It’s time to dive headfirst into dynasty fantasy football. We’re going position by position and evaluating what the dynasty landscape looks like. Today, we’re covering running backs. What players are worth buying? Who should you sell? Who is undervalued? Who is elite? Everything you need to know is right here.
Dynasty Running Backs: The Elites
The fantasy landscape shifts at the running back position more quickly than any other. That’s why I choose to be highly selective when it comes to the elite ones. The backs in this group are young, talented, and sure to produce at an elite level for several years to come.
Bijan Robinson, Atlanta Falcons
He may not be the fastest or most explosive player in the league, but Bijan Robinson is the most talented. He just averaged 21.8 fantasy points per game on a Falcons offense that wasn’t exactly firing on all cylinders.
Robinson led the league with 6.3 yards per touch. 5.6% of his carries went for 15+ yards. He was second in yards created per touch and evaded tackles per touch. But what makes Robinson so amazing, both in real life and fantasy, is that he does all of this while also being one of the best pass-catching backs in the league.
Robinson ran a route on 77.2% of Michael Penix Jr. and Kirk Cousins’ dropbacks. His 19.8% target share was third in the league. Robinson doesn’t just catch checkdowns. He lines up out wide and has multiple designed pass plays for him every week.
He’s 24 years old and now will be playing for Kevin Stefanski, who made the Browns’ rushing attack competent throughout his tenure despite never having anything even resembling a quality quarterback. Just imagine what Robinson can do if he ever finds himself on a team that is actually good.
Jahmyr Gibbs, Detroit Lions
For a brief period, I was sure Jahmyr Gibbs was the overall dynasty RB1 and the No. 1 overall pick in 2026 drafts. No player has a higher weekly ceiling because of Gibbs’ ability to hit a home run on any given play. The only knock on him is he has a very low weekly floor.
Gibbs will lose you multiple matchups each season, which is something that Robinson simply doesn’t do. He had four games with single-digit fantasy points, which is double the number that Robinson has had in his past two seasons combined (excluding Week 18 of this past season, which doesn’t count for fantasy).
That’s about the extent of criticisms levied against Gibbs. He’s one of the most dynamic players the NFL has ever seen.
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Gibbs has averaged 21.6 and 21.4 PPG in his past two seasons. He did this while ceding valuable touches and goal line work to David Montgomery. Even so, Gibbs has managed 18 and 20 touchdowns the past two years. His 17.1% target share was fourth in the league.
Montgomery saw a sizable decrease in his opportunity share last season as Gibbs made himself undeniable. The Lions have an out to cut him this year if they so choose. They also could trade him, as Montgomery still believes he can be a lead back and was undoubtedly frustrated about his reduced role.
Regardless of what they do, we know Gibbs isn’t going anywhere. He’s just 24 years old, while Montgomery is 28. Even if Montgomery returns, he’s not exactly getting any better. Gibbs will have this backfield to himself within the next year or two. If anyone is capable of posting a 2006 LaDainian Tomlinson-level season at some point in the next half decade, it’s Gibbs.
Dynasty Running Back Sleepers for 2026
It’s simultaneously very easy to pinpoint sleepers at running back, while difficult to find guys truly flying under the radar. You can basically call any backup who is talented enough and one injury away a sleeper. With that in mind, the focus will be on players who have alternate paths to value.
Bhayshul Tuten, Jacksonville Jaguars
I will admit to being a guilty party on the Travis Etienne Jr. hate train. I too easily punished him for his disastrous 2024 season and did not factor in the proven upside he displayed in 2023 combined with the massive upgrade in offensive system Liam Coen was set to provide.
Bhayshul Tuten was unjustly hyped as the guy who would take over the Jaguars backfield as almost a foregone conclusion. We all should’ve known better, as he was a Day 3 rookie. Day 3 rookies don’t exactly light the world on fire.
Tuten never even came close to unseating Etienne. But that doesn’t mean he didn’t show signs.
Tuten only saw 83 carries and caught 10 passes all season. He didn’t exactly have much of an opportunity to break out. That was due to a combination of Etienne playing well and staying healthy.
This year, Etienne is no lock to return to the team. He’s an unrestricted free agent and is already 27 years old. If he decides to leave, Tuten could find himself atop the depth chart of a prolific offense that is unlikely to spend any sort of meaningful draft capital on a running back. At 23 years old, there is still plenty of time for Tuten.
Sean Tucker, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
During his rookie year, I was as high as you could reasonably be on a UDFA running back. The odds were always going to be stacked against him, but his competition was an inefficient Rachaad White. Then, in 2024, the Bucs drafted Bucky Irving, further pushing Sean Tucker down the depth chart. The outlook was grim.
Then, randomly, Tucker posted a 192-yard, two-touchdown game in 2024. Simply put, bad players don’t do that. Clearly, there was something there. He just needed a chance.
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Something similar happened in 2025 in Week 11 when Tucker had 140 yards and three touchdowns against the Bills. There are not many 30-point performances from running backs every season. Tucker has one in back-to-back years.
After the season, White bid farewell to the Bucs in an Instagram post. It’s safe to say he’s as good as gone. Tucker is also a free agent but could be incentivized to return to the team if he will see a more prominent role. He’s also shown enough that he should, at worst, be the 1b in a tandem wherever he lands.
Tucker is entering his fourth NFL season and is only 24 years old. He can probably be acquired for very cheap. Few players have the level of upside he’s proven.
Dynasty Running Backs to Sell in 2026
Sell Derrick Henry because he’s old! Trading away old running backs is something everyone tries to do. Get younger! Of course dynasty managers want to get younger.
These players are not going to be older backs who are obvious sell candidates. Instead, the focus will be on trading away backs whose value right now may end up being as high as it gets for the remainder of their careers.
Bucky Irving, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
I make plenty of mistakes in fantasy football evaluation. We all do. If there’s one mistake no one can ever accuse me of making, it’s having take lock.
At this point last year, Bucky Irving was probably the running back I wanted to have on my teams the most, both redraft and dynasty. He had one of the best rookie seasons from a Day 3 running back in NFL history, averaging 5.4 yards per carry and posting 14.4 PPG despite not taking over the RB1 role until midseason.
Of course, there were concerns with Irving. He was a Day 3 back. He’s undersized at 192 pounds. Irving never saw more than 172 carries in a single college season. But the offense was good, his role was (seemingly) secure, and players typically get better after their rookie years. Well, as we now know, that is not what happened with Irving.
To call Irving’s sophomore season a disaster would be unkind to disasters. Technically, he still averaged 13.9 PPG. And yes, he missed seven games due to injury, only to return as a shell of his former self. I get it. But he still played 10 games, and the body of work does not inspire confidence.
We only have two seasons. It’s certainly fair to say we don’t know which one is the outlier. For me, when a Day 3 prospect overperforms his draft capital and his athleticism as a rookie, then falls back down to earth as a sophomore, my inclination is the first year was the outlier.
As Jacob Gibbs’ excellent research shows, we’re not dealing with a large group. Therefore, we shouldn’t draw any definitive conclusions. However, we can still draw reasonable inferences. Players like Irving who fall off a cliff in year two almost never rebound.
It’s entirely possible that Irving was never truly healthy after coming back from his significant shoulder injury (the foot was no big deal). The Bucs also fired their offensive coordinator, and there’s absolutely no chance Todd Bowles is still coaching this team in 2027. Change is coming for the Bucs, which could help or hurt Irving in the long term. Still, I remain very concerned.
Irving’s snap share from Weeks 1–4 was around 70%. After returning in Week 13, it was closer to 60%.
Irving caught at least four passes in each of his first four games. From Weeks 13–18, Irving caught two passes or fewer in all but one. He ran fewer routes after returning, ceding the passing down role entirely to White. He also almost never played a snap inside the 10-yard line, with nearly all the goal line work going to Tucker.
Perhaps Irving does bounce back this season and looks like the guy we saw in 2024. I think the more likely scenario is that was a flash-in-the-pan season, and Irving will never be an impactful fantasy asset again.
Woody Marks, Houston Texans
Give credit where it’s due. Woody Marks opened the season third on the depth chart. By November, he was the clear lead back. Clearly, there’s some talent here. With that said, Marks’ status as a workhorse sure felt more due to necessity than anything else.
Joe Mixon was supposed to still be the feature back. Unfortunately, he suffered an offseason foot injury and never played. I’m pretty sure the Texans knew he wasn’t playing this season very early in the offseason, which is why they signed Nick Chubb and drafted Marks.
The Chubb signing felt more like wishcasting, hoping that he had something left. When it became apparent that Chubb was done, Marks was the only option.
To Marks’ credit, he had some really solid performances. He had his breakout 119-yard, two-touchdown effort in Week 4 and another 111-yard game in Week 8. But overall, I think fantasy managers will remember Marks’ rookie season as being better than it was.
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Marks only had six games of double-digit fantasy points all season. After his 27.9 fantasy points in Week 4, Marks never topped 16.1 points the rest of the season. Those were his two RB1 weeks. He had three more RB2 weeks. That’s it.
Known for his receiving skills, Marks certainly wasn’t utilized as a pass catcher, earning just a 6.9% target share. His 4.1 yards per touch ranked 50th. He averaged 3.6 yards per carry. Not to sound overly negative, but there was nothing that really stood out about Marks’ rookie season outside of the volume in the second half.
I do believe we’ve seen Mixon’s last snap as a Texan. Marks should open the season as the starter. But we’ve seen this story with Day 3 backs countless times before. Marks has no long-term job security. There is not going to be any allegiance by the team. If someone better comes along, which is likely to happen in the next year or two, that guy will be pushed ahead of Marks. I don’t think Marks’ value will ever be higher than it is right now.
Post-Hype Dynasty Running Backs for 2026
It’s not all that common for running backs to stumble out of the gate before figuring things out. Last year, examples of post-hype running backs who wound up excelling were Travis Etienne and Javonte Williams. Both of them were very good prospects who showed signs early but, for one reason or another, faltered and were close to being written off before their breakout years. Let’s see if we can find a couple of candidates to do that in 2026.
Jonathon Brooks, Carolina Panthers
This one is highly speculative. Jonathon Brooks has essentially spent the better part of the past three years recovering from a torn ACL, which he did twice in the same knee. It’s entirely possible he is never the same again, and it’s over before it ever began for him.
Of course, that fact looms large in fantasy managers’ brains. That’s why Brooks is largely an afterthought in dynasty. He can be acquired for peanuts.
As a reminder, Brooks was the first running back taken in the 2024 NFL Draft. He’s 216 pounds and has a 72nd-percentile speed score. Despite entering what is technically his third NFL season, Brooks is only 22 years old.
The arguments against him far outweigh the arguments for him. Brooks had 238 career carries in college. Running backs used that little seldom become anything more than role players at the NFL level.
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Brooks is not a pass catcher. While he did grab 25 balls in 11 games in his final season at Texas, that was only a 6.3% target share.
The argument for Brooks is mostly circumstantial. The Panthers have shown a willingness to play their best running back regardless of contractual status. They signed Chuba Hubbard to a four-year extension at the end of the 2024 season only to relegate him to pure backup when Rico Dowdle got hot.
Dowdle eventually cooled off, allowing Hubbard to regain more of a role, but that’s not really relevant. The important part is that Dave Canales was willing to make Dowdle a three-down back when it looked like he’d earned it.
Dowdle is almost certainly not returning to Carolina, as he believes he should be a lead back somewhere. Brooks is finally healthy (it remains to be seen if he can stay that way). Hubbard is a good player, but if he lost his job to Dowdle, he can certainly lose it to Brooks. Why not take a shot on a young player who, at least at one point, had a whole lot of talent?
Blake Corum, Los Angeles Rams
Kyren Williams is a great example of why it’s impossible for a Day 3 running back to ever truly shed that stigma. Williams is obviously an outlier. He went from barely playing as a fifth-round rookie to being one of the best running backs in fantasy three years running.
Yet, despite Williams’ proven production, every year the Rams would draft another running back, and every year fantasy managers would speculate as to when Williams might lose his grip on the feature back role. I would argue it finally happened in 2025.
Williams is still the starter. He was still a very good fantasy asset, averaging 15.5 PPG. But opportunity share cratered, as Sean McVay moved away from his traditional one-back backfield into a full-blown committee.
Blake Corum was a popular sleeper candidate in 2024. The talented Michigan back was poised to run the fluky Williams out of town. After Corum was relegated to RB3 behind Ronnie Rivers and barely able to get on the field as a rookie, he was largely written off.
Then, in 2025, McVay decided to turn his backfield into a timeshare. Williams and Corum alternated drives all season. The split helped both backs, but it was Corum who was more efficient, averaging 5.1 yards per carry.
The most important takeaway from last season is that McVay clearly trusts Corum just as much as Williams. If one of them were to get hurt, the other would likely be a three-down back.
Williams has been remarkably healthy over the past two seasons. He hasn’t missed a game. But he missed eight as a rookie and five as a sophomore, as well as dealt with injuries in college.
There are very few RB2s with as much upside as Corum would have as the lead back in an offense led by McVay and Matthew Stafford. This is the type of player you want to put on your dynasty bench.
