Jahmyr Gibbs vs Ashton Jeanty

“Without David Montgomery, Gibbs is set to smash. If you draft near the top of Round 1, perhaps this helps you decide between the two stud running backs.”

“It's been interesting to see the recent discourse about Jahmyr Gibbs as the RB1, though he's been my RB1 over Bijan Robinson for quite some time. However you feel about Gibbs vs. Robinson, one thing is for certain: the Lions have an insanely friendly schedule this year.”

“The star back for the Lions is one of the 2023 first-rounders on the books through 2027 thanks to his fifth-year option, with Detroit long expected to pursue an early extension. Gibbs is in line to handle an even larger workload than before without David Montgomery in the fold, and a recent projection from The Athletic's Austin Mock has Gibbs slotting in with a projected $19.9MM AAV and $46.7MM in guaranteed money, though Mock adds Gibbs is likely to land more than his projected figure.”

“Jahmyr Gibbs dramatically outperformed his expected rushing touchdown total last year, but that is just the norm for a player who has the explosive ability to score from anywhere. While nearly doubling expected rushing touchdown production would be a regression red flag for a lot of players, it is not for Gibbs because of his track record.”

“Detroit already paid Jack Campbell, who is now the NFL's second-highest-paid off-ball linebacker, and must decide on Jahmyr Gibbs' value and whether to let Sam LaPorta play out a contract year or reach an agreement now.”

“Gibbs has the clearest avenue he's ever had and is coming off a career-high 94 targets. With more touches, Gibbs could be one of the highest ceiling plays in fantasy football, and an auto-click if he makes it this far.”

“Another young running back who has seen things clear out behind him is Jahmyr Gibbs, with the departure of David Montgomery, and only Isiah Pacheco has been added to the running back room. Gibbs has had over 50 receptions in each of his three seasons in the NFL and averages 13 total touchdowns per season.”

“The idea behind "Stars & Scrubs" is to build your team primarily around a few star players. For example, you may be able to walk away with Ja'Marr Chase, Jahmyr Gibbs and someone like Christian McCaffrey, but this will leave you with a significantly lower budget for the remaining picks.”

“Gainwell ranked fourth among all backs in receptions in 2025, trailing only the dual-threat elites of Christian McCaffrey, Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs.”

“Jahmyr Gibbs had a rough end to the fantasy football season last year, costing managers who leaned on him all year championships. Gibbs should return to fantasy prominence with a wonderful start to the NFL season. The Lions start the season facing the Saints, Bills, Jets, Panthers, and Cardinals.”

“Pianowski looked thrilled to land Gibbs fourth overall. The argument centered around Detroit's favorable projected schedule and the belief that Gibbs can anchor multiple roster constructions, including hero-RB builds.”

“Gibbs was already one of fantasy football's most efficient weapons. Now there's a legitimate path toward elite volume to pair with that efficiency. That combination is how overall RB1 seasons happen.”

“One player available at this spot with undeniable upside is Ashton Jeanty. When the Raiders selected him sixth overall in the 2025 NFL Draft, the expectations were tempered slightly because of where the Raiders were as an offense. What wasn't expected, though, was how dramatically bad the offense performed, starting with the offensive line, which ranked dead last in Pro Football Focus' (PFF) offensive line rankings.”

“He racked up over 1,200 yards and scored 10 times behind an abysmal offensive line. Now he gets Klint Kubiak as his head coach, bringing over an offensive system that helped Seattle win the Super Bowl. Expect Jeanty's efficiency to skyrocket if he keeps evading tackles as he did in 2025, when his juke rate (27.7%) ranked fifth among all running backs.”

“You can make a similar case for Ashton Jeanty, assuming the Raiders are better up front after their offseason additions and coaching changes and are better overall on offense with either Kirk Cousins or Fernando Mendoza at quarterback.”

“The Raiders' offensive line allowed Jeanty to get contacted at or behind the line of scrimmage on 54% of his carries, the league's second-worst rate.”

“Jeanty is a volatile pick who could fail to live up to the expectations that accompany his fantasy football ADP, despite a massive ceiling if the Raiders' offensive line gels and new quarterback Mendoza clicks right away.”

“Despite a massive workload last season, Jeanty was only the RB17 in half-PPR points per game (12.8) among running backs with at least eight games played, and volume alone won't assure Jeanty pans out and finishes as an RB6 or better this season.”

“It's going to be an uphill battle for Mike Washington to dominate backfield touches, given that the Raiders have an all-time running back prospect ahead of him with Ashton Jeanty.”

“Raiders RB coach Omar Young said the team has put RB Ashton Jeanty "in all different kinds of positions to see exactly what he can and cannot do."”

“Ashton Jeanty finished the 2025 season with 245.1 PPR points, one of only two rookies to score more than 215.0 points.”

“Ashton Jeanty was the only rookie to finish as an RB1 in PPR scoring, ending the year as the RB11.”

“Raiders HC Klint Kubiak says the team plans to challenge RB Ashton Jeanty in his sophomore season and put pressure on him in order to get the best out of last year's first-round pick. "We want to put a lot of pressure on Ashton," Kubiak said. "The next guy that steps up, whoever that may be, that's going to be seen here in practice, OTAs and training camp, but we think we should continue to challenge Ashton and get more out of him."”

“Fitzmaurice drafted Ashton Jeanty over Jonathan Taylor late in the first round. Fitz explained that Jeanty survived terrible offensive circumstances last season and still managed double-digit touchdowns. The expectation now is that Las Vegas will field a significantly improved rushing environment thanks to offensive line upgrades and a coaching staff expected to lean heavily on the run game.”