Fantasy Football Player Notes

Bucky Irving has dealt with a number of injuries in his short career with a foot sprain and a shoulder/ AC joint sprain last year. Rewinding to 2024, he also dealt with hip, back, toe, and hamstring issues. When he was on the field last year, he averaged 20.3 touches and 86.5 total yards as the RB17 in fantasy points per game. His efficiency suffered massively from the injuries last year after being a wonderous per-touch monster in 2024. Last year, among 49 qualifying backs, he was 43rd in explosive run rate, 35th in missed tackle rate, and 46th in yards after contact per attempt (per Fantasy Points Data). Those dips are explainable, but they are still concerning for a back that is on the smaller side and has been banged up quite often over the last two seasons. Yes, Rachaad White is gone, but Irving will still have to contend with Kenneth Gainwell and Sean Tucker this season on early downs and in the passing game. Irving could be a nice bounce-back candidate in 2026 or a massive disappointment that loses work to Gainwell and Tucker all year. I'll buy the dip if he slips in some drafts, but I won't go out of my way to draft him this season.

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.