Dynasty Fantasy Football Mailbag: Kaleb Johnson, RJ Harvey Or A Veteran?

Welcome back to the DLF Mailbag, the preeminent mailbag in all the dynasty fantasy football land.

While I take most off-season puffery with a glacier of salt, there’s been some intriguing news about some largely forgotten second-year ball carriers in Trey Benson and Marshawn Lloyd. The former provided solid efficiency at 4.6 YPC, but never came close to unseating incumbent James Conner with only 69 total touches. The latter was completely invisible, constantly injured and playing in only a single game.

Benson now seems to fancy himself Conner’s co-RB1, while Lloyd has declared himself completely healthy. Given the fact the Cardinals re-signed Conner last November, I have a hard time seeing Benson becoming his equal, but it’s at least noteworthy that he may get a larger share. With Conner missing contests seemingly every season, Benson could even have some standalone value.

Lloyd has a tougher hill to climb, with Josh Jacobs entrenched as the starter. Still, 2024 backup Emanuel Wilson received 114 total touches. If Lloyd can stay healthy, he will get a chance to show the talent displayed at USC in 2023 when he accumulated over 1,000 total yards.

The RB38 and RB59 by ADP, both Benson and Lloyd have lost significant value over the past year. While this doesn’t make them screaming buys, they’re now more akin to throw-ins in larger deals. If you’re a fan of either player, and if their current drumbeats keep making noise, there’s room for both to grow.

As a reminder, there are multiple ways to pose your burning questions! I’ll be soliciting weekly feedback via X/Twitter (look for a new pinned tweet each Monday), and you can also reach out using our Discord channel, or the old-fashioned way (via our online webform).

Let’s get to it!

From the old-school webform…

The Kaleb Club

I won my eight-team, non-PPR superflex league last year and have pick 1.08. The weakest spot on my roster is RB2. Do you think I should stay at 1.08 and take RJ Harvey or Kaleb Johnson,
or move the pick for a similarly valued veteran running back? – Tom in Florida

According to the MyFantasyLeague ADP, there isn’t a single rookie draft meeting the above parameters (specifically the non-PPR paradigm), occurring since the completion of the 2025 NFL Draft. Instead, you can see the below for the outputs from a half-PPR, superflex league.

As can be discerned from the above, there’s not much daylight between the two rookies, with an ADP difference of only 1.00. While Harvey’s floor is a bit higher in not being selected lower than pick 17, they both have the same ceiling going as the fifth overall selection. In short, neither would be a reach at pick 1.08, nor is one clearly favored over the other.

I’ll save you the diatribe on Johnson in this space, as I recently devoted over 2,100 words to my analysis of him. In short I find him to be a very instinctive and intuitive player, and think it won’t be terribly long before he overtakes teammate Jaylen Warren. The two knocks I had on him were a lack of breakaway speed, as well as a barren pass-catching CV. Fortunately, given the non-PPR setting, the latter becomes significantly less important.

As for Harvey, I thought him to be a reach in the second round of the NFL Draft. It’s true his dynamism cannot be denied, and he’s a big-play threat waiting to happen. However he’s undersized at 5’8” and 205 pounds, and perhaps in part because of this he’s suffered in pass protection. While I do believe in head coach Sean Payton’s ability to identify talent at the running back position, NFL.com evaluators were more unsparing.

Evaluation courtesy of NFL.com.

If it was me, I’d personally go with Johnson. But in thinking this through all the way, we need to get to the second part of your question, as to whether trading for a veteran ball carrier might be the sensible move. And of course with that, begs the question within the question…

…What kind of champion were you in 2024?

Don’t get me wrong, a champion is a champion is a champion. Full stop. But we know there exists nuance to such assessments. Some examples below:

You were the wire-to-wire frontrunner, blowing away the competition all year long based upon your team’s massive strength on your way to placing the crown upon your head.
You were the frontrunner, but deep down you know you benefited from a little bit of luck with your schedule, and perhaps your direct contenders took some key injury losses during the year.
You were a strong contender during the regular season, but not the best team. However you got hot when it mattered in the playoffs, and/or your closest competition took key losses.
You just managed to edge out the competition and claimed a lower playoff seed. Once there though, either you had a crazy couple of weeks, or your competition bombed hard. You won it all and no one can take that away, but deep down you know you didn’t have the #1 team.

So why are we performing this evaluation? Haven’t I always preached taking the best player available, and that the way champions become dynasties is by keeping the cupboards stocked? What’s with the mixed signals, dude?

Yes, in an ideal world we’re making the moves to keep our teams in contention year in and year out. But the fact is that making it to the mountaintop isn’t easy, and making it back again immediately is even harder. But if you have the horses, and perhaps another key addition could further solidify your position (insomuch as we can predict the future of the next six+ months), then I’m a believer in doing what you can to stay on top.

Yes, I’d love to have a roster that’s filled with sexy names and draft picks that possess all the ADP value and theoretical production in the world. But what I’d rather have are trophies on my mantle. Yes, both can be achieved by shark owners, and I’m not denying that – but if the decision is one that gets me one step closer to bolstering my contention, I’m more than likely making that choice.

These are the relevant ball carriers in the value range. If I’m absolutely pushing to win again, give me Jacobs easily. Joe Mixon should have another peripheral RB1 season in him, and there’s a strong likelihood you could get another piece back in return. Chuba Hubbard is similar, but also younger and with more tread on his tires – with his ADP disrespect, I wouldn’t be surprised if you can get quite a bit back with him.

If you’re less hawkish about your shot in 2025, James Cook, Chase Brown and Kenneth Walker should offer some utility moving forward past the next season. This is important because you’re not putting all your eggs in the next season’s basket. When considering the bullets above, if you find yourself in either of the latter two, these could still be strong players who help you both immediately and for years to come.

However, if you’re hellbent on manifesting another championship, you should always consider the nuclear options.

As you have pick 1.08, I’m assuming you have pick 2.08 as well (don’t mind the pick “2.06” above, I was using a 10-team league setting but was more concerned with the 16th overall pick). If not, you could aways seek to find another piece worth similar. Either way, the point is to shoot the moon.

Jonathan Taylor should be the engine of the Colts’ offense, and he’s coming off a season where he compiled over 1,500 total yards despite missing three games. He should be your primary target. Past that, Kyren Williams seems set to have another robust workload in Los Angeles. I’m not too troubled by the state of his contract, and believe he will get re-signed with the Rams. If not, he’s clearly talented enough to gain a starting job elsewhere. Either player would be a fine addition to your budding dynasty.

Past that, let’s look at the big dog Derrick Henry. While his trade value appears to be lower, the fact is he’s still considered to be a dynasty RB1 by the masses despite his 31 years of age. It’s assuredly a unique situation, but Henry is also a unicorn at the position.

Of all the running backs in the NFL, there is a finite selection of players who could lay claim to the following superlatives: 1) most rushing yards, 2) most rushing touchdowns, 3) most total yards, and 4) most non-PPR fantasy points. If he’s not at the head of the pack, Henry is nipping at the heels.

If you’re indeed a strong contender, this is the type of move that could cement your status. No, Henry doesn’t have the theoretical years-long upside of others at the position, but he’s one of the surest bets for 2025 without accounting for random bad injury luck. Additionally, the Ravens still clearly believe he has something left in the tank moving forward, bestowing upon him a contract worth $25 million guaranteed over the next two seasons. Betting on outliers isn’t typically a direct path to success, but if I was to do so, it would be on the future Hall of Famer.

These are just some of the options. There’s also absolutely nothing wrong with going with a rookie if you want to hedge your bets for the future, and as noted above I’m definitely a fan of Johnson. But the opportunity to forge a legacy does not come around often – here again rational minds may differ, but if the possibility presents itself I’m taking the steps necessary to secure my fantasy legacy.

Follow me on Twitter @EDH_27.

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Eric Hardter

Contributor at Dynasty League Football

Eric is a Boston College chemistry grad school survivor with a minor in dynasty football. He prefers to utilize both statistics and sarcasm whenever possible, believes in process over results and thinks "Hot Takes" are the scourge of the fantasy landscape.