As much as we love talent, projecting available carries for particular players is a very fruitful endeavor. Whoever is getting the touches is going to score the fantasy points, and roster turnover generates fantastic year-to-year opportunities in fantasy drafts.
Analyzing Available Carries For 2026
What Do We Mean by “Available Carries”?
It’s simple: look at the running backs who departed from a team during the offseason, and total how many carries (and carries inside the 5-yard line) they received in 2025. Luckily, our friends at 4for4 have already done this work for us – if you do not have a subscription to them, we suggest you consider purchasing one (we get no fee or affiliate commission – they are simply a quality fantasy football website, especially for the accuracy of their rankings).
We’ve already analyzed available targets for wide receivers here, so let’s explore all the teams that are coming into 2026 with 200 or more available carries:
| Team | Available Carries | Available Carry % | Available RB Targets | Available Inside-The-5 Carries | Available Inside-The-5 Carry % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas City Chiefs | 288 | 85.7% | 52 | 15 | 93.8% |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | 260 | 72.0% | 47 | 12 | 60.0% |
| Carolina Panthers | 236 | 60.4% | 46 | 8 | 80.0% |
| Seattle Seahawks | 226 | 52.9% | 35 | 8 | 30.8% |
Kansas City Chiefs
Notable Additions: Kenneth Walker III, Emmett Johnson, Emari Demarcado
Notable Departures: Isiah Pacheco, Kareem Hunt
The Chiefs finally discovered they can’t ride Patrick Mahomes without a running game forever. Gone are the ineffective Pacheco and Hunt, and enter Super Bowl MVP Walker. It is difficult to overstate just how bad the Chiefs’ running backs have been, and just how explosive Walker has proven to be:
Kansas City has an astonishing 288 available carries, and Walker will take as many of them as his body can handle. The notion that he has been a committee back is purely recency bias:
The early down work is a given, and the goal line work should be as well. That’s significant, considering the Chiefs have 15 abandoned carries inside the 5-yard line compared to last year. While that number may fluctuate depending on the nature of the offense and Patrick Mahomes’ health, the fact that the corpse of Kareem Hunt has 15 touchdowns since 2024 bodes well for Walker’s chances of double-digit touchdowns. Considering that he’s rushing back from an ACL tear, Mahomes’ early-season rushing bonanza (4 TDs in first 6 games) appears very unlikely to repeat itself.
The bigger question is receiving work and pass protection. While Walker has performed well enough as a receiver, the Chiefs’ signing of former Cardinal Emari Demarcado stands in the way of 3rd down duties. Chiefs’ OC Eric Bieniemy has said Walker needs to improve as a pass blocker and a receiver, while Demarcado appears to be running away with the backup job.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Notable Additions: Chris Rodriguez
Notable Departures: Travis Etienne
The Bhayshul Tuten hype train has left the station, with more and more passengers climbing on board daily. Following Travis Etienne’s departure, the door has swung open for one of 2025’s most explosive rookie running back prospects. Although Chris Rodriguez was also added, the comparison between them is laughable:
In addition to the complete athletic and performance dominance, Rodriguez is already missing time recovering from foot surgery. He hurt himself earlier this offseason, and while he’s expected to be ready for training camp, there’s certainly no guarantee.
Tuten is likely to break off a few long runs, but it’s his receiving work that can unlock a new level to his profile – and there’s precedent for valuable backfield receiving work in this offense. Etienne had 6 receiving touchdowns last season and was 4th among all RBs in RZ targets: he was schemed the ball in the scoring area both on the ground and through the air.
LeQuint Allen may be the passing down back once again, but that didn’t stop Etienne from racking up valuable receiving work on early downs.
Of course, the goal line work must be monopolized, but luckily, it appears he was being groomed for that last season – and he was good at it:
Upside shooters can target him as early as the 5th round in one-year leagues, and he’s absolutely got a higher ceiling than backs drafted around him like Montgomery, Swift, Harvey, and Warren.
Carolina Panthers
Notable Additions: N/A
Notable Departures: Rico Dowdle
2025 surprise phenom (for a little while, at least) Rico Dowdle has left for Pittsburgh, and two familiar faces are back to try and fill the void.
It all starts with the trusted veteran Chuba Hubbard, who was quietly coming off an overall RB14 finish in 2024 before Dowdle showed up. But Dowdle wasn’t given that job – he earned it. This was in part due to Hubbard’s 2025 ineffectiveness:
Zero 15+ yard runs on 134 attempts with a 9.7% avoidance rate is beyond disastrous. He is expected to be the workhorse at the start of the season, but is likely to lose work to Jonathan Brooks as the season goes on.
Hubbard’s saving grace is his lock on passing down duties. The Panthers targeted RBs at the 11th-highest rate in the NFL last season, helping lead Chuba to a 30/223/3 receiving line. This number has the potential to grow with Dowdle leaving behind 50 targets, but that is probably where Hubbard’s fantasy profile peaks. An RB29 price tag is fair, but you probably want to aim higher in your leagues – there’s very little TD upside for him.
2024 2nd-round pick Jonathan Brooks is finally ready to play again. The first back taken in the draft, he sat most of his rookie season with a knee injury suffered in college, only to re-tear the same ACL after a mere 9 carries late in the year. It’s been a minute, but his comps coming out of college were incredibly intriguing:
| Sim | Player | Draft | RuYPG | Recs | RuYds | Rec | RuYMS | Tyms | Forty | WT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | Jonathon Brooks | 46 | 87 | 1.65 | 1139 | 25 | 0.42 | 0.22 | 216 | |
| 99 | DAndre Swift | 35 | 67.09 | 1.7 | 1218 | 24 | 0.3 | 0.19 | 4.48 | 212 |
| 98 | Javonte Williams | 35 | 76.57 | 1.67 | 1140 | 25 | 0.37 | 0.19 | 4.55 | 212 |
| 95 | Derrius Guice | 59 | 90.41 | 0.94 | 1251 | 18 | 0.39 | 0.23 | 4.49 | 224 |
| 94 | Doug Martin | 31 | 70.02 | 1.37 | 1299 | 28 | 0.39 | 0.18 | 4.46 | 223 |
| 94 | Ben Tate | 58 | 75.48 | 1.2 | 1362 | 20 | 0.43 | 0.23 | 4.34 | 220 |
| 86 | Kerryon Johnson | 43 | 69.28 | 1.53 | 1391 | 24 | 0.33 | 0.2 | 213 | |
| 80 | Eddie Lacy | 61 | 72.79 | 1.06 | 1322 | 22 | 0.34 | 0.19 | 4.55 | 231 |
| 77 | Cam Akers | 52 | 79.83 | 1.92 | 1144 | 30 | 0.63 | 0.25 | 4.47 | 217 |
| 75 | Felix Jones | 22 | 77.84 | 1.03 | 1162 | 16 | 0.31 | 0.22 | 4.44 | 207 |
| 75 | Tank Bigsby | 88 | 82.94 | 1.77 | 970 | 30 | 0.57 | 0.27 | 4.56 | 210 |
Brooks will reportedly have his knee tested “pretty regularly during training camp“, and he makes Hubbard’s 2026 profile extremely fragile. It’s probably a much better idea to target Brooks in the 11th round rather than Hubbard in the 7th.
Seattle Seahawks
Notable Additions: Jadarian Price, Emmanuel Wilson
Notable Departures: Kenneth Walker III
It’s been a hot topic of debate this offseason in fantasy circles, but the answer to Price, Wilson, or Holani may be “none”.
The pro-Price argument essentially rests on two things: draft position and competition.
The problem? Just because Holani and Wilson are potentially bad doesn’t mean Price is good. He was one of the more explosive backups in the country behind Jeremiyah Love, but that’s about it. Very few first-round running backs have as unimpressive a resume as Price:
Like Michel (31st overall) and CEH (32nd), Price (32nd) was a need-based selection at the end of round 1. And he’s potentially going to have to outrun history and his profile to escape a Michel/CEH-like career.
Oddly enough, the Seahawks have made it clear that they “did not draft Jadarian Price with the thought that he’d be a high-volume starter right away.” Considering that he’s going to share time with Wilson and Holani and that Charbonnet could be back sooner than believed, there’s a very murky path to year-one success for Price.
This is especially considering his complete lack of receiving involvement: he had a total of 15 receptions during his entire college career, and only four teams threw to their running backs at a lower rate than Seattle. More than likely, you won’t regret fading Price at his 7th-round ADP.
