{"id":293101,"date":"2026-07-20T20:59:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T00:59:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=293101"},"modified":"2026-07-20T20:59:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T00:59:15","slug":"fantasy-football-running-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2026\/07\/20\/fantasy-football-running-back\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Running Backs to Avoid In Fantasy Football"},"content":{"rendered":"

Arguably the most important position in fantasy football is the running back, as the right one can be a league-winning force. Three-down running backs are a dying breed, and finding a player who receives a massive workload and a high number of red zone touches can be a cheat code. While the upside is undeniable, using an early pick on the position also carries considerable risk.<\/p>\n

Football is a violent game, and every player carries some injury risk. However, running backs miss more time than wide receivers, quarterbacks, and tight ends, which makes them riskier fantasy football investments. Additionally, running back production has more to do with scheme and blocking than the actual back, so it’s not uncommon for running backs to lose their job midway through the season. Because of this, you need to make sure you’re selecting the right running back when you’re on the clock.<\/p>\n

\"DeVon<\/p>\n

3 Running Backs to Avoid In Fantasy Football<\/h2>\n

Every single player in fantasy football carries a decent amount of risk, and that’s especially true of running backs. However, based on their current average draft position, these players carry too much risk to justify an early investment.<\/p>\n

Note: This article is for redraft formats. All valuations are based on the FootballGuys Average Draft Position<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

1. Christian McCaffrey (RB3)<\/h3>\n

Christian McCaffrey is one of the greatest running backs of his time, both in real-life and fantasy football. However, the NFL unofficially stands for “Not For Long,” and you should stay away from him, even though he is coming off another RB1 season.<\/p>\n

The biggest reason to stay away from the superstar running back is the workload. The 49ers running back led the league with 413 combined touches, the most of his career. This is an insane workload for any running back, especially one who is now entering his age-30 season. Running backs normally start dropping off<\/a> around this time, and players who record more than 300 touches in a season tend to struggle the following year. This is a disastrous combination for McCaffrey, a player who has struggled to stay on the field throughout his career. While he could finish as the RB1 again, he carries far too much risk to be the RB3 off the board.<\/p>\n

\"DeVon<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

2. De’Von Achane (RB7)<\/h3>\n

De’Von Achane is a fantastic running back and easily the most explosive and dangerous weapon remaining on the Miami Dolphins. While he should receive a large workload, this roster isn’t good enough to support his current ADP. The Miami Dolphins have arguably the league’s worst roster, led by an unproven quarterback in Malik Willis<\/a>, a defensive-minded first-year head coach in Jeff Hafley<\/a>, and no real receiving weapons to take focus off the ground game.<\/p>\n

Achane is good, but he might not be good enough to overcome such a terrible environment, especially without Mike McDaniel running the offense<\/a>. Say what you will about his ability as a head coach, but nobody can deny that McDaniel is one of the most creative offensive minds in football. Bobby Slowik comes from the Kyle Shanahan coaching tree, but he probably won’t be as good as McDaniel at scheming opportunities for this playmaking threat.<\/p>\n

\"DeVon<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

3. Jeremiyah Love (RB13)<\/h3>\n

This has nothing to do with Jeremiyah Love the football player. As far as prospects go, he’s one of the best collegiate running backs in recent memory and should have a long, successful career at the professional level. Unfortunately for Love, a running back can only do so much on his own, and the Arizona Cardinals have an abysmal roster. Jacoby Brissett, Gardner Minshew, and rookie Carson Beck<\/a> are battling it out in the league’s most depressing quarterback battle, and it’s hard to imagine any young running back thriving in this environment. From the outside looking in, this is a similar environment to the one that turned running back Ashton Jeanty into a fantasy football bust.<\/p>\n

Add to this is the fact that Arizona spent a decent amount of cash on free agent Tyler Allgeier<\/a>. Allgeier doesn’t have Love’s raw talent, but he’s played well when given an opportunity in Atlanta. The Cardinals might want to ease Love into the professional level, and Allgeier could earn more playing time than any fantasy football manager wants.<\/p>\n

\"Jeremiyah<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fantasy Football is never easy to predict, but you’ll want to stay away from these three running backs when you draft your team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2376,"featured_media":293102,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[922,9706,349,33664],"class_list":["post-293101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fantasy","tag-christian-mccaffrey","tag-devon-achane","tag-fantasy-football-rankings","tag-jeremiyah-love"],"modified_by":"David Latham, Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2376"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=293101"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293101\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":293112,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293101\/revisions\/293112"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/293102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=293101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=293101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=293101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}