Blake Krass breaks down the most intriguing running back committees to consider for the 2025-26 fantasy football season.
The NFL season is quickly approaching, and fantasy drafts are starting. At DraftKings, you can play an array of different season-long fantasy contests.
This is a look at the dynamic of different backfield committees and how they will affect the fantasy value of the players involved.
Detroit Lions Backfield: Jahmyr Gibbs & David Montgomery
Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery are the running back committee that the rest of the NFL is trying to model their backfield after. Gibbs is the speedy, dynamic playmaker, and Montgomery is the bruising short-yardage back. Last season, Gibbs rushed for over 1,400 yards and 16 touchdowns, while Montgomery went for 775 yards and 12 touchdowns. Gibbs tied for the NFL lead in rushing touchdowns, but Montgomery still finished inside the top ten. Gibbs is the primary back and ended up leading all running backs in fantasy scoring last season. However, Montgomery finished 18th in fantasy scoring and should still be a starter in every multi-running back fantasy league.
As the Lions look to find more success in the postseason, it is essential for them to keep both of these backs healthy. That means, despite Gibbs being the more dynamic player, Montgomery will keep getting a healthy amount of touches. The thing that makes Montgomery the most valuable is his goal-line production. Any running back who can rush for 12 touchdowns a season is valuable, even if they are second fiddle on their own roster. It should be another great season from “Sonic and Knuckles” in 2025-26.
Seattle Seahawks Backfield: Kenneth Walker III & Zach Charbonnet
The Seahawks have one of the most interesting backfields in football. Since the Seahawks drafted Kenneth Walker III out of Michigan State in 2022, he has been their primary back. This is the final year of Walker’s contract, and the Seahawks seem reluctant to re-sign him, making this backfield even more intriguing. Zach Charbonnet was drafted by Seattle in 2023 and has served as the backup to Walker each of the past two seasons.
In his rookie season, Charbonnet had almost exactly half of the carries that Walker had. However, the following season, Walker got injured, and Charbonnet had a chance to take over the role as lead back. When Walker played, he was still the primary back, but Charbonnet was more productive when he was in that role. The two finished the season with almost the same number of carries, but Charbonnet averaged 4.2 yards per carry, compared to 3.7 yards per carry for Walker. Charbonnet was also a better receiver out of the backfield, averaging 8.1 yards per catch, compared to 6.5 for Walker.
If the Seahawks decide not to re-sign Walker, they could start to give Charbonnet a bigger role in the offense, planning on him being their RB1 in 2026. Charbonnet has shown himself to be the more dynamic player in comparison to Walker. Of course, health will play a major factor in the workload of these two players, but Charbonnet could see about an even split of carries with Walker this season.
Denver Broncos Backfield: RJ Harvey & J.K. Dobbins
The Broncos have a brand-new backfield, featuring rookie RJ Harvey and free agent signing J.K. Dobbins. RJ Harvey was a superstar at UCF, rushing for over 1,500 yards in his senior season, and was taken by the Broncos in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft. Dobbins was one of the most promising young backs in the league just a few years ago in Baltimore. However, injuries derailed Dobbins’ blossoming career, and after a one-year stint with the Chargers last season, he has been signed by another AFC West team.
As is always the case, with J.K. Dobbins, his health is a major concern. After playing only nine total games between the 2022 and 2023 seasons, Dobbins did manage to play 13 games for the Chargers last season. Dobbins was productive when he was on the field, rushing for 69.6 yards per game, the tenth-most in the NFL last season. On a team with a great defense that doesn’t need to be too aggressive throwing the football, Denver should have a good rushing attack. Harvey will likely be the primary back so that Dobbins doesn’t get overworked, but it could be a pretty equal split in carries for the two, as long as Dobbins stays healthy.
Houston Texans Backfield: Joe Mixon & Nick Chubb
Joe Mixon had a strong first season in Houston, and this offseason, the Texans brought in Nick Chubb to back him up. Chubb has had major injury issues the last two seasons, missing most of the season with a torn ACL in 2023, then breaking his foot in 2024 after returning from that knee injury. After not re-signing with Cleveland, Nick Chubb moved to Houston. If he can stay healthy, he is a great player to have in tandem with Joe Mixon. Both players have some wear on their legs, so if they can limit the workload of both and have them healthy for a postseason run, that would be ideal for Houston.
Mixon ended up missing a few games at the end of the season for the Texans, but was a 1000-yard rusher and ranked ninth in the NFL in rushing yards per game. He also finished 11th in rushing touchdowns despite missing those games. Nick Chubb is a four-team Pro Bowler and if he can stay healthy, he will be the perfect complement to Mixon. Along with an exciting passing game led by C.J. Stroud, this duo could make the Texans one of the best offenses in the league.
Jacksonville Jaguars Backfield: Travis Etienne & Tank Bigsby
Travis Etienne and Tank Bigsby are an intriguing duo to monitor this offseason. Etienne was a 1,000-yard rusher during the 2023-24 season, and Bigsby had a minimal role in the offense. In 2024-25, the duo split the Jaguars’ carries almost perfectly down the middle, with Bigsby getting 18 more carries than Etienne. Etienne was struggling to get back to his level from 2023-24, and the Jaguars decided to give Bigsby a bigger role. Bigsby was the more productive of the two, rushing for 4.6 yards per carry, compared to 3.7 YPC for Etienne. Bigsby also had seven rushing touchdowns, compared to just two for Etienne.
Bigsby was the more productive fantasy option last season, but that doesn’t mean that he will be this season. The Jaguars exercised their team option to keep Etienne in Jacksonville for one more season, and they will want to get the most out of him before he likely moves on next offseason. If Bigsby is the more explosive back again, things could look similar to last season. However, in a contract year, Etienne will look to regain his form from 2023-24 so that he can get a big payday from somebody next offseason. It looks like another season of evenly splitting carries is ahead for these two in Jacksonville.
Los Angeles Chargers Backfield: Najee Harris & Omarion Hampton
The Chargers are another team with a brand-new backfield this season. They let their leading rusher from last season, J.K. Dobbins, leave for their division rivals in Denver. Meanwhile, their RB2 from last season, Gus Edwards, is still a free agent. The Chargers signed Najee Harris this offseason and drafted Omarion Hampton from UNC to form their new backfield. Their vision was for Harris to be the down-to-down veteran back, with Hampton as the explosive option who could make big plays in the passing game as well. However, that plan has hit a bump in the road due to an offseason non-football injury to Najee Harris.
Harris joined the Jason Pierre-Paul club, a club that no NFL players want to be a part of, by suffering a “superficial eye injury” during a Fourth of July fireworks accident. The accident allegedly did no substantial damage to Harris’ eye, and he is expected to be fully ready to play football this season. If that is the case, the Chargers can proceed with their plan to use this duo in different ways. My prediction for this backfield is that Harris will get more carries earlier on in the season, but Hampton will be much more productive and will take over the lion’s share of the carries by the second half of the regular season. However, on a team with playoff aspirations, it’s always good to have multiple options at running back.
New England Patriots Backfield: Rhamondre Stevenson & TreVeyon Henderson
The Patriots are another team with a rookie running back who will be splitting time with a veteran. The Patriots gave Rhamondre Stevenson a solid extension after his rookie contract ran out. Stevenson ran for 801 yards and seven touchdowns last season, establishing himself as the primary back after competing with Antonio Gibson for touches to start the season. This season, he will face more competition for touches in the form of former Ohio State running back TreVeyon Henderson.
Henderson was an incredible college player at Ohio State, and the Patriots took a chance on him with their early second-round pick. So they invested in Stevenson with a new contract, but also used a valuable draft pick on Henderson. That shows that they believe the combination of the two is what they need in this Drake Maye-led offense. Stevenson is likely to start the season getting the majority of the carries, but Henderson will be immediately used as a weapon in the passing game. Rhamondre Stevenson had seven fumbles last year, the most of any running back in the NFL. If that is a problem again next season, the Patriots could start to give more touches to Henderson.
Carolina Panthers Backfield: Chuba Hubbard & Rico Dowdle
The Panthers are hoping to take a big step forward offensively in 2025. Their new head coach, Dave Canales, finally started to get through to the offense by the end of the season. After being benched in favor of Andy Dalton earlier in the season, Bryce Young started to play the best football of his young career. The Panthers have a solid stable of wide receivers, with Adam Thielen, Xavier Legette, Jalen Coker and 2025 first-round draft pick Tetairoa McMillan. In the backfield, they added Rico Dowdle from the Cowboys to complement Chuba Hubbard.
Miles Sanders was the RB2 in Carolina last season, but was not very productive in just 11 games of action. Meanwhile, Hubbard had a great year, rushing for over 1,100 yards and ten touchdowns. That was good enough to finish seventh in the NFL in rushing yards per game. However, Hubbard isn’t much of a threat in the passing game. He had just 171 receiving yards last season on four yards per catch. Dowdle will be a great change of pace back, who can also be a threat in the passing game. Dowdle was a 1,000-yard rusher for the Cowboys last season and averaged 6.4 yards per catch. These two should be a great running back duo in this rapidly improving Carolina offense.
