Rookie Draft Series 2026 – Running Back Primer
Show Me Some Love
35 touchdowns over the last two seasons.
6.9 yards per carry.
4.5 yards after contact per attempt.
And one fumble in his entire collegiate career… which he recovered himself.
Jeremiyah Love is the 1.01 at the position. Format doesn’t matter. Scoring doesn’t matter. You’re not talking your way out of this one.
The profile is just too clean. Elite efficiency. Elite contact balance. Real breakaway ability. And maybe most importantly, he worked in the same backfield with Jadarian Price who many analysts are picking as the second running back drafted.
If there’s a concern, it’s not talent. It’s timing.
Sure, his landing spot could slow the ramp-up. A team like the Arizona Cardinals or the New York Giants could box him into a committee early. That’s the only real path to frustration: not failure, just delayed volume.
But flip that in other backfields, and he’s Kobayashi at Coney Island eating through depth charts in the first ten minutes.
The Tennessee Titans would open the door to immediate work, especially if Tony Pollard is moved. Pollard’s been quietly productive with four straight 1,000 yard seasons, but the Titans have a team-option to release or trade him with a significantly lower dead cap hit if it happens before June 1st.
Best case? Washington Commanders.
Love walks in, and immediately becomes the most complete back in a room that currently features Rachaad White, Jerome Ford, and “Bill” Croskey-Merritt. That’s more than a cabacle, that’s a depth chart waiting to be flipped.
So yes, if you have the first pick, you’re drafting Love. Don’t overthink it.
But here’s where it actually gets interesting. The next running back doesn’t come off the board for another nine picks.
Nine.
And that gap feels less like a coronation of Love, and more like an indictment of the rest of the field. Because if Love is the headline, the real story of this class is everything that comes after him.
A More Reasonable Price?
Jadarian Price (ECR – RB2 – Pick 10):
I gotta admit, it feels a little weird starting this conversation with the top two drafted running backs coming out of the same school in the same year. You know why? Because historicially, the best tandems in the NFL to ever do this are built like Sydney Sweeney – top heavy. Take the 2015 duo who came out of Alabama – Henry/Drake (one of the most prolific combined careers in NFL history.)
One is a King. The other is Kenyan Drake.
One has the most rushing yards total over the past ten years. The other is Kenyan Drake.
One is 32 years old, and had the second most rushing yards this past season. The other is Kenyan Drake.
That’s usually how this goes. College tandems don’t translate into equal NFL outcomes. One hits. The other just exists.
Jadarian Price’s strongest attributes are his short yard game and sheer overall power. However, with no 30 visits to date, he is still a wallflower at the prom. He should be able to carve out a role in an NFL offense over the next two years, but if I’m sitting in that range and need a running back, I’m moving the pick. The lack of collegiate volume already makes this profile a projection, and without any real draft buzz, the risk at the price of pick 10 isn’t worth it. Again, this isn’t a fade on the player as much as it is on his price.
(30 Visits – No Reported Visits as of 4/18/2026)
Jonah is the Whale?
Jonah Coleman (ECR – RB3 – Pick 13)
At 5’9”, 225 lbs., Coleman has a very specific profile that almost guarantees a high floor when given an opportunity. His size and strengths put him in the role that Skattebo, Jacobs and Kyren Williams all fulfill which thrive on contact-balance and brute strength.
In non-PPR leagues, this guy is a gift and should probably be in the conversation as the second running back drafted in the class.
If he somehow landed in Denver, his ceiling could get real interesting.
He has the tools to develop into a Mark Ingram-style workhorse in a Sean Payton offense, an early-down grinder who eventually earns full trust and expands into a true three-down role. And stylistically, he is the perfect complement to RJ Harvey’s game, and JK Dobbins current contract isn’t really a two year deal. It’s a one year audition with a team option baked in. This is the dream scenario.
If he lands in any of the other spots he is currently visiting, he could earn trust through his short yardage game early on with the opportunity to earn a bigger role. If Jonah Coleman falls at all, I am looking to grab him.
(30 Visits – Broncos, Seahawks, Saints, Vikings)
Stopwatch Hero
Mike Washington Jr. (ECR – RB4 – Pick 14)
Washington was the running back standout at the 2026 NFL Combine, running a 4.33 forty that actually beat Jeremiyah Love.
That stopwatch basically announced him to the world, well before the draft board did.
He’s got the kind of profile teams talk themselves into after a long night of drinking. He is a power runner, change-of-pace option, and enough straight-line speed to flip a game in one touch. The path from Buffalo to the Arkansas Razorbacks and a Second-Team All-SEC nod shows real development too. This wasn’t a static player, he’s gotten better every stop.
But the profile isn’t clean. For all the athleticism, his volume has never quite caught up.
He hits home runs, but he is more Joey Gallo than Aaron Judge.
He has stretches where the efficiency disappears, and he just flat-out burns out after a big play. The speed is real, but it comes with a lot of volatility baked in.
And then there’s the ball security issue. Like Paul Blart, he’s earnest, but unfortunately lacks the ability to fail upward. Ten fumbles in his collegiate career is not something you just dismiss. That’s the kind of number that gets coaches tightening rotations before camp even starts.
So the story with Washington is pretty simple: the tools will get him drafted, but the developmental learning curve needs to increase quickly.
(30 Visits – Buccaneers, Packers, Seahawks)
The Checkdown Avenger
Emmett Johnson (ECR – RB5 – Pick 15)
I’ve already referenced Tony Pollard and Kenyan Drake earlier in this piece, and when I watch Emmett Johnson, that’s the NFL profile that I think of. He’s a solid efficiency player with real value, but the physical profile starts to cap the ceiling when you project him in today’s NFL.
Johnson brings good vision and enough versatility to function as both a runner and receiver. At Nebraska, he showed he can handle volume in spurts (6th in rushing attempts in the FBS) and stay involved in multiple phases of the offense. But he just doesn’t have the size to handle a full workhorse role at the NFL level.
He doesn’t profile as a reliable pass protector, and he’s not built for consistent goal-line work. The top-end speed is solid but not elite, and his athletic testing reflected that, as he ranked 16th among running backs at the combine.
So what you’re really looking at is a player with a defined role, not a foundational one. There’s absolutely a place for him in this league, but it’s more Hawkeye than Captain America, and the translation from Big Ten defensive fronts to NFL speed and power is where his ceiling seems to cap out.
If he lands somewhere like the Seattle Seahawks, you can at least see a clear pathway as a complementary piece working alongside someone like Zach Charbonnet in a split workload. That’s probably where his value lives—efficient touches, situational usage, and occasional spike weeks rather than sustained volume. In a case like this, he may be a sneaky best ball pick if you can get him in round 16 or later.
(30 Visits – Commanders, Jaguars, Ravens, Seahawks, Vikings)
Two Alphas, One Legacy
Nicholas Singleton (ECR – RB6 – Pick 17)
Kaytron Allen (ECR – RB7 – Pick 19)
For these last two running back profiles, we will be looking at a single backfield for the second time. The biggest difference is that while Love was a bellcow, Allen and Singleton shared a 1A/1B committee at Penn State, both capable of carrying a collegiate workhorse role.
As we evaluate them, it is important to remember that they were developed in a designed split system.
Basically, if you need 4 yards every play, you run Kaytron Allen out. If you need 40 yards for one play, you unleash Singleton. This duo combined for the most balanced, complementary backfield in the FBS last season.
Allen served as the primary early down runner and the volume finisher in positive game scripts, while Singleton was the explosive weapon deployed to change the math with a single touch.
As we step into the draft on Thursday, Kaytron Allen will be known as the only guy other than Love that is capable of handling 200-plus touches while remaining efficient and truly sharing a backfield. Whoever drafts Allen is not looking for a ceiling play, but rather a player who steps in and is trusted in a role with significant usage quickly.
On the other hand, Singleton was strategically under-allocated in this offense. His role suppressed his ceiling, not his ability. So with Singleton, you are betting on unlocked usage instead of missing talent. A player like this screams consistent top 5 spike week candidate in the mold of TreVeyon Henderson and RJ Harvey.
(Allen – 30 Visits – Ravens)
(Singleton – 30 Visits – Eagles)
WWBD – What Would Buster Do?
If you’re sensing a little pessimism through these first two articles, there’s a reason for it. This class just doesn’t have many “guaranteed bangers” at quarterback or running back outside of Fernando Mendoza and Jeremiyah Love.
And tragically, since I don’t have the 1.01 and 1.02 in every Superflex draft, I’m going to have to make some tough decisions. Ideally, those decisions happen around pick 2.05, where things start to get uncomfortable in the best way.
From a mere value standpoint, I like both Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton in this range. Both feel like players who can carve out roles early in today’s NFL.
Which one do I prefer? That’s going to come down almost entirely to landing spot, and whether their new team lets them cook as they did at Penn State.
The good news is the strength of this class isn’t here anyway.
It’s at wide receiver.
And that’s where we’re headed next.