adams and now that Adams is gone for good it seems highly likely that Jones will do that more often. The presents more opportunities for the Packers to play both of their backs at the same time, which makes sense because they may currently be their two most explosive playmakers. For Pollard to get on the field even more than Elliott, he'll likely have to go in the direction of Jones and find more time at receiver.
I'm three spots behind consensus on Dillon and five spots lower on Pollard, but both of these backs could vault into the top-15 if everything went their way this season. Considering Jones and Elliott will both be 27 years old at the start of the season, that's certainly possible. Both Pollard and Dillon have shown elite efficiency early in their career and should be on above average offenses. They may very well be what's "next" at the position. But they also may need a little help to get there.
Here are my updated Dynasty running back rankings:
