Early Week 1 Fantasy Football Running Back Rankings (2026)

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August 12, 2026

RotoBaller's running back fantasy football rankings for Week 1 (2026). Set winning fantasy lineups with our Week 1 RB rankings for fantasy football leagues.

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It's not quite time to finalize your Week 1 lineup calls, but we're inching closer, and it's never too early to take a look at the opening-week pecking order at RB. We're here to assist with our early running back fantasy football rankings for Week 1. Every week should be treated as a must-win situation, and beginning your season with a loss always feels like a big blow. That's where we come in.

In the rankings below, find out where Omarion Hampton, Kyren Williams, Josh Jacobs, David Montgomery, Bucky Irving, Jeremiyah Love, Tony Pollard, and more stand for Week 1.

Our RB fantasy football rankings for Week 1 are assembled by Nick Mariano. Below the rankings, you will find a summary of this week's important RB fantasy football news. There are always critical injuries and updates to track, so check back until kickoff.

Week 1 Fantasy Football Running Back Rankings

Rankings are updated until kickoff. Be sure to bookmark our weekly PPR rankings, Half-PPR rankings, and Standard rankings.

Tier	Rank	Player Name	Pos
1	1	Jahmyr Gibbs	RB
1	2	Bijan Robinson	RB
1	3	Christian McCaffrey	RB
2	4	Jonathan Taylor	RB
2	5	Ashton Jeanty	RB
2	6	Derrick Henry	RB
2	7	Chase Brown	RB
2	8	Saquon Barkley	RB
2	9	James Cook III	RB
2	10	Omarion Hampton	RB
2	11	De'Von Achane	RB
3	12	Kenneth Walker III	RB
3	13	Javonte Williams	RB
3	14	Josh Jacobs	RB
3	15	Kyren Williams	RB
3	16	Breece Hall	RB
3	17	D'Andre Swift	RB
4	18	Travis Etienne Jr.	RB
4	19	Cam Skattebo	RB
4	20	David Montgomery	RB
5	21	Bucky Irving	RB
5	22	Jeremiyah Love	RB
5	23	Quinshon Judkins	RB
5	24	Rhamondre Stevenson	RB
5	25	Jaylen Warren	RB
5	26	Tony Pollard	RB
6	27	Jadarian Price	RB
6	28	J.K. Dobbins	RB
6	29	Bhayshul Tuten	RB
6	30	Rico Dowdle	RB
7	31	Chuba Hubbard	RB
7	32	TreVeyon Henderson	RB
7	33	Rachaad White	RB
7	34	Jordan Mason	RB
7	35	Kyle Monangai	RB
7	36	Jacory Croskey-Merritt	RB
8	37	Blake Corum	RB
8	38	Kenneth Gainwell	RB
9	39	Chris Rodriguez Jr.	RB
9	40	Aaron Jones Sr.	RB
9	41	RJ Harvey	RB
9	42	Jonathon Brooks	RB
10	43	Tyjae Spears	RB
10	44	Tyrone Tracy Jr.	RB
10	45	Tyler Allgeier	RB
10	46	Dylan Sampson	RB
10	47	Keaton Mitchell	RB
10	48	Alvin Kamara	RB
10	49	Tank Bigsby	RB
11	50	Brian Robinson Jr.	RB
11	51	Woody Marks	RB
11	52	Isiah Pacheco	RB
11	53	George Holani	RB
11	54	Jaydon Blue	RB
11	55	Kimani Vidal	RB
11	56	Sean Tucker	RB
12	57	Justice Hill	RB
12	58	Braelon Allen	RB
12	59	MarShawn Lloyd	RB
12	60	Samaje Perine	RB
12	61	Emanuel Wilson	RB
12	62	Emari Demercado	RB
12	63	James Conner	RB
13	64	Jonah Coleman	RB
13	65	Ray Davis	RB
13	66	Jaylen Wright	RB
13	67	Mike Washington Jr.	RB
14	68	Isaiah Davis	RB
14	69	Seth McGowan	RB
14	70	Kyle Juszczyk	RB
14	71	Malik Davis	RB
14	72	Kaytron Allen	RB
14	73	Chris Brooks	RB
14	74	Nicholas Singleton	RB
14	75	Devin Singletary	RB
15	76	Jordan James	RB
15	77	Ollie Gordon II	RB
15	78	LeQuint Allen Jr.	RB
15	79	Demond Claiborne	RB
15	80	Ty Johnson	RB
15	81	Brashard Smith	RB
15	82	Emmett Johnson	RB
15	83	Kaelon Black	RB
15	84	Trey Benson	RB
15	85	Adam Randall	RB
15	86	DJ Giddens	RB
15	87	Kaleb Johnson	RB
15	88	Phil Mafah	RB
16	89	Devin Neal	RB
16	90	Jerome Ford	RB
16	91	Kendre Miller	RB
16	92	Trevor Etienne	RB
16	93	Bam Knight	RB
16	94	Jaleel McLaughlin	RB
16	95	Jawhar Jordan	RB
16	96	Tahj Brooks	RB
16	97	Jarquez Hunter	RB
16	98	Will Shipley	RB
16	99	J'Mari Taylor	RB

Recent Fantasy Football Running Back News

Jonathon Brooks, Carolina Panthers

Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales said that running back Jonathon Brooks will play in the team's second preseason game against the Buffalo Bills on Saturday, mixing in with Chuba Hubbard, according to Joe Person of The Athletic. It will be Brooks' first game played since his rookie season in 2024, after he didn't play in last week's Hall of Fame game and missed the entire 2025 campaign due to another torn ACL in his knee. Rico Dowdle is no longer in Carolina's backfield, and while Hubbard is the team's clear RB1, Brooks is expected to have a significant RB2/change-of-pace role in Canales' offense this year.

The former second-rounder from the University of Texas has only played in three games in the NFL, so it's hard to know what to expect from him if he can finally stay healthy. Brooks has looked good this summer, though, and he's an intriguing handcuff option/RB3/flex target with upside if Hubbard gets injured or struggles again in 2026.

Rhamondre Stevenson, New England Patriots

The New England Patriots released their first unofficial depth chart ahead of their preseason opener against the Colts on Thursday, and as he did for much of the 2025 season, running back Rhamondre Stevenson appears ahead of TreVeyon Henderson, listed as the team's starter. Stevenson regularly out-snapped Henderson through the first half of their first season together, but the veteran's mid-season turf toe injury opened the door for the rookie to earn a workhorse role, in which he thrived.

While the two saw closer to a 50/50 split down the stretch of the regular season, Stevenson again dominated playing time over a four-game postseason run, proving to be the more trusted back in critical situations. A year-two leap is expected of Henderson, and he is routinely being selected multiple rounds ahead of Stevenson in 2026 fantasy drafts, but with his pass protection still being described throughout camp as a work in progress, he could find himself in a similar role to that held as a rookie, at least to begin the year.

Cam Skattebo, Tyrone Tracy Jr., New York Giants

The New York Giants have released their first unofficial depth chart ahead of their preseason opener against the Vikings on Saturday, and running backs Cam Skattebo and Tyrone Tracy Jr. are listed as co-starters. The "or" designation is used a number of times across the depth chart, but running back is the only position on offense without a clear listed starter.

Tracy began the 2025 season as the starting running back, but missed time to injury and was overtaken on the depth chart even upon his return, with Skattebo nearly doubling his snap count in Weeks 4 and 5 before an ankle injury ended his rookie season. Skattebo has operated as the clear lead back for much of training camp, making the co-starter listing somewhat unexpected, though it should have no bearing on his fantasy outlook, and he ranks as RotoBaller's RB20, a full 25 running back spots ahead of Tracy.

Travis Etienne Jr., Alvin Kamara, New Orleans Saints

New Orleans Saints running backs Travis Etienne Jr. and Alvin Kamara have been listed as co-starters on the team's first unofficial depth chart of the preseason, according to Mike Triplett of NewOrleans.Football. Fantasy managers shouldn't invest too much stock in unofficial depth charts with the regular season more than a month away, but it's still noteworthy that the Saints aren't declaring a clear-cut No. 1 running back yet. Etienne is expected to be the lead ball-carrier after signing a $48 million contract during the offseason, but Kamara is still hanging around ahead of his age-31 season.

Last year in Jacksonville, Etienne had 1,399 scrimmage yards and 13 touchdowns, ranking as the RB10 in PPR leagues. Meanwhile, injuries limited Kamara to just 11 games, and he turned in the worst season of his career with just 657 scrimmage yards, one touchdown, and a pair of fumbles.

He was the overall RB46, marking the first time in his career he finished a season lower than RB46. With all that in mind, we would expect Etienne to claim sole possession of the No. 1 spot on the depth chart by the end of the preseason. As it stands, he ranks as the overall RB17 in RotoBaller's latest half-PPR draft rankings for the 2026 fantasy football season.

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Popular Player Comparison Searches - Who To Draft

Below are some popular searches and comparisons from our Who To Draft tool for 2026 drafts for Omarion Hampton, Kyren Williams, Josh Jacobs, David Montgomery, Bucky Irving, Jeremiyah Love, Tony Pollard: