10 Fantasy Football Sleepers: Running Backs (2026)

When preparing for your fantasy football drafts, knowing which players to target and others to avoid is important. The amount of information available can be overwhelming, so a great way to condense the data and determine players to draft and others to leave for your leaguemates is to use our expert consensus fantasy football rankings compared to fantasy football average draft position (ADP). In this way, you can identify players the experts are willing to reach for at ADP and others they are not drafting until much later than average. Let’s dive into a few notable fantasy football sleepers below. And check out all of the fantasy football sleepers experts love in our consensus sleeper rankings.

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Fantasy Football Sleepers Experts Draft: Running Backs

Here are fantasy football sleepers the experts love to target in drafts.

Who are Fantasy Football Sleepers?

Fantasy football sleepers are players who have a strong chance to exceed expectations and become surprise difference-makers for fantasy managers.

Fantasy Football Sleepers: Running Backs

Jonah Coleman walks into the Denver depth chart as the RB3 with the ability to climb the depth chart. If J.K. Dobbins is unable to stay healthy this year, Coleman could assume the early down duties opposite R.J. Harvey. If Harvey can’t continue to grow and improve after his rookie season, it wouldn’t be shocking to see Coleman hop Harvey on the depth chart and become the passing-down option for Denver. Over his last three collegiate seasons, Coleman ranked 54th, 13th, and 1st in yards after contact per attempt and 61st, sixth, and fourth in elusive rating (per PFF). In two of those three seasons, he was also top 24 in yards per route run. Coleman is a wonderful late-round dart to toss in fantasy drafts in 2026.
– Derek Brown

My guy MarShawn Lloyd is making some noise in training camp. He has looked explosive so far and is everything that the Packers thought they were drafting. Yes, the big worry is whether he holds up as the practices and reps pile up. We still have to collectively hold our breath, but Lloyd should be inching closer and closer to the clear handcuff tier of backs for fantasy season if he can continue this charge throughout the preseason. Just to remind everyone about Lloyd’s talent. During his final two collegiate seasons, he was 20th and 16th in yards after contact per attempt, third and 18th in breakaway rate, and fourth and 15th in elusive rating (per PFF, minimum 100 carries). Take a flier on Lloyd late in drafts.
– Derek Brown

Tank Bigsby is one of the best handcuffs in the NFL, and he won’t get mentioned at the top of the conversation many times. Last year, among 65 qualifying backs, he ranked fourth in explosive run rate, second in missed tackle rate, and first in yards after contact per attempt (per Fantasy Points Data). In the one game that he played more than 40% of the snaps (Week 18), we got to see what his fantasy value could be if Saquon Barkley missed any time. He logged 17 touches with 106 total yards as the RB9 for the week in PPR scoring. If you’re looking for handcuffs to stash, Bigsby is one of the best.
– Derek Brown