- Bucky Irving retains a premier floor under a new offensive scheme: Irving ranks 10th at the position in PFF overall grade over the past two seasons, positioning him to dominate a high-upside Tampa Bay workload even with the addition of Kenneth Gainwell.
- David Montgomery secures a clear path to a heavy workload in Houston: Entering a Texans backfield with minimal competition from Woody Marks, Montgomery's history of averaging 2.0 yards per carry when contacted at or behind the line will mask any blocking deficiencies.
- Rhamondre Stevenson presents a significant draft-day discount: Despite the presence of TreVeyon Henderson, Stevenson finished last season outscoring his backfield mate on a per-game basis while pacing New England's regular-season finish at 17.3 PPR points per game.
A clear top tier of 17 fantasy running backs has emerged entering the season, with each player currently healthy and firmly established as his team’s lead back. The remaining 15 backfields all carry some level of uncertainty, whether due to injuries, established committees or the addition of new running backs that have clouded projected snap distributions.
This article focuses on three backs from those uncertain situations who appear undervalued relative to their current average draft position (ADP). None of these players is without risk — which is reflected in their mid-to-late-round draft costs — but each has a legitimate path to providing consistent fantasy starter value throughout the 2026 season.
Bucky Irving, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Irving has quietly established himself as one of the NFL’s most productive running backs over the past two seasons. His 87.0 PFF overall grade ranks 10th among running backs, and he joins Bijan Robinson, Josh Jacobs and Jahmyr Gibbs as the only backs to earn both PFF rushing and receiving grades above 85.0 during that span. Irving also averaged 20.3 touches per game last season, the fourth-highest mark among running backs.
Normally, that profile would place a player firmly in the first or second round of fantasy drafts. However, a few concerns are suppressing his ADP.
The most legitimate is Tampa Bay’s addition of Kenneth Gainwell. Gainwell received a stronger free-agent contract than several notable backs, including Tyler Allgeier, Rico Dowdle, Chris Rodriguez Jr., Keaton Mitchell and Rachaad White. New offensive coordinator Zac Robinson has also spoken positively about Gainwell’s projected role, making it clear he will be involved in the offense. Still, Gainwell has earned just a 69.3 PFF grade over the past two seasons. His presence is enough to cap Irving’s ceiling slightly, but Irving should remain Tampa Bay’s clear lead back if he stays healthy.
There are also some durability concerns after Irving battled foot and shoulder injuries last season. Encouragingly, recent reports suggest he is expected to be healthy by training camp. Compared to other running backs in a similar ADP range — such as Quinshon Judkins and Cam Skattebo — Irving’s health outlook appears less concerning.
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