Fantasy Football Player Notes

Bucky Irving had a sophomore season to forget. He was limited to 10 games because of injury - and he was wildly inefficient. He posted the 4th-lowest rushing success rate, finishing third-worst in YPC (3.4). The second-year RB scored one rushing TD in 2025.
Even with Rachaad White all but gone in free agency, Todd Bowles' other favorite RB, Sean Tucker, might continue to rear his ugly head again near the goal line in 2026. Not to mention, Kenneth Gainwell will also be vying for targets after signing with TB in free agency. Irving probably wasn't the same guy returning from injury as the first four weeks of the season; he was extremely productive, averaging 15.6 PPG. But after his return, he just had 10.2 PPG playing in a broken Bucs' offense.

Kenneth Gainwell was an integral part of the Pittsburgh backfield last year for the entire season, but he really hit his stride in Weeks 11-18 as the RB7 in fantasy points per game with 13.3 touches and 85 total yards per game. His passing game was robust during this stretch as he was third in target share (17.5%), second in receiving yards per game (45.4), fourth in yards per route run (2.10), and first in first downs per route run (0.116, per Fantasy Points Data). That also isn't to say that he wasn't also fantastic on early downs, ranking 14th in explosive run rate and missed tackle rate overall for the season among backs. Gainwell will play a prominent role for his new team (Tampa Bay) this season as a complement to Bucky Irving. Irving has had a substantial list of injuries that he has dealt with during his short career, so I wouldn't be surprised if Gainwell is leading the backfield some weeks in 2026 with a solid standalone role when Irving is active. Gainwell could easily return RB2 value in 2026 if everything falls in his favor. He definitely carries more fantasy appeal in PPR formats, though.