2026 NFL Free Agency is right around the corner, which means that a LOT will change across the fantasy football landscape over the next couple of months. New scheme implementations, multiple already established veterans being positively or negatively affected throughout this entire cycle, and most importantly, notable player movement and new landing spots.
In today’s 2026 Fantasy NFL Free Agent Running Backs: Part 2, I am going to be looking at two different angles for all of these free agent running backs: what their 2026 fantasy football outlook would look like if they stayed with their current team, and what their 2026 fantasy football outlook would look like if they went somewhere else, highlighting what that specific landing spot could be.
J.K. Dobbins
J.K. Dobbins has always been an interesting player in the NFL and within the fantasy community as a whole throughout his career, because he is an extremely talented back on paper, but injuries have just unfortunately derailed that promise year in and year out, pretty much. Just one healthy season for Dobbins would do WONDERS for the player’s fantasy value. In 2025, before breaking his foot, J.K. Dobbins played in 10 games for Denver and impressed tremendously by averaging a highly efficient 5.05 yards per carry and a very high 77.2 rushing yards per game.
Additionally, per the Fantasy Points Data Suite, amongst RBs that saw at least 100 carries last season, Dobbins ranked 3rd in Explosive Run Rate, 15th in rushing success rate, and 8th in missed tackles forced per attempt. A surprisingly great season for the veteran RB, based on where he was being drafted last summer at least.
In my opinion, there is a decent chance that J.K. Dobbins resigns with the Denver Broncos this offseason, because Sean Payton doesn’t seem to be overly smitten with RJ Harvey as his “lead back”, and honestly, Payton has historically liked to employ a split backfield strategy when you really look at it. If Dobbins returns to the Denver Broncos next year, he would be the early down thumper and goal line back, and Harvey would likely be relegated to strictly passing down work, just like he was last year when both RBs were perfectly healthy. In this scenario, Dobbins would likely be a value in fantasy drafts once again, just like he was last year.
If you ask me, the ideal situation for J.K. Dobbins is to just stay in Denver and continue working with Sean Payton. There is proof of concept there, so why ruin an already good situation? However, this is free agency we’re talking about here, so if the veteran RB were to sign elsewhere this offseason…where could that be?
My mind immediately goes to the Los Angeles Chargers, as a reunion with Jim Harbaugh, where you had arguably your best season as a pro in 2024, would be wise. Omarion Hampton is obviously the CLEAR bellcow back in LA going forward, but Harbaugh always likes to have a veteran back in the mix to handle pass pro and late game situations.
Kenneth Gainwell
Kenneth Gainwell's acrobatic catch shifted momentum before halftime 🔥 @Steelers | @Accenture pic.twitter.com/EUO4qjF1nX
— NFL (@NFL) December 22, 2025
This sounds crazy to say, but Kenneth Gainwell was a HUGE surprise within the fantasy football landscape in 2025. Everyone assumed that this Pittsburgh backfield would be a pretty ugly split between Gainwell and Jaylen Warren, but that was not the case, as Gainwell overtook this backfield and didn’t look back pretty early on. This player’s high fantasy value lies in his receiving ability, as he is an ELITE pass catching back.
Let’s contextualize those high-level numbers in a deeper sense, shall we? He averaged 4.8 targets per game and saw a 14.9% target share as well. Moreover, amongst RBs that received at least 30 targets last season, Gainwell ranked 11th in yards per route run and 8th in first downs per route run. Also, as a bonus, Kenneth Gainwell has shown in the past that he’s a pretty solid runner, too.
To maintain another year of high-level fantasy success, Kenneth Gainwell NEEDS to stay with the Pittsburgh Steelers this offseason. We have seen that Gainwell is clearly a better asset than Jaylen Warren, and Kaleb Johnson matters not at all. Gainwell will once again get peppered with targets in Pittsburgh next season, because Aaron Rodgers is likely returning for one last season with Mike McCarthy, and Rodgers LOVES to check the ball down a ton at this point in his career, which is where Kenneth Gainwell EXCELS.
It would be far from ideal, but if Kenneth Gainwell wants to capitalize on the great season he just had and cash in on a big payday elsewhere, I look at the Jacksonville Jaguars here. If Jacksonville loses Travis Etienne in free agency, the franchise is going to need a high upside veteran RB that can handle a lot of volume, which is exactly where Kenneth Gainwell comes in. He is a MUCH better version of Bhayshul Tuten, in both the rushing and receiving departments. Thinking about what Trevor Lawrence and Liam Coen could potentially do with Kenneth Gainwell would have fantasy managers absolutely SALIVATING at the mouth, rightfully so.
Rachaad White
Rachaad White has had quite the rollercoaster of a career thus far, in terms of fantasy production at least. His first couple of years in Tampa Bay, he looked like he was going to be the guy there for years to come. But then over the last two years, White has been completely overtaken by Bucky Irving in that Tampa Bay backfield, and honestly, Sean Tucker even looked better than him at times last season, too.
White had an overall inefficient season in 2025, as the player averaged an adequate enough 4.33 yards per carry, 33.6 rushing yards per game, and finished 38th in yards after contact per attempt amongst all RBs that had at least 100 carries last season, per the Fantasy Points Data Suite. The writing is on the wall here. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are not going to pay an RB when they already have a stud back in Bucky Irving and a pretty decent backup in Sean Tucker as well.
As alluded to above, if Rachaad White were to return to Tampa Bay for whatever reason this offseason, that would absolutely KILL his fantasy value, if he even had any left at this point. It’s not just a Bucky Irving thing, either, because Todd Bowles and his staff seem to be big fans of Sean Tucker, and honestly, Tucker overtook White as the RB2 in that backfield down the stretch last season pretty easily. Rachaad White would be buried on that Buccaneers depth chart in this scenario, unfortunately.
Rachaad White needs to sign elsewhere this offseason to even have a chance at being fantasy relevant again, and a team that I look at as a landing spot is the New Orleans Saints. The Saints are always in a very difficult cap space situation every single offseason, so they are going to want to invest in a relatively cheap option at the RB position in order to focus on other more pressing roster needs at the end of the day.
New Orleans can save a pretty large amount of cap space by cutting Alvin Kamara at some point within the next few weeks, so as hard as it may be to do, it’s likely going to end up happening. Devin Neal is also in the mix here, but he is a former Day 3 rookie who showed very little overall last season. Bringing in a potential cheap bounce-back RB in Rachaad White makes perfect sense here if you ask me.
Brian Robinson Jr.
Brian Robinson Jr. was traded from the Washington Commanders to the San Francisco 49ers right before the season started last year, and due to Kyle Shanahan’s elite rushing scheme, fantasy managers everywhere viewed Robinson as one of the very best handcuffs in the entire league for basically the entire season. Robinson only totaled 92 carries in 2025, but averaged 4.35 yards per carry and ranked 17th in rushing success rate amongst all RBs that had at least 50 carries last season. So he impressed even in a small sample size.
The San Francisco 49ers are paying a ton of money to an elite RB in Christian McCaffrey currently, so they are not going to pay ANOTHER RB in Brian Robinson Jr. just to be a backup for all intents and purposes. If Robinson were to return to the 49ers this offseason for whatever weird reason, he would once again be nothing more than a handcuff to Christian McCaffrey, unfortunately, albeit an elite handcuff.
One intriguing landing spot for Brian Robinson Jr.’s fantasy value is the Detroit Lions, as that is a team that is going to have a lot of transition at the RB position this offseason. The franchise is very likely to move on from David Montgomery at some point within the next few weeks, via a cut or a trade, so they will need to bring in a relatively cheap replacement to handle short-yardage and crucial pass-protection situations.
Jahmyr Gibbs is obviously as elite as they come, but swapping Montgomery out for Robinson makes perfect sense, as the two have very similar skill sets, and Robinson is also a pretty decent pass catcher, which is a skill that David Montgomery has lacked throughout his entire career, pretty much. If Jahmyr Gibbs were to ever get hurt in any given week during the season…oh boy…fantasy managers would be going NUTS for Brian Robinson Jr., because he has shown in the past that he can handle a big workload when called upon.
Tyler Allgeier
If the Texans can't sign Breece Hall then they should turn their attention to Tyler Allgeier.
— Chris Nalls (@ChrisNallsNFL) February 13, 2026
2025 Stats:
♦️ 8 TDs
♦️ 514 Rushing
♦️ 96 Receiving Yards
Will be 26 years old at the start of the 2026 Season. Allgeier + Marks would be an interesting combo.
📷: by David J.… pic.twitter.com/tXH0lIq1hz
Tyler Allgeier has had to split carries with a generational talent in Bijan Robinson over the last few years, but let’s not forget that he rushed for over 1,000 yards as a rookie in Atlanta in 2022. When given the opportunity, Allgeier has impressed in a big way.
Tyler Allgeier has earned the right to test the market and go somewhere else in free agency this offseason. It would be very beneficial for all parties involved: Allgeier himself, Bijan Robinson, and most importantly, fantasy managers. If Tyler Allgeier were to hypothetically resign with the Atlanta Falcons this offseason, fantasy managers would be SO disappointed, rightfully so. It would be the worst possible outcome.
The Seattle Seahawks have quite a few notable free agents and extension-eligible players this offseason, but luckily, they have a very large amount of cap space for a team that just won a Super Bowl. Due to these impending contracts, let’s just say, for discussion’s sake, that Seattle wants to get a bit cheaper at the RB position and move on from Kenneth Walker. In that scenario, why not bring in Tyler Allgeier to be your new unquestioned bellcow? Zach Charbonnet is going to miss most, if not all, of next season due to a mid-January torn ACL, so he won’t be a threat to Allgeier for fantasy managers in the least.
This is an extremely fun landing spot, but also a realistic one that makes a lot of sense once you sit down and think it through. Tyler Allgeier in a high-powered, run-heavy Seattle Seahawks offense? Sign me up.
Isiah Pacheco
It’s sad to say, but Isiah Pacheco has gotten progressively worse each year of his NFL career. Over the last three years, from 2023 to 2025, Pacheco’s fantasy points per game totals in Half PPR scoring are as follows: 13.8, 7.3, 6.0. For 2025 specifically, this player had an extremely underwhelming season, averaging a very poor 3.92 yards per carry, ranking in the bottom three in Explosive Run Rate, and 44th in missed tackles forced per attempt. He also finished 35th in yards after contact per attempt and 33rd in yards before contact per attempt as well. Not good at all, no matter how you look at it.
The Kansas City Chiefs NEED to invest in the RB position this offseason. Enough is enough already with the slow, inefficient duo of Kareem Hunt and Isiah Pacheco. It’s time to move on. If the Chiefs front office were to bring back Pacheco in free agency this offseason…he would once again be in an ugly split with Kareem Hunt in a surprisingly slow paced offense. A change of scenery is BADLY needed for both parties involved.
A franchise that could sneakily be in the market for an RB this offseason is the Arizona Cardinals, as literally the entire backfield was injured at one point or another last season. Also, from a financial standpoint, the team can save a pretty significant amount of money by cutting James Conner, which is ultimately likely to happen, given how old and injury-prone Conner is at this point in his career. I am personally of the belief that Arizona doesn’t need to make some huge investment at RB this offseason, but rather bring in someone who can work IN TANDEM WITH Trey Benson.
If Isiah Pacheco were to go to the Cardinals on a cheap contract, it would likely create a split backfield situation with him and Benson, but that may create some value in drafts for Isiah Pacheco in fantasy managers’ eyes. We have seen good production levels from Pacheco before. We have barely seen anything from Trey Benson after two years in the NFL.
