Chris Rodriguez spent the first two years of his career as an afterthought in Washington before finally getting a real opportunity in 2025. This offseason, he signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars and reunited with Liam Coen, the coach who got the best out of him in college. The landing spot appears ideal on the surface, with Travis Etienne gone and a clear path to touches. Should fantasy football managers buy into Rodriguez in 2026?
Should You Draft Chris Rodriguez in Fantasy Football?
Rodriguez entered the league as a sixth-round pick out of Kentucky in 2023. For two seasons, he barely saw the field, buried on the depth chart and contributing mostly on special teams. Everything changed last year when injuries and ineffectiveness ahead of him opened the door.
He responded with easily the best season of his career, making seven starts and posting career highs across the board: 112 carries, 500 yards, and six touchdowns. The efficiency was legitimate, too, as his 4.5 yards per carry continued a career-long trend of churning out positive gains. At 5’11” and 224 pounds, Rodriguez is a downhill, physical runner who thrives between the tackles and in short yardage.
That physicality is exactly what Coen wanted. The two spent a season together at Kentucky in 2021, which happens to be the only year Rodriguez earned All-SEC honors. Jacksonville’s head coach did not stumble into this signing. He hand-picked a back he already trusted, describing Rodriguez to reporters as a source of “thump” who can grind out the hard yards.
Here is the problem, and it is a significant one. Rodriguez offers nothing as a receiver. Over three NFL seasons and 35 games, he has caught a grand total of six passes. Six. His entire value proposition is tied to carries, which means he needs a very specific role to matter for fantasy, and that role is far from guaranteed in this backfield.
Rodriguez’s Redraft Fantasy Football Value
The bull case is easy to lay out. Etienne left behind roughly 260 carries and a healthy chunk of goal-line work when he signed with the New Orleans Saints. Coen’s system just fueled Etienne to an RB13 finish, and this offense took a massive leap last season behind an elite year from Trevor Lawrence. Drop a trusted, touchdown-scoring grinder into that environment, and the appeal becomes obvious.
Unfortunately, the bear case is stronger. Bhayshul Tuten was the first running back this regime drafted, and he is the clear favorite to lead the room. Most projections have Tuten out-carrying Rodriguez comfortably.
On passing downs, LeQuint Allen has the inside track, which caps Rodriguez as a two-down player with zero receiving floor. In PPR formats especially, a back who never catches the ball is fighting an uphill battle to crack a weekly lineup.
Then there is the touchdown issue, which is the entire basis for Rodriguez’s fantasy case. He needs to be the goal-line hammer to have any value. The trouble is that Lawrence vultured nine rushing scores himself last season. Quarterback sneaks and designed keeps near the end zone are a real part of this offense, and every one of those is a touchdown that does not go to Rodriguez.
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Complicating matters further, Rodriguez has been dealing with a foot injury and missed most of Jacksonville’s offseason program. Falling behind in a genuine three-way competition is the last thing a player in his position needs.
Rodriguez’s ADP sits at RB45. I have him a touch higher at RB40. That small gap tells you where I land. I am not actively chasing Rodriguez, but at that cost, he is a defensible pick if you believe he wins the short-yardage and goal-line work. Just understand what you are drafting: a touchdown-dependent player with a nonexistent floor and a ceiling capped by the two backs around him. Even in a best-case scenario where Rodriguez is seeing 12-15 carries a game, he’s not reaching RB2 numbers unless he scores.
Rodriguez’s Dynasty Fantasy Football Value
Dynasty is where the appeal disappears almost entirely. We have Rodriguez at RB44 in our consensus dynasty rankings, and even that feels like it is grading the role rather than the player.
Rodriguez will turn 27 in September and is playing on a two-year contract. Grinders with no passing-game value tend to have short shelf lives, and nothing in his profile suggests he becomes more than what he already is. The moment Tuten breaks out, or Jacksonville brings in another back, Rodriguez’s window slams shut.
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Rodriguez undoubtedly belongs on dynasty rosters, but this is a player who had absolutely zero value before last season. He could very well revert to having no value after this season.
If you are rebuilding, Rodriguez is better utilized swapping out for a younger lottery ticket instead. For contending teams, Rodriguez is nothing more than a bye-week fill-in with occasional touchdown upside. This is a name to monitor in redraft and fade in dynasty.
This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network.