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With the conclusion of the 2025 fantasy football season, these 2026 fantasy football PPR rankings provide an initial look at how players might be ranked this summer.
Player movement in free agency will significantly impact the rankings, especially at running back. Currently, players expected to be unrestricted free agents are marked as “free agents” in the team column. We are still a week away from the deadline for underclassmen playing in the National Championship Game to declare for the NFL draft. The rankings will be updated after this date to include the upcoming rookie class.
Analysis for the top 10 players can be found at the bottom of the article. You can also click on the analysis column for one of those 10 players to jump to the analysis on that player.
Robinson ranks ahead of Gibbs due to the potential for improvement in 2026. The Falcons had a top-10 team in run-blocking grade last season, despite missing right tackle Kaleb McGary throughout the season. McGary was a top-10 run-blocking right tackle in 2022, 2023 and 2024 by run-blocking grade. He and the rest of the projected starting offensive line are under contract for 2026. Robinson should be able to break more long plays with an improved line.
One Falcon who isn’t under contract is Robinson’s backup, Tyler Allgeier, whose 84.2 PFF offensive grade over the last two seasons suggests he should be a lead running back. Ideally, he will find a new team. That should increase Robinson and Allgeier’s fantasy value. Robinson doesn’t have much room to increase his volume of touches, but he has room for more goal-line touches. Allgeier has more rushing touchdowns than Robinson this season, including four touchdowns from the one-yard line. Those carries will go to Robinson next season, leading to more touchdowns.
The Falcons made a coaching change, switching to Kevin Stefanski as their new head coach. Stefanski has typically utilized a two-man rotation at running back. That was at least partially because of Nick Chubb’s lack of receiving ability. In 2019, when Stefanski was the Minnesota Vikings’ offensive coordinator, Dalvin Cook was typically playing over 70% of the team’s offensive snaps when healthy and was RB2 in PPR points per game that season. Kareem Hunt had multiple games where he played 85% of the offensive snaps or more when Chubb was injured. Stefanski’s history of prioritizing running backs should be more of an asset than a liability for Robinson.
The main concern for Robinson at this point is whether Stefanski invests heavily at the running back position. If the backfield appears headed for a 60-40 split rather than a 75-25 split, that could be enough to move Robinson down a few spots.
Gibbs is a close second for the top overall spot. He’s similarly ranked in the top five each of the last two seasons, has a top-12 run-blocking offensive line, and everyone on the line is under contract for next season. There isn’t as much reason to believe Gibbs can improve on his performance the same way Robinson could.
David Montgomery is under contract for both 2026 and 2027. In recent weeks, Gibbs’ playing time has increased at Montgomery’s expense, which could prompt Montgomery to request a trade. Montgomery has become less of a problem for Gibbs’ fantasy value this season compared to the previous two, but if Montgomery leaves, Gibbs could be in store for a similar bump in rushing touchdowns.
Another minor concern is that the Lions still have more players to target in their offense, as Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, Sam LaPorta and Isaac TeSlaa are all noteworthy, young options under contract next season. Robinson’s primary competition for touches in the offense is Drake London because Kyle Pitts is slated for free agency.
While head coach Dan Campbell is not going anywhere, Detroit changed offensive playcallers mid-season, and are looking for a new offensive coordinator. The play-caller may go back to giving Montgomery a big part of the offense. However, the way the offseason plays out could change who is first and second, but it would take a lot to go wrong for them to no longer be among the top few picks of 2026 fantasy football drafts.
McCaffrey led all running backs in fantasy points this season, and it was the fifth season he’s ranked among the top two. He uniquely achieved this, finishing 10th in rushing fantasy production among running backs, while his receiving fantasy production was good enough to rank among the top-10 wide receivers.
McCaffrey ranked second in rushing attempts but averaged 3.9 yards per carry and was no longer able to break long runs. His NGS tracking data suggests his top-end speed over the last two seasons wasn’t as high as it was during the first seven seasons of his career. While there is a chance McCaffrey’s rushing production bounces back, there is also a chance San Francisco starts letting another running back take some of the carries.
McCaffrey’s receiving production also happened in a year where the 49ers’ receiving unit didn’t go according to plan. San Francisco thought that, by midseason, they could have a receiver unit of Brandon Aiyuk, Jauan Jennings, Ricky Pearsall and George Kittle. Aiyuk didn’t play this season. Pearsall missed six weeks in the middle of the season and was ineffective in his first three games back from injury. Kittle missed five games and wasn’t as effective his first two back. Jennings also missed two games.
Aiyuk won’t be back, Jennings is a free agent and Kittle could miss most of the season, but San Francisco will have a plan to replace them and have better receiving production from its wide receivers next year. McCaffrey could lead all running backs in receiving production next year while still having a notable decrease in production. There is a chance McCaffrey moves up these rankings if the 49ers have an underwhelming plan at wide receiver next season.
All three of the top running backs are somewhat dependent on an elite run blocker – right guard Chris Lindstrom in Atlanta, right tackle Penei Sewell in Detroit and left tackle Trent Williams in San Francisco. Williams will be 38 years old next season, making him the most likely to decline or suffer an injury.
While McCaffrey will be the top overall player again if everything goes right, there are more reasons to expect a decline from McCaffrey this season, given how he achieved his production and his signs of decline.
Achane has ranked in the top six in fantasy points per game among running backs each of the last three seasons. Achane’s 91.0 rushing grade this season is the best among all running backs, but his situation hasn’t been as good as the top three running backs.
The Falcons, Lions and 49ers have been three of the top-12 teams in run-blocking grade in each of the last four seasons. The Dolphins have ranked in the bottom five in each of the last two seasons. The 49ers and Lions have been among the highest-scoring offenses, while the Dolphins have been in the bottom 12 in scoring each of the last two seasons. This has made it harder for Achane to match the other backs’ touchdown totals.
The Dolphins’ cap situation isn’t great, so there isn’t much reason to believe the offense will substantially improve this offseason, unless they can find the right quarterback. If there isn’t much difference, we can still expect Achane to be among the top few running backs in talent and the top few in opportunities. That combination is enough to keep him a top-five running back and a first-round fantasy pick.
Achane will also have a new head coach and offensive playcaller this season. Miami’s lack of options at other skill positions should help keep Achane as the focal point of their offense.
Cook finished 11th in fantasy points per game among running backs in 2024, but he accomplished this while rushing for 16 touchdowns. He was drafted slightly later due to expected regression. A lot has gone right for Cook this year to suggest he can continue to be a great running back in 2026.
Cook’s carries per game took a dramatic leap from 12.9 to 19.1 this season. Part of this was the Bills running a little more frequently, and the other part was the team turning to Ray Davis less frequently. Cook averaged a high 5.3 yards per carry, which is slightly higher than his 5.1 career average. Sometimes, when a running back earns more rushing production, it comes at the expense of his receiving, but that wasn’t the case for Cook, who was right in line with last season.
The team’s run blocking moved up to sixth this season, and right tackle Spencer Brown led the way in his best NFL season. There was no weakness among the other four linemen. Cook’s PFF rushing grade declined slightly this season, but the improved offensive line led to a net increase in efficiency.
The Bills are in a rough spot salary-cap-wise, and two of their five linemen are slated for free agency. If the offseason doesn’t go well, there is a chance Cook will move down the rankings. Until then, Cook has moved into first-round consideration as one of the league’s better running backs in one of the league’s best offenses because he has minimal competition for touches.
