2026 Fantasy Football Week 1 Trade Value Chart: Running Backs

The 2026 Fantasy Football Week 1 Trade Value Chart is built from The Wolf’s 2026 Fantasy Football Rankings & Big Board, which finished 2nd out of 172 experts in FantasyPros’ Multi-Year Draft Accuracy rankings from 2022 to 2024.

These values are tailored to a 12-team, full-PPR, 1QB league and factor in positional scarcity and real-world trade dynamics. That means quarterbacks typically carry less trade value than they would in Superflex formats, while elite running backs and wide receivers remain premium assets.

Whether you’re trying to buy low, sell high, or pull off a league-winning blockbuster, this Fantasy Football Week 1 Trade Value Chart is designed to help you make smarter deals. We’ll update player values every week based on rest-of-season outlooks, highlight the biggest risers and fallers, break down key trade targets, and share trade strategy tips to help you stay ahead of your league mates. Use the position-specific charts below to find fair trade offers and gain an edge throughout the 2026 fantasy football season.

QB | RB | WR | TE

FANTASY FOOTBALL WEEK 1 TRADE VALUE CHART: RUNNING BACKS

Running Back Risers – Kenneth Walker, Bhayshul Tuten

Walker opens the year as RB6 on The Wolf’s Rankings, in an environment where Chiefs coach Andy Reid could utilize him as much as fantasy players had wet dreams hoping Klint Kubiak would utilize him in Seattle. The talent and opportunity are all there, the question mark is health. But as we can see via Draft Sharks, everything has been minor injury-wise for Walker. Similar areas of the body acting up is a yellow flag, but this is arguably the most injury-prone position in the league because of the nature of what’s asked of the player and in general NFL players are dealing with injuries All. The. Time. Javonte Williams showed people in 2025 what great value injury buy-lows can do for you and this season Christian Watson is a great candidate to show the same to people who still have worries about hamstring issues that Watson hasn’t had since 2023.

So Walker’s value could go two ways in your league. Maybe your league mate has him and is still willing to talk trade because they’re concerned about injuries, but also, at RB6, our rankings reflect such a massive spike in Walker’s value over the offseason that his value is very likely at its ceiling right now, which could help you trade him away for better overall fantasy team value right before the season starts.

Running Back Faller – Bucky Irving

Irving’s fall to RB24 in our rankings is twofold. Injury concerns also cap his value, but unlike Walker (5’9″, 211 lbs.), Irving not only has a smaller frame (5’9″, 192 lbs.), but his play style is more reckless than your average RB and has led to a slow ramp-up through training camp/preseason. Irving also has more competition for touches than Walker, as Kenneth Gainwell replaces Rachaad White as the 1B in the Buccaneers’ RB room. Splitting time with Jaylen Warren in Pittsburgh last season, Gainwell (RB34 in our rankings) earned or tied career highs in rushing and receiving categories, with his 1022 yards-from-scrimmage and eight total TDs making him the RB20 and showing him to be more than capable of handling 1B duties, with an outside chance of becoming 1A.

Other Running Backs Of Interest – MarShawn Lloyd/Packers RB Room

As long as Josh Jacobs‘ legal questions loom, MarShawn Lloyd has been the presumed next man up. A continued focus on injury prevention, with a fresh emphasis on minimizing strain on one area of the body when another area isn’t 100 percent, has kept him upright so far, and a healthy MarShawn heading into Week 1 is a borderline miracle.

Lloyd has Chris Brooks and newly acquired Kaleb Johnson competing for touches. Though Johnson hasn’t shown any more to this point than Brooks, the Packers traded a sixth-round pick to the Steelers instead of risking missing out on him through waivers after the news had come out that the Steelers were likely going to cut him. The Packers reportedly run a similar run scheme that Kaleb was a part of while playing at Iowa, but he still has to make a pretty good jump from the 2.5 yards-per-carry he saw with the Steelers in limited action in order to jump Brooks on the depth chart. I still think the Packers aren’t done messing with this RB room if Jacobs misses the full season.

Fantasy Football Trade Strategy Tips

Trade for Team Needs, Not Just the Best Value

In general, trade offers that clearly benefit both teams’ overall value, not just your own, will make a trade partner more cooperative. However, being mindful of depth concerns with all teams involved in a trade will only increase the chance of that cooperation. Be mindful not just of weak positional depth, but also of surplus positional depth across your league’s rosters. You might have a shortlist of players you’d love to be able to trade for, but if what you have to offer isn’t what your trade partner needs, your offers will likely fall on deaf ears. Say you’re weak at RB and have a surplus at WR. Teams that are strong at RB but weak at WR are naturally more eager to haggle.

Why Trade Calculators Aren’t the Final Word

Charts and calculators are a reference that can help find ideal trades, but they’re not gospel, and trying to make your potential trade partner think otherwise could shut the door on negotiations real quick. Even if your charts/calculators show the trade offer to be in your league mate’s favor, they probably have tools and references of their own, and the next time “But the trade calculator says” changes someone’s mind may be the first time.

How to Avoid Low-Ball Trade Offers

Speaking of bad faith, a trade offer that is too clearly in your favor puts you in danger of potential trade partners shutting you out not just for that particular trade negotiation, but any future ones as well. It’s a great feeling to get those kinds of lopsided trade deals, but the ones so bad they only go through 1 percent of the time likely aren’t worth hitting the send button in the first place. At their core, fantasy players aren’t complete masochists; they just want to have fun with it, and somebody sending them insulting offers isn’t fun.

FANTASY FOOTBALL WEEK 1 TRADE VALUE CHART: RUNNING BACKS

QB | RB | WR | TE