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The 10 Best Running Back Values in Fantasy Football

STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this video and kept the full transcript here for context.

19 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Aug 25, 2026
Published
Tue, August 25, 2026
18
Player insights
18
Players mentioned
Topics
Alvin KamaraBijan RobinsonBraelon AllenBreece HallChristian McCaffreyD'Andre SwiftDe'Von AchaneJ.K. DobbinsJonathon BrooksJosh JacobsKendre MillerKenneth Walker IIIMalik WillisMarShawn Lloyd
Player analysis

Player insights

18

Alvin Kamara

PositiveInjury5:15

Alvin Kamara is considered 'cooked' due to a recurring MCL sprain, age (31), and significant statistical decline in 2023, including career-low efficiency in yards per carry (3.6) and yards per target (4.8). He is expected to miss at least one month of play.

Insight page

Bijan Robinson

NegativeValue5:06

Bijan Robinson is mentioned as a mid-fourth-round draft selection in the context of the speaker's league draft history.

Insight page

Braelon Allen

PositiveSleeper17:28

Braelon Allen is a clear late-round target as the primary backup to Breece Hall, who is dealing with a groin injury. He is recommended as a stash because he could become a starting running back if Hall re-aggravates his injury.

Insight page

Breece Hall

NegativeInjury17:37

Breece Hall is currently dealing with a groin injury; while it sounds like he will likely be ready for Week 1, his availability is not guaranteed, which increases the value of his backup, Braelon Allen.

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Christian McCaffrey

NegativeInjury18:16

Christian McCaffrey is dealing with an injury that requires monitoring, though he has returned to practice; managers should consider drafting his handcuff, Keilan Black, as a precaution.

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D'Andre Swift

PositiveValue8:28

De'Andre Swift is a recommended 4th-round value target who is locked into the starting role for the Chicago Bears for at least the first three weeks. He has a high floor as a top-24 RB, having finished as at least an RB24 in every career season with back-to-back 200+ point seasons and consistent usage of over three targets per game.

Insight page

De'Von Achane

PositiveValue0:06

Devon Achane is a top-tier second-round value despite concerns over the coaching change and the transition to Malik Willis at quarterback. While Willis's mobility may reduce check-down volume compared to Tua Tagovailoa—who historically provided 5.1 to 5.3 targets per game—Achane's rushing efficiency could improve via read-option opportunities. Achane has averaged over 17 fantasy points per game in each of his first three seasons and over 20 points per game last year; the market has over-corrected for perceived 'garbage' situations, making him a superior draft pick over players like Kenneth Walker.

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J.K. Dobbins

NegativeBust13:39

J.K. Dobbins is viewed as a bust candidate due to his extensive injury history, having played only 37 games over six NFL seasons. He is currently being drafted ahead of the more valuable R.J. Harvey on platforms like ESPN and Yahoo, which is considered a mistake.

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Jonathon Brooks

NegativeValue12:16

Jonathan Brooks is a talented prospect and potential starter for the Carolina Panthers, but drafting him in the middle of the 6th round is near his ceiling and carries risk. A fair price is the 7th round, while an 8th-round selection is considered an absolute smash pick.

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Josh Jacobs

NegativeUsage17:11

Josh Jacobs carries both injury and suspension risks, which elevates the fantasy value of his backup, MarShawn Lloyd.

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Kendre Miller

PositiveUsage9:48

Kendre Miller is a high-upside target who is finished with preseason play, signaling a significant role for him in the Seattle offense early in the season. Despite limited college production due to sharing a backfield with Zach Charbonnet, his pedigree as a first-round NFL draft pick mirrors the career paths of Josh Jacobs and Jahmyr Gibbs. He is currently a value in the 5th to 6th round of drafts.

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Kenneth Walker III

NegativeValue7:22

Kenneth Walker is viewed as a less desirable draft pick compared to Devon Achane in the second round, with the speaker expressing regret for selecting Walker over Achane.

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Malik Willis

NegativeRole2:20

The transition to Malik Willis as the starting quarterback is expected to negatively impact Devon Achane's receiving volume. Unlike immobile quarterbacks, Willis is a mobile threat who will likely tuck the ball and run when the pocket collapses rather than checking down to his running back.

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MarShawn Lloyd

PositiveSleeper16:11

MarShawn Lloyd is a premium late-round handcuff target due to Josh Jacobs' injury and suspension risks, allowing drafters to stash him and cut him if the starter remains healthy.

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Rachaad White

PositiveValue15:10

Despite a current hamstring injury, Rachaad White is a no-brainer value pick in double-digit rounds because he is the only running back in his offense capable of catching the ball.

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RJ Harvey

PositiveValue13:39

R.J. Harvey is a superior value compared to J.K. Dobbins, as he is the better receiving back and plays behind the league's best offensive line. It is an inefficiency that he is currently being drafted after Dobbins on many platforms, making him a strong target in the 8th round.

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Travis Etienne

PositiveValue4:53

Travis Etienne is a major value target who should be drafted in the third round following Alvin Kamara's MCL sprain. He is the clear feature back for the Saints, backed by a $28 million guaranteed contract and Kellen Moore's coaching. Despite falling to the fifth round in some drafts, he is considered a mid-fourth-round value at minimum.

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Tua Tagovailoa

NegativeUsage0:42

Tua Tagovailoa's immobile playing style historically benefited Devon Achane by providing a high check-down rate when the pocket collapsed, leading to 5.1 to 5.3 targets per game for the running back.

Insight page
Full transcript

Episode Transcript

168
0:00I want to talk about the 10 best running back values in drafts today, and we are going to go from the early rounds to the
0:06guys that are getting drafted in the literal last round of drafts, starting with our most expensive running back in Devon Achane. Now, I completely
0:14understand, right? Devon Achane is a running back that is in a garbage situation this year. Let's talk about all the red flags that are with this
0:22Achane profile. One, the change with the coaching staff. Mike McDaniel has gone to the Los Angeles Chargers, great offensive mind, and this has a lot of
0:31people worried that the overall offensive output in Miami is going to be worse this season than what we've seen over the past three. The second thing is
0:40with the change of quarterback play.
0:42Now, yes, Tua was a horrible quarterback for the Miami Dolphins last season, but what Tua was good for with Devon Achane
0:50is the check-down rate. Typically, if you want your running backs to have a ton of receptions out of the backfield, you want your quarterback to be
0:57immobile, because what happens is when the pocket collapses and you have a quarterback that can run the ball and escape, such as Lamar Jackson, Jayden
1:06Daniels, Josh Allen, they're not going to dump the ball off to the backfield mate with Achane, James Cook, etc., etc.
1:14They'll pick it up and they're going to run themselves. But, if you have a quarterback like Tua, if you have a
1:19quarterback like Kirk Cousins, if you have a quarterback like Jared Goff, these guys that can't run at all, when their pocket collapses, they look at the
1:27running back that is standing 6 ft from them and they just throw it over in their direction and hope that they can
1:32do something with the ball. This led to Devon Achane last season seeing 5.3 targets per game and the year prior 5.1
1:40targets per game. This change from Tua to Malik Willis is not good for that receiving volume because Willis is going to be more of the Lamar Jackson mold,
1:51where when that pocket collapses, he can escape and he can go ahead and run the ball himself. And lastly, the concern
1:57that we have with Devon Achane is because this Miami Dolphins offense legitimately has no help at all at the wide receiver position, teams are going
2:06to be able to stack the box. I mean, you're not going to have to worry about freaking Malik Washington.
2:11Um you're not going to have to worry about Chris Bell on the outside for the Dolphins. Of course, those wide receivers aren't going to be able to do
2:16anything. So, defensive coordinators are going to go, "Hey, we only have to worry about shutting down one man, and that man is Devon Achane." So, there are a
2:25red flags with Devon Achane profile that a lot of people are terrified to draft him, and that's why I think we actually
2:32can get a decent discount. Because if we go through and take a step backwards of what Achane has been over the past 3
2:38years of his NFL career, Achane in the first three seasons he has played has averaged at least 17 fantasy points per
2:46game every season. Achane this past year averaged over 20 fantasy points per game. He is about to turn 25 years old,
2:55so he is still in the prime of his career. So, if we just look at this from a big picture perspective, if we look at
3:02the output Achane's given you combined with the actual age profile he has, if Achane wasn't a good situation, if the situation was the same as last season,
3:13you would have to take him at the 1.03 or the 1.04. We would be talking about Achane versus Ja'Marr Chase. We'd be
3:20talking about Achane versus Puka Nacua.
3:23So, yes, there are a lot of red flags, but those red flags are priced in, in my opinion, almost too much because the
3:30other thing I want to cover with Devon Achane is going to be the Las Vegas sports book projections. While the Dolphins do expect to be garbage this
3:38year, they were very bad last season, and they actually are only supposed to average about 1 point per game fewer this year than they did in 2025. Lastly,
3:48while Malik Willis isn't going to check the ball down very often, those rushing quarterbacks like Josh Allen, like Lamar Jackson, what they can do is they can
3:56boost the rushing efficiency of their backfield mates because when Malik Willis goes to hand off the ball, what the opposing linebackers have to think
4:04is they have to think, okay, one, this may be a play-action. Two, this may be a Devon Achane rush, or three, this may be
4:12a read from Willis, and he can take the ball off the edge. So, with Achane, red flags are it's a garbage offense, and at
4:20the same time, the check-down rate's going to be lowered. The green flags are he's way cheaper than you would ever expect a running back like this to be,
4:28while at the same time, the rushing efficiency may get better, and the offense was already bad last year when he averaged over 20 fantasy points per
4:35game. So, if we're using the consensus ADP page on flockfantasy.com, Devon Achane currently is a second-round pick.
4:42That's also where he went in the Flock League draft. I would have absolutely loved drafting him over Kenneth Walker.
4:47Sadly, I got Walker instead, but I think Achane's the best round two running back that you could probably take. Now, let's
4:53move over to a running back that has gotten a boom, and that is going to be Travis Etienne. Now, Travis Etienne fell
5:00all the way down to the fifth round in the Flock League, which absolutely blew my mind. I mean, I could have considered
5:06taking him over Aigboka. I thought he should have gone in the middle of the fourth where Jynxy took Bijan Robinson, and that was before Alvin Kamara had the
5:15MCL sprain, and now he is expected to miss at least one month. And if we go through and look at this Alvin Kamara
5:22profile, I mean, it is incredibly concerning for him to have this injury because Kamara already looked like he was complete toast last year. Alvin
5:31Kamara last season saw the biggest fall off of his entire NFL career in every major statistical category. He had fewer carries per game than any season of his
5:43NFL career outside of his rookie year.
5:46He had fewer targets per game by a wide margin than any year of his NFL career.
5:51His yards per carry fell down to 3.6.
5:54That was the worst mark we had seen through his entire NFL career. His yards per target fell down to 4.8. So, he had
6:01less volume than he's ever had, and at the same time, he was a worse running back with the efficiency than we've ever
6:07seen from him. And he is a 31-year-old player. He's going into year 10. We saw the biggest falloff ever, and now with
6:14the sprained MCL, this is the third time he has suffered a sprained MCL. So, I'm looking at this going, "Alvin Kamara is
6:22straight-up cooked. Travis Etienne is the feature down running back for the New Orleans Saints." Etienne just got paid this off-season, and he averaged
6:30almost 15 points per game this past year. You go back three years ago, and Travis Etienne was over 16 points per
6:39game. This is a pretty good coaching staff with Kellen Moore. I think the New Orleans Saints should be much better than people are currently projecting
6:46them to be. And if we look at the Etienne contract, he got $28 million guaranteed, which is about the same exact number that Kenneth Walker did.
6:55So, this team paid him to be their feature. Kamara is now cooked. He was probably already cooked before, and you can still draft Etienne in the fourth
7:03round. Right now, if I'm using the consensus ADP page on flockfantasy.com, Travis Etienne is at pick 43. He goes to the middle of the fourth round on
7:12Sleeper, the early fourth, late third on ESPN, the middle of the fourth in Yahoo drafts, middle of the fourth in Best
7:19Ball, middle of the fourth in CBS, middle of the fourth in FFPC. I think Travis Etienne now should be a third-round pick with this Alvin Kamara
7:27injury. And if you were using our draft sheets, there's a damn good chance that you end up drafting him. Now, obviously,
7:33I want to give a shout-out to our draft sheets, and everybody who's used them to crush their drafts this season. If you
7:39got that flockfantasy.com season pass, don't worry, we are still going to be hooking you up with consistently updated rankings every single day until the end
7:48of the season both with weekly and rest of season ranks not only for myself, but all your favorite creators that you
7:54watch on YouTube. Now, if you haven't had your draft yet and you want access to all those rankings, trade calculator, my team's page, the whole nine yards, it
8:01all comes with the $34 flock fantasy.com season pass. You'll get custom draft sheets for your exact league settings and platform. You'll get your draft
8:10assistants to help you through your draft as well. Just make sure you sign up with code flock, that way you get
8:15free start sit trade questions. You're able to ask me in the live streams and I'm live streaming every single day until Christmas. Now, let's move over to
8:21another running back that has gotten a pretty big boom as of late and that is going to be De'Andre Swift. Now, right
8:28now Swift is a fifth round pick in Sleeper drafts. He is a fifth round pick in ESPN. He goes in the fourth in Yahoo,
8:35fourth on Underdog, fourth in CBS. So, for me, I want to be on record, I think De'Andre Swift should be a fourth round
8:44player and now that we have the Kyle Shanahan guy hyper extended knee.
8:48Because with Shanahan guy missing, this does solidify De'Andre Swift's role in this offense to be the weeks one, two, and three starter and Swift, what we
8:57have seen from him every single year of his NFL career is you can pencil him out to be a top 24 running back in points
9:04per game. He's never finished lower than RB 24. If we look at his total fantasy points, he has scored over 200 fantasy
9:11points in back-to-back seasons because he plays effectively every game and he has averaged over three targets per game every single year of his NFL career. So,
9:21the Chicago Bears should be a good offense. His only competition for touches just injured his knee. He has the lock on the receiving role and he is
9:30giving you a floor as a top 24 running back and if you can take him in the fifth round or at the very end of the
9:36fourth, if he turns out to be a low-end RB1, high-end RB2, you're crushing. And even if he hits his floor of being a top
9:4224 RB, you probably didn't overpay for him. Now, I am rocking the Kendre Miller price jersey because we got very interesting news today. Kendre Miller
9:51Price is done playing in the preseason.
9:53They said the next time you're going to see Kendre Miller Price is going to be week one of the NFL year, which is just
10:00a great sign for the utilization of Kendre Miller Price early in Seattle.
10:06Now, I know a lot of people were coming through and um pooh-poohing on me taking Kendre Miller Price in a lot of best
10:12ball drafts early in the off season cuz they were coming through and they were saying, "Oh my gosh, we are going to
10:17have um a Georgia La'el with a role. We are going to have a Emanuel Wilson, blah, blah, blah." Running backs that
10:24have never done anything in the NFL that have no pedigree over the guy that just went round one of the NFL draft. Now,
10:33Kendre Miller Price's profile is almost impossible to look at from college, right? Big reason being is he was a backfield mate with Zach Charbonnet
10:42love. And of course, if you were a backfield mate with Zach Charbonnet love, you're just not going to see the field. Zach Charbonnet love went top
10:49three in the NFL draft for a damn good reason. So, the production numbers for Price extremely limited. Like, we can look at some of the efficiency stuff,
10:58right? If we wanted, where if we go through and look at the yards per attempt for Kendre Miller Price in this
11:05offense, he was at 6.0. Zach Charbonnet love was at 6.9, but of course, he is a special talent. But even though Zach
11:12Charbonnet love obviously phenomenal running back went top five, Kendre Miller Price still saw 113 rush attempts in comparison to love at 119. But we
11:22weren't able to really see a receiving role in college cuz he played alongside Zach Charbonnet love. So, the last time we can go back and look at a running
11:30back that went round one of the NFL draft with a very limited prospect profile because he played with studs in his own backfield. Last time we saw that
11:40was 2019 with Josh Jacobs. Jacobs was at Alabama with absolute hammers, right?
11:46Whether it was Najee Harris, whether it was Damien Harris, a ton of running backs that ended up making it to the
11:52NFL. Jacobs had the film where NFL talent evaluators went, "You know what?
11:57We don't care. We're taking him round one." That's exactly what happened with Jahmyr Gibbs. Kendre Miller and Price go to a great offense. Zach Charbonnet is
12:02going to miss the first half of the season. Kendre Miller and Price right now you can get him in round six of
12:07Sleeper drafts, round six of Yahoo, round six of ESPN. But if you're looking at flockfantasy.com, he's ranked in the middle of round five. And also he went
12:16in the middle of round five of the Flock League draft as well. Now Jonathan Brooks went in the middle of round six
12:22to Junko in the Flock League draft.
12:25>> WITH JONATHAN >> YEAH!
12:30>> UH JONATHAN BROOKS, I DON'T THINK I CAN SAY IS LIKE the best pick ever if you're taking him in the middle of the sixth
12:35round. I think that is close to his ceiling. I understand it with the Chuba Hubbard injury, but I wouldn't advocate for Jonathan Brooks to be one of the
12:42best picks in fantasy football if you're taking him in the sixth. However, in a lot of casual drafts, you're not going
12:48to have to take him there. If we go through and look at a lot of these platforms in their ADP, Sleeper he goes
12:54at 116.
12:56ESPN, he goes at pick 100. Yahoo 76. Um the best ball 75, CBS 89. I think a fair price point for Jonathan Brooks, a
13:06running back that has all the upside in the world that was a phenomenal prospect coming out of the University of Texas
13:10despite the fact he only had one ACL, is if you take him in round seven, it's a fair price. Round six it could pay off,
13:17but I definitely think it's a risk.
13:18Round seven, it's a fair price, but if your league mates don't really pay attention, maybe it's a work league, maybe you're just playing with complete
13:26casuals, there's a chance you can get Jonathan Brooks in the eighth round, which in that price, I mean, for the starting running back of the Carolina
13:33Panthers, and he's a pretty talented young guy, it's an absolute smash. Now, in a similar range, we are going to have
13:39R.J. Harvey. It blows my mind that right now on a lot of draft platforms, J.K.
13:45Dobbins is drafted before R.J. Harvey.
13:48In ESPN drafts, you have an ADP of pick 106 for Dobbins and pick 123 for Harvey.
13:56Yahoo, Dobbins goes at pick 84, Harvey goes at pick 109. I literally can't understand it, because R.J. Harvey is the better receiving running back
14:06between the two of Dobbins and Harvey.
14:09And on top of this, J.K. Dobbins has proven to be the most injury-prone running back in the entire NFL. If we go
14:16through Dobbins's entire NFL career, in 2020, it's his rookie season, he doesn't see a lot of volume, he's able to play
14:2415 games, right? But then in 2021, before the season gets here, he's out for the year immediately, right? I believe that was the year we got the
14:31torn Achilles, or maybe that was the torn ACL. In 2022, he played eight games. Then in 2023, I think this was
14:38actually maybe the torn Achilles season, he played one game, saw a total of eight carries, and was done for the year. In
14:442024, he played 13 games with the Los Angeles Chargers before he getting injured, and in 2025, this past season, he made it through 10 games. He's been
14:53in the NFL for a total of six years, and if we go through and map out how many games he's played, it's like 37.
15:00It's unbelievable. So, I think there's a damn good chance Dobbins goes down this year, or there's a damn good chance we
15:05get to see R.J. Harvey as the starting running back behind the league's best offensive line. You can take him in the
15:10eighth round of your fantasy draft, and he has receiving upside. Now, Rashaad White's a very tough shout here, just because Rashaad White now currently is
15:19dealing with a hamstring. But if Rachaad White is healthy, in some platforms, he is just so far behind the expert average
15:28ranking on flockfantasy.com, where in Sleeper drafts, he goes at 130, ESPN 109, Yahoo 111. So, if you can get Rachaad White in rounds 10 or after,
15:39this is a good offense. Now, yes, they already saw an injury to their left tackle. That's going to suck. But, at
15:45the end of the day, it's a good offense for Rachaad White, while at the same time, he's the only running back in the
15:51backfield that can actually catch the ball. So, for a double-digit round pick, when he has a chance to be the starter,
15:57the receiving upside, and the offense, it's an absolute no-brainer. Now, as we get down to our last three running backs, these are guys that you would
16:05take at the very, very end of your drafts, okay? I'm not going to sit here and tell you, "Oh, take Marshaun Lloyd
16:11in round 10. Take Marshaun Lloyd in round 11." No, this is the range where your league-mates are taking kickers and defenses. I don't want you to draft a
16:19kicker or a defense, unless you're drafting a couple days before the season. What I would rather you do is copy what Junko did in the flock league,
16:27copy what I did in the flock league, and that is stab at running backs in the final few rounds of your draft, just in
16:34case we were to get injury news to the guy in front of them before the season were to get here, and all of a sudden,
16:40they see a massive spike in value. Now, if the running backs ahead of them manage to stay healthy and are 100% good
16:45to go for week one, then you can go through and you can cut these handcuffs, and you can pick up your kicker and a
16:51defense at that point. But, Marshaun Lloyd is the first name that I want to discuss. With Marshaun Lloyd, he was a
16:57decent prospect. He's never managed to stay healthy in the NFL, which has been incredibly frustrating. This dude has a total of six carries, but right now,
17:06he's getting a ton of positive press coming out of Green Bay, and the reason why I think he would be a premium
17:11handcuff with one of your last few picks is with Josh Jacobs, not only do you have the injury risk, but you also have
17:17the risk of suspension. So, instead of taking a kicker, take Marshawn Lloyd, and then if Jacobs is going to go by
17:24week one, then you can cut Marshawn Lloyd for that kicker right before the season. The other guys that I want to
17:28mention are going to be Braelon Allen.
17:31The reason Braelon Allen's a clear target is this is a running back that is in a setup where the starter in front of
17:37him is already injured with Breece Hall.
17:39Breece Hall dealing with the groin, sounds like Hall's probably going to be good to go week one, but that's definitely not a guarantee. So, if you
17:46can just stash Braelon Allen, see what happens, maybe Breece Hall re-aggravates it. Then all of a sudden you have a starting running back that you got for
17:52literally free cuz you took him the last round. And then Keilan Black is going to be the same exact profile of this. I
17:58mean, I draft Black in the drafts pretty much every single night we are doing on the live stream because um Sleeper ADP
18:06has him at like player 9,000. But, I'm using my draft sheets, right? So, if I'm using my draft sheets, I'm able to just
18:13go through and see, "Oh, no, this is actually the handcuff running back that you want. This is the guy that sorted to
18:18the top." So, I've been taking a ton of them just in case this McCaffrey injury stuff does end up being serious. Now, of
18:24course, I'm not saying McCaffrey's going to miss the season or anything. He actually was back at practice today, but it will be something important to
18:30monitor. I think that's all I got for you. I really appreciate you, and I really hope that I was able to help you
18:35out in some way with this video. If you need additional help, the best way you can get it is the $34 flockfantasy.com
18:42season pass. I'm going to leave the link in the description in the comment section. That's going to get you set up
18:46with a rankings every single week not only for myself, but all your favorite creators you watch on YouTube. And on top of that, custom draft sheets that
18:54are tailored to your exactly settings and your exact draft platform. But, much love, ladies and gentlemen. I really appreciate you, and I hope you get to
19:01see out in the live stream later tonight.

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