Early 2026 Fantasy Football RB Rankings: Justin Boone's top running backs for next season

5 days ago 2

Justin Boone won the FantasyPros Most Accurate Expert Award in 2019 and has eight top-10 finishes in the competition. He now brings his rankings acumen to the Yahoo Fantasy audience after joining the team as an analyst.

Below you can see a very early look at his fantasy rankings for the 2026 season. More expanded rankings, including PPR scoring and rookies will be available in future updates.

2026 Fantasy Rankings

Wide Receivers (Jan. 7)
Tight Ends (Jan. 8)
Top 150 (Jan. 9)

Takeaways from the early RB rankings

Bijan Robinson earns the top spot in my running back rankings, but Jahmyr Gibbs isn’t far behind. Both players are young, supremely talented and excellent pass-catchers, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that they are the only ball carriers to finish as top-four fantasy RBs in each of the past two seasons. We also might be on the verge of their biggest campaigns yet in 2026, with Robinson possibly taking on even more work if Tyler Allgeier leaves in free agency and Gibbs continuing to be featured in Detroit as David Montgomery gets older.
Christian McCaffrey outperformed all expectations in 2025 by staying healthy and finishing as the highest scoring fantasy back with 2,126 scrimmage yards and 17 touchdowns. Meanwhile, Derrick Henry continued to defy the age curve by racking up 1,745 yards and 16 scores en route to being the RB7 in fantasy points per game. However, projecting their fantasy value moving forward gets a little tricky. Henry just turned 32 years old at the beginning of January and McCaffrey will be 30 before next season kicks off. Though Henry remained productive, his limited role in the passing game means any decline in his rushing stats will have a major impact on his fantasy outlook. The risk of a dropoff is high and moves him into the fantasy RB2 range. For CMC, his 413 touches are a lot for any back, but especially one at his advanced age. It will be nearly impossible for him to match this year’s production and with a potential decline looming, McCaffrey will be an extremely dangerous first-round pick that I’ll be avoiding.
Be prepared for last year’s rookie class to wreak havoc on the fantasy landscape in 2026. Ashton Jeanty was the RB17 in FPPG despite a weak supporting cast and a coordinator change midseason. Omarion Hampton was the RB16 in FPPG while dealing with injuries of his own and a banged-up offensive line. TreVeyon Henderson was a top-10 fantasy back over the final eight weeks and should continue on a Gibbs-style career trajectory as an explosive weapon in New England. RJ Harvey was the RB11 in FPPG over the final nine games and looks the part of a difference-maker in real life and fantasy. Cam Skattebo is facing a 4-6 month rehab for a dislocated ankle he suffered in October, but was the RB6 in FPPG over his last six appearances and averaged 22 touches per contest over his final four starts. Quinshon Judkins flashed on a bad Browns’ team that should be more competitive moving forward. All six of those backs rank inside my top 20 at the position and that’s not even mentioning other soon-to-be sophomores like Kyle Monangai, Woody Marks, Jacory Croskey-Merritt and Bhayshul Tuten, each of whom have a chance at expanded roles.

Several backs will have their fantasy stock significantly impacted by free agency. Travis Etienne Jr. (RB10 in FPPG for 2025), Breece Hall (RB21), Kenneth Walker III (RB29), Javonte Williams (RB13) and Rico Dowdle (RB20) have all shown fantasy RB1 ceilings at different moments in their careers. We won’t know for sure how to approach them in 2026 until we find out where they’ll be playing, but all five are intriguing depending on their landing spots. We’ll also need to monitor lower level free agents like Allgeier, Kenneth Gainwell and Rachaad White. Allgeier is the key name to watch there since he seems set on finding a starting job outside of Atlanta. While it’s easy to forget, Allgeier does have a 1,000-yard campaign on his resume back in his rookie season in 2022.
In addition to the free agent landing spots, we have a handful of running backs who could be vaulted up the rankings if players on their depth charts depart. Zach Charbonnet has flashed fantasy RB1 upside consistently when Walker missed time and would immediately be in the top-15 conversation if the veteran signs elsewhere. Bucky Irving could be locked in as a fantasy RB1 if his role in the passing game increases with White leaving. A healthy Braelon Allen would be the next man up for the Jets if Hall is done in New York. Same goes for Tuten in Jacksonville if Etienne were to be lured away by a new contract. And if Rico Dowdle doesn’t return to Carolina, Chuba Hubbard would have a path back to being a fantasy starter. I’ll update the rankings throughout the offseason as we get more information, but those are all players to monitor closely given their ambiguous situations.