the word that all fantasy players fear the most...

By Martin Richardson

For my first in depth look at 2026, I want to start off by mentioning a phrase that all fantasy players despise:

The committee running back room!

I get it, you can’t have just one top back anymore, but when teams utilise that secondary back in the redzone more than their star man, it’s so frustrating as you can’t bank on those touchdown fantasy points. What is even more frustrating is that these players who come up in the committee discussion are often the ones who fall under the RB2 category to start in your fantasy lineups most weeks. There was nothing worse last season than dropping in an apparent starter, only see someone else take their snaps and redzone points, and usually that player was on an opponents bench as well.

IT’S NOT AS SIMPLE AS IT APPEARS…

There are the likes of James Cook, Saquon Barkley and Bijan Robinson who are your locked in RB1s for both their teams and fantasy football. These guys will get you those points on the board most weeks and be the difference makers in championship runs. Jamhyr Gibbs enters that category now in 2026 as David Montgomery has moved on, which means he enters the conversation as number 1 overall fantasy pick; but looking at some 2026 rosters, the idea of a committee back system is becoming more and more apparent, which is not good news when thinking of who to select as your lead back in fantasy leagues this summer.

IT CAN WORK… IN THE RIGHT SCENARIO:

Take a look at last year for example; teams like the Chicago Bears utilised Kyle Monangai  alongside D’Andre Swift towards the end of the season and this impacted waiver pick ups and Swift’s involvement when it mattered most to fantasy players. This will no doubt be the same in 2026, with both Swift and Monangai being talked about all off season as to how much they can complement each other. At the moment, it is Swift who has the higher ADP with a round 5 pick up compared to Monangai’s round 9 ADP. Swift’s numbers were impressive, with over 1000 yards and 9 touchdowns, but in the second half of the season, Monangai had over 700 yards and over 30 carries in the red zone. He had massive games with over 100 yards in multiple games and showcased just how much of a threat he can be in the air as well as on the ground. With talk of the Bears being on the rise and a serious playoff contender, ben Johnson and co. will look to get to the big leagues in any way possible, and getting both Swift and Monangai firing like they did at the end of 2025 will be a sure-fire way to do that. However, for fantasy owners, relaying solely on one or other may be a risk given that production by Monangai at the back end of the season. At first, I was thinking that if you drafted Swift you may want to draft his counterpart just in case that ‘hot hand’ trope comes in to play, but I think with that kind of production, Monangai becomes a FLEX option down the line, once you’ve seen how he operates in 2026. I definitely think he worth a stash on a bench in your draft just to see what happens. His upside is incredible and as we saw last season, he does not compromise the impact of Swift, he compliments in a way that can help fantasy football players in 2026.

BUT IT CAN ALSO INFURIATE AS WELL…

Looking back at 2025, one of the teams that disappointed many, for various reasons, was the Washington Commanders. They could not get the run game going consistently on offense and things just fizzled out by the end of the season. They went full committee back system and had three back at one point filling their RB slot, with Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Chris Rodriguez and Jeremy McNicholls causing headaches every week on the waiver wire. JCM finished the season with a more than healthy 8 touchdowns and over 800 yards in his rookie season, but it could have been so much more had they have just given him the ball more. Chris Rodriguez, now in Jacksonville, finished with 7 total touchdowns and over 500 total yards, taking away from JCM what could have been a rookie season to remember. Had JCM been the lead back, he would have finished with numbers that aligned him with Kyren Williams, Derrick Henry and Jamhyr Gibbs, which for fantasy players is elite company. But even with the like of Jeremy McNicholls on the roster in 2026, he popped up every now and then with big gains to frustrate those fantasy players who had banked on JCM or Rodriguez down the stretch. Now that Rodriguez is in Jacksonville as well, he has the chance to do the same to Bhayshul Tuten in 2026 and take away valuable fantasy points from him too. See what I mean, it’s a so frustrating to pick the right back in some places.

Now in 2026 they’ve replaced Rodriguez with Rachaad White, which doesn’t really help with giving an indication on how the backfield will operate in 2026. JCM has merit to be the RB1 in that room, with those more than solid numbers, whereas the hard-working White hasn’t really got going since his 1000-yard season in 2023. As a Bucs fan, I had faith that White would do well in the offense after that season, but the continued changes at OC didn’t help him at all and I felt a bit for him last season. He chose to leave the Bucs and pursue a starting job and has landed in a place that runs a committee system just like Tampa. Maybe that suits him; White’s game is better as a receiver, and JCM didn’t have a receiving touchdown last year, so it may well be that that is where the Commanders are heading in 2026, but even that doesn’t help fantasy players determine whether someone like JCM is worth a mid-round pick or not, or if White has any fantasy value anymore.

NOW IN 2026, THERE ARE ISSUES:

Sticking with the Bucs for a moment, after a solid debut season, it became clear Bucky Irving was in line for a big year. The hype was there. The appeal to fantasy owners was there. but when he got injured, Rachaad White had a Sean Tucker shaped shadow lurking behind him, but neither could reach the heights of Irving and the Bucs offense fell off a cliff pretty sharpish. Now in 2026, Irving is back at camp and taking reps with the team this summer, which is much better than first feared when coach Bowles said he may not be back until the start of the season or later. Todd Bowles and yet another new OC, this time Zac Robinson, decided to keep hold of Sean Tucker, so we can all look forward to that one game where he scores 3 touchdowns and goes for over 100 yards, then isn’t heard of again until next year. But what was most intriguing was the fact that they chose to give a healthy deal (2 year- $14m) to former Pittsburgh Steeler, Kenneth Gainwell. Gainwell finished with 8 touchdowns and over 1000 yards in 2025 and comes in as a very capable pass catching back, just like Bucky Irving. This is either telegraphing to the entire world how the Bucs are lining up most plays, or it is worrying news for the value Irving has in 2026. Unlike the Bears, where both RBs have value, I really don’t know the value of both Irving and Gainwell in 2026 working as a pair, rather than simply just the ‘hot hand’. The injury talk could well just be that, talk, when it comes to Irving, or it could be a slightly diminished role for him and have an impact on how Irving is used in 2026.

Finally, you only have to look at the 4th overall pick in the draft to see where there could be issues for fantasy players. New head coach hit the biggest trope of all when it comes to running backs by saying he will go with the ‘hot hand’. Now I get it, he has to say that. He has Tyler Allgeier who came in, probably under the guise of finally being an RB1, only to be gazumped by top talent Jeremiyah Love, and both have value on that offense. But to hear that so soon after Love was drafted, the end of April to be precise on the Rich Eisen show, is less than ideal for fantasy players who are looking to pick up the talented back to be their RB2 throughout the season. Allgeier as a backup back in Arizona is as solid as they come, and he will no doubt get the chances to prove himself to be that in Arizona, which when you add the hot hand comments from the new head coach, is a concern for those banking on some Love in 2026. You also have to look at the bigger picture with the Cardinals as well. They are not in a good place as a team: they have an average QB room, an indifferent defense and will no doubt be behind in a lot of games. So, what does this mean for someone like Love? Will he have the chance to run the ball as much as fantasy players hope he can, or will they have to lean on the likes of Tre McBride and throw the ball a lot more in quick drills in the latter stages of a game?

MARTIN RICHARDSON

NFL/FANTASY FOOTBALL ANALYST

A Yorkshireman living in Lancashire, Martin is a massive NFL fan but his heart belongs to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Also a huge Fantasy Football enthusiast and spends far too long crunching the numbers! Follow him at @MRBucsFan31

Rated 5 out of 5