2026 Draft Board: Running Backs
The below information I included in the QB draft board earlier in the week, I'm going to include it for every board, but it will be identical on each.
If you've ever read one of my draft board articles before then you have an idea of what you'll see below, but I did overhaul the system a little bit. Basically I just moved all of my formulas over to using a z-score method. If you haven't read them, quick explanation, I use stats, athletic testing, past performances from current pro players, and formulas to try and determine the chances a prospect in the current draft has at succeeding as a pro. In the past I used a "PSR", and an "A Met" and "S Met" to give every player a round grade. Now, it all comes down to a Score. The scores differ by position, so before each draft board I will put what the high score was between the 2020-2023 drafts at that position (those are draft years that I've done this for, as well as ones that have been in the league for at least 3 years). And at the bottom you will see a small blurb I wrote up for each position.
Real quick additional note: I'm including a "My Top 5" section this year. You will notice with some positions that the top 5 doesn't line up with the top five on the actual draft board. There's a reason for that. When I grade out the pros to determine the "success rate" factor, I actually give them a grade (A = Superstar, B = High-end starter, C = Solid Starter, D = Rotational at best, and F = Fail). I hadn't considered using that in the past, but I realized I can use it to get a little more granular when it comes to ranking them. Sometimes a guy that is lower on my draft board than another guy, actually has a higher chance of being a high-end starter or better. So along side the name of the player and their school, I will include a B+ which is just the percent chance they have of being a high-end starter or better, and a C+ which will be the percent chance they have of being a solid starter or better.
This will be updated as pro day results become available.
High Score: 78.93 (Travis Etienne - 2021)
My Draft Board
| Players | College | Score | Rounds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jeremiyah Love | Notre Dame | 77.75 | Day 1 |
| Jonah Coleman | Washington | 50.53 | Day 2 |
| Jadarian Price | Notre Dame | 50.29 | Day 2 |
| Eli Heidenreich | Navy | 49.42 | Day 2 |
| Emmett Johnson | Nebraska | 43.68 | Day 3 |
| Adam Randall | Clemson | 39.62 | Day 3 |
| Mike Washington Jr. | Arkansas | 37.77 | Day 3 |
| Seth McGowan | Kentucky | 37.39 | Day 3 |
| Demond Claiborne | Wake Forest | 35.45 | Day 3 |
| Rahsul Faison | South Carolina | 35.10 | Day 3 |
| Desmond Reid | Pittsburgh | 34.44 | Day 3 |
| Kaytron Allen | Penn State | 31.84 | Undrafted |
| Robert Henry Jr. | UTSA | 30.43 | Undrafted |
| J'Mari Taylor | Virginia | 27.23 | Undrafted |
| Noah Whittington | Oregon | 25.92 | Undrafted |
| Nicholas Singleton | Penn State | 25.47 | Undrafted |
| Jam Miller | Alabama | 19.39 | Undrafted |
| Le'Veon Moss | Texas A&M | 17.69 | Undrafted |
| Roman Hemby | Indiana | 12.16 | Undrafted |
| CJ Donaldson | Ohio State | 11.32 | Undrafted |
My Top 5:
1) Jeremiyah Love (Notre Dame): B+ = 20.19, C+ = 96.15
2) Jonah Coleman (Washington): B+ = 9.41, C+ = 34.71
3) Jadarian Price (Notre Dame): B+ = 9.41, C+ = 34.71
4) Eli Heidenreich (Navy): B+ = 8.75, C+ = 32.50
5) Emmett Johnson (Nebraska): B+ = 3.35, C+ = 14.96
Things worth noting:
-Surprise, surprise! Love is hands down the top back in this class and it is not even close.
-If Kaytron Allen and Noah Whittington run at their pro days I would bet they'll do well enough to fly up my board. Jonah Coleman is kind of in that boat too, but in the way that he could probably push himself into a Day 1 grade.
-Seth McGowan and Mike Washington Jr. were dead in the water on my board and then they lit it up at the Combine and shot themselves up into my top ten. Crazy athleticism!
-Sleeper: Mike Washington Jr., although after his Combine performance he really put a dent in that sleeper label. It is that performance that landed him here though because the forty he ran at his size put him in one of my sub-plus-factor categories, which is just a factor that is over 50% for success rate, but doesn't eclipse the 70% mark, so I don't mark it down on my board. For the record, Jeremiyah Love also landed in that group.
I've been tracking the success rate of each position individually based on my grades from 2020-2023, and I'm going to include that for each position. It might help shine a light on some of my "things worth noting."
