Welcome again, readers. It’s now June, and whereas draft season for season-long fantasy soccer redraft leagues remains to be a few months away, loads of fantasy soccer diehards are doing drafts now – for finest ball leagues and tournaments, dynasty startups, and quite a lot of charity and different specialty leagues.
Whereas some won’t be prepared to start out pondering too arduous about fantasy rankings and depth charts, many are, and I’m right here for you. Click on this hyperlink for those who’re focused on my rookie touchdown spot evaluation for the 2026 fantasy season, and my division-by-division burning questions for fantasy. I’ll have loads of further content material all through the summer season, together with rankings, gamers to focus on and keep away from, sleepers, draft technique, and extra.
My focus as we speak is the working again place, and its return to the highest of Mt. Fantasy. Within the Nineties and into the early 2000s, working backs had been the undisputed heavyweight champs of fantasy, as a number of groups deployed three-down workhorse backs who did all of it and racked up the factors.
However because the league acquired extra pass-happy and groups began utilizing extra three-wide receiver units and rotations of their backfields, receivers began to problem working backs for predominance, and that began exhibiting up in fantasy scoring, and in how gamers got here off the board within the first and second rounds of fantasy drafts. Nonetheless, tendencies are tendencies, and nothing is everlasting within the NFL. As extra defenses began deploying two-high security appears to remove explosive passing performs, offenses adjusted with extra heavy personnel, extra multiple-tight finish units, and extra working.
These current tendencies culminated in a exceptional 2024 season. A bunch of veteran backs modified groups, which in itself was uncommon. However the huge story was that general, gamers on the place stayed remarkably wholesome and piled up numbers paying homage to that ancient times. It was the yr of the working again. To show it wasn’t a fluke, we largely acquired a repeat in 2025.
Right here’s one in every of many fantasy stats that illustrates the pattern I’m speaking about. Final season, the highest 4 non-quarterback scorers, and 7 of the highest 9, had been working backs (Half-point PPR scoring). In 2024, it was much more excessive, as 10 of the highest 11 non-QB scorers had been RBs. Return to 2023, and solely three of the highest eight non-QB scorers had been RBs. In each 2022 and 2021, of the highest ten non-QB scorers, 5 had been working backs and 5 had been huge receivers. We’re in a mini-golden age for working backs.
With that because the backdrop, listed below are 23 fantasy info you have to know concerning the working again place.
CMC = RB1 Getty Photographs
1. Christian McCaffrey, at age 29, led the NFL with 413 complete touches in 2025 (24.3 per recreation) – virtually three away from Jonathan Taylor, who was second with 369 (21.7 per recreation).
2. McCaffrey has completed as the general RB1 in Full PPR three totally different instances, together with final season, and the general RB2 twice (he’s been within the league for 9 seasons, three of which had been largely misplaced to harm). So CMC has completed first or second amongst RBs in fantasy factors in 5 of his six wholesome seasons.
3. One season after main the NFL with 17 carries of 20+ yards in 2024, Saquon Barkley solely had 4 such carries in 2025.
Gibbs has made the top zone his second dwelling David Reginek-Imagn Photographs
4. Jahmyr Gibbs has scored 49 complete TDs in 49 common season video games performed (three seasons).
5. David Montgomery has scored 33 dashing TDs throughout the final three seasons, enjoying alongside Gibbs. Montgomery is now on the Texans.
6. Bijan Robinson “only” has 34 complete TDs in 51 common season video games performed (he hasn’t missed a recreation in three seasons).
7. Tyler Allgeier notched 15 dashing TDs throughout the final three seasons, enjoying alongside Robinson. Allgeier is now on the Cardinals. I hope you see the place I’m going with info 4-7.
8. A yr after tying for the NFL lead with 16 dashing TDs, James Prepare dinner received the dashing title final season, with 1,621 yards.
9. Throughout the final two common seasons, Prepare dinner has 32 complete TDs in 33 video games performed.
10. Throughout the final two seasons, De’Von Achane leads all working backs with 145 complete receptions.
11. Achane led the NFL in yards per carry final season (5.7), and his profession common throughout his three seasons is 5.6. Achane doesn’t have sufficient carries to qualify, however the all-time NFL chief on this class is Jamaal Charles, at 5.38 yards per try.
12. In his two seasons with the Packers, Josh Jacobs has scored 30 complete TDs in 32 common season video games performed.
Derrick Henry is “built diff” Getty Photographs
13. Derrick Henry has averaged dashing for at the very least 90 yards per recreation in six of the final seven seasons.
14. Henry has scored at the very least 12 dashing TDs in eight of the final 9 seasons.
15. Henry, at age 31 and enjoying at roughly 250 kilos, led the NFL with 17 runs of 20+ yards in 2025.
16. Jonathan Taylor had an astounding 17 complete TDs within the Colts’ first ten video games final season, after which scored simply three complete TDs after the Colts’ Week 11 bye.
17. Kyren Williams has racked up three straight seasons with at the very least 1,350 yards from scrimmage and 13 complete TDs.
18. Williams has punched in 44 complete TDs in 45 video games performed throughout those self same three seasons. We hear loads about Gibbs and his one TD per recreation throughout the final three seasons, however a lot much less about Williams – the TD numbers are virtually an identical.
19. Cam Skattebo scored seven complete TDs in simply eight video games performed in 2025, earlier than harm ended his rookie season.
20. Rico Dowdle has put up back-to-back 1,000 dashing seasons.
21. In his fifth marketing campaign, however first with Dallas, Javonte Williams set profession highs in makes an attempt (252), dashing yards (1,201), yards per try (4.8), first downs (74), and complete TDs (13) final season.
22. Within the six seasons since he was drafted, J.Ok. Dobbins has solely performed in 47 video games, however he has averaged 5.0 yards per carry throughout his profession.
23. Let’s shut with another set of stats that illustrates the tendencies I mentioned within the opening. There have been 16 working backs who rushed for greater than 1,200 yards throughout the final two seasons, which is 4 greater than the prior 4 seasons mixed. Right here’s the variety of 1,200-yard rushers by season, this decade:
2020 – 2 (the final 16-game season)
See a pattern? Yup. Will it proceed in 2026? I’m not betting towards it.
And one last item: Let’s go Knicks!
