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.

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

Rank	Running Backs	Team	Bye	Num Experts	ECR	ADP
1	Jonah Coleman	DEN	10	9	47	47
2	MarShawn Lloyd	GB	11	11	30	40
3	Keaton Mitchell	LAC	7	6	50	55
4	Tank Bigsby	PHI	10	5	52	53
5	Alvin Kamara	NO	8	5	54	51
6	Braelon Allen	NYJ	13	4	57	57
7	Dylan Sampson	CLE	11	6	51	60
8	Mike Washington Jr.	LV	13	5	56	43
9	Zach Charbonnet	SEA	11	2	48	48
10	Isiah Pacheco	DET	6	3	55	50

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

MarShawn Lloyd looks primed to enter the NFL season as the Packers’ workhorse back with Josh Jacobs on the commissioner-exempt list. Lloyd’s stock has risen massively with this news over the weekend, and he should be considered in fantasy football drafts in the late RB2 tier or at the top of the RB3 tier. 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). If you’re drafting Josh Jacobs this year, Lloyd should be a priority for you. I’ll be overweight on Lloyd exposure this season. There’s an easy runout for Lloyd where Jacobs is out for most of (maybe all of the fantasy season, and Lloyd is a strong RB2 all year.
– 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

After the injury scare over the weekend concerning Ashton Jeanty, it was believed that Mike Washington Jr. would go screaming up the draft boards. Initial fears were that he could have sustained a season-ending injury, but it’s been confirmed that it is a sprained ankle. The severity isn’t known at the time of me penning this update, but the takeaway remains the same for Mike Washington Jr. Washington Jr. is one of the best handcuffs in fantasy. If Jeanty were to miss any time, Washington Jr. would be an immediate volume-driven RB2 in fantasy. He has looked amazing this preseason with an every-down skillset. Washington Jr. tested like an alien during the pre-draft process, leading to his fourth-round draft capital. During his final collegiate season, Washington Jr. broke out, ranking 33rd in yards after contact per attempt and 17th in breakaway rate (per PFF). Washington Jr. has blistering 4.3 speed and the size (6’1″, 223 lbs) to be a three-down back if called upon.
– Derek Brown