5 Fantasy Football Running Back Risers: 2026 Draft Targets

July 13, 2026

Craig's fantasy football running back risers and draft targets for 2026. His potential breakout or rebound candidates, including Breece Hall, Ashton Jeanty, and more.

The last thing a fantasy football general manager wants is a running back who racks up yards between the 20-yard lines but hands the scoring opportunities inside the red zone off to a tailback teammate who eventually scores all the touchdowns.

Rushing yards are a huge help, especially in leagues that give you bonuses when your players have 100-yard games or break big gains over 50 yards. Receptions are nice, especially in PPR leagues. But what fantasy footballers need out of their running backs more than anything else are touchdowns. One touchdown could equal 50-70 yards, depending on the scoring format, so finding backs who find the end zone is paramount to fantasy football success.

If a running back's touchdown total goes up, so does his fantasy value! Here are five backs whose fantasy values will go up a level in 2026.

Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Washington Commanders

Jacory Croskey-Merritt did not have a hard time finding paydirt in his rookie campaign. He scored eight touchdowns (on 175 rushing attempts) while serving as Washington’s top tailback for most of the season. My thinking is that instead of suffering a sophomore slump, Croskey-Merritt is trending toward a double-digit-touchdown season in Year 2.

There are a couple of reasons to think Croskey-Merritt will easily score 10-plus touchdowns in 2026. One is that he should be provided more scoring opportunities inside the red zone if franchise quarterback Jayden Daniels stays healthy all season.

Daniels’ various injuries limited him to seven starts and forced defenses to key on Croskey-Merritt when Daniels was not on the field to keep front sevens honest. Marcus Mariota did not keep opponents from stacking the line, and the Commanders were not the same high-powered offense that could afford JCM multiple handoffs near the goal line each week.

Bill Croskey-Merritt just moves different than any back Washington has, and it isn’t close.

Rachaad White will get a lot of looks in varying packages, but Merritt is the guy. Intrigued to see him in year two in this David Blough run game. Explosive kid. pic.twitter.com/sg6JLfi3eC

— Ryan Fowler (@_RyanFowler_) June 19, 2026

While Washington added Rachaad White to the running back room in the offseason, the former Tampa Bay Buccaneer will be asked to be a boost on third downs since catching passes is not Croskey-Merritt’s forte (nine catches in 2025). Croskey-Merritt will remain the main man inside the 5-yard line and will have more scoring chances down there thanks to Daniels. A dozen scores from JCM are a possibility.

Kenneth Walker III, Kansas City Chiefs

The Seattle Seahawks’ Super Bowl hero took his talents to another team after he visited Disneyland. Maybe Mickey Mouse told him that several seasons in an offense led by Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid would give him better odds of returning to Disneyland every year.

Kenneth Walker III suited up for a career-high 17 games in 2025, but he scored a career-low five touchdowns despite the extra action. In fact, Walker’s rushing-touchdown totals have dropped in each of his four NFL seasons (9-8-7-5). Last season, co-starter Zach Charbonnet scored 12 times and was the featured back when Seattle was close to scoring, while Walker would get more work between the 20s.

This should change in 2026 when Walker is KC’s top tailback. His understudy right now is fifth-round pick Emmett Johnson, and the rest of the cupboard is bare behind him.

Runners in Kansas City’s offense have had no trouble scoring touchdowns, no matter the skill or speed level. Kareem Hunt’s best days were behind him, yet he scored 15 rushing touchdowns between 2024 and 2025. Mahomes and his receivers will set Walker up to score double-digit touchdowns for the first time in his career -- as long as he stays injury-free.

Ashton Jeanty, Las Vegas Raiders

There is plenty to be excited about in Vegas, and I’m not talking about the slot machines or the Sphere. Las Vegas drafted Fernando Mendoza to be its franchise quarterback for the foreseeable future, and that means if he turns out to be a top-10 quarterback in the NFL, it should pay fantasy dividends for the focal point of his rushing attack.

Ashton Jeanty is the only runner in this piece who actually scored double-digit touchdowns last season, but he scored half of them on running plays and half on pass plays. While there is no reason to think he cannot score five touchdowns again on receptions, there are plenty of reasons to think he can double his rushing touchdown totals in his second season.

With either Mendoza or overpriced veteran Kirk Cousins leading the offense, and with newly acquired Jalen Nailor joining Pro Bowl tight end Brock Bowers as the top targets in the passing attack, Jeanty should be afforded more red-zone scoring opportunities in 2026 than he was in 2025.

With nothing but unproven late-round draft picks behind him on the depth chart, Jeanty could have more touches than any other running back in the NFL. Fantasy football math always works like this -- more touches plus more playing time equals more yards, touchdowns, receptions, and fantasy value.

Breece Hall, New York Jets

Breece Hall was on the trading block just this past November when the Jets were trading their superstars for first- and second-round draft picks in the 100^th rebuild of the organization’s history. Yet, he ended up remaining on the roster and then signed a multimillion-dollar deal to be the top tailback of the offense for the immediate future.

It is not like Hall went scoreless during his first four NFL seasons. He found the end zone 18 times on rushing plays and nine more on catches out of the backfield. Hall just was not gifted many scoring chances inside the 10-yard line because the Jets ventured inside the red zone as often as Nate Bargatze curses during his comedy routines.

Veteran quarterback Geno Smith and a newly revamped pass-catching corps can only improve the number of red-zone touches Hall will have in 2026. Now that he does not have to worry about whether and when he will be traded, he should settle in as the foundation of the organization.

Breece Hall tight ropes the sideline for his 2nd TD of the game!

NYJvsCIN on CBS/Paramount+https://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/8Nc5D2X7xx

— NFL (@NFL) October 26, 2025

The Jets did not pay Hall millions to hand the ball to Braelon Allen near the goal line, either. Hall might be ready to have his first 10-TD season this year, and you'd better get him on your fantasy roster so you can enjoy the fruits of his labor.

Omarion Hampton, Los Angeles Chargers

Omarion Hampton had everything going for him to be a fantasy darling heading into the 2025 season. The first-round find had little competition in the backfield because veteran Najee Harris was injured out of the gate. But just when it appeared Hampton would become a fantasy force faster than we all thought, an ankle injury sidelined him for half of his rookie campaign.

Hampton showed what he can do when given time and touches. He had a scintillating two-game September stretch where he racked up 198 rushing yards, 96 receiving yards, and two touchdowns. Hampton only had two games with 20-plus touches, so the Chargers tried to ease him in and keep him fresh when he was out there.

While Keaton Mitchell and Kimani Vidal are serviceable backups, look for Hampton to be even more of a workhorse in 2026. We can only pray to the injury gods that Hampton can stay on the field for all 17 games this upcoming season, or at least 14-16 of them.

If he can, Hampton should shine, especially in a new offense planned by former Miami Dolphins head honcho Mike McDaniel. McDaniel milked 21 touchdowns out of Raheem Mostert once and 1.838 combined yards out of De'Von Achane last season, so his high-powered offenses are running-back-friendly. Expect 2026 to be when Hampton officially becomes a fantasy superstar.

Who Should I Draft Tool

Read more about the Who Should I Draft tool here:

2026 Player Decisions. Today's focus is on specific players - Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Breece Hall, Ashton Jeanty, Omarion Hampton, Kenneth Walker III. These are some common searches for 2026 fantasy football drafts.

Using The Tool. This is a simple tool but very powerful. The first step is to enter the player names that you want to compare. In the first box, search for the first player's name. In the second box, search for the second player's name. Compare up to four NFL players at once, and then click the Who To Draft? button to see who the recommended draft picks are based on fantasy football rankings, projections, and more.

Improvements For Who Should I Draft? You may have noticed our Who Should I Draft? tool has gotten an overhaul. We've added lots of great features for you to give you as much information as possible to win your 2026 fantasy football drafts. You'll see NFL player tiles with headshots and bye weeks, stats and projections, ADPs, strength of schedule, enhanced search results with data to compare, and a slick interface. We hope you enjoy!

How It Works. Our RotoBaller staff puts together their preseason fantasy football rankings and projections based on their research and update it constantly throughout the preseason. That information is the core data that is powering the decision-making in this tool. When you search for player names, you will only see those players who are ranked.

Scoring Formats. Fantasy football managers play in various types of leagues, and this tool allows you to choose whether it's PPR scoring, Half-PPR scoring, or Standard (Non-PPR) scoring. The second thing you want to do is to select the scoring format. There are three small radio buttons (small circles), so click on the scoring format you prefer. The results may vary based on the scoring format you select.

Popular Draft Searches. Curious to see some tough draft decisions for 2026? Below you will find a list of some popular Who Should I Draft? searches that RotoBaller readers are looking at. Click any of the links to see the result and recommendation.

Popular Player Comparison Searches - Who To Draft

Below are some popular searches and comparisons from our Who To Draft tool for 2026 drafts for Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Breece Hall, Ashton Jeanty, Omarion Hampton, Kenneth Walker III:

More Fantasy Football Analysis