2026Q1 RBs: The Ultimate PIGMAXER's Guide to Victory
Sometimes you just gotta mog.
- Clavicular, social media influencer
Good morning, good afternoon, good evening—whenever it is I'm greeting you. It brings me great pleasure to inform you that the long awaited and internationally anticipated Q1 rankings drop is here for the RB position group.
If there’s anything we learned last season, it’s that a lot of shit happens at RB. Virtually the entire first round of RBs last year by ADP failed to complete the season due to injury, and of the remaining few that made it through unscathed, most ended up disappointing. Primary lesson? Volume is key, as always.
Ironically, I think the only first-round RB who truly had a great year cover-to-cover was the one I was lowest on: ND’s Jeremiyah Love. Eh, it happens, and to be fair, he’s the type of player I’m happy to be wrong on.
I did not come across another controversial player of that type this year—in fact, the process was pretty straight forward if I do say so myself. There are 52 players ranked in this article with some thoughts on each, and another 26 are placed in name only for your consideration. Enjoy.
Ahmad Hardy (Mizzou) — There isn’t a clear cut RB1 this year but Hardy feels like the safest option out of any player to at least be a good CFF RB, hence why he’s here. You all should know how I do these rankings by now, I don’t grade players on upside, or who I think finishes as the literal CFF RB1, but rather I do it by how confident I feel about them being a good CFF asset at their positions. Frankly, I would be surprised if Hardy finishes as the literal RB1 given that Jamal Roberts is still lurking and Mizzou will face plenty of tough defences in-conference. Nonetheless, the natural ability of the player and the role he holds in coach Drink’s offence are indisputable, making Hardy an easy rank as a unanimous top three RB among the CFF cognoscenti this offseason.
Caleb Hawkins (OKST) — Again, if we were rating based on upside—upside-maxing, if you will—Hawkins clears Hardy pretty easily in my opinion given the conference he plays in and the lack of known quantities around him. The problem is he’s also riskier given he’s transferring up a level. Though, if you’re going to promote up divisions, the BIG12 is probably the conference to do so. Outside of Texas Tech who’ve been intentional to spend millions of dollars upgrading their defence, stopping the opposing team has never been a strong suit of this conference, and that trend will likely continue in 2026. Hawkins also has more receiving usage in his profile compared to Hardy, so that’s another element of his game that is appealing for CFFers. I feel like there’s a higher bust potential with Hawkins, whereas with Hardy I’d say the chances are virtually zero that he has a bad season as long as he’s healthy. That gives AH the edge.
Antwan Raymond (RU) — This is a player in the same vein as Hardy as far as how I view him. I don’t necessarily see top-three finish upside, but I do view Raymond as an ultra-safe asset to at least be good in CFF (good being ~15 PPG on the year). Playing under OC Kirk Ciarocca, Raymond became sort of the second coming of former Minnesota Gopher RB Mo Ibrahim, who Ciarocca had briefly in 2022. In fact, Raymond has a single-game high of 41 carries last season on his way to 244 total (something Mo did a few times in Minny). I doubt that feeding Raymond as much as RU did was the plan for 2025, but CJ Campbell’s injury in week two forced their hand. Campbell has since left, but the Knights brought in Clay Thevenin from Louisiana Tech. He doesn’t spook me enough to discount Raymond, and with a change at QB, RU may be even more run-heavy in 2026. RU has a favourable conference schedule avoiding Iowa, Oregon and Ohio State (traditionally tough teams to run against). Michigan and IU are really the only two games that could be problematic, and even then, not necessarily games where you’d have to sit Raymond. Despite demonstrating some ability as a receiver, RU rarely uses him this way. Disappointing, but maybe something that he works on this offseason.
DeSean Bishop (TENN) — Again, not a player I view as a nuclear upside option, but one that I am confident in being at least good in 2026. Bishop is coming off a 1000 yard season and the QB position is looking like a question mark as things are currently up in the air with Joey Aguilar’s eligibility. What’s more, Tennessee returns a strong offensive line, with four of the five starters from the previous season coming back. The parameters look to be set in such a way that Tennessee are going to rely on running the ball a lot, and Bishop is quite clearly returning as the RB1. He is not a great receiver of the football, but they use him there a bit.
Kewan Lacy (Miss) — Mr. Do it All in 2025 for the Rebs, Lacy will have the benefit of reinforcements in 2026. Ole Miss went out and acquired two former RB1s in MSU’s Makhi Frazier, and the FCS TD leader Josh Dye (formerly of UTEP). These moves signal to me an emphasis on moving touches away from Lacy to lower his workload. While the sophomore from Texas remarkably held up well during the regular season, he did begin falling apart in the CFP. I feel a bit conflicted about him, as part of me wants to rate him lower, but he is also undeniably a stud and Ole Miss aren’t going to just stop feeding him (especially if the reported NIL figures are correct). NIL as an indicator of volume isn’t fool-proof though (see Alabama WR Ryan Williams in 2025). Lacy is a bit of an enigma for me. I need more time for meditation to have a full thought on him.
Will Henderson (UTSA) — This is one that is more of the Caleb Hawkins/nuclear-upside variety rather than the mold of Hardy/Raymond. Henderson is a wildcard in that we have a limited sample of him from last season. That being said, when he did take over as the starter, he was very good. He is electrifying in space and is possibly one of the fastest players in all of CFB (yes, really!). He’s also demonstrated some ability to perform as a receiver. Playing in the G5 also gives him a slight edge in the sense that crazier shit just seems to happen at the lower level of the FBS, but it can be a double edged sword due to the lack of info we receive about these programs. Hendo is one of the players I can legitimately see actually finishing as the RB1 if everything works out for him. His primary competitors for touches will be Brandon High, who transferred back to UTSA, and former USC Trojan A’Marion Peterson, so it’s not a clear path to victory for him. It’s not even 100% clear that he’ll be the starter again, so I am really going out on a limb putting him here. However, since he finished the year as the starter, I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt.
Jadan Baugh (UF) — Evaluating the landscape early on, it seems I may be higher on Baugh than the average drafter this year. I really like the upgrade he got with the new staff, and the fact that Florida had to move heaven and earth to keep him in Gainesville feels like a harbinger of a monster season usage-wise for the rising junior out of Georgia. The OC, Buster Faulkner, has always been a committee man, which is not ideal, but HC Jon Sumrall had the FBS carry leader at Troy in 2023 (Kimani Vidal, 297), and fed Makhi Hughes 265 rushes in 2024. We can work with that.
Darius Taylor (MIN) — It almost feels like Taylor returning for 2026 has gone under the radar this offseason. Yes, injuries have plagued his career, but we’re still talking about a player that has averaged 15 PPG or more every season he’s been in college. The injury risk is a real factor in evaluating his profile, but virtually every other box is checked as far as what to look for in a RB1. I’d like to see a little more health-maxing out of our guy here (maybe some glutathione would do him some good), but ultimately, playing under PJ is a double edged sword: the volume will always be there. That’s where the story begins and ends for me, making Taylor an easy early round RB selection from my view. Just make sure you have a lot of other RBs rostered in preparation for the inevitable.