Fantasy football season is here, and one of the most important aspects of the game is identifying busts and avoiding them. The hardest position to do that at is running backs. It is the position that will make or break your season, so you have to get these right. These are the running back busts to avoid in 2026.
Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco 49ers
After a massive fantasy season in 2025, CMC is being drafted as a top three fantasy running back this season. He is far too risky to buy into that and draft him that high. Now on the wrong side of 30, he is coming off the biggest workload of his career with 311 carries and 102 receptions. That does not bode well for an already oft-injured back.
Last season was also one of the least efficient of his career, which shows that he's slowing down after a career that's put a lot of miles on his body. His 3.9 yards per carry last year were his lowest since his rookie year in 2017, excluding 2020 when he failed to make it through Week 3.
With the looming injury risk and declining efficiency, we can't buy into McCaffrey at his ADP. It would take a significant discount for us to consider drafting him.
