Rookie RBs to Watch in 2026 Fantasy Football: Jeremiyah Love, Jadarian Price Lead a Thin Class

The 2026 rookie running back class didn’t produce a first-round bell cow the way Ashton Jeanty did a year ago, but three landing spots turned into legitimate fantasy plays before a single preseason snap was taken.

Quick take:

• Top name: Jeremiyah Love, Arizona Cardinals
• Why: No. 3 overall pick walking into a crowded but winnable backfield
• The number to watch: Jadarian Price’s fully guaranteed $16.783 million contract in Seattle

Only three running backs came off the board in the top 100 picks of the 2026 draft, which is a sharp departure from the running-back-heavy classes of recent years. That scarcity actually helps the handful of rookies who did land in real opportunity, since fantasy managers no longer have a dozen names to sort through — just a short list of backs worth rostering, and an even shorter list worth drafting with intent.

Jeremiyah Love Steps Into a Crowded Cardinals Backfield

Arizona surprised plenty of draft analysts by taking Love at No. 3 overall rather than addressing a defensive need, and the Cardinals have already faced criticism for it. That criticism cuts both ways for fantasy purposes — teams that take a runner that early in the draft typically feel pressure to justify the pick with early playing time. Arizona still has James Conner and added Tyler Allgeier this offseason, so this isn’t a clean bell-cow situation on paper. But historically, running backs drafted in the top 10 over the last decade have averaged nearly 145 carries and better than 630 yards as rookies, and Love is widely considered the best prospect at the position in this class even if evaluators view him a tier below names like Bijan Robinson or Jahmyr Gibbs coming out of college.

Expect Love to open camp in a competition, but the draft capital says the touches will come. Fantasy football insiders already have him valued as a late-second or early-third-round rookie pick, and PPR projections have him clearing 200 fantasy points if the workload materializes the way Arizona’s investment suggests it should.

Jadarian Price Is Fighting for a Job Everyone Assumed Was His

Seattle’s situation looked simple back in April: Kenneth Walker III left for the Chiefs in free agency, the Seahawks used the No. 32 overall pick on Notre Dame’s Jadarian Price, and the assumption was he’d walk into the starting job. Three months later, that’s not exactly how camp opened. Price is genuinely competing with George Holani for the top spot, with head coach Mike Macdonald declining to simply hand him the reps in the spring. “We’re not just going to place him right there with the starters,” Macdonald said. “He’ll have plenty of chances to earn a lot of carries and touches.”

That’s not a red flag so much as standard coach-speak heading into padded practices. Price carried the ball 674 yards on 6.0 yards per carry with 11 touchdowns in his final college season, and Seattle backed that talent with a fully guaranteed four-year, $16.783 million contract — the kind of investment teams don’t make to keep a runner buried on the depth chart. With Zach Charbonnet banged up and Emanuel Wilson and Holani rounding out the room, training camp reps with live contact should start separating Price from the pack in a way spring practices in shorts simply couldn’t show.

Seattle doesn’t hand a rookie running back nearly $17 million guaranteed to split touches evenly all season.

Some fantasy models already project Price for roughly 228 carries, 977 rushing yards, and eight touchdowns, plus another 20-plus catches — numbers that would make him the clear RB2 of this rookie class if the depth chart shakes out the way the contract suggests it should. That kind of workload would also make Seattle worth a look on the Super Bowl board if the ground game clicks the way the contract implies.

The Depth Plays Worth Watching in San Francisco and Denver

Kaelon Black landed in a tougher spot with the 49ers, who already have Christian McCaffrey, Jordan James, and Isaac Guerendo ahead of him on the depth chart. San Francisco has a well-documented history of cycling through backup running backs without feeding them much volume, but McCaffrey’s injury history means Black is one twisted ankle away from meaningful touches. He’s currently projected as the third-highest-scoring rookie back in this class, which says more about the shallowness of the field than it does about a clear path to playing time.

Jonah Coleman’s path in Denver is worth a speculative add. J.K. Dobbins has battled injuries for most of his career, and R.J. Harvey isn’t necessarily built to be a true every-down feature back. Coleman was a three-down contributor at Washington and profiles as a pass-game asset if given the opportunity — the kind of skill set that tends to earn trust from coaching staffs even in a crowded room.

The Bottom Line

This rookie class doesn’t have a slam-dunk fantasy starter the way last year’s did, but Price and Love both landed in spots where the roster investment argues loudly for real touches once the pads come on.

1. Jeremiyah Love — top prospect in the class, playing behind strong draft capital in Arizona
2. Jadarian Price — fully guaranteed rookie contract in a backfield that just lost its starter

Watch how training camp reps shake out in Seattle before the season starts — that battle will tell fantasy managers everything they need to know about where to slot Price on draft day.