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Dan Fornek's undervalued fantasy football running backs and potential league-winning value picks for 2026. His top RB sleeper targets include Tyler Allgeier and more.
So much time and energy is spent breaking down the early rounds of fantasy football drafts and dissecting which players are good targets and fades. In a lot of ways, that is fair, since nailing your early round picks can unlock your fantasy team's ceiling.
That is especially true at the running back position in 2026. Fantasy managers are pushing up running backs' values fast this offseason after the position's success in 2025. While that is fair, it does give fantasy managers who are willing to pivot to a “Zero RB” build a chance to put together a powerful lineup if they can identify the sleeper running backs to target late.
Today, we will break down four running back sleepers and values who could have league-winning upside in 2026. For the purpose of this article, we will define a “sleeper” or “value” as a player who is currently being drafted outside the top 120 picks (10 rounds) based on Yahoo’s ADP. Let’s dive in.
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Tyler Allgeier, RB, Arizona Cardinals
ADP: 130.1
The excitement of the Jeremiyah Love pick has buried the fact that the Arizona Cardinals also invested a decent amount of money in their backfield during free agency when they signed Tyler Allgeier to a two-year, $12.25 million contract with $8 million guaranteed.
Allgeier rushed for 1,000 yards as a rookie, but took a backseat after the Atlanta Falcons drafted Bijan Robinson the next year. Despite the clear difference in talent, Allgeier was able to average 155.3 attempts, 613.7 yards, and 5.0 touchdowns per season while averaging 4.3 yards per touch.
Tyler Allgeier is in to extends the Falcons lead
CARvsATL on FOX/FOX Onehttps://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/6UYUoVyZR4
— NFL (@NFL) November 16, 2025
The veteran running back once again finds himself in a complementary role to a highly drafted and explosive running back, but reports out of training camp indicate that the team is committed to splitting its backfield to protect Love in his first season.
Love also reportedly suffered a high ankle sprain during his first preseason action, an injury that may not cost him many games to start his career but could linger and sap his explosiveness throughout the season.
The Cardinals have a new coaching staff and an offensive line with several talented pieces, which should help the team establish a solid rushing attack. Allgeier will be one of the most valuable handcuff picks in fantasy this season and has a chance to carve out a productive weekly role in positive and neutral game scripts.
Expect him to have a consistent enough role in the offense (with upside if Love is injured) to be fantasy relevant throughout the 2026 season.
Jonah Coleman, RB, Denver Broncos
ADP: 131.1
The Denver Broncos drafted Washington running back Jonah Coleman in the fourth round of the 2026 NFL Draft, hoping to add more talent and depth to a running back room that struggled with efficiency after J.K. Dobbins was injured in 2025. The move has been paying dividends so far.
There has been a steady drumbeat of positive news coming out of training camp surrounding Coleman, culminating in the rookie being taken out of his first preseason game after four carries because head coach Sean Payton “… didn’t need to see additional evidence of what I’ve been seeing for three weeks.”
Duo.
JC presses into the B-gap with his eyes on 53. That forces the LB to come downhill and lets Bolles (72) get his hands on the LB.
Once he sees 72 has outside leverage he bursts through the C-gap and through an arm tackle then spins off an out-of-control DB for a chunk run pic.twitter.com/AIuxjC7qFb
— Dan Fornek ↗️ (@fornekdf) August 15, 2026
Coleman was highly productive during his final two collegiate seasons at Washington after transferring from Arizona, racking up 349 carries for 1,811 yards (5.2 yards per attempt) and 25 touchdowns while adding 54 receptions for 531 yards and two receiving touchdowns.
There weren’t many questions about his size in the predraft process (5-foot-8, 220 pounds), but there were questions about his speed and a lack of athletic testing that ultimately caused him to drop into the third day of the draft.
Before that, Coleman was viewed by many as the potential RB2 in a draft class lacking high-end talent due to his vision and ability to play through contact at the college level.
Denver’s backfield is looking like a three-headed monster with Dobbins, second-year back RJ Harvey, and Coleman all dividing the work. However, any injury to Dobbins and Harvey will open up an immediate increase in playing time that could have Coleman fantasy relevant quickly.
Either way, Coleman is an ascending talent who is gaining steam throughout training camp and could have played his way into a running back rotation that has historically produced good results for fantasy managers.
Coleman is an easy way to get a piece of a good Denver offense at a reasonable price, even if his ADP will continue to climb if he keeps stacking good days during training camp.
MarShawn Lloyd, RB, Green Bay Packers
ADP: 132.0
Green Bay Packers running back MarShawn Lloyd has missed almost all of his first two seasons due to a variety of injuries. However, the third-year running back is finally healthy and is making the most of extra opportunities this training camp.
Lloyd was originally drafted in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft to be an explosive complement to then-free-agent acquisition Josh Jacobs. Lloyd had an explosive final season at Southern California (after transferring from South Carolina), finishing with 116 carries for 820 yards (7.1 yards per attempt) and nine touchdowns while adding 13 receptions for 232 yards.
Jacobs has missed time in training camp while navigating a groin injury (and has a potential suspension looming for a domestic incident this summer). That has allowed Lloyd to work with the first-team offense in a bell-cow capacity. The opportunity has allowed him to showcase his explosiveness and show that he deserves a role in the backfield if he is healthy.
A healthy (and suspension-less) Jacobs will clearly be the lead back for the Packers, but Lloyd has done enough to carve out a role if his health issues are behind him. That role could escalate into a three-down role if Jacobs is injured or suspended, making him an excellent upside play in the later rounds of fantasy drafts.
Chris Rodriguez Jr., RB, Jacksonville Jaguars
ADP: 132.3
Jacksonville needs to fill the vacancy left by free agent Travis Etienne Jr. (260 carries for 1,107 yards and seven touchdowns with 52 targets, 36 receptions, 292 receiving yards and six touchdowns). So far, fantasy managers believe that speedy second-year running back Bhayshul Tuten is the lead candidate after handling 83 carries for 307 yards and five touchdowns with 10 receptions for 79 yards and two receiving scores as a rookie.
However, free-agent acquisition Chris Rodriguez Jr. has had a strong training camp after putting an offseason foot injury behind him and looks to be a major part of this rushing offense in 2026. Tuten got most of the opportunities in the backfield during OTAs while Rodriguez was recovering, but the backfield has been far more evenly split during training camp.
Rodriguez is coming off his best professional season with the Washington Commanders (112 carries for 500 yards and six touchdowns) and has averaged 4.6 yards on 198 career carries in three years.
He also has familiarity with head coach Liam Coen’s offense after the two previously worked together during Rodriguez’s fourth season at the University of Kentucky. During that season, Rodriguez racked up 225 carries for 1,379 yards (6.1 yards per attempt) and nine touchdowns, finishing second in the SEC in rushing yards to Missouri's Tyler Badie.
Rodriguez doesn’t have the pass-catching chops that we look for in fantasy at the running back position, but all reports indicate that he will likely serve as a consistent early down rusher and the short-yardage and goal-line back. That is a good bet to make on a Jaguars offense that we expect to take another step in 2026 after a successful 2025 season.
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Below are some popular searches and comparisons from our Who To Draft tool for 2026 drafts for Tyler Allgeier, MarShawn Lloyd, Jonah Coleman, Chris Rodriguez Jr.:
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