The Best 12 Running Backs in 2026 Fantasy Football

Today, we are breaking down our top 12 running backs for 2026 redraft fantasy football. We are starting to get into the time where I'm getting the itch a little bit. I'm getting the itch to talk about redraft season long. There's obviously some dynasty implications here as well. But today, we're going to break down our best 12 redraft fantasy football running backs. All these guys are kind of like top two round redraft picks.

As always, if you guys are new to the channel, you don't know, Season Pass is live right now. August was when we dropped this last year. It's the same price. You get it for two months longer. That'll be linked down below in the description. And of course, the application of these rankings right now is you can go draft best teams over on Underdog Fantasy, which of course will also get you access to our draft guide for free when you sign up with code FSE. And we have the best ball overlay, the best ball tools live for you guys to use in your best draft. So, that all being said, Danny, let's get into the top 12.

Jamir Gibbs and Bijan Robinson. We do not have to spend very much time. 21.5 points per game last year, 21.35 points per game the year before. Jamir Gibbs is our 101 overall and our RB1. The reason for that being the tiebreaker of these two running backs is that Jamir Gibbs plays for the Detroit Lions. The Detroit Lions' indoor games, number one strength of schedule in the NFL. Jared Goff, a much more stabilized quarterback situation than the Michael Penning-Tua Tagovailoa quarterback battle. Um, but you're splitting hairs between the two best running backs in football in their primes. 24 years old, playing for a contract extension. Maybe we'll even see one before the season starts for some of these guys.

>> Yeah, I mean, he checks every single box. We already have the reports right now, Dan Campbell, that they want to give him a bell cow type of role. And yes, that is coach speak, but it's also different coach speak from what we've heard from Campbell in the past. When they had Montgomery, they said, "We want to keep both our backs involved. We love our, you know, thunder and lightning duo that we have in the backfield." And as we know with Jamir Gibbs, we don't even have to pull up the, uh, the splits because how many times on this channel have we talked about the splits of Jamir Gibbs without David Montgomery? The guy averaged averages 2019 Chris McCaffrey level numbers when David Montgomery is not on the field. Do I think PCO could get some type of, you know, short down and distance, third and inches type of carries? Maybe, you know, he'll he'll contribute between the 20s. Sure. But at the same time, all the consequential touches are going to go to Jamir Gibbs. This is the third projected offense in terms of Vegas projections at 26.18 projected points per game and realistically, you know, you're getting superstar talent, you know, you're getting receiving ability and, you know, realistically, like, can he have the season named after him? Like, that's what we were seeking when we were taking running backs at the top of our drafts and the fact that he has everything going his way points him just flat out being the safest pick on the board.

>> Yeah, and in my projections, the Lions are a 31-point per game offense because I think they will be the number one scoring offense in football, which is why Jamir Gibbs is my 101. Bijan Robinson, of course, and a monster in his own right. Both of these guys, my prediction would be 400 PPR points total. Uh, I think we're getting truly legendary seasons, 22, 23, 24 points per game from both of them. Ultimately, it will be a decision of diamond versus platinum. Which one do you want? They're both absolute studs. And, uh, Bijan Robinson is quarterback proof. So I'm not going to say, "Oh, Michael Penning-Tua, that's going to make him not be good for fantasy." No, it's just going to impact his overall touchdown total when Jamir Gibbs has scored 38 the last two years. And Bijan Robinson has scored what, uh, 21, 26? That's the tiebreaker. That's really the tiebreaker between these two guys. It's just the touchdown upside of Jamir Gibbs.

>> Yeah. I mean, Corey, it's pretty simple like this. Do you want prime Jamaal Charles or do you want prime Todd Gurley? Like that, like we're talking about two generational talents in the prime of their careers. They're the top two picks in fantasy for a reason.

>> Exactly. Let's keep going. Uh, number three running back in a tier of his own is Christian McCaffrey because ironically, he was the running back one in fantasy last year. Not either of these guys. And the reason he was the RB1 in fantasy last year is because he had 129 targets out of the backfield and 924 receiving yards, seven touchdowns. To give you an idea, the reigning offensive rookie of the year, Puka Nacua, only beat him by like 70 total yards and I believe had less receiving touchdowns than him as well. So, Christian McCaffrey is a running back and a wide receiver all-in-one, 311 carries. It's ironic that when they announced him for the NFL draft in 2017, they're like wide receiver, running back. And then David Shaw, who coached him at Stanford, was like, "Yeah, same thing." Like, he's he's both. Um, Christian McCaffrey has been the same thing his entire career, potentially if not the best running back in the history of fantasy football. As long as he's breathing, I'm drafting him in the top five.

>> Yeah, him and LT, I mean, like they're the two guys that have demonstrably shown when they are fully healthy and operating have the highest ceiling in fantasy outside of maybe Jamir Gibbs without David Montgomery. But all jokes aside, Christian McCaffrey, all-time points per game is the best running back in fantasy football history.

>> Yeah. Um, and with Christian McCaffrey, the only concern keeping him out of the top two is age, is injury, his efficiency as a runner last year. Like we saw him take a substantial dip in terms of his yards per carry. So I am curious how the offense is going to look. Like, for reference, they are still projected as a seventh-ranked offense, but we kind of saw last year that, you know, with the injuries, with everything that was kind of going on, like there is a little bit of a floor here. Do we see Mike Evans eating into those targets? Do we see a healthy rookie Puka eating into some of those targets? Do we see DeSean Stribbling, who they spent a top 40 pick on, eating into those targets? So, if he's not getting 129 targets, 102 receptions, can he still provide elite fantasy production if the rushing ability is just not there as well? Again, I still have him as my RB3. I saw him as a top eight overall asset just with the injuries combined with more target competition kind of baking in a little bit more downside risk.

>> Yeah, I have the highest on the site at 105. Uh, the San Francisco 49ers scored the 10th most points in in football last year with M. Jones half starting half the season. Brandon Aiyuk out the entire season. No more Debo Samuel. Of course, George Kittle missed a couple games at the end of the year. Like Mike Evans, DeSean Stribbling, Ricky Perea was out most of the year as well last year. George Kittle projects to be back and I talked about that with Dr. James Freddy. The speed bridge repair that he had on his Achilles is actually tracking to be back in time for week one or week two at the very least if he doesn't travel to Australia. As long as Christian McCaffrey is breathing, as long as Christian McCaffrey is not dealing with something, I will be drafting him above the likes of Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Personally, like I will take the risk because 24 points per game, 400 fantasy points and it's not the first time he's done that. It's not the second time he's done that. He's just a man for fantasy football.

>> What is that? Five separate years of 24-plus points per game in a season.

>> He literally, if you look at the top 10 running back seasons in fantasy football history, he has like five of them.

>> Yeah. No, he is an absolute hammer. It's just, I mean, we just mentioned at the top with Alvin Kamara, like if your rushing efficiency dips, like how long is the elite production going to follow? That is literally the only risk to really have with McCaffrey.

>> Yeah. And again, he's going to be minus 210 to score a touchdown every Sunday as well. So, he also has the touchdown upside in addition to the receiving upside. Let's talk about the next tier of guys, which is a little bit veered away from consensus. The consensus 10th running back four is Jonathan Taylor. So, we could talk about him first. We've kind of detailed it before, but in the 21-point per game season that he had last year, it was a tale of two halves. Daniel Jones half and the non-Daniel Jones half. In the Daniel Jones half of the season, he was pacing to be the best pick on on the board in fantasy football last year. He was what, 24, 25 point per game running back, but the Indianapolis Colts were the eighth best offense in football and overall scoring. I am somewhat of the belief that Daniel Jones, the Colts offense, will regress back to a below average offense, let's call it, without Michael Pittman, Alec Pierce coming off of an ankle repair where he might not be ready for training camp. Can Josh Downs take the next step and be an outside wide receiver? Is Tyler Warren maybe going to lead this team in targets? Can Jonathan Taylor keep up the erroneous efficiency that he had last year in his age 27 season with some 2500 carries under his belt in his career? All of these factors lead me to believe that for me, he's actually my RB6. I have both Chase Brown and James Cook ahead of him.

>> Yeah. Um, I actually have both Ash and Genty, uh, or just Ash and Genty ahead of him. I have Ash and Genty at four. I have Taylor at five. Kind of echoing the same concerns. Uh, is this going to be more of like the 15th to 20th ranked offense versus the team that was literally pacing the NFL in terms of offensive validity what the first 8, 9, 10 weeks when Daniel Jones was healthy? Like the Colts offense by every efficiency EPA metric were the best offense in the league and in that time frame, like you can see Jonathan Taylor was what, 27.5, 28 points per game between weeks one and 10? Obviously, Daniel Jones gets hurt, offense gets a little worse, and then we do see him finish the year very poorly.

>> So, yeah, again, I just, I'm relying on Jonathan Taylor's volume and ability to carry him to a 16 to 18 point per game season. Even if the Colts are a league average offense or worse, I do not think he will be a 20-point per game running back unless Daniel Jones can do it again and make this team a top 12 scoring offense. I think in both seasons of Jonathan Taylor's career, that is what he's needed to be a top five running back, 20-point per game running back in fantasy, a top 15 scoring offense, which I don't think the Colts will be. Not that I'm super worried about the speed bridge for Daniel Jones because if George Kittle's projecting to be fine, Daniel Jones probably projects to be fine for the start of the season as well. I just worry about the offense in totality scoring a lot of points. When we move into James Cook, James Cook, very safe projection. This is why I have him over Jonathan Taylor. Essentially, I think both players will be 16 to 19 point per game producers. But the reason I have James Cook ahead of Jonathan Taylor is in his career, James Cook has less volume under his belt, a little bit less of a concern for injury. That's a little tiebreaker for me. And also too, the Buffalo Bills project to be one of the best three to five offenses in football. And I can rely on James Cook to continue his 12-16 rushing touchdowns that he's had the last two years, whereas I don't know for sure if Jonathan Taylor can continue the 15 rushing touchdowns he had last year. So even though in a vacuum I think Jonathan Taylor's probably the better running back and definitely should get more volume in terms of overall backfield share of his of his team, I will trust kind of like the smart volume with with James Cook slightly ahead of Jonathan Taylor.

>> Yeah. Yeah. So, I'm going to have Jonathan Taylor ranked above just because of how strong his year was. We did see what the peak looks like when Daniel Jones is healthy. Even if they're not going to be as good as they were last year, they should still be better than they were to end the year, I guess, is my point. Like, I don't think he's going to be as bad as he was at the end of the year. But at the same time, I don't think he's going to be a 27, 28 point game score like he was. I think it's probably going to be somewhere between, for Jonathan Taylor's case, the 18 through 20 range, which like you said, with James Cook, again, I have them ranked one spot behind Taylor. So, I'm kind of agreeing in terms of they should be at viewed at least interchangeably, whereas on the market, Taylor's like sixth overall and, uh, James Cook's more so in that 12, 13 range in terms of ADP. With James Cook, the factor here is he's been super efficient. He's been scoring touchdowns. Why hasn't he gotten receiving work? That has been my biggest question with James Cook in terms of the stylistic player he is, a space back that can create big chunk plays. How has he not been weaponized in the receiving game? And I would say if this is truly going to be the year that James Cook takes that next step, finishes as a top three to five running back, we're going to need him to finish closer to like 65 to 70 targets than he was, you know, 48, I believe he was at last year. Correct?

>> Yeah, he got 40 targets last year. He had a pretty weak target year. I guess my my hope, I don't know this for sure because here's the thing. You're freeing James Cook's receiving upside because you already know what he's going to be. He'll be worth this pick just based on what he's done the last two years, but you're freeballing the upside that maybe the switch from Sean McDermott to Joe Brady benefits James Cook in the passing game. And I believe that it will. For example, Danny, last year the Buffalo Bills were sub-500 pass attempts as an offense with maybe the best quarterback in football in the last year of Stefon Diggs. So, not the prime Diggs years, the 2020 to 2022, the final year of Stefon Diggs when he was kind of a shell of himself to some degree. I think that's about a comparable situation for the 2026 Buffalo Bills with DJ Moore brought in, Dalton Kincaid, Khalil Shakir, and of course, James Cook there. I think that that's the volume I'm expecting from the team from a pass rate perspective. They were at 585 pass attempts that year. So, if they go, I didn't project them for quite that level. I have them right now projected for 555 pass attempts, but in my projections, I do have James Cook with 11 more targets than he had last year. Again, being somewhat conservative that he could have 60 or 70 targets like we've seen him do earlier on in his career when he had 54 targets, 44 receptions. I think that Joe Brady also loves James Cook as well because when he took over the offensive coordinator job, that coincided with James Cook's breakout.

>> It's pretty remarkable that we've seen James Cook in 2023. I remember he was on one of my breakouts lists. He was a round three, round four pick. And everybody would point, oh, he's not a touchdown scorer. And I'm like, well, what if he simply scores touchdowns this year? And it came at the effect that obviously he didn't have nearly the receiving game that he had in 2024 versus 2023. But it was just funny, like a guy that scored six total touchdowns in 2023. At one point, people were like, "This guy can't score touchdowns." And in the last two years, 18 and 14, respectively. So touchdowns aren't the issue. Now it's reverted back. Is he going to get that receiving production? It's probably not going to be all the way at 34.1, which is what Josh Allen's average attempts per game was in 2023, but I also don't think it's going to plateau to 28.4 and 27.1 that it's been the last two years. Can Josh Allen get to the 31, 32 attempt per game type of range? I think that's a reasonable jump. Obviously, you mentioned with Joe Brady taking over, everything that we've heard reported out of his mouth is that he wants to feature James Cook. So, who knows, man. Like this has got been a guy that we have kept saying time and time again, why don't the Bills weaponize him in the passing game? Maybe we do see it. Maybe we finally see him get to the 65, 70 target game or range. And if he does that, man, like you said, free rolling legitimate top three upside. Why can't he be a 20, 21 point game back? Because he had 65 targets and he punched in 15-plus touchdowns from scrimmage.

>> Yeah. Well, that's the reason I have him ranked at 110, which is the highest of anyone on the site. At the end of the board, you're taking some risks. Like if you take an Amari and Hampton, if you take an Ash and Genty, they haven't done this before. So I will take the risk or the, the lack of risk, I guess, that James Cook is just exactly who we think he is, except plus a little bit more. And same goes for Chase Brown as well. I have him ranked over Jonathan Taylor and James Cook for the simple reason that I have a guy very similar to James Cook who projects to be one of the best three to five offenses in the league. A healthy Joe Burrow, a healthy Ja'Marr Chase, a healthy Tee Higgins. Chase Brown had 88 targets last year on a 15% target share with those guys on the field. Chase Brown having a 15% target share on a 600 pass attempt Joe Burrow led offense is 95 target projection. And also too, Chase Brown has only ever scored six and seven rushing touchdowns in his career in what, 11 total touchdowns in back-to-back seasons. There is very much the opportunity that in a contract season, Chase Brown can have 15 total touchdowns. And 15 total touchdowns for Chase Brown means that he can hit 20 points per game with a 90-plus target projection as well.

>> It's just so funny how each of the last two years he's basically been the same play in fantasy, like, but like the feeling of it is different because like if you drafted him going into last year in the second round, initial part of the year, like what the [ __ ] do I have in Chase Brown? Do I start him or do I start freaking? I mean, I'm not going to go too crazy. Like I feel like people had legitimate discussions in more casual leagues. Do I start Chase Brown or Jonathan Knight this week? Like that was the conversation he was at. And obviously when he was going in the ninth round two years ago and you got that big like high-end production to end the year, you're feeling great. Last year initially you're like, what the [ __ ]? Why did I take this guy in the second round? Of course he was a flash pan and then of course we get Joe Flacco starting. We get Joe Burrow back and this guy takes his game to the entirely new level. He was one of the other pieces, by the way. Didn't have him in the Flock league, but when Chase Brown was struggling out of the gate, I'm like, is everything I thought about fantasy just completely flipped on its head this year?

>> Yeah, it felt that way. And I think I might have been in Ben's DMs every day that that stretch. Like from weeks one to six, I was trying to get Chase Brown off of him like, like I was, you know, a blood donor in need of some AB positive, dude. Like I was, I was trying like hell to get Chase Brown from Pinoake last year. So again, here's the thing. If the Bengals don't trip on their own dicks at the start of the NFL season like they do every single year,

>> They always do.

>> They always do. But if they start out pretty strong, I have no doubt in my mind Chase Brown could f Chase Chase Brown is one of the few running backs in fantasy that I can say with confidence could actually outscore Bijan Robinson or Jamir Gibbs because you know what, 21 and a half fantasy points per game last year down the stretch. Only McCaffrey, Gibbs, and Bijan were in that territory. So for me, I look at Chase Brown as like, yeah, dude, he could he could absolutely crush his ADP. I think it's ridiculous he's not a first-round pick. Ridiculous.

>> Hey, at the very minimum, at least we're just not getting the standard Cincinnati loss to the Steelers in week one this year. But who knows? Maybe, hey, you're a Tampa Bay fan. Like, maybe this is the exact time you want to have the Bengals on your schedule is is in week one. You guys play.

>> Yeah. I mean, I'm 109, dude. I'm I'm all the way in. Let's keep it rolling here.

>> The next tier of running backs,

>> there's two guys that are, let's call them, unproven. Haven't been RB1s in their careers yet, but they were very high draft capital running backs in 2025. Ash and Genty and Amari and Hampton. There's other two guys that have produced a 20-point per game season in the last two years. Saquon in 2024, Devon Achane in 2025.

>> Um, let's start with Genty because you mentioned you have him over Jonathan Taylor. So, I'll let you make the, uh, the case for why you think Genty is, you know,

>> seemingly in the top what, 10 of your rankings or top 12 of your rankings.

>> So, he's my ninth-ranked overall player right now. Basically where you have Chase Brown is where I have Ash and Genty. So, they're kind of flipped in our rankings. Um, with Ash and Genty, it goes back to the fact that I think he is one of the best running back prospects we've seen up there with Bijan Robinson, up there with, I mean, you, you even go back to Christian McCaffrey, you go back to Leonard Fournette, you go back to Ezekiel Elliott, Jeremiah Love, like I think he is that tier of prospect, if not better than half the names that I mentioned there. And obviously, the FS FSE grade will prove that. And I just think the rookie season that he had was just a tale of everything going wrong. I talked about the yards before contact stat, but genuinely that was one of the craziest things I've ever seen. An offensive line producing less than .75 yards before contact per attempt. That is unfathomable. The fact that you can look at a a guy like Ash and Genty and see 3.7 yards per carry, whereas 3.1 yards after contact per attempt would have been a legitimate top 15 overall total in the NFL, speaks volumes to just how bad it was. There was a Nepo baby coach in the offensive line. Obviously, we had, you know, the Pete Carroll, whatever that experiment was. It was a complete train wreck of a rookie situation to lock into. Now, we go this year, you add in Clint Kubiak. We saw what he was able to do to Seattle's offense. Obviously, again, I'm not saying the Raiders are going to be a top 10, a top 15 offense in the league, but I think inherently having Kubiak and having a more stabilized quarterback position between Mendoza and Cousins is going to help the offensive projection a lot. And really, this is just me tying down the fact that I think an elite talent with legitimate three-down workload, 300 to 350 opportunities in the range of outcomes. If we're redrafting next year and we're saying projecting forward who we think can actually take down a Bijan, can take down a Gibbs, can be in that tier going into drafts, to me the answer is Ash and Genty because ultimately the talent profile would lead me that direction.

>> I don't disagree with anything you've said about the prospect profile. Um, I also love the Genty last season at 73 targets. I am the lowest on the site on Ashanti and the reason for that is I haven't done the Raiders projections yet, but they do project 27th in offensive points per game according to Mike Clay's projections, 28th in passing yards, 28th in passing touchdowns. I don't think that Fernando Mendoza is going to come out here guns blazing and, you know, change this team overnight and I do think Kirk Cousins is going to play some games this year. So,

>> I don't disagree.

>> Part of me loves the prospect of Ash and Genty and the player that I scouted at Boise State and go just trust the talent. Don't worry about that other stuff. Just trust the talent, which is why I can't rank him any lower than I have him right now. But I love all the players in that territory. I love all of Amari and Hampton. I love all of Saquon Barkley and those guys. So for me, it's just enough to tie break.

>> Which I think is totally reasonable. Ultimately, I think the best comparable to him and obviously this guy was in year two going into year three and obviously the experiment completely paid off hiring the young gun offensive mind coach to be the next head coach after a tumultuous tenure, uh, with the other guy. But if this is third-year Todd Gurley all over again, I'm not missing out. That's really what it comes down to with Ash and Genty. And I do believe in Kubiak enough. I think we could be talking about him in McVay talks this time two years from now, three years from now.

>> And the pushback I've said before and I'll say again is the Los Angeles Rams were the number one scoring offense in football.

>> Definitely.

>> Yeah.

>> So I just don't see that. If you see that kind of jump for the Raiders, you should have Genty ranked where you do. I think they're going to be a bottom 10 offense in football.

>> So I think they're going to be bottom 10. I'm most saying like he's not going to be like 2017 Gurley fully, but I think in terms of the talent, in terms of how he broke out, in terms of the receiving aspect, how elite of a runner he is, yeah, I don't think the Raiders are going to be the number one scoring offense, but I also think the 28 or the 27 they're kind of projected at. I do think it's a going to be back-calibrated to the point where when we hit week 10, week 11, Fernando Mendoza is fully comfortable in the league. Maybe they're more of a 15 to 18ish type of offense. Yeah, I guess I, I just don't see how the Gurley comp makes sense then. Like I'm talking about, I'm I'm talking about elite player taking the next step because an elite young offensive mind took over. Again, I'm not saying the Raiders are going to be the number one offense, which is why I can't project him to be Gurley.

>> For sure. Um, Amari and Hampton, I would say from a talent perspective, obviously we thought he was slightly worse than than Genty coming out of college. I think both of them left a little bit to be desired as rookies. Like you definitely saw the flashes for Hampton a little bit more so even than Genty where you saw the breakaway runs, you saw the size, you saw the physicality. Hampton also 3.9 targets per game, which you obviously love to see. Um, Hampton is a a risk in my opinion because he's never been an RB1 in the NFL, which is obviously the most correlated piece of fantasy analysis you can make. Just guys that have been RB1s before are more likely to be RB1s in the future. And it was a small sample size. There's game splits you can point to for Hampton for sure. And Mike McDaniel might cure all sins here. Like if if Amari and Hampton gets a 70% opportunity share in Mike McDaniel's rushing scheme for a Chargers offense that now has Rashawn Slater back, Joe Alt back, Justin Herbert at quarterback, the other receivers that I feel very good about between Lad and QJ and Gadson and all those guys. Amari and Hampton could very easily be a 20-point per game running back assuming he's the talent we thought he was coming out of North Carolina. He's one that I always like wrestle on because obviously from a talent perspective, from an offensive projection perspective, it checks the boxes. We believe in Mike McDaniel. We know the offensive line's going to get better. We trust Justin Herbert. Three staples that I mean, realistically, you tell me about any blind running back test is what we want in a running back. The issue that I have with Hampton specifically is, is he going to be a full-fledged three-down back? I think he's got the draft capital, he's got the size, he's got the ability to, but at the same time, Corey, when we were studying him coming out of college, what type of scheme did he thrive in?

>> A gap scheme.

>> And what is Mike McDaniel known for?

>> Running zone rushing. And also a lot of lot of, um, analysis that needs to be done at the line of scrimmage by the running back. And Keaton Mitchell and Kamani Vidal both fit the scheme better than Amari Hampton does.

>> Exactly. So ultimately they bring in Keaton Mitchell. We saw Vidal be, you know, semi-relevant down the stretch. Again, I think the ceiling is so high to the point where you're willing to overlook that because if you're getting a guy in the top 15 and he's a top three to five overall running back, if he's Jonathan Taylor 2.0 this year, who the [ __ ] cares what we were talking about in terms of the downside risk coming in, but I think it's enough to have him ranked below the guys that I do. Some people might want to put him in the tier with Taylor, in the tier where I have Ash and Genty, in the tier where you have Chase Brown. The reason why I think he's a tick below those guys is just based off the fact that I don't know what this backfield composition is going to look. I know that Jonathan Taylor's going to handle 80-plus% of his touches. I know that Ash and Genty is going to handle 80-plus% of the touches. If Amari and Hampton, again, he could still be at 65% and pay off because the offense is the number four ranked offense in the league. But is Keaton Mitchell going to be involved in the passing game? Is Kamani Vidal going to take some of those pass, uh, snaps away? On top of that as well, Hampton, uh, the pass pro just didn't really develop in year one. So I am curious what it looks like in year two. Again, the pass pro is, uh, something that's a little touchy because it's hard to be a very good pass rookie running back when your offensive line is completely cratered in front of you, but at the same time, do they trust Vidal in some of those snap situations?

>> And they should based on how good Vidal was in those situations last year. So I think talent cures all. As long as Hampton takes a step forward, then this stuff is probably a non-issue. Is Keaton Mitchell and Kamani Vidal going to be a 30% combined opportunity share player still? Yeah. Like I don't think Amari Hampton's commanding 80, 85% of the opportunities the way Jonathan Taylor does in his backfield. If if I did think that, I'd probably rank Hampton at 106 because he'd be going like, like you said, he checks. He has Justin Herbert. He has Mike McDaniel. He has a great offensive line. There's no other box he doesn't check. The only thing is, is he the type of talent that's going to command a three-down workload or do does Mike McDaniel go, "Well, we need another guy to do this role for our backfield. We need another guy to do that role for our backfield." And I think Vidal and Keaton Mitchell are good enough backfield competition that could be the case.

>> Yeah, that's kind of where I'm at there with Amari and Hampton. Again, ceiling very, very high. I just think when you got guys that just have easier projectable workloads based off what they've proven or what they go into this year like with Ash and Genty, for example, um, I just can't rank Hampton above above those guys. But when you're talking 15, 16 overall, I'd be willing to absolutely take the plunge on the upside.

>> Yeah. Come the second round, he's he's the risk you got to take. Same goes to me for Saquon Barkley. Obviously Barkley has a different unique set of risks that the other guys in this tier don't because he's 29 years old as opposed to 22, 23, 24 like the other guys in this tier. However, Saquon Barkley also has the inherent benefit that he's been a multi-time league-winning running back. 22-point per game scorer in 2024, 24-point per game scorer his rookie season. We know that unequivocally he's the the clear-cut bell cow for his team. Volume is king, right? That's what the boomers say. Saquon Barkley is a volume is king play. As long as you assume that Saquon Barkley will not get injured, uh, and the Eagles will be, let's call them an average to above average offense, um, even without A.J. Brown, I think DeVonta Smith can produce right away given his profile, how good of a prospect he was. I think Eli Moore could have some packages right away. Goddard and DeVonta Smith are of course still there. If the offensive, uh, infrastructure changes that Sean Mannion brings in are effective for Jalen Hurts, then I think Saquon Barkley's going to crush his ADP to be honest with you. I think he's going to be the type of guy that if we redrafted mid-season could be going off the board as a top five redrafted player because it wouldn't shock me if he's a 20-point per game running back because he's that good. He's a future Hall of Fame talent in my opinion.

>> Yeah, I guess the downside risk here would be, uh, I pointed out the offensive line play, just the injuries up front. Lane Johnson at this point, but well into his late 30s. Does he get banged up again? Obviously has had the back and the disc issues. Um, on top of that, I think the Eagles offensive projection is just simply worse than it's been in previous years. Like we go to overall Vegas projections right now. This has been a team that has flirted top five, top eight level offense. Obviously, when Saquon had that big blow-up year, they were legitimately like a top three level offense due to the rushing game. They are projected now as the 13th-ranked offense in the league. So, I guess my question is, if the offense is a little bit worse, if Saquon's not quite the overall player he was a couple years ago and the offensive line's just not playing as well, we know he's not going to get a ton in terms of the receiving game, how does he really get back to that? I'm not saying he's not going to be in the 15 to 17 point per game range, but how's, how does he get back to the 19 point per game? How does he get back to the 20 point per game? To me, with Saquon Barkley, he's the ultimate get on base, hit a double type of play, but I don't think he can be the home run swing like he was two years ago. I really don't.

>> I do. I think he can still break off eight long touchdowns throughout the entire regular season. You know, I still believe in the play. Like, is he going to have, you know, 70, 80, 90 targets? Probably not. But is he going to be the type of back that can score 12, 13, 14 rushing touchdowns? I still think he's capable of doing that. Whether it's inside the five stuff like we didn't really see a ton of in 2024 or it's the home run hitting nature that Saquon Barkley is. This year's like him and Jonathan Taylor almost exactly the same projection for me, except actually Saquon Barkley's on the better team. So you can argue like if we did the whole, like I know some channels do the whole, like why would I take this guy when I could take this guy later? Why would I take Jonathan Taylor when I could take Saquon Barkley in the second round? Who's on the better team, just as good of a player, has the same level of receiving skill set, has the same level of, you know, long touchdown.

>> That's the difference for me. That's the difference for me. You said the same player. I don't think Saquon Barkley projecting into 2026 specifically is on the level of what Jonathan Taylor proved last year.

>> And again, that's the difference between the two of us. I, I think he is. And I actually still think he's better than Jonathan Taylor, to be honest. He just didn't play well last season.

>> Yeah. I mean, again, I'll give him his flowers. 2024 legitimate like elite elite ceiling. He won your year, your leagues. I just think a 4.1 yard per carry running back behind an offensive line that's clearly not as good as it was in 2024 with an offense that does have its question marks. We don't know how the offensive scheme is going to look. We don't know how it's going to look with Mannion. We don't know how Jalen Hurts is going to look. Like, there's just a lot more question marks here than I would say going into last year. You know what I mean? So,

>> Death, taxes, and people overthinking Saquon Barkley. He was my highest drafted running back in 2024 for this very reason that people are overthinking him.

>> He was cheaper than this going into 2024 drafts, though. Not by much. He was a mid-second, late second-round pick that year.

>> I mean, he was a late second for sure. I remember getting him in like the 20 area for Underdog draft.

>> He shouldn't have been is my point. Everyone agrees now that he shouldn't have been when he went to the.

>> I guess the, the, the real quick thing I, I do want to note too. It is a 29-year-old running back. If he starts showing some wear and tear and the offense is like, "Yo, you know what? You're at your 15th touch this game. We're up a couple points. Let's get Tank Bigsby and Will Shipley in." Like, I think that's more of a risk for Saquon given his age than maybe some of the other running backs in this range.

>> Totally fair. Um, Devon Achane, everyone knows the risk. We don't have to waste any time. I don't think they're the current odds-on favorite, if I'm not mistaken, to have the first overall pick in the 2027 NFL draft. However, what matters more to me is every season of this guy's career, he's been a top six fantasy running back. And last year on an already bad team, the Miami Dolphins were not good. They did not score a lot of points. They did not win a lot of games. He fired everybody. He was a 20-point per game running back, averaged 5.7 yards per carry, and had 5.3 targets per game and an 87-target pace two years ago at an 85-target pace last year in 16 games. Like I just frankly do not care that the Dolphins are going to stink because the other thing is too, and I'm sure many people are going to point this out as low-hanging fruit analysis, the Miami Dolphins have no good receivers. It is within the range of outcomes that Devon Achane has 129 targets the way that Christian McCaffrey had last year. See, and that's where I will rebuttle. These are the three concerns that I have is a Malik Willis's touchdown and yardage projection is literally the lowest of any starting quarterback not named Fernando Mendoza. And obviously with Fernando Mendoza, that's because they expect Kirk Cousins to play. Like you look at his overall projection, he ranks 24th at 3,500 passing yards, 15 and a half passing touchdowns. Even if you're the lowest person on Tua Tagovailoa, Tua Tagovailoa at least had brought a much higher passing floor than what we saw from Malik Willis. On top of that, we do have the concerns. Mike McDaniel obviously no problem using him in a full bell cow capacity. Is Bobby Slowik going to think the same way? Is he gonna maybe take some of those between the 20 carries? Again, I still think ultimately the consequential touches will go to Devon Achane, but some of the overall volume plays like if we go to the overall career, um, how was, how was his touch dispersal last year compared to years past?

>> Um,

>> like he had what?

>> Uh, go to averages.

>> Yeah, he had 14.9 carries,

>> 20 opportunities per game. Like, like, is Slowik going to give him 20 opportunities per game or is it gonna give him closer to the 15 to 18 range? Like,

>> why would you think that? Like, is it the fact that they paid him? Like, is it the fact that he's been elite? Like, I just don't see a reason why we would project that outside of maybe you think it was a McDaniel thing. I don't know.

>> Well, that's the point. McDaniel's o, like McDaniel showed he was willing to give a 195-pound running back that many touches, 20 touches per game. Not every offensive mind is going to think that same way. That's the only concern that I'm pointing out.

>> That's that's the concern that keeps me from putting Devon Achane where Zach has him because Zach has him seven overall and I would be totally fine putting him there if Mike McDaniel was still the coach.

>> Well, that's what I'm saying. It's like that's enough for me to rank him for maybe the 8, 9 area that I would rank him. Fully, no concerns, like he was like if he had the exact same projection from last year going into this year, he'd probably be my eighth or ninth-ranked player. But the fact that,

>> ninth-ranked player last year and Puka at eight and him at nine. Um, but the fact that they're the third lowest projected offense, we do have the change in offensive philosophy. And I mean, realistically, if Bobby Slowik wants to give eight combined touches per game between Jaylen Wright and between Ollie Gordon, like we truly don't know that yet.

>> Yeah, I don't disagree with you. I guess again, going back to the whole like, why would I draft Jonathan Taylor with not as much receiving workload? I have concerns about his offense too, when I can take Devon Achane who historically for full PPR leagues has been more consistent anyway.

>> It's valid. It's valid. It's just the reason why I have him ranked below like Derrick Henry, Ken Walker, we'll talk about in a second. Um, Ash and Genty, Chase Brown. Like I still like Devon Achane if I can get him in the mid-second, but if I can't, if I can't get him in the mid-sec, I have to take him top 15, top 14. I just prefer the better offensive projections around him.

>> Yeah. And I actually, while we were talking about this, he's the devil I know in this tier. He's number one of this tier for me. I know his offense is the worst between Barkley and Genty and Hampton, but, um, past fantasy production is the number one predictor of future fantasy production. The team was bad last year. So that's that's where I'm at with Achane. I think his receiving skill set will buoy him to a very easy top six to eight finish.

>> Yeah, it's just more so I think given the offense, he's probably more so in the 16 to 18 range as opposed to being the 20-plus point game smash smash.

>> I'll take 16 to 18 out of an early running back any day of the week.

>> Again, this is far more I'm pro this range. Like I think all these guys are just such strong projections, but I don't see the way, uh, Devon Achane crushes given the offensive context.

>> For sure. Let's keep it rolling here and try and speed these up a little bit. We have Derrick Henry. As long as he's breathing, it's hard to doubt him.

>> 16.4 points per game despite the offense completely cratering last year. Lamar Jackson dealing with his issues. They go out this offseason, reassure the offensive, uh, environment around him. Eliza Serat, Jacobe Lane brought in as receivers. Lamar Jackson potentially going to be fully healthy this year. And the best part of it all is Declan Doyle coming over. I truly think.

He could be a star offensive mind. I so I uh talked about this in Sunday's video, but um do you know that the Baltimore Ravens had the oldest combination of head coach and offensive coordinator last year of 123 combined years, John Harbaugh and Todd Monkin and this year they have the youngest combined brain trust head coach of offensive coordinator. Declin Doyle is barely 30 years old and Jesse Mter is 43 years old.

>> So you know how I think you know why I think Declan Doyle is going to be such a hit?

>> Why? because Jesse Mentor handpicked him and I trust Jesse Mentor. That's >> I trust Jesse Mentor. I also trust anybody who worked that closely with Ben Johnson for any significant period of time. And by the way, before he worked with Ben Johnson, he worked with Shawn Payeyton. Like those are that is a masterclass of offensive play calling.

>> Well, that's the point, right? It's like if Jesse Mter the hottest defensive coordinator candidate turned head coach candidate on the market last year >> since Mike McDonald.

>> Yeah, exactly. since Mike McDonald obviously just talking about last year when funny enough of course Mike McDonald Jesse Mentor running the same system like they were running at Michigan obviously if he said in my first head coaching opportunity I trust you Declan Doyle to be my offensive coordinator to run my entire offense I think that can only speak bullish Derrick Henry of course he's going to have concern he has a ton of touches he's been injured before he's 32.4 four years old, but if he plays 17 games, he's scoring 15 touchdowns and rushing for,400 yards. Don't overthink him.

>> Yeah, don't overthink it. And by the way, I'll show this really quick. Um, when Derrick Henry had a healthy Lamar Jackson last year, actually, I guess technically the huge blowup game did not have Lamar Jackson in it. So, that's going to skew it. Other than that 45 burger that he put up, >> yards per carry, bro.

>> Yeah, the yards per carry and the efficiency difference was definitely um viable when you actually look at from week six onward. So again, in week one, he had 29 points per game. So it's hard to find a legit uh split for Terk Henry, but generally speaking, when Lamar Jackson was out there, he was better. He was more efficient. He was able to um like again, you see week six and onward, that's when he started producing at a higher level. Week one, obviously, Lamar was healthy for that as well. Generally speaking, he's he's just such a safe projection. I understand a 32-year-old running back can never be a safe projection, but I am so sick of doubting Derrick Henry. I'm so sick of doing it. Corey, doesn't it just feel oozy and cozy that uh you can take the guy currently leading the projections in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns by Vegas and you can take him in the mid to late second round.

>> You might get him at the two three turn as your third pick, man. Like this is insane that he's going this low. You can pair Jir Gibbs and Bejian Robinson with him.

>> Yeah, man. Like I >> in some case, especially in in leagues like with, you know, slappies or whatever, like my league mates are becoming slappies. Like I have no doubt in my mind that Derrick Henry could slide to me at the two-3 turn. Dude, since when did be we become boomers? We were known as the anti- running back aegis guys literally two years ago and now we're just quiet running back enjoyers.

>> We are. Yeah. And uh Kenneth Walker obviously one of the biggest busts in fantasy last year. At least the biggest disappointments, let's call it.

>> We can speak on that personally. We can speak on that personally. This guy >> I >> It's just irritating. It's irritating to look at his game logs. Kenneth Walker last season was the Super Bowl MVP, but was basically a low-end RB2, high-end RB3 for the entire fantasy season because Clint Kubak decided to, you know, play Zack Charbanet more than he should have been played. And it's not that Kenneth Walker is, you know, this god uh gifts to running backs player. I think there's validity to playing another running back alongside Kenneth Walker, which is why when you look at my ranking of Kenneth Walker versus your ranking of Kenneth Walker and the rest of the site ranking on Kenneth Walker, I'm a little bit more pessimistic on him becoming Bellcow three down workhorse because didn't happen at Wake Forest, didn't happen at Michigan State, it didn't happen in Seattle outside of that 12game stretch 2024. So for me with Kenneth Walker, I'm viewing him as, hey, I think the ceiling here is kind of like what James Cook has been where he can be like a 40 target, 250 carry type of guy. I don't think there's a world out there where he's a 20 point per game running back. Even if Kansas City is a top five offense, I don't think there's a world out there because I think EMTT Johnson and Bashard Smith and some of these they're all the the running backs they have or third down guys. All the other running backs. So I don't think Walker will get those full a lotment of long down and distance snaps.

>> Might not get the full a lotment. I think he's going to take the strangle hold just off the fact that I don't think either of those are completely enough to play a full a full three down workload like obviously or full three down role like obviously they can contribute but if you go back there uh in terms of where everybody has them ranked um first of all um Avery 28 you could be against Kenneth Walker let's let's up that

>> I think it's valid I I think it's valid I I wouldn't rank him that low but I think it's valid to have the concern that he might be more in the range of Kairen Williams and Javvante Williams which is where I have those guys ranked than he is towards the the top half of where you know Sammy and Zach and Davis and some of these guys have him ranked. I think it's more reasonable to think he's going to be Javvante or Kairen personally.

>> Yeah, I disagree and I'll touch on that. Um this is a guy that I had to roster throughout the year until I traded him to you and then had to watch when I didn't have him on my team. Produced 19 for 116 and three touchdowns with three three for 29 in the receiving game against San Francisco. Produced 19 for 62 and a touchdown with 4 for49 through the receiving game against the LA Rams. And obviously in the Super Bowl we know what he did. 27 for 135. Uh two catches for 26 yards on four targets. Like that is what it looks like when Ken Walker holds up to a three down workload. And I think that's the Kenneth Walker that the Chiefs signed to $15 million per year. EMTT Johnson, sure he's got a skill set. We were both lower on the prospect than the overall consensus was. He was a day three pick for a reason. Ultimately, I think the third down staffs, sure it could be leaving out. Like you could see EMTT Johnson split in. You could see, you know, Bashard Smith split in, but realistically, I think at the very minimum, we could project for 40 to 45 plus targets, and we could project for a guy that is a legitimate threat for 15 to 18 touchdowns. You mentioned James Cook, probably the ceiling comp. I would tend to agree, which is why I have James Cook ranked above Kenneth Walker, but at the same time, I view them relatively similarly as elite running backs with elite scoring equity and offenses that I believe in more than you do. I think the Buffalo Bills probably a top 10, top eight level offense.

>> Number one in my projections right now. Oh, actually, okay. So, you're high on the Bills offense. My apologies then. Um, and Ken Walker, I think this is a legitimate top 10 to 12 offense, and you're more so in the 16 to 18 range.

>> Sorry. They'll be number two after the Lions, but yeah, once I finish the Lions, they'll be after the Lions, but they're not

>> I'm curious, you haven't done the Chiefs yet, but like you you would have them probably 15 to 18. They're more so top 10 to 12 for me. Yeah, I think it'll be somewhere between 12 and 18 depending on how many games I project Mahomes for and you know how the timeline like in my initial projections I'm going to be pessimistic on Patrick Mahomes but when the training camp period opens maybe things change in my projection. So, yeah, I'll probably be closer to 15 to 18 now but then maybe closer to 10 to 12 or 12 to 15 if things go well. So, what's fascinating to me in terms of the Vegas projection, right, is obviously uh this is accounting for Patrick Mahomes potentially starting on the pup or potentially, you know, coming in and missing week one. Like, obviously, we don't know exactly know what's going to happen, which is why I'm speaking hypotheticals, but even baking all of that in, the Chiefs last year averaged 21.3 offensive points per game. This year, in terms of Vegas projections, they're at 24.24. That's a 2.94 point per game increase. And now you're getting a back that's making $15 million per year with Andy Reid. And obviously we have pointed to the fact that oh Andy Reid he hasn't really used running backs well in the last few years. But I think that's more a personnel thing. Like when you're dealing with Isaiah Pacheco and his shortcomings, Kareem Hunt, whatever the [ __ ] they had version of him in the last couple years, like they just haven't had a strong running back that they can use in a workhorse capacity. And to me, Kenneth Walker more so profiles into his Brian Westbrook, into his Lehon McCoy. That's kind of why I'm higher on Walker as a whole is if he does get that type of Bellcal usage, we could be talking about the biggest winners in fantasy in my opinion.

>> Yeah, I don't disagree. So, those are our top 12 running backs. And originally, we were going to do a full top 24, but I think it made more sense to go in-depth on the first 12, then we'll do a 13 to 24 on Wednesday. So, we're going really in depth on all these running backs, getting through the pros, the cons, the, you know, strengths, the weaknesses, and all that kind of stuff. So, make sure you guys stay tuned to part two of this running back rankings tier list. And of course, we'll do the same thing for wide receivers. We'll probably just do a one-part version for quarterbacks and for tight ends later next week or whatever. Um, but yeah, leave a like if you enjoyed. Subscribe to the channel if you're new around here. Like I said at the beginning of the video, our season pass is live right now. 34 bucks. We'll cover you until the end of 2026. So, you have all of the reddraft content you need for your seasonl long drafts, all of the draft guides of all your favorite creators, the reddraft tool access. We are actually building out overlays for Sleeper, for Yahoo, and ESPN, which can help you directly in your drafts. And of course, the best ball tools are live if you want to take some of this advice into action. Stay tuned for the other videos and check out everything else that is on the site there as well, whether it's an annual [ __ ] for dynasty purposes or whatever the case is. So, like, comment, subscribe. Peace out. We'll talk to you soon.