2026 Fantasy Football Running Back Tiers: Bucky Irving is ready to rebound – NBC Sports
2026 Fantasy Football Running Back Tiers: Bucky Irving is ready to rebound
- By
- Kyle Dvorchak,
- By
- Kyle Dvorchak
Published August 7, 2026 10:16 AM
Rotworld’s Redraft Rankings have been compiled based on input from Patrick Daugherty, Denny Carter, and me. They’ve been updated throughout camp and can now give us a way to group similar players together. To keep things brief, we think players within a tier should be drafted similarly, though different archetypes can often be found within each tier. Using these tiers gives us an idea of how to get the best prices at running back in every part of the draft
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▶ Tier One
Jahmyr Gibbs, Bijan Robinson, Christian McCaffrey, Jonathan Taylor
The analysis here isn’t groundbreaking. These were last year’s top four fantasy running backs, albeit in a different order. Gibbs ascends from his RB3 finish in 2025 to our RB1 ranking this year based on the David Montgomery trade. Gibbs played three games without Montgomery in 2024. He averaged 32.6 PPR points per game in those contests. He won’t post those numbers over an entire season, but this is what the second coming of Jamaal Charles would look like if it were to ever happen. McCaffrey’s rushing efficiency fell off a cliff last year, but the receiving output (102-924-7) was more than enough for him to reclaim the RB1 crown. After averaging 3.9 yards per carry, we are rightfully worried that he could take another step back this year.
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▶ Tier 2
James Cook, Saquon Barkley, De’Von Achane, Ashton Jeanty, Derrick Henry, Kenneth Walker III, Chase Brown, Omarion Hampton
Pat, Denny, and I have the same group of running backs ranked as the RB5-RB12 as ADP, but in a drastically different order after Cook and Barkley are off the board. Early drafts are seeing second-year runner Omarion Hampton go off the board in the first 15 picks. Our rankings prefer Achane and his 3,337 yards from scrimmage plus 24 touchdowns over the past two years. Achane is a proven home run hitter who touched the ball over 300 times last year. That is what the ceiling looks like for Hampton, who struggled with injuries in his rookie campaign. In general, our rankings come in below market on this range of running backs. The ideal start to a draft is a runner in the first round and a Tier 2 pass-catcher in the second.
▶ Tier 3
Jeremiyah Love, Breece Hall, Kyren Williams, Travis Etienne Jr., Josh Jacobs, Javonte Williams, Bucky Irving
Projectable volume is the name of the game in this group. Setting Love aside, five of the six remaining members of Tier 3 ranked between 12th and 17th in touches per game last year. Those same five sat between 17th and 37th in rush yards over expected per carry. The outlier in both categories? Bucky, whose 20.4 touches per game blew the rest of the tier out of the water. On the other hand, he finished 50th in the league in RYOE. Irving was elite in all efficiency metrics as a rookie, giving him paths to fantasy success via efficiency and volume. If both come to fruition, he could be the best pick on the board. Naturally, he is our biggest stand this year.
RotoPat’s Preseason Rankings: The top RBs, WRs, QBs and TEs
The top players for 2026 at running back, wide receiver, quarterback, and tight end with explanations for every rank.
- Patrick Daugherty,
- Patrick Daugherty,
▶ Tier 4
Cam Skattebo, David Montgomery, D’Andre Swift, Quinshon Judkins, Bhayshul Tuten, TreVeyon Henderson, Jadarian Price
Your choice here is simple. Draft a proven veteran with a limited ceiling (Montgomery and Swift) or swing for the fences (everyone else). Skattebo and Judkins would be safe bets had they not both suffered catastrophic ankle injuries last year. All signs point to them being shockingly healthy in training camp. There could still be lingering effects from the injuries, but both backs are shaping up to be strong values in drafts. Tuten, Henderson, and Price bring far more risk to the table. All three were backup runners last year. Most notably, Price was Jeremiyah Love’s backup in college. The upside is that, unlike Skattebo and Judkins, they all play on top-eight scoring offenses from 2025. Tier 4 is ultimately about balancing risk and reward for the roster you have already built.
▶ Tier 5
Jaylen Warren, Blake Corum, Chuba Hubbard, Tony Pollard, Kyle Monangai, Rico Dowdle, Rhamondre Stevenson, J.K. Dobbins, RJ Harvey
Both Denver backs find themselves in this tier. Harvey appeared in 10 games with Dobbins active last year. He averaged five carries and 10 PPR points per week. That shot up to 13.7 carries for 15.5 PPR points in seven regular-season contests sans Dobbins. The Broncos kept Dobbins in-house on a two-year deal this offseason. Harvey’s pass-catching role, on the other hand, limited Dobbins to 11.6 points per game. Payton loves a split backfield, so don’t expect much to change in 2026. Blake Corum and Kyle Monangai are two of our biggest stands in the middle of drafts. The Rams and Bears’ backfields ranked top-10 in expected fantasy points and fantasy points over expectation on the ground last year. These are two teams who ran with volume and efficiency. If anything happens to Swift or Williams, we fully expect RB1 numbers from the backup.
▶ Tier 6
Rachaad White, Aaron Jones, Chris Rodriguez, Kenneth Gainwell, Jonathon Brooks, Jordan Mason, Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Keaton Mitchell, Woody Marks
This is mostly a cheap touches group of players. The Commanders and Vikings backfield committees are fully represented here. Jones and White profile as pass-catching options with limited work between the tackles. Mason and Bill ranked outside the top 60 running backs in yards per route run, as did Rodriguez
Two players in this group are just…odd. Mitchell has one game with double-digit carries and no games with more than two receptions through three years of NFL ball. Conversely, he had more carries where he hit 20 MPH than any other player in the league last year. Mitchell did that on 59 rush attempts. This is arguably the league’s best home run hitter. The catch is that he barely gets any at-bats. A decade ago, fantasy managers would have left Brooks for dead. With nine carries over two seasons because of multiple torn ACLs, his career should be on the ropes. Instead, Panthers reporters are talking him up like he could take Chuba Hubbard’s job by October, and we’re listening.
▶ Tier 7
Tyrone Tracy Jr., Tyler Allgeier, Dylan Sampson, Tyjae Spears, Zach Charbonnet, Brian Robinson Jr., Isiah Pacheco, Jonah Coleman
There are two types of running backs in Tier 7: Pass-catching specialists and pure backups. This isn’t a particularly exciting group of players, but you know if you need one of them. Spears and Sampson should provide a few usable PPR games. Both players ranked top-20 in targets per route run in 2025 and Sampson earned a top-five finish in yards per route run. Most of the remaining members of the tier are backing up bell-cow running backs. Coleman is the one truly fun click of the group. He topped 1,100 yards from scrimmage in three straight seasons of college ball and also caught at least 20 passes in all three of those campaigns. Coleman is already making noise at camp and stands to benefit from an injury to either running back ahead of him on the depth chart.
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