Isn’t fantasy football a funny game? Ashton Jeanty only had one top-10 finish at the position during the first half of his rookie season, and that left managers wanting more for a player they were told was generational. A strong finishing kick, however, showcased some of those elite skills and has him in the first-round conversation this season.
Was there enough proof of concept in 2025 to build your team around him in 2026?
Should You Draft Ashton Jeanty in Fantasy Football?
Yes. The answer is yes.
There’s a very real chance that last season was the least amount of support that Jeanty has received at any point in his career. The Raiders were a disaster up front, and with Brock Bowers banged up, they had no real path to force defenses to back off.
It wasn’t ideal, and we saw that limit their star running back. Through three weeks, he didn’t have a 20-yard gain and turned six targets into three yards.
After that, we got some glimpses of what is possible (155 yards and three scores against the Bears, three straight games with eight targets in November, 128 rushing yards in Houston down the stretch), and as this team develops, those standout performances figure to be more the norm than the exception.
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As a rookie, 83.6% of Jeanty’s rushing yards came after contact, the third-highest rate in the league (RB average: 70.1%), and a brutal way to try to adjust to the speed of the NFL.
But with time came growth. Even without the circumstances changing in a meaningful way, he had three top-five weeks during the second half of the season on his way to finishing as fantasy’s 15th-best RB (season: 1,321 yards and 10 TDs).
Is that his floor? I think it might be.
Over the past four seasons, only three rookie RBs have earned 5+ targets in at least four straight games: Jahmyr Gibbs, Bijan Robinson, and Jeanty. The top tier at the position entering 2026 is just the first two names on that list, but if you told me that in 12 months, it would be a three-ring circus at the top of the RB hierarchy. Jeanty’s name is the one I’m putting on that list.
Jeanty’s Dynasty Fantasy Football Value
Running backs are devalued in dynasty, and they should be. The shelf life at the position cuts careers short, but it is also something teams consider and try to avoid by bringing in competition consistently.
Most successful dynasty teams aren’t built around running backs, but that doesn’t mean they can’t feature them. I, for one, am a believer that this is a unique talent, and with that comes unique upside. But even if that’s not your core belief, the fact that his timeline and the timeline of his team align is a thing of beauty.
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This isn’t a situation where he is a part of a team that has yet to bottom out. They’ve done that, and it netted them a QB who they hope will lead their franchise for the remainder of Jeanty’s career. Don’t get me wrong, this team isn’t ready for the bright lights, but the surrounding environment is certainly going to be more supportive this year than last, and I expect that to be a theme for the foreseeable future.
PFN’s FREE Fantasy Football Trade Calculator can help you out with putting together a package for Jeanty before his big 2026 starts. He’s obviously not going to come cheap (22-year-old backs with sixth-overall pick draft capital spent on them never do), but relative to what I think you’ll have to pay next year for him, his current cost is digestible.
Heck, that might be true for the price he costs to acquire come October (the Dolphins, Chargers, and Saints are on the schedule for Weeks 1-3).
There’s no bad time to make the right move.
