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Patrick's dark-horse candidates to finish as the overall fantasy football RB1 in 2026. Target these three running backs with league-winning upside including D'Andre Swift and more.
The term "dark horse" originated in 19th-century horse racing as a way to describe a contender of whom bettors or spectators knew very little. The 1800s. A time when every third person you’d meet was probably still wrestling with the notion of gravity and 60% of your news came from a mustachioed huckster traveling through town with a wagon full of youth fluid and blackberry morphine.
Nowadays, if a running back shows up to practice with an ingrown toenail, your phone will buzz for an hour and a half as news outlets trip over themselves to put their own spin on the story. In an era of information overload, there are very few secrets left in fantasy, and if a back genuinely has the ability to finish as the overall RB1, chances are that’s exactly how he’s being drafted.
There’s a reason most 2026 drafts start with Jahmyr Gibbs, Bijan Robinson, and Christian McCaffrey, while guys like Chase Brown, Saquon Barkley, and Kenneth Walker III are rarely straying too far from the first round. But if it’s a true dark horse you’re after… Well then… Gather round! Gather round, and cast your eyes on three magnificent marvels of the modern age, each capable of producing 100% authentic, scientifically verifiable fantasy miracles!
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D'Andre Swift, Chicago Bears
Consensus ADP: RB20
Through the early stages of his career, it wasn’t difficult to argue that D'Andre Swift was a better athlete than any NFL running back. When Chicago reunited him with Ben Johnson ahead of the 2025 season, there was good reason to fear the worst, as Johnson had already provided plenty of evidence in Detroit that he shared the sentiment.
Nearly two full offseasons later, the Bears have added almost nothing to the backfield beyond seventh-round pick Kyle Monangai, while Johnson has emerged as perhaps the biggest Swiftie on the planet.
“It’s the best I’ve seen him this time of year.”
Ben Johnson on D’Andre Swift
Adds “I think he’s prime for a big year.”🔥 pic.twitter.com/BjNMk1W7XP
— CHGO Bears (@CHGO_Bears) August 27, 2026
Running backs coach Eric Studesville spent the past few seasons guiding De'Von Achane and Raheem Mostert to league-winning fantasy seasons in Miami. Johnson recently credited him with helping to improve Swift's vision, patience, and understanding of his reads.
Those improvements will only build upon a 2025 season in which Swift posted the NFL's sixth-highest rushing success rate. He also led the league with a 48.6% rush percentage over expected, essentially gaining more than he should have on half his carries.
Changes to the Bears’ passing game could also provide an opportunity uptick. Chicago's 73 running back targets in 2025 were easily the fewest of Johnson's five seasons as a head coach, offensive coordinator, or passing game coordinator. In 2021, a then-22-year-old Swift saw 76 targets alone.
The Bears still have plenty of pass-catching firepower between Luther Burden III, Rome Odunze, and Colston Loveland, but a handful of DJ Moore's 80 vacated targets could find their way to the backfield. There, Swift and his 271 career receptions make him a more likely beneficiary than Monangai, who has averaged 0.8 catches per game across his five years of college and a 17-game rookie season.
While he managed to avoid a stint on the IR, Monangai is also dealing with a hyperextended knee that could limit him early. This provides Swift with plenty of runway to a memorable year, as Chicago opens the season favored in five of its first six games.
It may have taken longer than expected, but if Johnson has finally turned Swift into the running back he always wanted him to be, we may be looking at one of the cheapest league-winners in recent history.
Jadarian Price, Seattle Seahawks
Consensus ADP: RB24
The Seahawks could give a TED Talk on how to set a running back up for success. After winning the Super Bowl with one of the league’s most dominant defenses, Seattle returned 20 of its 22 starters. They filled their only offensive hole with first-round pick Jadarian Price.
Zach Charbonnet will miss at least four games after landing on the PUP list, while Klint Kubiak takes his committee obsession to Las Vegas. That is where he can find new and exciting ways to tank Ashton Jeanty's fantasy value instead of searching for loopholes to somehow give touches to an inactive Charbonnet.
The Seahawks' offense is now being handed to Brian Fleury. He is fresh off a year of human experimentation as San Francisco's run game coordinator, where he watched 450 touches go to one of the only running backs in the league born before the Nintendo 64. Just imagine the sick things he has planned for a fully treaded 22-year-old who saw fewer than 300 touches across his entire college career.
Rookie RB @Jadarian15 is impressing at Seahawks camp 👀
Watch the first episode of Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the @seahawks now on @hbomax pic.twitter.com/Uz7hiZz82y
— NFL (@NFL) August 6, 2026
Seattle kept Price in bubble wrap throughout the preseason, and with George Holani and Emanuel Wilson the only other backs on the initial 53-man roster, the reasoning is pretty obvious. Sorry, Wil-Ho bros, but with something close to an every-down role returning to Seattle’s backfield, it’s worth revisiting how that went for them in the playoffs.
With Charbonnet playing just eight snaps in Seattle's Divisional Round win over San Francisco, Walker carried the load across three playoff games. Walker averaged 139 yards and more than a touchdown per game on his way to Super Bowl MVP honors.
Price may not be Walker, but his burst, contact balance, and vision give him plenty of tools to capitalize on the opportunity before him. He'll begin the season as Seattle's best available back, and he'll more than likely finish that way as well.
Rhamondre Stevenson, New England Patriots
Consensus ADP: RB28
While we're ranking the running backs of last season’s Super Bowl participants, Rhamondre Stevenson is the Patriots' best running back. Full stop.
Aside from running in a straight line and holding onto the ball in traffic, there is next to nothing that TreVeyon Henderson does better than Stevenson. Fantasy managers allowing the veteran to fall nearly two full rounds behind his shinier, flashier, injured-ier teammate may be in for a rude awakening when they see the division of labor in New England’s backfield this year.
Even that short list of superlatives could soon be due for a reexamination, as the fumbling concerns that became synonymous with Stevenson’s game appear comfortably behind him. He closed 2025 with 188 consecutive touches without putting the ball on the ground, and the only F-word associated with him during what was reportedly a standout training camp was usually preceded by a "Holy."
.@dreeday32 & @LG_Blount catching up 👊
Full Mondre & Milton mic'd up: https://t.co/ouizXlSvtI pic.twitter.com/dAJrokihHj
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) August 24, 2026
A natural hands catcher and one of the league’s most trusted pass protectors, Stevenson’s fantasy production could be buoyed by a higher-than-expected receiving floor after being credited with the third-most targets from Drake Maye during camp. This would be behind only big-ticket offseason additions A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs.
The Patriots ran the league's lowest percentage of plays while trailing in 2025. While it’s more in vogue to invoke THE SCHEDULE to point out where things might fall apart for New England, a more difficult slate of opponents in 2026 could lead to more receiving work. It can also lead to a higher fantasy output for whichever back the coaching staff most trusts when the stakes are at their highest.
Conveniently, we’ve got a bit of a sample as to what that might look like.
Following their Week 14 bye, the Patriots played eight games while chasing the No. 1 seed and then navigating the postseason, facing five of the NFL’s seven best defenses by total yards allowed. Despite working behind an offensive line playing some of its worst ball of the year, Stevenson kept a full-season pace of roughly 1,600 yards, 50 receptions, and 15 touchdowns while averaging 5.7 yards per carry.
While the small print on this one may say something along the lines of "on his own team," all you need to know is that Stevenson can absolutely, positively, without a semblance of doubt, finish as the overall RB1 in 2026.
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