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FantasyPros - Fantasy Football Podcast
RB Fantasy Football Draft Rankings & Tiers | Must-Have Targets & Busts To Avoid (Ep. 2016)
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I mean, after all, you listen to this show, see terms@discover.com credit card what's up friends? And welcome back to Fantasy Pros. This is the fantasy football podcast. It's the early ranks series. We did wide receivers today. We've got running back, top 36 running backs. We're going to be talking all through. I'm Chris Welsh, I've got Pat Fitzmaurice and Tara Roberts with me. We're going to be going and looking at the tiers, we're going to be looking at targets. What are the values and really what is the consensus ranks look like those consensus ranks you can find@fantasypros.com rankings where it is our team, it is people around the industry, they're putting all these bad boys down. It creates a fun consensus ranks and throughout the next couple months it's going to continue to change. So this conversation continues to go and maybe it'll even be driven. Some of the change might be driven by some of the conversations we are going to have here today. Tara Roberts, Running backs always a great conversation around. Do I take wide receivers at the top and they're more chalky, Is it running backs? Running backs created definitely more of a floor last season. Do you think we're going to see more of a discrepancy especially? Well, discrepancy is maybe not the right word, but do you think we're going to see more of a variance this year that the top half of the first round is going to be weighted to a little bit more running backs than we've seen in the past or do you think, I guess the word chalk again, that floor of what wide receivers provide overall, even though it wasn't so much last year, is going to just take back over and people just can't help themselves. Anti running backs?
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A
Yeah, I'm torn. I mean people love their wide receivers and they love 0 RB, but I think we will see a little bit of a tilt to running back. Heavy, heavy based off of what we saw last year. Obviously when something happens a trend and you have that reliability of those early round guys giving you such an edge that we might see it tilt a little bit. So yeah, I can see this being where we get these running backs with a little bit more preference than they had last year.
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Pat. It'd be fascinating if, you know, if you break the first round, 12 picks, if we ever start to see again the weight of like seven running backs and five wide receivers, you know where it would be, more wide receivers ruin the day. I do find it interesting, you know, we're going to get the big board up here in a second. But like, I don't recall a year where the tier one of running backs was five deep, Pat. And it is that. And what that tells me is that, you know, there is not only a great weight of the those top guys, but all of them perform in such a level that it's like I think people are going want them more than ever, that these guys are all safe. It's a tier one when it was like two or three guys that everybody is attacking, but you have five players in there and then the top of the next round, people are going to feel like they're losing out a little bit. With all these running back committees that are going on and the performance we had at rbs last year.
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Yeah, sort of. But you know, Welch, after that first tier, like there's still some pretty attractive running backs. And when you actually get into like the early teens at the respective positions, running backs and wide receivers, I actually think I feel better about the running backs in the early teens than the wide receivers universe.
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We're going to talk about them, we're going to get through those players. You guys want to follow along, go to fantasypros.com rankings. You can do so. And let's get the big board up here as we kick this running back ranks episode off. We've got the top 12 running backs in half PPR we're using here up on Fantasy Pros. Coming in with your top five tier one starts with Bijan Robinson at the top, Jameer Gibbs at two, Christian McCaffrey at three, Jonathan Taylor at four and James Cook at five. So those were the running backs that we were talking about that kind of own that top tier, the next tier where there's still plenty of value. Ashton Genty comes in at six for tier two, followed by Devon Achan, Chase Brown, Saquon Barkley, A Marian Hampton, Ken Walker, and then Our lone tier 3 player is our dear friend Derrick Henry who comes in at 12. So that's your top 12 RB's for this season with the biggest tier I've ever seen of tier one for rb. A lot of questions in Here, But I think at the tippy top, just like we did with wide receivers, is we've got Bijan Robinson at 1, Jameer Gibbs at 2, and both of you are in agreement. So I think a pseudo answer to this is there really isn't a discussion. Maybe Bijan deserves his, you know, top spot here. But Tara, let's start with you for this one. What do you think? Is Jameer Gibbs closer to Bijan Robinson than being given credit for? Or does Bijan maybe belong in his own little mini tier because he is the top dog?
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I think Gibbs is close. You know, I mean, there's always the possibility that Isaiah Pacheco becomes David Montgomery, but even then. So the change that we saw as the season went on, where he had a little bit of a start of erasure of David Montgomery, I feel like that was less about any kind of issues with Monty and more about the fact that they just wanted to truly feature Gibbs. And when we look at how their offense was last year, the fact that they've clearly identified that the change at offensive coordinator was needed, I think there could be a bounce back coming if and if he's the featured back. Knowing the level of upside that he has in terms of receptions as well, you could argue that he can be put into that same tier of mini, tier of greatness with Bijan. My only problem in terms of why they're separated is that we finally might be getting that elusive special every single game situation for Bijan. Because for everything that I can't stand about Kevin Stefanski, the one thing that he has never been is a bad coach for running backs. And what we had to deal with Bijan over the years here is especially last year, is the integration of a guy like Tyler Algier at the goal line and the usage. And I feel like with the change in coaching staff and obviously the exit of Tyler Algier, and we do have Brian Robinson in there who could obviously fulfill that role. But this is the time for Bijan to be Bijan and get all of those receptions, all of the usage on the ground, and all of the goal line touches that he deserves. So we're looking at a guy who has been a top five back consistently despite the fact that he's been held back from a touch touchdown perspective. So perhaps this is the season that we finally get it unlocked. And I think that's the difference maker. Knowing that we've got a safe baseline with Bijan that could really be upgraded to just a insanely elite level that we have not yet been able to tap into now with the addition of more touchdowns.
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C
So, Fitzy, really the question is simple. Is there a debate at the top end of running back? I know who you have at number one. It is Bijan. But is there a debate to be had or, you know, can we move on? You know, can we not have that discussion?
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No, I think there's a debate and I'm not super entrenched in this. If I'm presented with the decision, the choice between Bijan and Gibbs three times. I'll probably take Bijan twice and Gibbs once. Bijan hit almost 2,300 yards from scrimmage last season, fell 2 yards short and was just hugely impactful as a pass catcher. His best receiving season, 79 catches, 820 yards, 4 TD catches. Tara brought it up with Stefanski. He's going to feed his bell cow back Nick Chubb at a 300 carry season when Stefanski was in Cleveland. And last year, Quinton Judkins averaged 16.4 carries after missing training camp and just being thrown into the fray right off the bat. Like Bijan is going to eat this year. So it's close for me. Gibbs is awesome. He's been the more prolific touchdown scorer, 49 touchdowns in 49 career regular season games. He has been a better touchdown score than Bijan. But Bijan had 44 more carries than Gibbs last year. He was a little more productive as a pass catcher. It's really close. It's Bijan by a nose for me.
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C
All right, well, if you guys are having those discussions in there, it's a, it's a really good year for the top end of running back, especially if you're making that decision. But is there any fool's gold? Is Jonathan Taylor too high? You guys have a little bit of a discrepancy in here. He comes in at 4. Maybe it's still the same tier. But Tara, let's start with you. You've got him at 4. You're at consensus. Obviously. Jonathan Taylor did some absolutely disgusting stuff last year. Do you anticipate a repeat? I would guess so based on the rank. But you tell us your thoughts on Jonathan Taylor drafting in the first round.
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Yeah, I was avid Jonathan Taylor manager last season. And you reaped the benefits and then you reaped all the negatives that came with it in the second half. It was a tale of two seasons, sadly. But you can make the argument that we know exactly why it was a tale of two seasons. One, the Daniel Jones injury was a massive issue. What it did to the entire team was very clear. It wasn't just an issue of suddenly there was, you know, lack of opportunity or lack of efficiency from Jonathan Taylor. Everybody suffered, unfortunately, him and the pass catchers. So it's very clear. But also, I feel like we would look at the season very differently if it wasn't for the fact that their schedule was so insanely lopsided. So it felt a lot worse than what it was because the overall season as a whole was fantastic. When you look at the stats, you feel great about it, but when you felt the actual fantasy production in your lineup, it was very frustrating because you got the end to the end of the season and you didn't have the Jonathan Taylor that you had at the beginning of the season because unfortunately most of the easier run defenses were scheduled in the first half of the season and the tougher ones were unfortunately stacked in the second half. So you combine that with the injury to Daniel Jones and it really just was a recipe for mediocrity for a guy where the season would have felt a lot different if the schedule was just a little bit more mixed. So I honestly think it was just a weird situation where it felt like we were riding high and then crashed and it was just an. An anomaly. And unless we end up with the same lopsidedness this season as well, we're going to get the same version of Jonathan Taylor that we have seen over and over and over again. And we will have the benefit of Daniel Jones, even if the injury holds him back a tiny bit. At least just being on the field and stabilizing that offense is going to be a benefit for us. So I feel very good about him because you can make arguments about the guys behind him as well, but I know I'm getting a certain level of volume and touchdown opportunities out of Jonathan Taylor.
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C
Fitzy, do you feel good about him? Your rank isn't crazy lower than consensus, but. And I'm curious where you're at on this. He could be out of your tier one. We have five players in the consensus that are top five. You've got him at six. Two spots isn't ridiculous or anything like that, but it means enough when you're talking about the top 10 out of position. Is he in the tier one? And do you have any hesitation with Jonathan Taylor drafting him in the first round this year?
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He is tier one and yet I do have some hesitation and it pains me as a badger to fade the University of Wisconsin guy, but it's what Tara talked about and just the fall off we Saw late in the season. I know part of it was related to the defenses, but like the clear marker where he fell off was the Daniel Jones injury. So playing with Daniel Jones for the first 12 games of the season, Taylor averaged 106.8 rushing yards per game and 5.7 yards per carry. And then Jones goes down early in the Colts 13th game. From that game through the end of the season, Taylor averaged 60.6 rushing yards per game and 3.1 yards per carry. Just a complete collapse in his production. And I'm just, I'm worried that Taylor's success is so closely tied to the health of a quarterback who's now coming back from a major injury.
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C
Understandable. Where you guys out on Jonathan Taylor, that one is the one that kind of jumped out to me as well. When you look at like that top tier, a bunch of other fascinating names. But we're going to do a player debate, a little bit of a debate on here because there was this question that was posed on our sheet, off air sheet, what we were doing where Fitzy was throwing out Chase Brown. Is there maybe a Chase Brown is being valued a little bit too high? He comes in at number eight. And I think the kind of pseudo answer to that is a little bit of a yes based on both of where you guys are. But comparing him against another player that is a first rounder, there's a lot of potential upside, especially with what we know this offense can be even though it went kind of pass heavy early on in Omarion Hampton. So we're going to do Omarion Hampton vs Chase Brown. This is the 8 vs 10 on the consensus ranks. And Tara, you have got these players next to each other, but it aligns a little bit more closer to what the consensus ranks has where it is Chase Brown over Merriam Hampton. So you've got Brown at 11 and Hampton at 12. So obviously Brown is over. But how close is this one to you and what case are you making on Chase Brown?
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Yeah, I'll defend Chase Brown a little bit on that one. I, I do think that his consensus ranking is warranted in general. My only issue is that I know that he can perform at that level, but I also know that he has no top five potential. So that's why I've got him a little bit further back. But in terms of him versus Amariah and Hampton, I mean Trace Bound is an extremely safe pick. We got the fear that there was going to be some kind of investment, especially with Chase Brown into a contract year. So that was kind of Interesting that we didn't have any investment into running back and we're going to be running it back with the same room that we know. Chase Brown is the clear RB one. His competition is Samaj P Ride. He offers us this incredibly safe floor with the checkdowns and yardage that he gets from receptions. And on top of that, the running back that he was as long as there was a competent quarterback was fine. The only issue that we had in the overall season was the portion that we had Jake Browning. After that, everything was good. The thing about Chase Brown is that and what keeps him kind of out of that top five potential is that you're never going to have the amount of touchdowns on the ground that you need by nature because of Joe Burrow, Jamar Chase and T. Higgins. There's just going to be so many through the air to those guys but you're going to be very safe in terms of knowing what you can get on a week to week basis. He's never going to be a bust for you. The volume is there. It's a very, it's a nice option that you can have and say hey, I just want to get wide receiver early, early then grab my RB one that I know is going to come through on a weekly basis and Chase Brown is that guy. So I think there's that level of safety that he has over Amari and Hampton in a newer coaching situation with a change in offensive coordinator which could be a for a positive for what it's worth. But also the addition of Keaton Mitchell who we all love but obviously he's a smaller speedy back that could be exactly what Mike McDaniel loves. And then of course we did have some concerning usage from Kamahi Vidal when Amari Hampton did come back at the end of last season. So if all things were equal and he is 100% three down back, no issues, just small change of pace, we're going to get a great season from Amarian Hampton. That'll pay off for his current ranking in ecr. But there is the risk that his job is not to the safety volume level that Chase Brown has.
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C
I think it's interesting too that you said, I mean you were towing around like the idea that he's just a floor player. Chase Brown is a not just a floor but Chase Brown is a great floor player. You know what you're getting. Maybe the upside isn't there but you know what you're going to avoid. And Fitzy is that the argument but on the opposite end that you want to play the ceiling player of Omarion Hampton because you've got Chase Brown quite a bit lower at 12 than what the consensus rank is, but you've also got Hampton quite a bit higher. You've got him at 7. So that reads a little bit more like is this a player that you want to plant a flag on that the ceiling is really high and unlike Chase Brown where he maybe doesn't have a top five potential upside that Hampton does.
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Fitzy that's exactly it. I think Tara and I totally see eye to eye on Chase Brown. Just like sort of back end running back. One solid usage outlook and a team with a really excellent offense. I'm just intrigued by the potential Hampton has in an offense coordinated by Mike McDaniel, who turned Devon HN into an absolute monster in Miami, even though there were other running backs factoring in. So that makes me worry a little bit less about Keaton Mitchell or Kamani Vidal. And you know on a team coach by Jim Harbaugh who clearly values a strong running game. I mean at Michigan they did a pretty good job of hiding JJ McCarthy for a couple of years and still having a lot of success. I just, I think the Chargers have a better offensive line than the Bengals, especially now that they're getting both of their tackles back. The broken ankle early last season kind of kept us from getting the full on Omarion Hampton experience in year one. I think we might get it in year two. And like this is a guy they dropped a first round pick on last year. I think they're going to ride this guy pretty hard in 2026.
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Upside versus Floor the great debate always in how you're going to build your fantasy team. We're going to go to running back twos, but you can continue the conversation with us always by joining our Fantasy Pros Discord community. You can chat with other Fans, get exclusive AMAs that end up becoming podcasts. Andrew Erickson and I do a weekly in season Discord show that you can be in live and then you can it gets onto the podcast feed. You can hang out. We've got a schedule currently going on right now if you want to join. You got worm and Fitz 5pm Eastern on the first Tuesday of every month and then you've got Bogman and Fitz 5pm Eastern on the third Tuesday of every month. You get lots of fits. You want more fits? Go and join the Discord. Come and get your questions answered and be not just around the show, but be on the show when we're doing them over at fantasypros.com chat joinupfantasyprose.com chat
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Copyright 2026 MBI all right, RB2s, these are the RB's ranked 13 through 24. Coming in hot at 13 is Jeremiah Love. We've got Josh Jacobs at 14, followed by Javante Williams, Kyron Williams, Travis Etienne, Breece Hall, Bucky irving, a Tier 4 of Cam Scatterboo, Travion Henderson, David Montgomery, DeAndre Swift, and Quinshon Judkins. Oh, we got to talk about Jeremiah Love in this messy Cardinals. I mean, maybe it's not going to be that messy. It's just, you know, you just have all these options and then you throw in a top pick in Jeremiah Love. And that is obviously why Jeremiah Love comes in at 13. It's a not a high valuation for what you would expect out of him. I think this is pretty common for like the top fantasy rookie running back, but the situation just really screams weirdness here. And you guys, though the ranks aren't super far. There's a differentiation between one of you seeing him as a RB1 and one seeing him as an RB2. And Terry, you are the RB2 here. You've got him at 14 versus his consensus 13. Are you worried at all about the usage with bringing in Algier? Do you think it none of this is gonna matter and this is gonna be Jeremiah Love city. What's your take on Jeremiah Love and him ranking 13?
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No, no, negative. I wish I could be higher on him, it's just that I can't justify putting him ahead of some of those other veterans. So I know exactly what I'm get getting out of them. But I actually, I'm pro Jeremiah Love in Arizona, oddly enough. So maybe I'll creep up at some point because when I look at the Cardinals run game last year, obviously it was, it was a mess in terms of the guys that they were rolling out on a weekly basis. Very sad, very sad. And the offensive line was not spectacular, but for what it's worth, they were better at run blocking. The Cardinals backs is messy and practice squatty as they were. They were right on league average in terms of yards per carry. They were not successful in terms of touchdowns because we had a hyper usage because of their lack of success and probably lack of trust as well. Hyper usage of Jacoby Brissette throwing inside the 20 at a clip that if he had played a full season would have been the highest in the league by far, which was unusual. And I think that's going to come down with Jeremiah Love because they'll get into the red zone and have a running bet that they actually trust. So I actually do feel positive about him. I don't hate the landing spot. I just, I just, I don't know if I can rank a Derrick Henry or something. Like, you know, there's a lot of guys that I think that I would just prefer to draft from a safety perspective over him.
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C
Pat, you've got him at top 10. You've got him above Chase Brown, who we were talking about before. Is 10 the tippy top that you think we can be drafting Jeremiah Love and he has got to have a pretty big season for return or do you think there is still some valued upside? This guy really can be a top five regardless. Like is this the tippy top of where he should and can be drafted? Or do you think he's going to creep up a little bit more? And then obviously your season take on
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Jeremiah Love, I think it's the tippy top for me. Unless we get to training camp and we're getting reports that like no one can lay a finger on this guy. He's a unicorn. And maybe this is kind of an ambitious aspirational ranking for Love, but I may be baking in a little bit of that unicorn possibility. Like if I draft Jeremiah Love RB10 and he finishes RB15, I can live with that. But you know, if I draft him RB10 and he finishes RB2, that's a huge win for me. And they have to give him ample usage. They took him third overall. Like they have to justify that usage. Especially when they passed on guys like Arvel Reese and Sonny Stiles who could like F the defense. And just the history of running backs Getting drafted top 12 since 2016, you know, Bijan Gibbs, Barkley, Christian McCaffrey, Ezekiel Elliott, Genti last year didn't really pan out, but that was, you know, maybe circumstances beyond Genti's control. Leonard Fournette, you know, like if that's the biggest miss from that group. Still a pretty spectacular group. Like, I think he's a pretty good bet at RB10. It's a risk worth taking actually.
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C
Really, it's not a debate here, but this is the next player we're talking about. A really interesting player you can compare against is the guy that's right below him in another state of is this guy being ranked too low? And Josh Jacobs. Josh Jacobs has a ECR of 14. That's his consensus RB spot here. You both are higher on Josh Jacobs. Josh Jacobs from week one through ten last year was RB5. So for the first ten weeks he was a top five RB. This, I mean your rank does state that this is like, you know, a little bit too low. But Tara, you've got Josh Jacobs at 9. So you're taking Josh Jacobs over Jeremiah Love. And you kind of alluded to saying like there are some veterans you'd have a hard time making that push against. And Josh Jacobs seems to be one of those.
- [23:18]
A
He is. He is one of those guys. I know this is not homer ism on the pat on the point of me and pat there, but I just, I feel like there is a bias going on based on the stats overall that he had last season that are making it look like his overall usage was down. And the problem is is that you have to contextualize it because he played in games that he should not have. The packers were making a playoff push and so he got injured and tried to push through it. And there were games where trying to push through it meant that he had about like four carries. Like it was just not a good situation. When you're accounting for his overall stats and ignoring the fact that there are multiple games in there, quite a few games in there where he played significantly low snaps. So naturally it looks bad. When he was healthy before the injury, the touchdowns were flowing. That's his specialty. You know, every single game you're getting one from Josh Jacobs, he was the lead back and he will be the lead back moving forward. I know there was a lot of concern based off of last year that we would see maybe an investment in running back on day two or something because the backup running backs there's. They lost Emanuel Wilson. Maybe there's a lack of trust there, particularly with the fact that we haven't seen Marshawn Lloyd make it through a season healthy. But at the end of the day, these are backup running backs. We know for a fact that Josh Jacobs is the RB one. He is going to have significant usage on the ground, touchdown opportunities and a bounce back opportunity for him because of the lower usage overall. He's going to come in fresher and healthy this season.
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C
Fitzy, you've got Jacobs one spot below what we just talked about with Jeremiah Love. So I'm definitely curious at like the balance between those two players and you know, is it more of a rock safety net to take a Josh Jacobs? You play an upside on a Jeremiah Love because you know you asked the question is Josh Jacobs too low? So what do you think? Is he too low?
- [25:13]
B
Two different profiles. Yeah, I think Love is more, a little more swing for the fences and Jacobs just kind of the safe floor. And I love that Tara kind of mentioned, you know, how Jacobs is such a warrior. He did try to play hurt last year and they kind of loosen lightened his load a bit in those games. And yet even with the reduced usage in a few of Those games, in two years with the packers, he's averaged 16.7 carries a game and he has scored 30 touchdowns in 32 regular season games for the Packers. Like Matt Lafleur does not mess around. He's giving Jacobs the ball. And when the packers get close to the goal line like they're handing it to Josh Jacobs, who is still one of the best inside runners in the league. And while he's not like a prolific pass catcher, said at least 33 receptions in six straight seasons. Like he's not a zero in the passing game either. So I just think the floor is so safe with him and like you're going to get touchdowns out of this guy if he's healthy.
- [26:09]
C
Another really fascinating running back comes in at 19 and Bucky Irving, Rashad White leaves and you're like, okay, here we could go. Nope. Bringing Kenny Gainwell to be as annoying as Rashad White to be a nice force and catching the ball. But we know who Bucky Irving can be. Any missed time takes that away a little bit. But is Bucky Irving a value coming in at 19? You gu are a little bit torn on this, maybe more in the state that Tara, you seem to just be at cost on Bucky Irving. So is Gainwell going to be as annoying for Rashad White? Is there a upside taken away from Bucky Irving? What's your take on drafting him this year inside the top 20?
- [26:45]
A
Yeah, I feel I'm on consensus. I wish I could drop it a little bit lower. Unfortunately, you get into that range where you've got guys kind of in unknown situations or committees are coming off of injuries. So he's getting that default. Yeah, we got to rank him above the guys that are coming off of injury seasons. Right. But my problem, problem with Bucky Irving is that, yeah, Kenneth Gainwell is an upgraded version of Rashad White. He's just better across the board in general than Rashad White. We still have the Bucks retained Sean Tucker, who had seven touchdowns last season. Now, some of that was when he was out, was when Bucky was out. So it's a little bit exaggerated. But even when Bucky returned, we still saw Sean Tucker sniping Bucky at the goal line. And then my biggest problem that we have in this situation is that we know Bucky is objectively better than those running backs. Right. But what I talked about when we were talking about Bijan and the sniping that we had of Tyler Algier at the goal line, his offensive coordinator was Zach Robinson, who just so happens to now be the offensive coordinator in Tampa Bay. That's a major issue for me. So if you were doing that with Bijan Robinson, what would ever make me think that you were going to be giving an aggressive workload to Bucky Irving, who is objectively not Bijan Robinson? So that's my only fear there is that we've got the change in coordinator. I do feel positively about the office turning back to a better direction than the subpar offense that we saw particularly in the back half of last season for the Bucs. But overall, I've got concerns that we're going to be seeing the same thing where we've got this integrating usage of these other running backs. And if we get any sniping at the goal line, it's just going to be frustrating. It will make him a safe low end RB2, but unfortunately cap the RB1 upside for him.
- [28:22]
C
Fitzy, your rank kind of states maybe like a little bit less worry, but I think it's fair what Tara said that that you throwing out Gainwell's a better back. Sean Tucker was kind of annoying. I. I'm annoyed by the situation because I think Bucky's just too talented. Bucky's A to me just like, please unload the clip and just let him go. Because you want to talk about a guy that's going outside the top 15 that's got, like, potential top five upside. To me, it's a guy like Bucky Irving who can catch the ball out of the backfield and is a touchdown magnet. But what. What say you, Fitzy, on this situation? You are high. You've got him at RB16, so you're higher than consensus. But. But does your rank represent some of the, like, aggressive feelings on maybe wanting to take him, or is there just hesitation?
- [29:02]
B
No hesitation. I'm going to have so much Bucky Irving this year, it's going to be ridiculous. There is this idea that Bucky's workload is under siege. Kenneth Gainwell replacing Rashad White. Gainwall is, like, seen as this existential threat to Bucky's workload. He averaged 6.7 carries a game last year. Gainwell did, and that was a career high. And, like, yeah, they do use Sean Tucker at the goal line. Maybe they will again. But, like, that's kind of the extent of his threat. Bucky averaged 20.3 touches a game last season. And we in fantasy always complain about the extinction of the workhorse running back. And we've got a workhorse running back right in front of us who are trying to fade. And I know the efficiency nosedive last year. Like, the breakaway run percentage went from last, like, 34.9% in 2024 to, like, 13% last year. And yards after contact per attempt were way down. But, like, it was also offensive line. The bucks had ranked second in adjusted line yards, and that was 2024, when Bucky had the great season. And last year, they were 22nd in adjusted line yards, and their PFF run blocking grade plummeted from 2024 to 2025. Like, to my eye, Bucky was kind of the same guy he was last year. Like, running super hard, making guys miss when he can. But he just. The lanes weren't there for him last year. The big runs just weren't there. Like, man, if people want to fade this guy, I am totally you and me.
- [30:39]
C
Lockstep, brother. All right, running back threes. These are Arby's 25 through 36. Our last batch here at 25, we kick it off with Bashell, Tooten, Jadarian Price at 26. Chuba Hubbard, Jalen Warren, RJ Harvey. And then we go to a Tier 5, which finishes out the rest of the ranks here. Rico Dowdle now in Pittsburgh at 30. Ramandre Stevenson, Tony Pollard, Kalmanangai Blake Coram, J.K. dobbins and Jakori Kroski merit our boy Bill. Looking at a debate here. I really like this one and I think Pat, you might even put this together. Here is Bashal Tutin versus Jadarian Price. So 25 versus 26 on this list. Pat, you have it exactly in that range. You have the same valuation Tara, but you've got Bashel Tutin quite a bit higher. So Tutin comes in as almost a top 2021 for you. So inside is an RB2 and price is kind of kicked out there. Bogman's favorite player, Jadarian Price. So Tara, talk to us about the differences in the draft value. Any concerns on Price Tutin unleashed. What do you have on these two guys and how they they are against each other for fantasy?
- [31:46]
A
Yeah, I'll start off with Price because I think it's very simple. It can either be a situation of him going in there and you know, unfortunately Seattle has said it's not going to be the case. But you know the off season speak is what it is from coaches. But there's an there's a scenario in which Price immediately is the RB one three down back. That's what he's capable of. But there's also the scenario where Emmanuel Wilson is a big guy and can in fact be the Zach Sherbonnet to Price as Kenneth Walker. So that is my fear is that despite the fact that Zach Charbonnet is injured that they are just going to create another Zach Charbonnet and run the same situation with BAAL Tutin. We have the same theoretical concern. The only difference is is that Chris Rodriguez probably isn't the same level of back in terms of three down opportunity. It was a good upgraded little season from him with Washington last season, but I just think it's very interesting how we went from swearing that it was was Bacial Tootin season pushing Travis ETN out of the way and now all of a sudden it's not Basil Tootin season. We've got Chris Rodriguez that is going to be the lead back there. My only concern with Baychial Tootin is that pass catching as a whole. We know that he can in theory. He did have a couple of touchdown receptions but the usage of him as a three down back and pass blocking would be a slight concern and we don't know if they trust him at that level. So that's the only issue there. That would stop me from Trul feeling like he's the solidified unquestioned RB1 but he was clearly trusted at the goal line in short yardage last year. So the reality of him operating as the lead back over Chris Rodriguez with maybe a little bit of passing down work from another back like Laquin Allen Jr. Maybe that makes more sense to me. So I like him in that RB 20 to 24 range as a nice little safe area where you can draft someone with potential to be a lead back at, not a massive risk.
- [33:46]
C
So, Fitzy, let me ask you something then. Great points by Tara, especially breaking down on Tutin here. If you're looking at RB 25 through 26 from a basic strategy standpoint, when you're in this range of RB, do you think you it is you're more likely, RB25 plus to be targeting stable players or upside players?
- [34:08]
B
Kind of depends on the build. For me, I mean, I want. Want probably stability because I tend to be a little wide receiver heavy in the early rounds. So I'm. If I'm drafting a guy in this range, it's probably going to be my RB2 and I need him to play.
- [34:19]
C
Okay, that's perfect there because that would make sense. And I think that aligns to where you're going because I guess what I'm getting at is like, who do you think has more upside here? Is it Tutin in that situation where you're looking at Allen, you're looking at Rodriguez, or you're looking at. I mean, you and Bogman have that clip out on Social where Bogman is just waxing poetically. And I think you're kind of there as well on Jadarium Price and what could be if I'm, if I'm at least, you know, you're aligned to what you're putting together here. My point would be, is like, I kind of feel like Price might be the upside play here. And if you're looking for stability is does Tootin provide the proper stability that you're looking for in that case? Or is the upside if the upside to you is greater on Price? So I kind of threw a couple things at you. I was trying to create a little piece here together of upside versus stability and what your drafting habits are. So I guess I'll just throw it back. What do you think Tootin versus Price here, based on the stuff I'm trying to lead you into, I am gonna
- [35:14]
B
come back with the totally unsatisfying response of, I don't know, like I, I am so conflicted on these two players. Like with Price. Right. Right now I've got Tootin one spot Higher than Price. I've got, I'm right in line with ECR, RB25 Tutin, RB26 Price and but like I could easily flip flop those with Price. Yes, you've got the Runway early in the season with Charbonnet missing time because of the injury. You've got one of the run heaviest teams in the league with a great defense that's going to continue to give the offense run friendly game scripts. And Price is probably a good fit for a team that's going to most likely continue to run a lot of outside zone, which I think Price should thrive in. At the same time, I'm not totally sold on Price's prospect pedigree. And like Charbonnet could come back at exactly the worst time in the season during the most important weeks of, of the fantasy season to kind of spoil the Jadarian Price party. Like that's worrisome. And then with Tutin, Tara laid it out really well. I mean, you've got Chris Rodriguez as maybe the preferred early down back, a guy who played for Liam Cohen at the University of Kentucky. And then like, like that would be fine if Tootin was going to be the sole pass catcher because we know Chris Rodriguez cannot catch worth a lick. But like Laquin Allen is there and might even be the better pass blocker also. So it's possible he's like the third down back and you've got this terrible limbo for Tootin where he gets some usage, but he's not the goal line guy and he's not the third down back. It's just so messy for both of these guys.
- [36:52]
C
Feels like there's a lot of messiness in this general vicinity. You know, you're talking about some of the like teens running backs that you really like. I don't know if there's a whole lot of like in this territory. I could make a kind of like a blanket question. You can, you know the event Jalen Warren versus Rico Dowdle. Now you've got the New England situation. You got a lot of just situations are out there. Is there a situation that with the final guy we're going to talk about in RJ Harvey and is that situation just less than ideal? He's coming in at a pretty robust 29. You guys both have him lower. Terry, you've got him at 30, relatively on consensus. Do you think RJ Harvey is maybe the counter to all these weird questions we have on these running backs or is he just in that stable and maybe a little bit less trustworthy?
- [37:38]
A
No, he's not the counter. Oh, God. And I hate that because I want him to be the counter. You know, based off what we did see at the end of last season. But I do think that the, that the joelman Jonah Coleman draft pick might have been the writing on the wall. Because with Harvey, we're inevitably waiting. We're saying, okay, we know that it's going to be a split with J.K. dobbins, R.J. harvey, J.K. dobbins early down and, you know, goal line touchdown opportunities. He can maybe get you one. J.K. dobbins. And then with R.J. harvey, you know, you've got the pass catching upside, the explosive plays, right? And good red zone usage for him as well. So he gives you those boom games, but the consistency isn't there for him. There's going to be a lot of dud games, unfortunately. So a very boom bus player that you have to live with and you're waiting for J.K. dobbins to potentially go down with an injury. But now that we've got Jonah Coleman, you wonder, okay, is, is the weight never going to come? Well, Jonah Coleman just ascend into the J.K. dobbins role because that role would fit his actual usage. So I, I fear that it's a permanent committee is my only issue. And I won't rank him a lot lower just because I don't want to overreact from a rookie being drafted who's going to be the third option and thinking that he is going to ascend. But the possibility exists enough for me to say it's a no go for me. I'm just not super comfortable with the situation.
- [38:52]
C
You know what's funny about this too? Maybe the better question would have been highlighted more around Chuba Hubbard, because you're looking at all these guys and you're just like, like, all right, you see, you see the same team name with the same player. You see Dobbins and Harvey in the 36. You're seeing, obviously, you know, Ramon Dre and Trayvon, the Jacksonville situation, you just see all these like, split committees and then it's just like Chuba Hubbard lost Rico and that creates maybe a little bit more of an open. Okay, let me answer like this, Fitz. Do you think RJ Harvey and Chuba Hubbard should even be in the same tier or close to each other?
- [39:22]
B
I mean, I'd rather have Chuba. I think even though it's possible Brooks winds up as the lead guy there, it's just, you're going to get something out of R.J. harvey. I just don't know if it's going to be starter worthy because like Sean Payton always uses a committee and there's usually a lot of pass catching value to Sean Payton's running backs. But man chopped up three ways with J.K. dobbins and like I don't want to have to count on a Dobbins injury. And even if Dobbins does get hurt, I think the Broncos still have Julia McLaughlin and Tyler bidet on the roster. So it's probably like working those guys into the mix too. It was just that RJ Harvey was so disappointing. I think after Dobbins went down and just kind of failed to pick up the torch and give them really anything in the running game when they were like a legitimate super bowl contender. So I just, I think that was sort of the impetus for the drafting of Jonah Coleman.
- [40:14]
C
Disappointing might be kind of what this RB3 25 through 36 looks like. It also is very representative of very early draft season ranking. It is may as we're recording this, we're doing the first iteration of this. Lots of ranks still have to be put on and there's sometimes a hand being thrown up of like we just don't 100% know what is going to materialize in this situation and it makes it messy. So you know in any early best balls and drafts that people are putting together, this is like a little bit less of an ideal spot to be picking, especially RB2s like Fitzy was talking about. You might be more wide receiver heavy. Maybe you don't want to be. Maybe. Maybe you're looking for stability. This isn't really the true stability range, but what say you? Who do you feel comfortable with, especially on these RB3s? Put it in the comments below and join the conversation. Going to fantasypros.com rankings, you can check out what consensus is saying and then you can figure out where that makes sense for you. Plus, we've got all the great tools on Fantasy Pros to help you out. Whether you're mock drafting you, start syncing your leagues, you're getting the best advice. We got you hooked up. Powered by all these amazing people. Powered by Pat Fitzmaurice and Tara Roberts. Thank you guys so much for hanging out with us for the RB ranks. I'm Chris Welsh and we'll talk to you next time right here on Fantasy Pros.
- [41:22]
B
Thanks for listening to the Fantasy Pros Fantasy Football Podcast.
- [41:25]
C
If you love the show, the best free way to support us is by leaving a positive review on apple podcasts@fantasypros.com
- [41:33]
B
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- [41:37]
C
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- [42:04]
A
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