Editor's Note: The Fantasy Notebook will take a rare break next week, but it will be back on June 28.
Welcome to the weekly Fantasy Notebook, the must-stop spot for keeping your finger on the pulse of Fantasy Nation. NFL news and developments drive fantasy values. The Notebook is here to keep you in the loop on all of it throughout the season -- and into the offseason.
As we move through June, the 2026 NFL Organized Team Activities (OTAs) are winding down. These voluntary, non-contact sessions have allowed 7-on-7, 9-on-7, and 11-on-11 drills to prepare players for training camp in late July. The offseason programs have been capped, in most cases, by mandatory minicamps.
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For fantasy investors, it's time to start watching the Footballguys Newsfeed to identify and stay on top of the drumbeats that will inform our draft values later this summer. That means looking past hyperbolic headlines and reporting that's often far more definitive than the actual information suggests.
It's time to read between the lines and figure out what's worth believing, and what isn't.
Lions Ready to Treat Gibbs Like a Workhorse
Heading into his fourth NFL season, expectations for Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs were already sky-high.
On Thursday, the expectations got higher.
Headline: Lions | Campbell says Gibbs will be Lions' bell cow | Fri., June 5
Head coach Dan Campbell is openly stating what we all expect: the 2026 offense will revolve even more around Gibbs.
"[H]e's going to be our bell cow now," Campbell told reporters.
"We're going to do a lot of things we feel like he does well," the coach added. "He's not just an outside runner. He is not just a space runner. He can create his own space in the middle.
"And some of his biggest runs have been gap scheme right down the pipe where he's had patience and found it and guys blocked it up well."
With new offensive coordinator Drew Petzing and the departure of running mate David Montgomery, Campbell said they're going to ask a lot of Gibbs.
There's a lot of talent on this unit, which Campbell acknowledged, mentioning Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, Sam LaPorta, Isiah Pacheco, and Penei Sewell.
But Gibbs will be the focal point.
"We expect him to have a big year for us," Campbell said. "We're going to put a lot on his plate in the run and pass game."
That's Not Necessarily New
As SBNation's Jeremy Reisman reminded readers, last year, Gibbs set a career-high with 320 touches (243 rushes, 77 catches) and played the most snaps of his three-year career (737).
Is he worried about handling a bigger load?
"It's nothing I'm not used to," Gibbs said. "Growing up, I've always been the person that's always had the most carries and stuff like that. I'm not looking at it any different from any other year."
As for where he can grow in 2026, Gibbs told Reisman his game needs to be more consistent on a week-to-week basis.
He'll also have Petzing to help Gibbs achieve that goal.
"A lot of it's going to be dictated by what we're good at as a unit," Petzing said of Gibbs' usage in 2026. "Where are we the best, where are we the most effective? Who are we playing, and how do we utilize his skill set to build on that?
"I mean, he does so many things at a high level that I don't think there's necessarily a ceiling or a cap on what that could look like."
It all sounds great.
As the Big Lead's Jobe Morrison suggested, Gibbs' floor could be 70 percent of the team's offensive snaps.
Gibbs Gets the Predicted Volume: Believe it or Not?
Oh, I believe.
Gibbs' Footballguys projection calls for 328 touches, which would be slightly ahead of his 320 opportunities last year.
Last year, Gibbs totaled 1,223 rushing yards. This year, the over-under on his rushing yards is 1,249.5.
Assuming he gets the anticipated volume, few players possess his combination of explosiveness, versatility, and playmaking ability. For fantasy investors, Gibbs, who is currently going off the board with the second pick overall -- behind only Bijan Robinson -- has a legitimate case to be the No. 1 overall pick.
Barkley Is Going the Extra Mile
A year after winning the Super Bowl with Kellen Moore calling the plays and Saquon Barkley having a historic season, the Eagles ranked in the bottom 10 in every major offensive category in Kevin Patullo's one season running the offense.
Although the Eagles' 18th-ranked rushing attack was moderately more effective than their 23rd-ranked passing game, Barkley experienced a significant drop-off from his 2024 Offensive Player of the Year campaign, in which he eclipsed 2,000 rushing yards and averaged 5.8 yards per carry.
He finished his second campaign with the Eagles, having turned 280 carries into 1,140 yards and seven scores. He also hauled in 37 of 50 targets for 273 yards and two touchdowns over 16 regular-season contests.
While that's a massive drop by NFL standards, from a fantasy perspective, it was an even greater disappointment.
Barkley racked up 351.2 fantasy points in 2024, the second most among all running backs. His 22 points per game were the most in the league.
Last year, those numbers fell to 232.3 total points and 14.5 per game.
Barkley finished as RB15 -- well off his RB2 ADP last summer (he was drafted with the third pick overall).
Is the Fix In?
The Eagles hired Green Bay quarterbacks coach Sean Mannion to replace Patullo as their offensive coordinator in January.
Mannion played under Sean McVay with the Rams and coached in Green Bay under Matt LaFleur, who worked under Mike Shanahan in Washington. Whether it's McVay, LaFleur, or fellow Washington assistant Kyle Shanahan running it, this scheme has been great for fantasy investors.
But it's new to Barkley, and it's fair to wonder how he'll fit.
Fortunately, he's interested in that as well.
Headline: Eagles | Barkley asking for advice | Sun., May 31
Barkley reached out to retired running back Todd Gurley for advice on how to make the most of Mannion's system.
Gurley should know.
Gurley was the 2015 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, 2017 AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year, and made three Pro Bowls, his last such honor coming in Barkley's 2018 rookie campaign.
Gurley was a teammate of Mannion with the Rams in 2017-2018, and he had two of the best years of his career in the zone running game under McVay.
The 33-year-old Mannion has coached for just two years, breaking in as an offensive assistant for the Packers in 2024 before being promoted to quarterbacks coach this past season. Though light on coaching experience, ESPN.com's Tim McManus reports that Mannion is considered a rising star in league circles.
After living through one year of Patullo's offense, Barkley loves what he sees so far from Mannion's scheme.
"Very creative, super smart," Barkley said of the new play-caller. "So excited to get in the building and learn something new."
His goal is obvious: Barkley is going the extra mile to put himself in position for a bounce-back season.
Believe It or Not?
I believe it.
Barkley reaching out to Gurley can't hurt. But the advice aspect is a sideshow.
The real issue is the impact Mannion and his scheme will have.
Barkley will be running a lot more outside zone with the quarterback under center, so he has to adjust his game. His ability to adjust physically and mentally to a one-cut-and-go style of play will be important.
Still, this season should be a better offensive environment for him after the unit fell short under Patullo.
We all know Barkley is very good.
In the four seasons in which he's played 16 games, he's finished inside the top 10 at his position three times, with last year's RB15 finish being the outlier.
I expect the change of play-caller and some better injury luck along the offensive line to work in the former Giants' favor.
Last year's disappointing outcome makes him a better value this summer.
Currently sitting at RB7 on the Footballguys projections, Barkley is the eighth running back off the board with the 14th pick overall in early ADP.
There's some risk at this price. But given the dearth of true featured roles for NFL running backs, drafting Barkley at ADP is a gamble I'm inclined to take.
The Niners are Talking About Dialing Back on McCaffrey
Coming off an injury-ravaged 2024, Christian McCaffrey won the 2025 NFL Comeback Player of the Year after a 2025 campaign that included 2,126 scrimmage yards -- 35.6 percent of San Francisco's 5,974-yard offensive output -- and 17 touchdowns.
McCaffrey's 2025 workload wasn't just impressive. It was historically heavy.
He carried 311 times for 1,202 yards and 10 rushing touchdowns. He caught 102 passes for 924 yards and seven more scores. He eclipsed 2,000 scrimmage yards for the third time in his career. He ranked second in the NFL in scrimmage yards, third in scrimmage touchdowns, and first in touches -- his 413 total opportunities led the league by a wide margin.
The next closest player had 369.
The 49ers targeted him 129 times, the second most of his career. He played 932 offensive snaps -- 83 percent of San Francisco's total. Both were career highs since 2019.
Headline: 49ers | McCaffrey to see lessened workload in 2026? | Wed., May 27
Kyle Shanahan thinks it was too much. "Last year was the worst we had been at it," the coach said of managing McCaffrey's workload.
There are legitimate concerns.
Since 2010, running backs logging 400-plus touches have averaged just 12.7 games the following year. The median is 15, but high-profile situations -- including McCaffrey himself in 2020 and 2024 -- skew the results toward missed time.
Exceptions exist. LaDainian Tomlinson hit the 400-touch mark three times between ages 22 and 30 and missed only three games total. Emmitt Smith did it four times in five years with similar durability. Curtis Martin set a career rushing high at age 31 after a heavy-touch career.
Those aren't the norm.
So, as 49ersWebZone's David Bonilla suggests, McCaffrey could have his touches managed more in 2026 to keep him fresher.
We've Heard This Before
In 2023, Shanahan said similar things -- and McCaffrey finished with a league-high 339 touches, a league-high 2,023 scrimmage yards, and a league-high 21 all-purpose touchdowns. The Niners made the Super Bowl. McCaffrey won Offensive Player of the Year.
The problem is the same now as it was then.
The drop-off from McCaffrey to the next-best option on the roster is steep. After losing veteran Brian Robinson Jr. to the Falcons in free agency, the Niners drafted Indiana running back Kaelon Black in the third round. He joins Jordan James, Isaac Guerendo, and Patrick Taylor Jr. on the depth chart.
But that group has already taken a hit with Shanahan announcing last week that Guerendo will be out for a bit after tearing a pectoral muscle while weightlifting.
Whatever the case, Shanahan has been more emphatic than ever about helping McCaffrey, who will turn 30 on June 7, find additional breathers.
McCaffrey Is Not On Board With Resting
If Shanahan and the Niners try to follow through on that, they can expect a prolonged fight with their best player.
McCaffrey made that clear when speaking after the Niners' organized team activity last Thursday.
"I've been dealing with those questions for nine years," McCaffrey told ESPN.com's Nick Wagoner. "I think the workload in our sport is really monitored in practice, not in games. We play 17 regular-season games a year, and everybody's livelihoods are on the line. On Sunday, you've got to do whatever it takes to win, and that's not a coach's job. You don't tell the three-point shooter you only get six threes today.
"I think everything else can be monitored during the week or with a practice schedule or certain ways you train, whatever it may be. But when it comes to game days, I like to think you prepare yourself for playing every snap."
Believe It or Not?
Nah. I don't believe it.
As long as he's in the locked and upright position, I expect another season of McCaffrey handling as much work as he can.
And that's great for us.
In 2023, McCaffrey averaged 24.7 fantasy points per game -- well ahead of every other running back. He scored at least 25 points five times, more than 30 three times, and more than 40 twice.
Since joining San Francisco in 2022, he's averaged 21.7 points per game, including five games with at least 25 points.
Last year, as the RB1 overall, McCaffrey delivered 24.5 points per game.
That was 2.5 more per week than Bijan Robinson managed in his RB2 finish with Atlanta.
CMC had eight games above 25 PPR points and finished above 30 five times.
So, the concern for me isn't the Niners choosing to lighten McCaffrey's load.
It's his age, last year's heavy workload, and his RB3 Average Draft Position that should worry us. That concern won't keep me from drafting him at No. 6 overall, but it will have me carefully considering my options.