2026 Fantasy Football Running Back Depth Charts: Every NFL Backfield Breakdown

Fantasy football used to be easy. Back in the early 2000s, virtually every running back who topped their depth chart got every touch, which was great for fantasy football. So our fantasy football rankings were all dominated by running backs at the top. It was glorious. But now, in the modern NFL, the landscape has changed drastically with RB committees being the most popular setup. That has forever changed how we view fantasy football RB depth charts.

And, to be honest, this is a good thing for us. Fantasy football running back rankings are much HARDER now, which gives an advantage to the folks who take it seriously. Now you need to put in the work to figure out who is getting the high-leverage running back snaps and touches that actually matter for fantasy football. And, lucky for you, I pore over that data every offseason so that we can make our best predictions. With that, we create our Running Back Questionnaire chart:

What Is the Fantasy Alarm Running Back Questionnaire?

The modern running back position is essentially split into five roles (lead back, pass down back, goal line, two-minute drill, and late lead). On some teams, one guy does virtually all the work (like Christian McCaffrey). On other teams, the role is split among multiple players (like the Bills have done). Who gets those important touches can mean all the difference for our fantasy football RB rankings.

So what I do, on top of watching the games, is pull up the data on as many of these situations as possible. We look at who is starting the games and drives. We look at who is playing obvious pass downs. Who gets the carries inside the five? Who takes the snaps in the two-minute” drill (though we look at four minutes for a better representation). And who is closing out games up two or more scores in the fourth quarter? Then we share that data and decipher what matters or not. And we also update this chart every week of the season so that you can stay on top of what is happening LIVE. 

How To Identify Bell Cow Running Backs?

With some guys, this is easy. For instance, 2024 Saquon Barkley was chasing a record and took the vast majority of touches, even when they were up by three scores against the Cowboys. In an ideal world, all of our guys would do that. But that’s not really how it works.

The next best situation would be a guy who gets most of the work but gives up “low leverage” situations. Basically, another back comes in to give him a breather at times, obvious pass plays where the running back is just blocking, or burning clock at the end of games. If our guy is starting, getting the goal line carries, getting the meaningful pass snaps (especially two-minute drill), then we still have plenty of upside. We’ll discuss which guys fit the bill below.

How To Identify Bell Running Back Committees

These aren’t always easy to identify, and they aren’t always built the same. If another back is going to actually start drives, especially at the start of a half or quarter, that’s a dead giveaway that it’s a meaningful rotation. With other situations, we have to look a little closer.

A very common split is to have one back play early downs, and another take pass downs. That’s been well documented in Baltimore with Derrick Henry and Justice Hill, for instance, and has capped some of the receiving work for Henry over the years. Other teams could have the dreaded “goal line vulture” who just comes in for the short yardage, as the Dolphins did with Raheem Mostert or the Lions with Jamaal Williams.

The chart will do its best to illustrate when the split is meaningful enough to impact the upside of the starter. But make sure to check the write-ups for each team for the nuance of the situation. It’s not all black and white, and the usage can affect each team differently. 

Arizona Cardinals

This backfield already looked crowded coming out of an aggressive free agency. They already had Trey Benson on a rookie deal. Then they managed to convince James Conner to revise his contract to stay with the team. They also added Tyler Allgeier to the mix in free agency - someone many felt deserved to find a bigger role elsewhere after playing well behind Bijan Robinson in Atlanta. Then they surprised everyone by taking star prospect running back Jeremiyah Love at three overall in the 2026 NFL Draft.

Drafting Love that high in the draft gives him a fully guaranteed $53M contract. To put that in perspective, the next closest guaranteed money in an NFL deal is $36M for Saquon Barkley. So you would think the Cardinals would lean heavily on this player, whom they invested so heavily in. But did they really make those moves pre-draft to not utilize the other guys? At the crux of the problem is that the Cardinals are not known for making smart decisions as an organization, but we do believe in the talent of Jeremiyah Love, so we aren’t afraid to take stabs at his upside. Just know that he could be in line to rotate some, at least early on.    

Atlanta Falcons

There really aren’t many holes you can poke in the game of a dominant back like Bijan Robinson. Especially when he gets over 100 targets, usage in the pass game is crucial when your team has questions at quarterback. Which is the main drawback when it comes to Bijan; we don’t know for sure how Tua Tagovailoa and/or Michael Penix will look this year.

The other question is whether Kevin Stefanski will continue mixing in Brian Robinson the way the Falcons used Tyler Allgeier. Every team in the modern era splits the backfield to some degree, but Allgeier did get the bulk of the mop-up work, and also half of the goalline work with 7 carries each inside the five. In fact, in those situations, Allgeier scored 4 touchdowns to 2 for Bijan. Kevin Stefanski primarily used Quinshon Judkins for both mop-up and goal line, so let’s hope he leans on his starter.

Baltimore Ravens

This split has been pretty consistent for a couple of years now. Derrick Henry is the starter. He’s the goal line back. We worry about Lamar Jackson as a redzone threat, but Henry got 24 carries inside the 5-yard line to only 1 for Lamar Jackson, and they aren’t afraid to use him to eat clock with a late lead. For two years in a row, he has added 30+ fantasy points while the Ravens are winning by two scores in the fourth quarter alone. He closes out the games. He can do that, not only because of his freakish size, but also because they give him time to rest by using Justice Hill on pass downs. That includes the two-minute drill.

Derrick Henry is going to be the starter, no doubt about that. The question is whether new OC Declan Doyle wants to keep the split arrangement or possibly give Henry more work. He could also further the split as the Ravens drafted Adam Randall, a converted WR who comes in at 6’3”, 232 pounds. Randall could threaten Justice Hill's role and possibly take the load off Henry if they wanted. But I would bet on the split remaining largely similar to past years for now, with Randall as the backup for both roles if needed. That makes Derrick Henry a solid standard league play, but it caps his upside for PPR formats. 

Buffalo Bills

The Bills are a really interesting microcosm of how the modern running back landscape works in fantasy. Because James Cook is the starter - that we know. But he gives away a big chunk of the routes run to Ty Johnson (216 for Johnson vs. 261 for Cook). Ray Davis comes in for late leads (21 carries to 13 for Davis in the fourth quarter when up by two or more scores). And he has split the goal-line carries virtually evenly with quarterback Josh Allen over the last two years. 

Despite that, James Cook finished as the RB6 and RB7, even in full PPR. And that’s because he’s in one of the league's best offenses, where there are still plenty of opportunities despite him sometimes playing only 50-60% of the snaps. As we often say, running is the luxury of the winning team in the NFL, which makes James Cook one of the safer picks in fantasy, even if his upside might be slightly capped by the split. If you are playing in giant tournaments, though, hoping to hit the next guy that scored 400 PPR points, James Cook doesn’t quite have that kind of usage.

Carolina Panthers

Dave Canales has a history of preferring to feature one back. And we love that for fantasy football. Last year, he started with Chuba Hubbard and, when Hubbard got hurt, Rico Dowlde got a chance and looked great in his two-game sample size. Canales briefly used a rare split before leaning on Dowdle, then, in playoff time, leaning back on Hubbard. Per Dowdle himself, that drop in usage at the end was key in his decision to leave in free agency.

So you would think it would be Hubbard’s backfield here. But there is one wrench in the plan that could come into play. And that wrench is named Jonathon Brooks. The Panthers made Brooks the first running back picked in 2024, but injuries have derailed the first two years of his career. Per Cameron Wolfe, the Panthers let Dowdle go because they feel Brooks could be a “guy that defines this offense”. With Canales, the best guy could run with the job, so it’s something to watch.  

Chicago Bears

Last year, D’Andre Swift was the clear starter early on. For the first four weeks, he kept rookie Kyle Monangai at bay, playing the majority of the high-leverage snaps. But nagging injuries opened the door for Monangai to play more, pushing the split to nearly 50/50 at times (though a healthy Swift was still playing slightly more snaps in most games.

The question going into 2026 is whether Swift can truly maintain as the lead or whether Monangai will have a clear role of his own, as David Montgomery did under Ben Johnson with Detroit. Last year, they split the goal-line carries right down the middle, but Swift got the starts, more pass-down work, and more two-minute drill work, so it’s still Swift over Monangai for us in drafts. That doesn’t mean Monangai isn’t an interesting “handcuff plus” pick.

Cincinnati Bengals

Chase Brown finished the season with 88 targets. Though it is worth noting that a whopping 24 of those targets came in the three games where Samaje Perine was out. The Bengals have an odd setup where, on obvious pass downs, they will either use Perine or sometimes even Drew Sample to help in the pass protection. That has seen them lead the league in “zero back” sets at times, as Drew Sample is technically a tight end.

That said, even without the stretch without Perine, Brown was on pace for 75 targets. And he handles the bulk of the important work, including goal line for what should be one of the NFL’s top offenses. So that doesn’t necessarily prevent us from drafting Brown at his ADP - if anything, Perine is a sneaky very last round pick for best ball or zero RB builds. 

Cleveland Browns

Quinshon Judkins passed the “eye test” at times last year, but a bad Cleveland Browns offense kept him to a paltry 3.6 yards per attempt. That said, there were some promising numbers that support the “eye test,” like his 735 yards after contact, which was 14th for RBs despite only playing 14 games. Unfortunately, he only played 14 games because he suffered a serious injury that saw both a dislocated ankle and fractured fibula in December. 

Reports are at least promising that he’s running at OTAs and actually looks pretty explosive. But we do have our concerns anytime a player is coming off a serious injury, especially late in the season. I do expect Judkins to start and handle the short yardage work, with Dylan Sampson likely taking the role Jerome Ford was in, skewing pass downs. As of now, I’m willing to consider both players at ADP, but I’m not looking to handcuff Judkins with Sampson - this is the Browns, after all. I’m taking either one or the other on a standalone basis to see if Judkins can return to form or, if not, Sampson can carve out a bigger role. 

Dallas Cowboys

Javonte Williams was one of the few backs in 2025 who led his team in all phases. Even when it was a “late lead” situation, Williams got 15 carries while the only other back to get touches in those situations, Jaydon Blue, only got five. That’s likely why Javonte Williams had the second-highest snap share of any running back in the league in 2025 behind only Saquon Barkley.

This offseason, the Cowboys had plenty of opportunity to bring in new faces to complement Javonte Williams - but they didn’t. It’s still Malik Davis, Jaydon Blue, and Phil Mafah behind him on that depth chart. In fact, they gave Javonte Williams a long-term extension. He offers a great floor and a great ceiling. What else do we want from a fantasy football pick?

Denver Broncos

For the first 10 games of the 2026 NFL season, the Broncos used a bit of a frustrating rotation. JK Dobbins was the starter and early down back. For goalline, Dobbins got most of the carries on first and second down, while RJ Harvey sometimes got a crack on third down (scoring two touchdowns on such plays). But Harvey wasn’t the clear pass-down back for much of the time - Tyler Badie garnered a lot of the obvious pass-down work during that period, including the two-minute drill. Eventually, Dobbins got hurt, and Harvey took over, where he had a nose for the endzone for the rest of the season, racking up scores. 

An additional wrench was thrown into the mix here with the selection of Jonah Coleman in the fourth round of the 2026 NFL Draft. He’s a bruiser at 5’9” 228 and racked up 24 of his 25 rushing TDs in college from inside the 20-yard line, per The Athletic. Our best estimation suggests that JK Dobbins should start, and the explosive RJ Harvey will likely take the pass work. That wouldn’t be far off from most splits, but if Jonah Coleman does steal some short yardage work, including goalline, that could stretch things too thin for fantasy football.    

Detroit Lions

For multiple years, it was David Montgomery on early downs with Jahmyr Gibbs on pass downs. In 2025, Gibbs actually took over as the starter, which really opened up his ceiling. Montgomery still mixed in and got mop-up duty (25 carries while up two scores in the fourth quarter to 14 for Gibbs). He also got 14 goal-line carries to 8 for Gibbs. But Gibbs, being the starter and getting the pass work, was the far better fantasy asset.

Now that David Montgomery has been traded to the Houston Texans, the question is whether Gibbs can get more of the job or whether incoming free agent Isiah Pacheco can take some of that Montgomery role. Coach Dan Campbell seems to believe that they will be leaning on Jahmyr Gibbs more than ever in 2026. And that sounds pretty good to us, which is why we have him ranked as the #1 RB in our rankings this year. 

Green Bay Packers

The Packers' backfield split has developed into what we consider the “next best thing” to the pure bellcow. Josh Jacobs is the starter and gets most of the high-leverage situations. That includes goal line, where he got 16 of the 20 carries inside the five-yard line (three for Emmanuel Wilson, one for Jordan Love). Beyond that, they would just mix in Emmanuel Wilson whenever possible to keep Jacobs fresh, which included some pass work and about half the carries when they were up two scores late in games. 

Now Emmanuel Wilson is gone, as he was signed in free agency by the Seattle Seahawks. We expect someone to split with Josh Jacobs (maybe Marshawn Lloyd will finally have a healthy season). But we are not so much worried about the split as we are about the legal issues he has swirling. He was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence, though no formal charges were filed. That does not mean they won’t be filed or that the NFL won’t do their own investigation. Anything arising from that could make the Packers candidates to add a back in free agency. 

Houston Texans

So anytime we have shake-ups with backfields, we keep our ears to the streets for comments. And we got some telling ones out of Houston from RB Coach Danny Barrett. He was asked about running back Woody Marks and had some positive things to say, but he rounded that out by saying he would operate on “some 3rd down, special teams, kick off return guy. But more importantly, probably in the passing game.”

That pretty much confirms what was suspected, which is that David Montgomery is the clear starter after the Texans traded for him this offseason. Given his skill set, we can likely pencil goal-line work in as part of that. The question now is how much of that pass work Woody Marks can pry away, but there’s a real chance Montgomery could have a resurgence this season in Houston. Houston has made it to the playoffs in all three years with C.J. Stroud as the starter. 

Indianapolis Colts

Jonathan Taylor is a superstar. So much so that he was in the MVP conversation for the first half of last year, before injuries ground the Colts' season to a halt. As the tweet below shows, Jonathan Taylor is one of only five active running backs who have averaged over 100 yards from scrimmage for their entire career - and he’s the third-highest on the impressive list.
 

The Colts did make an addition in the draft, but not until the seventh round when they took rookie Seth McGowan. Taylor was the go-to guy in four of the five phases last year, including “two-minute drill” situations where he oddly got 25 carries, a fairly high number for those scenarios. The one situation he did not lead the team in carries was “late leads” with a two-score lead in the fourth quarter. They let DJ Giddens do more of the mop-up work, where he had 15 carries to 8 for Taylor. But Taylor did manage to still score two touchdowns in those situations, one on a carry and one on a pass. And, to get a late lead, usually the starting RB has a pretty decent day. 

Jacksonville Jaguars

This one could be big for fantasy football. The Jaguars won 13 games last year, and starting running back Travis Etienne was a top 10 back in fantasy. Whoever gets the starting gig will be in a prime position in Liam Coen’s offense. And, as of right now, that job is up for grabs.

The Jaguars brought in early down back Chris Rodriguez, who has a history with Liam Coen from his college days. Coen has sung the praises of Rodriguez for years, saying he creates for himself outside of the scheme. The downside for Rodriguez, however, is that he does not offer much in the pass game with only 6 catches in a three-year NFL career. He also reportedly has a foot injury that has kept him out of early practices. That could open the door for the explosive Bhayshul Tuten. Even if Rodriguez is healthy, Tuten and LeQuint Allen should at least have an opportunity on pass downs. 

Kansas City Chiefs

Hopes are high for Kenneth Walker in Kansas City. And he has high hopes for himself, per his interview with Kay Adams on the Up & Adams Show. He said it “feels good to be appreciated and wanted,” while also adding that he “expects to be used more in the pass game.” Those comments have to be relieving to fantasy managers who saw him split reps with Zach Charbonnett last year and lose out on pass work.

What’s interesting for our RB Questionnaire is that the top two backs behind Walker, Emari Demercado and rookie Emmett Johnson, are also guys who skew towards pass downs. Kenneth Walker is the clear starter after signing his massive deal, and if he’s been led to believe he will be playing on pass downs, too, he could be the guy in all phases. That offers intriguing upside on a team like the Kansas City Chiefs, where Andy Reid has had bellcow backs before. New running back catch Demarco Murray was no stranger to large workloads in his playing days, either. 

Las Vegas Raiders

We at Fantasy Alarm are believers in Klint Kubiak. Not just him, but the rest of his staff, including offensive line guru Rick Dennison. It’s why I had Seattle as my “dark horse” team in our bold predictions article last year. And, along with the quarterback changes, that group is why we are excited about the future in Las Vegas.

Kubiak’s offense heavily features tight ends and fullbacks, which is good for running backs. He is known for his zone blocking scheme, but mixes in man blocking concepts at the perfect times. There are some concerns, like his comments about having a “two-man show” in the backfield. Plus, they did draft Mike Washington early on Day 3 of the 2026 NFL Draft. But every backfield in the modern era is split to some degree. And we believe in the talent for Ashton Jeanty. So we aren’t shying away at his ADP. 

Los Angeles Chargers

The two backs who have led the league in routes run from a wide receiver spot over the last two years are Christian McCaffrey and De’Von Achane. And they’ve operated in the scheme now coming to Los Angeles. In fact, Mike McDaniel was the coach for Achane. He’s bringing fullback Alec Ingold, and they signed blocking tight end Charlie Kolar, so they are buying in. The pre-snap motion in this scheme is also great for the running back.

So the ceiling is MASSIVE for Omarion Hampton - if he can carve out the bulk of the role. The concerns, of course, are that Keaton Mitchell and Kimani Vidal are also on the roster and could carve out roles of their own. Harbaugh called Mitchell an “explosive, change of pace” weapon, which could be interpreted a couple of ways. And Hampton did not grade out particularly well in pass protection last year, per Pro Football Focus. If the backfield is split, especially the high-leverage roles like pass downs or goal line, Hampton could disappoint at his ADP. But the upside with this scheme, this quarterback, and a healthy line is just too great for us to pass up right now. So we are in on Hampton. 

Los Angeles Rams

This is an interesting one. Sean McVay, historically, has used his 11 starters more than any other coach we’ve seen (I guess Ron Rivera is up there as well). That was, until 2025. In 2025, he rotated his players more than we have ever seen. So Kyren Williams, who had routinely played ~80% of the snaps while leading the league, now found himself playing 68% of the snaps. And the recipient of those additional snaps was Blake Corum.

That said, 68% was still good for RB7 on the season in snap share - that’s just the way the league is trending. And Kyren was still the starter; he got every target in two-minute drill situations, and he got double the goal-line carries that Corum got. Despite it feeling like Corum was more involved, he only played more than 40% of the snaps in one game. So, unless we see a bigger shift here, Kyren is still the lead back, and Corum is still the “handcuff plus”. It is worth noting for your dynasty leagues that Kyren Williams has a unique contract that carries zero dead cap next year if he were traded or released. 

Miami Dolphins

De’Von Achane is a superstar - that much we know. The questions here aren’t about talent. The questions are related to the other two legs of fantasy football upside, scheme, and opportunity. And those will largely depend on the success of the team in general.

Bobby Slowik is also a Kyle Shanahan tree coach, so the scheme in general shouldn’t look much different, which is great for RBs given the pre-snap motion, fullback usage, and running back WR snaps. Achane and Christian McCaffrey have led the league in that category the last two years. One scheme issue is that, last year, Ollie Gordon got 6 carries inside the five-yard line to three for Achane. The other question is how many scoring opportunities they will actually have, as the Dolphins are projected to be one of the worst teams in the league. 

Minnesota Vikings

Last year, the Vikings decided to bring Aaron Jones back with the caveat that he would be paired with a younger back. And that back ended up being Jordan Mason. With Jones dealing with recurring hamstring and AC joint issues (the latter being a contact-based injury), it made sense to have a bruiser to go along with the open field, pass-catching abilities of Jones. And that’s essentially how they were deployed in 2025.

Aaron Jones was a potential cut candidate this offseason, but eventually agreed to revise his contract to free up space and remain with the team in 2026. The Vikings did add a running back prospect in the draft, but not until the sixth round with Demond Claiborne. Unless Claiborne absolutely blows everyone away in camp, we expect the split for last year to continue, with Claiborne potentially getting the mop-up duty with late leads. 

New England Patriots

One key aspect of the 2025 season defined the New England backfield - pass blocking. The short and sweet is that Rhamondre Stevenson graded out as one of the best in the league, while TreVeyon Henderson was towards the bottom. So, with Stevenson starting, getting goalline, and getting key pass downs, Henderson was relegated to a change of pace back. Henderson did handle the most mop-up duty for late leads, but Mike Vrabel also dubbed Terrell Jennings his “five-minute back” before Jennings got hurt, so even that role was split to some degree.  

The bet here is simple on both sides. If you are betting on Rhamondre Stevenson, you expect him to retain his role as the starting back and preferred pass game back. If you are betting on TreVeyon Henderson, you are betting that the flashes he showed during the three-game stretch without Rhamondre were enough for his role to grow. It would be an extreme upside case, but Jahmyr Gibbs had relatively similar stats to Henderson as a rookie while also grading out poorly in pass-blocking, then blew up in year two. And David Montgomery still remained a solid fantasy asset as well, so there’s a world where both Stevenson and Henderson are decent picks - but Henderson offers more upside. 

New Orleans Saints

The Saints made a big move this offseason to bring in Travis Etienne in free agency. With the kind of money they spent on him, he’s the starting running back for this team. The curveball here is that longtime starter Alvin Kamara is also still on the team. In fact, he showed up at voluntary OTA workouts for the first time since 2019, perhaps to remind everyone that he’s still there. Per Katherine Terrell within that article, Travis Etienne said he would welcome another back to help take some of the weight off him.

A split backfield might be fine for those two guys, but it would not be great for fantasy football. Not only would Kamara taking pass work be annoying, but Kellen Moore historically does not love drawing up pass plays to the running back. And we don’t know for sure if the Saints offense is going to be in scoring position enough to lean on Etienne without pass work. Rumors of a Kamara trade have swirled all offseason, but nothing has materialized as of now. So we’re not really taking much Etienne or Kamara for now at their ADPs. 

New York Giants

Tyrone Tracy was the starter going into the season, but injuries opened the door for rookie Cam Skattebo, who ran away with the early work. Tracy returned to force a split to some degree, taking a chunk of that pass work, especially, but we did not get a large sample size as Skattebo suffered a serious ankle injury in Week 8. He underwent surgery to repair a dislocated ankle and broken fibula.

Reports are that Skattebo is on track for play Week One, though the question is how quickly he can get back to his full explosiveness. John Harbaugh has a history of using an early down bruiser with a pass down back like Justice Hill, so we expect them to continue the split we saw last year. With early down backs, their success is often tied to the success of the overall team. The over/under win total with most books is set at 7.5, which isn’t super promising. 

New York Jets

At one point, we were hopeful that Breece Hall could leave for greener pastures in free agency. But the Jets dashed those hopes by franchising tagging Hall and then signing him to an extension. So he’ll play for the Jets, where he should once again be the feature back.

If the Jets don’t improve this year, it hurts the upside of Hall. Last year, they only had five rushing plays inside the five-yard line, of which Hall got two. To put them in perspective, Derrick Henry had 24 carries inside the five. I checked to see who got the mop-up duty for the Jets, but they did not lead by two scores in the fourth quarter at any point during the season. The over/under win total is set at 5.5 for the Jets, but maybe Geno Smith can return to form and outperform that. 

Philadelphia Eagles

In 2024, Saquon Barkley had an all-time great fantasy football season en route to a Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl win. In 2025, however, we saw some natural regressions as Barkley and the Eagles in general did not see as much success. Part of that could be related to the departure of Kellen Moore, but Barkley also didn’t have a 100% clean fantasy football profile either.

In 2024, Barkley led the team in all phases, which included scoring 40 fantasy points while the Eagles were up two scores in the fourth quarter. He was chasing records, so the Eagles had no problem leaning on him. In 2025, in those situations, Tank Bigsby actually led with 24 carries to 14 for Barkley. Jalen Hurts also took 11 carries inside the 5-yard line, scoring 5 touchdowns to 9 for Barkley, scoring 1. He’s still worth an early pick, but these minor issues could cap his upside slightly. 

Pittsburgh Steelers

Here is one of the more interesting battles. And it was made even more interesting by comments from Steelers running back coach Ramon Chinyoung Sr. The full comments can be found here, and I suggest you read them. The short and sweet of what was said was that he believes both backs are three-down guys and that they want to do their best to have equal time on the field. He specifically mentioned that coach McCarthy wants “fresh legs” and that, if one guy does play more, that will be based on the scheme they are highlighting for that individual game.

All of that truly sounds like a nightmare for fantasy. We don’t want a split, but if we do get one, we want defined roles. What was said here talks more about a pure split. And what he mentions about individual weekly game plans dictating who might get leaned on more means that, even if one guy plays more in a game, that doesn’t mean he will play more in the following game. Jaylen Warren is the incumbent starter, but Rico Dowdle knows Mike McCarthy from their time in Dallas, so that angle feels like a wash as well. Even the idea of saying “just take whoever goes later” is tough because, as of the writing of this article, they go very close together. But that’s probably how it should be played if you want a Steelers running back. 

San Francisco 49ers

Christian McCaffrey is one of the best running backs of this generation. And, though he’s dealt with injuries in the past, he remained fairly healthy in 2025, finishing as the RB1 overall in all PPR formats for the third time (fifth time finishing top three). We’re not in the business of trying to guess which currently healthy player will get hurt or not, so that’s not a factor to us.

What could matter is a potential split if the 49ers want to use emerging backup Jordan James or rookie Kaelon Black. But virtually every back in the league splits to some degree. We’re keeping an eye on the camp battle to see who is the best handcuff option, but, for now, we expect CMC to get the bulk of the work in all phases.

Seattle Seahawks

This is one of the more interesting backfields. Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker decided to leave in free agency. And his counterpart, Zach Charbonnet, is expected to miss the start of the season recovering from an ACL injury. That leaves the starting job open. This offseason, they signed Emmanuel Wilson in free agency, then used their first-round pick on Jadarian Price to help fill that hole.

Our initial thoughts were that Wilson and Price would compete for that starting job while Charbonnet rehabs. But, surprisingly, it’s actually incumbent depth piece George Holani who has been running with the first team most in early practices. Price has gotten some work with the first team as well, while Wilson mostly mixes in with the other groups or on pass downs. That has us off of Wilson for now and focusing on this battle between Price and Holani in training camp - one of them could carve out a meaningful role for fantasy. Our money is on Price, but he naturally goes well before the other guys in drafts. 

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

We have a pretty good idea of what the Buccaneers want to do here. Bucky Irving should be the starting running back. They let Rachaad White in free agency and paid Kenneth Gainwell handsomely as an upgrade as the pass-down back. And Sean Tucker is not only waiting in the wings, but he could handle goal-line work as well - Tucker had 9 carries inside the five-yard line last year, while Bucky Irving actually had zero. In fact, Rachaad White had 8 carries inside the five. 

The reason for the lack of short yardage work is likely related to the shoulder issue he had. And he’s still not healthy following surgery on that shoulder this offseason. These AC joint issues can linger, as we’ve seen with guys like Dalvin Cook and Aaron Jones. The upside for Irving is there, but we have put a bit of a hold on drafting him until we can be sure that he’s fully healthy. And, until then, we are even more willing to take late stabs at Kenneth Gainwell or possibly even Sean Tucker in standard leagues. 

Tennessee Titans

Anytime a team drafts a running back, we rush out to figure out how he’s going to take over. That’s the nature of the dynasty fantasy football hype machine in May. So, when the Titans drafted Nick Singleton, our immediate thoughts were that this could spell the end for Tony Pollard and/or Tyjae Spears. But, based on his early comments, that might not be quite how Robert Saleh sees it. When asked about Nick Singleton, he essentially said that he likes the player and that he’s learning, but added he has a long way to go and that “Tony (Pollard) and Tyj (Tyjae Spears) are the bell cows of this football team”.

So where does that leave us? Well, Tony Pollard looked good down the stretch last year, en route to his fourth straight 1,000-yard rushing season. Saleh also mentioned how good he is at pass protection. That said, he praised the route running for Tyjae Spears, who did get the two-minute drill work and was featured in the pass game. Last season, Pollard did better in positive game scripts when running was prioritized, while Spears was used more in negative game scripts where passing mattered more. And that’s what I’d expect to be the case in 2026. 

Washington Commanders

This running back room has undergone major changes this offseason. Chris Rodriguez, who pried away a good chunk of the starting work, is gone. Then they brought in two veteran backs who skew towards pass downs in Rachaad White and Jerome Ford to compete with incumbent Jeremy McNichols. But they weren’t done there - they also took rookie Kaytron Allen out of Penn State, who was an early down back, the role projected for second year back Jacory Croskey-Merritt. 

Commanders running back coach Anthony Lynn has historically used a split backfield, going back to his days as the Chargers' head coach. Our best estimation right now is that Jacory Croskey-Merritt will start, while Rachaad White will contribute on pass downs. We’ll keep an eye on camp to see if guys like Kaytron Allen or Jerome Ford can push for those roles, but that’s the expectation, along with the rushing efforts of QB Jayden Daniels as well.