Renner's NFL Draft summer position rankings: Best RBs for 2026, including a Heisman Trophy candidate

At this point in time, the 2026 running back class is shaping up to be fairly thin. There's only two backs so far whom I have NFL starter grades on at the moment. That doesn't mean there can't be breakout stars, but there's pretty much no chance this class will be on par with what we saw last spring. 

Here are my top 10 running back prospects (ordered from No. 1 to No. 10) ahead of the college football season.

Position rankings: EDGE • DT • LB • CB • S • IOL • OT • TE • RB • WR • QB

Note: ⭐️ represents each player's 247Sports star rating as a high school recruit

Jeremiyah Love

ND • RB • #4

6-0, 214 | Junior | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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• Player type: Uber-athlete
• Room for improvement: Muscle mass
• Early grade: First round

Everything Jeremiyah Love does looks like it's in fast forward. From his footwork in tight spaces to his speed in the open field, Love just has a different gear from everyone else on the field. His highlight package from last year is jaw dropping. Not only does have have all the physical gifts to be elite, but he also runs with such tenacity.

Love finished 2024 with 1,124 yards on 162 carries (6.9 per attempt) and 17 scores. He really doesn't have anymore to prove to end up a first-rounder.

Nicholas Singleton

PSU • RB • #10

6-0, 224 | Senior | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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• Player type: Home-run hitter
• Room for improvement: Creativity
• Early grade: Day 2

Size and speed are the uncoachable attributes that every scout wants to at running back, and Nick Singleton has the best combination of the two in the class. He's a no-nonsense runner who can house it from anywhere. He was a 1,000-yard rusher as a true freshman in 2022 and has scored 32 times over his career.

There's a reason he flourished this past season in Andy Kotelnicki's offense, though, and saw his yards per carry jump from 4.4 in 2023 to 6.4 in 2024. It's because the Penn State offense got him off the edge far more than in years prior. He struggles bouncing between holes between the tackles and is at his best with a head of steam combined with a defined point of attack. 

Demond Claiborne

WAKE • RB • #1

5-10, 200 | Senior | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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• Player type: Speed back
• Room for improvement: Muscle mass
• Early grade: Late Day 2

We saw recently with Kenneth Walker that Wake Forest can be a difficult place to produce as a running back. That's what makes Demond Claiborne's 1,053-yard season in 2024 all the more intriguing. He was consistently fighting an uphill battle and still churned out solid numbers. He thrives in space and would have had a lot more big plays on tape if the Demon Deacons offense created more holes for him.

CJ Baxter

TEXAS • RB • #4

6-1, 227 | Redshirt sophomore | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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• Player type: Nimble power back
• Room for improvement: Health
• Early grade: Late Day 2

This is a big projection given that we've only seen CJ Baxter as a true freshman in 2023 after he missed all of last season with a knee injury he was only recently cleared from. That being said, his freshman tape was on another level from most first-year players. His play strength for an 18-year old was outstanding, and he flashed lively feet for a power back. If he's back to full health and has been putting in work in the weight room the past 20 months since we last saw him on a college football field, Baxter will comfortably be a top-100 pick.

Jonah Coleman

WASH • RB • #1

5-9, 228 | Senior | ⭐️⭐️⭐️

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• Player type: Bowling ball
• Room for improvement: Getting up to full speed at the line
• Early grade: Late Day 2

You better pack your lunch as a defensive back trying to tackle Jonah Coleman one-on-one. He's built low to the earth and all thighs. It's a body type reminiscent of former Panthers great Jonathan Stewart. He may not have the raw explosiveness Stewart had, but he definitely has a similarly violent stiff-arm. Over the past two seasons, Coleman has broken 113 tackles on 319 rushing attempts. He's also never fumbled and dropped only one pass on 58 catchable in his career. There's not too much to dislike in the Washington back's game.

The good news for Claiborne is that the NFL game is trending more towards players like him with lighter boxes favoring more creative backs. 

Makhi Hughes

OREG • RB • #20

5-11, 210 | Redshirt junior | ⭐️⭐️⭐️

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• Player type: All-around back
• Room for improvement: Drops
• Early grade: Early Day 3

Makhi Hughes got the call up to Oregon after starting his career at Tulane where there was very little more he could prove from a draft perspective. He is the most productive returning back in college football over the past two seasons with 2,776 yards and 22 scores over that span. It's rare to give a small school player a "high-floor" tag, but with Hughes it's apt. He's a tough runner who's vision and pacing is NFL-ready. On 551 touches in his career, Hughes has never fumbled the football. He'll get every opportunity to succeed this fall behind one of the best offensive lines in college football at Oregon.

Jadarian Price

ND • RB • #24

5-11, 209 | Redshirt junior | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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• Player type: Jitterbug
• Room for improvement: Pass-game work
• Early grade: Early Day 3

There's a reason the unquestioned RB1 in this draft class only got 162 carries a season ago and it's this man right here. Jadarian Price is a tuned-up athlete in his own right who saw 15 of his 121 carries a season ago go for 15-plus yards. He's got outstanding shiftiness in the hole and an instant accelerator to break angles in the open field. He needs to get a little stronger to be a more complete runner at the next level and prove he can be a receiving weapon out of the backfield, but if he does Price can fill a role very early on.

Justice Haynes

MICH • RB • #22

5-11, 210 | Junior | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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• Player type: Muscle hamster
• Room for improvement: Vision between the tackles
• Early grade: Early Day 3

Justice Haynes has a great compact build for a modern NFL running back who can deliver a blow to defenders while still being light enough to bounce between points of attack. For only a 210-pounder it wasn't uncommon to see him dragging a defensive end a few more yards before being brought down. His touchdown run below against Missouri is a perfect encapsulation of his potential as a runner:

After transferring to Michigan, Haynes should have a much larger role than the 78 carries he saw last season.

Mark Fletcher Jr.

MIAMI • RB • #4

6-2, 225 | Junior | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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• Player type: Nimble power back
• Room for improvement: Ball security
• Early grade: Day 3

The Hurricanes running back room is still in good hands after Damien Martinez bounced to the draft. Mark Fletcher Jr. is a similar type of runner as Martinez with bruiser size yet the ability to make defenders miss in the open field. He's had over 100 attempts in each of his first two seasons and averaged 5.0-plus yards per carry in each. To take the next step as a prospect, though, Fletcher has to prove he can be reliable on a larger workload. Last year he fumbled three times on only 112 carries.

Rahsul Faison

SC • RB • #1

6-0, 218 | Seventh year | ⭐️⭐️

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• Player type: Shifty space back
• Room for improvement: Stopping feet in backfield
• Early grade: Day 3

Yes, you read that right. Rahsul Faison is heading into his seventh year of college, which is also why he's locked in an eligibility battle with the NCAA at the moment. He's taken quite the circuitous route to get to South Carolina. Faison grayshirted at Marshall in 2019 (enrolled, but didn't play football). He took online classes at Lackawanna College in 2020 while again not playing football. Faison then went to Snow junior college in Utah in 2021 during which he was finally on a team although not seeing any action. Faison then played his first down of football for them in 2022 before transferring to Utah State. Over the next two seasons for the Aggies, Faison racked up 1,843 yards on 315 carries (5.9 YPA) with 13 scores and 106 broken tackles.

His ability to dead-leg defenders is his calling card as he can change directions in the blink of an eye. And while hopefully he'll get a chance to prove himself against SEC competition this fall, Faison already showed up against better competition last fall averaging more yards per carry on his 30 attempts vs. Power-4 schools than vs. the rest of Utah State's schedule.