Kenneth Gainwell: The Gut Check No. 679

Kenneth Gainwell: Part IV of the Intriguing Players Series

This summer, I've been profiling players and situations that intrigue me. 

• George Holani
• C.J. Stroud
• Rachaad White 
• Demond Claiborne
• Kenneth Gainwell

I've only been high on two of these players dating back to college -- Claiborne and Stroud -- and none of these options are unmitigated fantasy favorites. I'm profiling them because they are part of difficult situations for 2026 fantasy drafts. 

All of these players are potential fantasy bargains relative to their Average Draft Position (ADP). Their surrounding talent, depth-chart competition, and changes in scheme could lead to massive ranges in value. 

In Rachaad White's case, we may see a win-win in fantasy production for him and his primary competition, Jacory Croskey-Merritt. If one of them earns the bell-cow role, they could present massive value for fantasy GMs this year. 

Kenny Gainwell has as much likelihood to fit the win-win Rachaad White scenario as the potential fantasy landmine in Tampa Bay, but also mire the Buccaneers in a large committee that makes all of its contributors volatile fantasy options. This is what I fear about George Holani and Demond Claiborne in Seattle and Minnesota.  

Stroud is a straightforward upside pick on his own, but the intrigue is what a rebound with a better offensive line as his support system could mean for his young receiving corps' fantasy value. 

Kenneth Gainwell is the last player I'll be profiling in this unofficial series of difficult but intriguing options. Among the running backs in this group, he's arguably the least gifted athlete but up there with Claiborne as the most skilled.

Right now, Gainwell might be the best all-around option. His overall game and career trajectory have evoked a question in the back of my mind. 

Is Kenneth Gainwell A Mid-Tier Priest Holmes/Tiki Barber? 

Priest Holmes had one of the dominant fantasy peaks in the history of fantasy running backs. From 2001-2004, Holmes scored 76 touchdowns and generated 7,458 yards during an era of our hobby where beginning with two RBs was the conventional approach in re-draft formats. 

Holmes averaged 1,864.5 yards from scrimmage and 19 touchdowns during his prime, a prime that didn't begin until his fifth season in the NFL. As a point of reference, Kenneth Gainwell's first starter-worthy fantasy season came last year, his fifth NFL campaign. 

Holmes was a 5'8, 213-pound runner from Texas who played early in his career, but a knee injury paved the way for Ricky Williams to take over at the end of Holmes' college career. Good scouts knew about Holmes, but his NFL Combine underwhelmed decision-makers: 

• 4.73-second, 40-Yard Dash
• 4.14-second, 20-Yard Shuttle
• 7.40-second, 3-Cone Drill
• 33-inch Vertical Leap

The 20-Shuttle and 33-inch Vertical Leap were only the acceptable performances for a roster-worthy running back. Still, in an era where running back was king, Holmes' vision, versatility, and a great offensive line in Kansas City made him the king of kings for at least three of those four peak years. 

Kenneth Gainwell starred at Memphis and earned second-team All-America honors in 2018 as a freshman. In 2020, Gainwell didn't play his final season because of the pandemic, opting to train for a year. 

After studying Kenneth Gainwell at Memphis from 2018-19, I hoped Gainwell's training would help him add quick-twitch muscle that would translate to increased athletic explosion. 

The Rookie Scouting Portfolio's Elevator Pitch for Kenneth Gainwell:

I’m getting the feeling that Kenneth Gainwell could be a second-day pick during the NFL Draft. If this happens, it’s either a sign that Kenneth Gainwell has added productive man-weight to his frame and becomes more explosive, or there’s a team that has made a projection pick, believing firmly that the gains will take place within the next 6-12 months.

Kenneth Gainwell has the decision-making smarts, receiving skills, and techniques to defeat contact as a running back. Add 15-20 pounds, better acceleration, and increase the long-speed, and you have a back in the neighborhood of some of the trendiest runners in the NFL today.

Almost as easy is projecting Drew Lock and Zach Wilson into Patrick Mahomes II.

The thing is, Kenneth Gainwell actually plays the game with the techniques, concepts, and feel of a future NFL starter. What he lacks is the size and explosion. At least as of the last time he played. If whatever weight he has gained is “good weight” and doesn’t melt off him like Ronnie Hillman or Clinton Portis (early in Portis’s career), they could be right.

I hope an NFL team doesn’t pick Kenneth Gainwell earlier than the third round. This will afford him the time to build the physical foundation without the pressure to use him immediately.

I compared Gainwell's style of play to an aspiring Tiki Barber as the most reasonable ceiling and Ronnie Hillman as the floor if Gainwell couldn't maintain a healthy weight.

Kenneth Gainwell's time off didn't translate as well to the NFL Combine as hoped. Here are his numbers relative to Holmes' workouts (in parentheses for comparison) and Tiki Barber's workouts [in brackets]: 

• 4.44-second, 40-Yard Dash (4.73) [4.56]
• 4.46-second, 20-Yard Shuttle (4.14) [4.00]
• 7.26-second, 3-Cone (7.40) [7.18]
• 35-inch Vertical (33) [35.5]

Some may prefer Kenneth Gainwell's 40-yard Dash and 3-Cone times to Holmes' workouts. Those who do may use it as an argument that Holmes was definitively the worse of the two.

As good as Kenneth Gainwell's long-speed was, his 20-Shuttle and 3-Cone times were reserve-tier marks for the Rookie Scouting Portfolio's standards. One could make a good argument that his star-tier speed and starter-tier vertical leaps are better indicators of raw athletic ability.

To run the shuttles and three-cone drill at a good mark requires a technique-heavy approach. Kenneth Gainwell was training during the pandemic and left school because multiple family members died from Covid-19. 

It's a reasonable assumption that Kenneth Gainwell's best drills were the easiest ones for him to train on his own or with minimal instruction. 

Either way, Kenneth Gainwell's athletic ability upon entering the NFL compares favorably to that of an RB with one of the best peaks in fantasy history. When comparing Kenneth Gainwell's NFL Combine to the player I had as his stylistic aspiration, the only area Barber was clearly better was initial acceleration. 

They also entered the league at a similar weight. Barber, like Holmes and Gainwell, didn't have his first significant year of production early in his career. Barber's first big year came in his fourth campaign, and he didn't begin his run of fantasy dominance until his sixth year. 

From 2002-2006, Barber compiled 10,383 yards and 45 touchdowns, averaging 2,076.6 yards and 9 scores per season during this span. Could we see Kenneth Gainwell's arrival in Tampa Bay as the beginning of a beautiful fantasy relationship? 

Examining Kenneth Gainwell's Work in Pittsburgh

This is what I shared last year in Week 5's Top 10 feature: 

Coaches love good football players. Kenneth Gainwell is a good football player, first and foremost, and a running back, second. That's the view of Mike Tomlin, and probably the Eagles' staff as well. 

Gainwell stepped in for a banged-up (knee) Jaylen Warren, who was questionable, and delivered legitimate fantasy production against a Vikings defense with a better reputation than execution. The Vikings are 16th in fantasy points allowed to RBs this year -- and I suspect that "neutral" ranking is inflated because they played the Bears and Bengals offenses that only mustered 13.4 fantasy points from all six backs on these teams combined. 

In contrast, Bijan Robinson (16.8) and Tyler Allgeier (14) individually outscored these six backs. The Vikings' rush defense is a paper champion against all but the worst offensive lines.

Pittsburgh's offensive line looked excellent on Sunday as Gainwell earned 25.4 fantasy points. Gainwell played well; we'll get to him, but as you see in the analysis of the runs below, notice how clean the creases were. 

 Aaron Rodgers' experience with getting the Steelers into good situations also helped. 

Gainwell's versatility, along with his conceptual (vision and game management) and technical skills (footwork and pad level), are starter-caliber. His athletic ability is reserve-level, but as we've seen for many years, reserve-level athletes behind good offensive lines and smart quarterback play can deliver good, and sometimes, excellent seasons. 

• Chester Taylor
• Justin Forsett
• Jerome Harrison
• Marcel Shipp
• Joique Bell
• Alex Collins
• Tim Hightower

I had high hopes for Gainwell in college when he took a year off from football to train. I saw a lofty comparison in store for him if he could have developed more explosion and muscle. 

When I scouted Kenny Gainwell at Memphis, he was a smart & versatile back.

Excellent reads and good feet here.

What held him back was size/burst/speed. If he had or could have developed more of these three things, he could have compared favorably to Tiki Barber pic.twitter.com/O1fyf7x86j

— Matt Waldman (@MattWaldman) September 29, 2025

Looking back at this analysis, maybe I was too hasty to write off Kenneth Gainwell as a future Tiki Barber. Given their performances at the NFL Combine and the time needed to earn a significant role, we might want to monitor this situation in Tampa Bay. 

Kenneth Gainwell: Todd Bowles' "RB1-B"