2026 Post-NFL Draft Dynasty Rookie RB Rankings: Jadarian Price joins Jeremiyah Love at the top

Jadarian Price sits at RB2

Price was my RB5 before the draft. The Seahawks had different plans and took him at the end of the first round, vaulting him to the RB2 spot. In a weak running back class, first-round draft capital alone is more than enough to make him the best bet outside of Jeremiyah Love. Emmet Johnson and Mike Washington were both ranked ahead of him pre-draft. Those players went on the third day of the draft to teams with locked-in starters. Maybe they can carve out rotational roles or serve as high-end backups, but there isn’t much fantasy value to be mined with them in general.

49ers go off the consensus board with Kaelon Black

One of the biggest reaches of Day 2, Black was taken over 100 picks ahead of his big board ranking. He spent six years in college and peaked at a Backfield Dominator rating (how much of his team’s running back production he accounted for) of 48 percent, which came at James Madison. His best mark at Indiana was 31 percent, with a 187-1,039-10 rushing line. For reference, Jadarian Price logged the same Dominator while playing behind Jeremiyah Love. Black was playing behind Raiders UDFA Roman Hemby and ranked just outside the top 100 backs in yards after contact per carry in 2025. He wasn’t used as a pass-catcher at all while at Indiana, though he did manage 44 receptions for 431 yards and six scores through the air during his final two seasons at James Madison. Black is a grinder who can maybe catch passes at the next level, but nothing about his profile sticks out. Draft capital is doing the heavy lifting here, and Kyle Shanahan has a history of spending on running backs in the draft only to do nothing with them the moment they put on a uniform. These are all of his running back draft selections and how many rushing yards they posted in their rookie season:

• Jordan James (147) - 0
• Isaac Guerendo (129) - 420
• Tyrion Davis-Price (93) - 99
• Trey Sermon (88) - 161
• Elijah Mitchell (194) - 963
• Joe Williams (121) - 0

The biggest hits — Mitchell and Guerendo — were limited to 279 yards and zero yards in their second seasons. Mitchell’s downfall was largely due to injuries. As is often the case, Shanahan was simply uninterested in Guerendo by his second campaign. Draft capital matters for running backs, but it seemingly holds less value in San Francisco. I doubt I will be getting much Black in my rookie drafts, but dynasty managers are becoming wiser to the risk inherent in absurd reaches from the NFL draft.

Demond Claiborne lands in Minnesota

Claiborne didn’t crack my pre-draft ranks. At 5-foot-10, 188 pounds, he doesn’t have NFL size. With a career yards per route run under one, Claiborne doesn’t profile as much of a receiver either. On the other hand, he amassed over 400 carries for nearly 2,000 rushing yards and 21 rushing touchdowns in his final two seasons at Wake Forest. He then clocked a 4.37 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine. Claiborne struggled in yards after contact but posted a 42.5 percent breakaway rate in 2025. That’s not an elite mark, but it does show enough game speed to back up his 40 time. Claiborne looks like a change-of-pace RB2 in the pros. With Aaron Jones taking a pay cut to stay in Minnesota, his days as a Viking are numbered. Claiborne has a clear path to committee duties, possibly by the end of this year.

Undrafted running back rookie sleepers

Neither J’Mari Taylor nor Le’Veon Moss made my initial ranks. Given that they went undrafted, I’ll mark that as a win. Still, both backs landed in interesting spots. Taylor spent four years at North Carolina Central before transferring to Virginia for his final season. He then ran for over 1,000 yards and 14 touchdowns on 222 carries, giving him a Backfield Dominator rating of 63 percent. Jeremiah Love’s best season featured a 64 percent Dominator. It’s not an elite mark, but it’s notable for a UDFA. The Jags have several boom/bust bets at running back on their roster. Bhayshul Tuten wasn’t awfully productive as a rookie and is now penciled in as the starter. Chris Rodriguez spent two years bouncing between the Commanders’ practice squad and active roster before carving out a minor two-down role in 2025. It wouldn’t be shocking for one or even both of these backs to fail, giving Taylor some hope of being fantasy-relevant within the next two years.

Moss’s third season at A&M resulted in a 62 percent Dominator despite an unassuming 121-765-10 rushing line. He averaged a stellar 4.4 yards after contact per attempt this year and even posted 1.6 yards per route, albeit on just 10 grabs. He missed the final four games of that season with a torn ACL and then missed another six games in 2025 with an ankle issue. His efficiency metrics also plummeted in his final season, causing some concern that he’s simply not the same player he was in 2024. If he does return to form, the RB2 role in Miami could be an open competition this year.