RADIO
Brant's college fantasy football draft targets for Yahoo leagues. His undervalued players and sleepers at running back, including Jayden Scott, Jamal Roberts, and more.
Yahoo college fantasy football is back, and drafts opened up on August 3rd. With Week 0 just one week away, the college football season has officially arrived.
Yahoo does not start scoring until Week 1 so if you are interested in starting a league up, you still have time to do so.
Surefire stud running backs such as Ole Miss’s Kewan Lacy, Oklahoma State’s Caleb Hawkins, and Florida’s Jadan Baugh will go at the top of drafts. Looking a little deeper, who are some potential breakout running backs that you should be targeting in drafts?
Jayden Scott, RB, NC State
ADP: 47.5
Hollywood Smothers was a fantasy star last season at NC State before hitting the transfer portal and heading to Texas. His backup last season, Jayden “Duke” Scott, still managed to string together 595 yards and four touchdowns in a limited role.
When Scott was given opportunity, he shined. He exploded in a starting role in an upset over Georgia Tech, rushing 24 times for 196 yards and a score. Dave Doeren’s team should put points up again with CJ Bailey under center and with no other experienced backs on the roster, Scott looks to have a workhorse role.
Not to mention, he landed at 18th on Bruce Feldman's 2026 freaks list.
Jamal Roberts, RB, Missouri
ADP: 69.5
Jamal Roberts is a good running back, having touted the rock 124 times for 753 yards and six touchdowns a season ago despite being behind superstar Ahmad Hardy.
Hardy suffered a gunshot wound this offseason, and his status is up in the air for Week 1 and beyond. If he can’t go, or even if he can go in a limited capacity, Roberts will see a good chunk of work.
Eli Drinkwitz likes to run the ball and given that Roberts could be his bellcow this season, he could end up being a major steal in the late sixth round.
Jekail Middlebrook, RB, Virginia
ADP: 121.5
All of the reports out of Virginia camp are pointing towards Middle Tennessee State transfer Jekail Middlebrook as the guy in Tony Elliott’s backfield. The dual-threat back ran for 752 yards and four touchdowns while also catching 40 passes for 412 yards and three more touchdowns last season.
Jekail Middlebrook really stood out in the open portion of practice.
UVA running back flashed quick cuts and speed, while taking the first reps.
Xavier Brown took the 2nd reps with Eli Holstein. pic.twitter.com/xw9WKFo7IB
— Preston Willett (@PrestonWillett) July 29, 2026
Virginia has to replace J’Mari Taylor, who was one of the top fantasy backs a season ago. Middlebrook is going too late in drafts if he fully replaces the role that Taylor vacated, which is what all reports are indicating.
Dilin Jones, RB, LSU
ADP: 135.4
Drafting Lane Kiffin’s running back is generally a method that will work out well for you. Kewan Lacy exploded for 1,567 yards and 24 touchdowns last season after just having 104 rushing yards to his name prior to the season.
Enter Dilin Jones, the Wisconsin transfer who ran for 300 yards and two scores last season. Jones was Kiffin’s hand-selected back, and joins a crowded backfield featuring returnees Caden Durham and Harlem Berry. Both Durham and Berry were highly-recruited and have shown more flashes in college than Jones has.
However, all reports are pointing towards Jones leading this Tigers’ backfield. With such a late ADP, it is absolutely worth taking a stab at the junior running back, especially considering the fact that LSU should be one of the nation’s most explosive offenses.
Wayne Knight, RB, UCLA
ADP: 135.9
Wayne Knight has been drawing rave reviews all spring and fall long. Knight was one of many players that followed head coach Bob Chesney from James Madison out west to UCLA. He broke out at JMU last year, running for 1,373 yards and nine touchdowns while adding 397 yards and a score through the air.
Another watch list for @Wayneknight25 👀📋
Wayne Knight has been named a @DoakWalkerAward Candidate.#4sup | ℹ️: https://t.co/poFM3xWPl8 pic.twitter.com/ksOIkU5vFc
— UCLA Football (@UCLAFootball) August 18, 2026
Standing 5-foot-7, 193 pounds, his small frame makes him hard to bring down. UCLA has all of the pieces in place for an offensive turnaround in year one of the Chesney era, and Knight could be the centerpiece of it all.
Landen Chambers, RB, UCF
ADP: NR
We’re digging deep here, but I really like Landen Chambers as a potential deep sleeper. There’s a chance he does nothing at all, as UCF does have a crowded running back room. Chambers will be competing with Louisville transfer Duke Watson and redshirt freshman Taevion Swint for touches.
#UCF transfer RB Landen Chambers showing off the hands with the one handed catch. pic.twitter.com/9qBc4jueb4
— Andrew Cherico (@Andrew_Cherico) March 31, 2026
I really like his chances to make an impact. Transferring up from Central Arkansas, Chambers has ideal size at 5-foot-11, 215 pounds. He ran for 1,273 yards and 10 touchdowns at the FCS level last season, averaging a healthy 5.3 yards per carry.
Scott Frost has noted that he will get touches at the goal line, which we all know are very high-value in fantasy football. While he may be a piece of a committee to start, Chambers has the talent to take this job and run with it.
Cardae Mack, RB, Arizona State
ADP: NR
Cardae Mack is an incoming freshman who played quarterback in high school in Texas. Mack joins an Arizona State backfield that just lost last year’s top rusher, Raleek Brown, to Texas.
Kyson Brown is back and is expected to be the starter, but he could not stay healthy last season and just ran for 106 yards on 18 carries.
Freshman RB Cardae Mack saw time with the first-team offense today and Kenny Dillingham said he could see Mack having an impact this year:
"When you have great lateral quickness, you run behind your pads, you have good balance and you're not an MA guy, you're probably gonna see… pic.twitter.com/ERPLhg85mz
— Jakob Brooks (@Jakobrooks) August 10, 2026
Mack has been described as the type of player you just can’t keep off of the field, and he has already earned first-team reps alongside Brown. It’s likely only a matter of time until he takes this backfield over, and you can grab him for free in drafts.
Jamal Rule, RB, Nebraska
ADP: NR
One more incoming freshman with an inside track to the starting job is Nebraska’s Jamal Rule. With Emmett Johnson off to the NFL after an electric season on the ground, there’s a gaping hole in Matt Rhule’s backfield.
That’s where Rule comes in. The freshman has been turning heads all camp long, and it sounds as if it would be a shock if he were not the day one starter.
The three-star recruit out of North Carolina is a budding fantasy star, and you can snag him in the closing rounds on Yahoo.
