Fantasy managers looking for early running backs are still being told to take Derrick Henry. put the Baltimore Ravens star on its target list for 2026 drafts after he followed 2024 with 1,595 rushing yards and 16 scores last season.
The reason Henry keeps coming up is simple: the position is thin, and volume matters more when the pool gets shallow. Running back is not deep in 2026, while fantasy managers can start three backs because of the flex spot, which makes dependable workload even more valuable.
Henry has given fantasy players that kind of stability for years. He has scored double-digit touchdowns in eight consecutive seasons and finished in the top 10 at running back in six of the past seven, a run that explains why he is still being treated as someone to target rather than a player to fade.
The age question is real, and it is the one thing that should make managers pause. Henry is 32, but there is no indication of decline in the numbers that matter most for fantasy. He is neither overvalued nor undervalued this season, which is another way of saying his draft cost should match his role instead of his birthday.
That balance is what makes him hard to ignore. He was better in 2024, when he ran for 1,921 yards and scored 18 total touchdowns, but last season’s 1,595 rushing yards and 16 scores still left him firmly in the elite production band for a back. For fantasy purposes, that is enough to keep him in the first wave of running backs instead of pushing him into the wait-and-see tier.
Henry is also part of a wider 2026 draft picture in which quarterbacks are plentiful and running backs are not. Nearly half the NFL teams have a quarterback worthy of starting for fantasy this season, which pushes managers toward the scarcer position earlier. James Cook III, who turned 342 touches into 1,912 scrimmage yards and 14 touchdowns last season, is already going early in Round 2, and that market signal says the same thing Henry does: secure the backs before the board thins out.
What remains unclear is Henry’s exact price in current 2026 average draft position. The market has already made its judgment on the position, but the number that will tell managers whether he is a bargain or a luxury still has to show up. For now, the clearest read is that Henry remains a draft target because the workload, the scoring history and the lack of alternatives still point the same way.
