Jeremiyah Love and 2 Other High-Risk Fantasy Football Running Backs at ADP
The running back position is brutal. Players take a ton of hits and often touch the football over 15 times per game. These are players literally enduring multiple car crashes per game. The position's longevity is short, and that puts the risk at a high level. That can sometimes be difficult to measure, but let us take the reins on that. Here are high-risk players at the top of the board.
Christian McCaffrey
Good for McCaffrey. Honestly. He had 450 touches in 2025 and became the fantasy football RB1. The output was tremendous, and all gamblers who took a chance on the high-risk running back saw great payouts.
In 2026, McCaffrey is still very risky. He is at an extremely high injury risk. Over the last 6 seasons, McCaffrey has endured 8 different injuries, many of which were soft-tissue injuries. A soft-tissue injury rarely heals 100% and can easily flare back up with poor management.
Added — the 49ers staff have emphasized that McCaffrey needs a lower workload. They will not purposefully drop his carries in a big way, but Jordan James and Kaelon Black will certainly have a role.
As of June, running backs coach Bobby Turner explained that he should have managed McCaffrey's usage better in 2025. They will ensure that this is carefully managed, and for that reason, he will see a slight dip in 2026.
De'Von Achane
We are dealing with another high-injury-risk player in Achane. Draftsharks.com lists him as a "Very High Injury Risk." He has 7 unique injuries sustained to his body at the highest level of football.
In the power ratings, the Dolphins are expected to be the worst team in the NFL. While that might favor garbage time production, it also favors risk. Achane may touch the ball more than we like. The more he touches the ball, the more risk he takes on to his body. Why is this more evident to him? Well, the Dolphins are not as good, and their explosion rates will likely suffer as a result.
Simply put, Achane's reward may not outweigh the risk. We rank him outside of the top 10 in our running back projections. This unit is also projected to be a bottom-10 offensive line.
Jeremiyah Love
Remember Ashton Jeanty's rookie season just months ago? Well, Love might suffer a similar fate. That would be one of the low yards-per-attempt and scarce touchdown opportunities. The Cardinals are the NFL's 3rd-worst team in power ratings and 6th-worst offense.
Love is being hyped as a top-15 running back in fantasy football. It is a dicey projection to make for a team that is not only meant to be bad, but also has competition in the backfield. They signed the power-punching Tyler Allgeier. They also cling to James Conner as the supremely impressive RB3.
Mike LaFleur has not commented much on this backfield split going into 2026. We do not know. However, Allgeier and Conner offer way too much talent to be overlooked. Love will not have 65%+ of running back touches. We err closer to the side of 45-55%. Will he also own red zone touches? That is a high-risk being, as Allgeier is a 225-pound bowling ball primed for goal-line work.
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Thomas Carelli is a sportswriter based on Northern New Jersey. He is a massive New York Jets and Mets fan, but that is not where is sports fandom stops. He loves to watch and play golf, all things football, baseball, and much more. If he can watch it, he will. Thomas graduated from William Paterson University in 2018 with a Bachelor's Degree in Sport Management. He spent 4 years working at a local golf course, volunteered past PGA events, and spent some part-time experience with the New York Jets events team. His passions for sport runs deep and his articles show for it.