PPR Rankings: RB

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.

McCaffrey began the 2025 season with an unspecified Achilles' tendon issue casting ominous clouds overhead, but somehow he shook it off despite the worst fears of his fantasy investors. McCaffrey not only started all year for San Francisco, he was almost certainly overworked as the 49ers scrambled to fix production shortages caused by injuries to the other San Francisco skill position players. McCaffrey played in every game and logged 927 snaps, his highest total since 2019 and the third-highest of his career. With McCaffrey turning 30 in June and with plenty of injuries in his past, the 49ers might want to lessen McCaffrey's workload after logging a career-high 311 carries last year and 102 receptions. The question is whether the 49ers will actually have that luxury. Second-year fifth-round prospect Jordan James offers some promise and third-round rookie pick Kaelon Black brings a little more firepower between the tackles, but Isaac Guerendo has seemingly fallen out of favor and in the meantime neither of James nor Black projects as a viable starter. It wouldn't be shocking if the 49ers overworked McCaffrey again, which would again be to the delight of McCaffrey's fantasy investors.

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.

The Raiders' 2025 collapse was nothing less than spectacular, failing memorably on the field while dysfunction ran rampant through team operations. There was no way Jeanty or any other running back could stop the implosion set in motion by the Pete Carroll regime, and any takeaways about Jeanty's abilities are probably best postponed until we see what he can do in a real NFL offense. As much as there are no true guarantees there, there is sound basis to believe the hiring of new coach Klint Kubiak will unleash Jeanty right away in 2026. Kubiak showed unique insight as offensive coordinator the last two years, especially in terms of breaking the Cover-2 paradigm with a committed, muscular ground game. Kubiak correctly sees the ground game as the means of dictating terms to the defense, and with Jeanty's loud talent there could be explosive results right away in 2026. In addition to Kubia's arrival Jeanty should benefit from an improved offensive line and upgraded quarterback play, be it due to one or both of Fernando Mendoza and Kirk Cousins. Adding standout center Tyler Linderbaum at center and Spencer Burford at left guard provides two important upgrades on the offensive line, which should also get a boost in the return of left tackle Kolten Miller, who missed the rest of the season following a Week 4 injury.