Fantasy Football Player Outlooks for The 2026-26 Season

There's a strong case to make for Robinson as not just the fantasy RB1, but the 1.01 pick in most formats. As much as players like Jahmyr Gibbs and Christian McCaffrey are capable of claiming the RB1 title themselves, Robinson's combination of huge workload (including pass catching), elite efficiency and uncommon durability give him the highest combination of floor and ceiling. With Tyler Allgeier off to Arizona and a strong offensive line still in place back in Atlanta, Robinson's workload is locked in around a league-leading level. He compounds that volume with explosive production as both a runner and pass catcher, averaging 4.9 YPC and 6.7 YPT for his career. New Falcons coach Kevin Stefanski will probably want to use backup RB Brian Robinson at times, but Robinson may quickly prove a downgrade on Allgeier, who poached 143 carries and eight rushing touchdowns last year, including 10 carries inside the 5-yard line and 19 carries inside the 10. With standout power, 4.46 speed and polished pass-catching skills, Robinson should continue to provide elite per-touch efficiency while boasting better volume/durability projections than Gibbs or McCaffrey.

With at least 5.0 yards per carry and blistering touchdown production in each of his three NFL seasons, it's easy to make the case that Gibbs is the most explosive from-scrimmage threat in the league. Even in what was a down year for the Detroit offense Gibbs still finished with 18 touchdowns (five receiving) while averaging 5.0 yards per carry, proving that Gibbs carries the Detroit offense rather than the other way around. The Lions traded David Montgomery to Houston and have so far only replaced him with Isiah Pacheco. As much as the Lions might want to be a little more careful about overworking the 5-foot-9, 199-pound Gibbs, with their present running back depth chart they might not have much choice but to put even more work on Gibbs in 2026. The Detroit offensive line is undergoing notable transition for the second offseason in a row due to the subtraction of long-time left tackle Taylor Decker, but Penei Sewell should be up to the task of moving to the left side, and 17th overall pick Blake Miller was a rock-solid four-year starter at Clemson. There's no guarantee the Detroit offensive line improves from its disappointing 2025 results, but it shouldn't get any worse.

The arrival of Daniel Jones proved a godsend for Taylor and the Colts offense to begin the 2025 season, with the improved quarterback play such a contrast to what Anthony Richardson provided previously that it looked like Taylor was playing on a lower difficulty level entirely compared to his previous NFL seasons. Though Taylor has always been highly successful for the Colts, that was often the case in spite of the offense around him. If Taylor were ever truly empowered by a surrounding offense then it's easy to imagine him enjoying a glow-up not unlike when Christian McCaffrey escaped to San Francisco from Carolina, or when Saquon Barkley went nuts in Philadelphia after years of the Giants holding him back. Unfortunately for Taylor and the Colts, Jones was made less effective by a fibula fracture before suffering an Achilles' tendon tear Dec. 7 while playing through the previous injury. Great as Taylor's numbers were in the 2025 season, scoring 20 touchdowns (18 rushing) and posting career-high receiving numbers, the season was still largely a tale of before and after Jones' injuries, because before Jones' injuries Taylor was on pace for a truly monstrous season. Taylor still has the stuff to pull off a 2,000-yard season and as a pure runner he might be the best in the NFL, but Taylor will never catch as many passes as most other elite fantasy backs, which puts more pressure on his rushing and touchdown production. It would be a lot easier for the Colts to get into the necessary scoring range if Jones can come back healthy, yet there are minimal or no guarantees there.

Cook was one of the best ADP values at running back each of the last two years, and while the price might be higher than ever going into 2026 there is no obvious reason why Cook should fall off anytime soon. The formula between Cook, Josh Allen and Buffalo's elite offensive line is one that coach Joe Brady perfected in 2025, as Cook averaged 5.2 yards per carry over 309 carries -- 102 carries more than Cook's previous career high (2024). Cook's workload has become unexpectedly heavy and there's maybe some long-term cause for concern given how thin he is at around 5-foot-11, 190 pounds, yet Cook doesn't take many direct hits and has an unprecedented amount of cover due to Allen and the offensive line. As long as Allen is on the field there's reason to assume the Bills will get into scoring range, and as long as the Buffalo offensive line remains dominant there will continue to be space for Cook to exploit. That Allen is unconditionally the bigger threat to defenses means Cook will never get schemed against the way a running back normally would with production like this. Even if Cook is shredding the defense for 200 yards on the ground, the defensive coordinator has no choice but to prioritize defensive resources toward Allen, even if it cuts loose Cook in the process.

No player warrants the Unicorn label more than Henry, whose entire background of full of details that aren't supposed to be possible. 6-foot-3, 247-pound running backs aren't supposed to exist, because players that big aren't supposed to move the way Henry does, and the few that can aren't supposed to age as gracefully as Henry has. Thanks to his freakish anchor Henry can be 'too tall' for a running back yet subject to none of the pitfalls that normally come with it -- tacklers who try to hit Henry high turn to dust, and the ones who try to hit him low rarely turn out to be more than a speed bump. The clock still has to run out eventually, though, and that Henry turned 32 in January raises the inescapable concern of eventual decline. That decline didn't seem to be especially close last year, though, as Henry once again averaged over 5.0 yards per carry on more than 300 attempts. If Lamar Jackson can stay healthy and bounce back then that might help Henry hold off decline -- Jackson's presence spreads run defenses thin for Henry and vice versa -- but it's otherwise worth noting how Henry's freakishness and longevity are at least partially owed to his work ethic. By all accounts, Henry's training regimen is the stuff of Jerry Rice stories, so maybe Henry too will continue to cheat age and time.