Outside of Jeremiyah Love, this running back class is really nothing special in comparison to recent years. But as always, there’s going to be values at the running back position, especially when a class like the 2026 NFL Draft comes around where there’s no true ‘consensus’ rankings. One of my favorite values in this class is the Chiefs’ fifth-round selection out of Nebraska, RB Emmett Johnson. I personally ranked him as high as my RB2 in the Pre-NFL Draft Rankings, and would not advise anyone to move him lower than the RB4 to RB5 range Post-NFL Draft.
Everyone knows Kansas City signed Super Bowl MVP, Kenneth Walker to a fresh three-year deal — but Johnson looks to be a top-shelf handcuff option and potential future at the RB position for the Chiefs. GM Brett Veach made one thing clear this offseason, and that was to address the need for explosiveness at the RB position. After bolstering that with Walker, the Chiefs solidified their burst out of the backfield with their selection of Emmett Johnson.
Emmett began his journey to the NFL by first taking his talents to Nebraska. His first year in collegiate football was nothing to write home about, but he was a solid contributor. As a redshirt freshman, he put up over 400 yards on 90 carries. The following year Emmett played the RB2 role for the Cornhuskers and put up about 600 rushing yards on 117 carries.
He flashed his upside as a receiver as well — his 39 receptions as a sophomore were the most by any Nebraska running back in nearly two decades. That mark ranked 14th in the country (amongst 195 RBs), which matched Cam Skattebo in his final season, ranked just behind Omarion Hampton, and beat out the RB1 of this class in Jeremiyah Love.
It wasn’t until his Junior year in 2025 when things finally started clicking for Emmett Johnson. Besides being named the Big 10 running back of the year, earning first-team all-American honors, leading the nation in scrimmage yards per game (151.8), and all-purpose yards per game — Johnson also joined some elite company.
Big Ten players to reach 1,400 rushing yards and 350 receiving yards in a single season over the last 20 years:
— Saquon Barkley (Penn State, 2016)
— Emmett Johnson (Nebraska, 2025)
Johnson bursted onto the scene last year and looked like one of, if not the best back in the entire nation. He racked up 1,450 rushing yards, 12 touchdowns, and forced 68 missed tackles on 251 carries with a single fumble — while also adding 370 receiving yards on 46 receptions through the air. Amongst the 200 running backs in the FBS with 50-plus carries in 2025, Emmett Johnson ranked:
- 1st in receptions (46)
- 3rd in rushing yards (1,450), rush attempts (251), and first downs (78), ahead of both Love (63) and stud 2027 RB prospect Ahmad Hardy (76)
- 3rd in snaps running a receiving route (291) and targets (54)
- 5th in explosive runs (36), just behind Love (39) and Hardy (40)
- 7th in receiving yards (370)
- Top-20 in both yards after contact (740) and rushing touchdowns (12)
He is the only running back in this entire class that has a single season with 100-plus rushing yards per game and 30-plus receiving yards per game in the FBS under his belt. To emphasize his unique combination of both rushing and receiving abilities, he’s the first player in the history of Nebraska Football to post 100 rushing yards and 100 receiving yards in the same game. He put up 129 rushing yards, 103 receiving yards, and two receiving touchdowns (232 total scrimmage yards) versus UCLA.
Not only that, he became one of just five other players to rush for over 200 yards versus Iowa, with 217 rushing yards and a touchdown. This was done before by Melvin Gordon, Saquon Barkley, and Jonathan Taylor. Johnson had 139 total yards plus a TD on 10 touches in just the first quarter against the Hawkeyes and forced 10 missed tackles in the game.
Those are not the only metrics Emmett Johnson reached an elite status in. Amongst all RBs in this year’s class, he ranks 1st in both yards per team play (1.45) and team yards market share (26.59%). For reference, Quinshon Judkins posted the exact same yards per play (1.45) coming out of Ohio State last year with a 21.86% team yards market share, while TreVeyon Henderson averaged 1.51 yards per team play with a 20.72% team yards market share. Johnson also posted the 3rd-best experience-adjusted production in the class.
I can not emphasize enough just how dominant Emmett Johnson was last season and in the opportunities he was given prior. Out of all the RBs I evaluated on my 2026 Post-NFL Draft Dynasty Rookie Rankings: Top-70 Big Board & Tiers, Johnson led the entire RB class with an absurd 36.3% of his teams’ rushing yards and touchdowns, which put him in the 100th percentile. His 5.8 career yards per carry was 75th percentile, but what’s more impressive is his whopping 15.9% collegiate target share, which is in the 98th percentile. One major factor I look for in RB prospects specifically is opportunity share, in which case Emmett checks all the boxes for.
We all know Jeremiyah Love is the best running back in this class, but Emmett Johnson really does put up quite the fight. Johnson out-performed Love in everyone of the metrics I mentioned previously:
Jeremiyah Love:
— 31.7% of teams’ total yards + touchdowns
— 10.5% collegiate target share
— 1.36 yards per team play
— 19.83% team yards market share
Emmett Johnson:
— 36.3% of teams’ total yards + touchdowns
— 15.9% collegiate target share
— 1.45 yards per team play
— 26.59% team yards market share
His smaller size and average athletic testing scores clearly raised concerns amongst NFL GMs in the 2026 NFL Draft, which allowed him to fall to Round 5 and land in Kansas City. Teams who passed on him are likely worry that he is incapable of a bell-cow’s workload — but Johnson seemed to debunk that theory this past season after ranking top-five in rush attempts with eight 100-plus rushing yard games and a 217 yard game versus Iowa. He plays a lot bigger than his size suggests. He spins off of arm tackles, pinballs through traffic, and keeps his feet churning after taking the first hit. There are more than enough examples on tape of Emmett turning what should be 2-yard gains into a 10-yard gains.
The Chiefs’ rookie RB brings a rare blend of instincts, burst, and toughness that immediately jump off the screen when you watch him on tape. He reads blocks and shows patience behind the line of scrimmage like a true veteran — an elite feel for the game.
Johnson is a “make you miss in a phone booth” type-running back. He has violent lower-body explosiveness and moves the chains effortlessly with a combination of lateral bursts and jump cuts, turning blown play calls into first downs more often than not. Opposing defenders typically find themselves eating grass trying to tackle him in the open field as he’s an expert at shifting gears to manipulate the defense.
He’s also not just a checkdown option for his new QB Patrick Mahomes — Johnson has a polished route tree and is a legitimate receiving threat out of the backfield that can be deployed as a weapon for mismatches. Emmett wins routinely in open space or third downs versus linebackers and safeties. His 86th percentile hand size is certainly a plus in terms of the receiving profile as well.
The Chiefs obviously signed Kenneth Walker to be their “workhorse” back, but Emmett Johnson has a great chance to make the backfield a 70-30 split in his rookie year and develop enough over the next few years to be Kansas City’s RB1 of the future. At worst, Emmett Johnson has some of the most elite RB handcuff status in the league and is an RB1 in any scenario in which Walker suffers an injury.
Taking into account how much the Chiefs have raved about Emmett Johnson, it does feel like he will be involved in some manner. The Chiefs Vice President of Player Personnel Ryne Nutt said,“We went through the running backs, and Emmett was one of the top guys we watched… We loved him. Brett was super high on this kid; we all were really high on this kid. He’s a juke button, he has very good feet, vision, feel, and he’s very good out of the backfield.”
Ryne even gave some insight on why he thinks Emmett Johnson may have fallen to Round 5 as well: “I think the Combine 40, I think he ran like a 4.56 or something, that might’ve scared people away, but then he ran a 4.49 at his Pro Day. Then he ran like a 4.49 or 4.50… so he showed on two reps that he can match the same speed.”
Despite that, he still fessed up and mentioned “I don’t know why he fell… We were shocked he fell, and that’s why we took him in the fifth round, and that’s why Brett traded up to get him. Because of the conviction we had in the talent, and because we knew that was probably lower than he should’ve went, but we’re happy to have the kid for sure.” The reality is, how fast a player is at the combine is not a great depiction of how fast they are in game. In-game, Emmett Johnson looks like one of the quickest players on the field.
With that kind of talk, Kansas City doesn’t just feel like they got a steal in Emmett Johnson, they know they got a steal in Emmett Johnson. Dynasty wise, I’m still drafting him as the RB2 of this class regardless of landing spot and draft capital, as I did pre-draft.
I’ve been able to grab him in the middle of the second-round and in some cases the third-round of dynasty rookie drafts. Other RBs in this class like Nicholas Singleton, Jonah Coleman, and Kaytron Allen (who I’m also very high on) may outproduce him this year — but I am ecstatic about Johnson’s long-term outlook with the Kansas City Chiefs.
