Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen led his position with 364.62 fantasy points last season, and for six consecutive years, he has finished among the game's top two scorers at quarterback. However, quarterback is a deep position in 2026.
One can make the case that nearly half the NFL teams have a QB worthy of starting for your fantasy team this season. Allen is awesome, but even last season he outscored vastly underrated Detroit Lions QB Jared Goff -- barely a top-10 performer at the position -- by only 67.56 points, or less than four points per week.
Allen also spent quite a bit of time handing the football off (or throwing) to RB James Cook III, fantasy's No. 6 scorer at the position last season. Cook turned his 342 touches into 1,912 scrimmage yards and 14 touchdowns, and for the second season in a row he was a notable bargain in terms of ESPN average draft position. This season, Cook isn't such a bargain, as he is going early in Round 2, but he remains worth it. He isn't alone among running backs.
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In fact, this really is a year to invest a pick or two at running back early. If you don't, you might be quite disappointed in the options available later.
In relation to Allen and his relatively slight superiority over other quarterbacks, for example, this narrative does not exist at running back. Standard fantasy starting lineups require one QB and two RBs, but -- considering the flex position -- many can and will play three RBs. Cook outscored the No. 20 RB, Denver Broncos youngster RJ Harvey, by 95.6 points. He outscored Chicago Bears RB Kyle Monangai, 30th among RBs, by 155.5.
Fantasy managers cannot wait to build around running backs, so even if Cook, Baltimore Ravens star Derrick Henry, Omarion Hampton of the Los Angeles Chargers, Josh Jacobs of the Green Bay Packers, Chase Brown of the Cincinnati Bengals and others aren't what we would call "value picks," they are very much in demand because running back is not deep, unlike quarterback. We covet volume running backs, and there simply aren't enough. This is the year to secure a few in the early rounds, led by Cook, Henry and Hampton.
As always, the annual "Do Draft" list focuses on players who keep ending up on my fantasy teams, either from valuable practice mock drafts or the ones that count, considering value versus standard ADP. I keep gravitating toward these players, either for strategic reasons -- such as waiting a long time to choose a QB or two -- or because the players make sense or seem undervalued. Cook might not be undervalued, since he has proved himself with 32 touchdowns and safe volume the past two seasons, but he is a player to build around because he is reliable. Allen is reliable as well, but the depth at quarterback and running back is hardly similar.