Wade and Ryan Duke It Out (And Mostly Agree)

Summer’s winding down, the World Cup is done and dusted, and that can only mean one thing: the NFL in London Podcast is back with some “filler, no killer” content to get you through the dog days before training camp. This week Wade and Ryan tackle one of fantasy football’s trickiest positions — running back — and rank their top 10 NFL running backs for the 2026 season. Ryan even squeezed this episode in before jetting off to Spain (and missing England’s World Cup semi-final in the process — the sacrifices we make for football).

Here’s the thing about running back rankings: everyone thinks they’re easy until they actually try to build the list. As Ryan puts it on the show, wideouts feel like a deep well, but running backs dry up fast — by the third round of your fantasy draft you’re staring at a mid-tier name and quietly panicking. So who makes the cut? Grab a coffee (or a mustard-covered hot dog, you’ll see why) and let’s run through it.

Where Wade and Ryan Agree

Somewhat remarkably for two guys who love to argue, Wade and Ryan landed on the exact same running back at number one: Jahmyr Gibbs. With David Montgomery out of Detroit, Gibbs inherits the backfield outright — no more timeshare, no more touchdown vulturing. Ryan compares the old Gibbs-Montgomery pairing to “Sonic and Knuckles,” and now Sonic’s going solo. Both hosts expect 20+ touchdowns and a legitimate case for fantasy’s RB1 overall.

They also agree on Bijan Robinson at number two (Wade’s love for Bijan gets weird — there’s a whole bit about mustard you’ll just have to hear for yourself), plus matching picks at number six (Saquon Barkley) and number eight (De’Von Achane). Barkley’s Eagles are dealing with locker-room questions and the loss of AJ Brown, while Achane is set to be fed relentlessly in a Miami offense that traded away its other weapons.

Where They Split — And It Gets Spicy

This is where the episode really earns its “filler, no killer” tagline. A few highlights:

• Wade’s wildest swing is putting rookie Jeremiah Love at number five, admitting he’s “drinking the Kool-Aid” on the Arizona rookie in what could be one of the league’s worst offenses — which, paradoxically, might mean more touches for Love.
• Ryan counters with a very different number five: the ageless Derrick Henry, who Ryan predicts will get “fed the rock” harder than ever in Baltimore, regardless of what happens with Lamar Jackson and a depleted offensive line.
• Wade takes Christian McCaffrey at 10, citing durability concerns despite a strong bounce-back season, while Ryan ranks him much higher at number three, calling him one of the best backs he’s ever watched play.
• Wade backs Jonathan Taylor at number four; Ryan drops him to number eight, worried about Daniel Jones’ health and Taylor entering his late-20s “explosiveness cliff.”
• Kansas City’s Kenneth Walker III (Ryan’s number 10) and the Rams’ Kyren Williams (Wade’s number nine) round out the lower half of the lists, with plenty of side commentary on Sean McVay’s maddening running-back rotation habits.

A Cliffhanger for Tight Ends

Just when the guys were about to launch into the top five tight ends, Ryan admitted he hadn’t prepped a list — an honest, very “end of summer” moment that had Wade cracking up on mic. Tight ends are officially bumped to the next episode, once Ryan’s back from Spain and everyone’s fully in training-camp mode.

Why You Should Actually Listen

Look, you could skim a list of names — but you’d miss Wade comparing the 49ers’ injury luck to a Transformers robot conspiracy, a running Jared Goff-to-Pat-Riley comparison that somehow makes sense, and the ongoing saga of whether Bijan Robinson tastes better on a bun. This episode is equal parts fantasy football strategy and genuinely funny back-and-forth between two hosts who’ve clearly been doing this together for a while.

Whether you’re building your fantasy draft board, arguing with your league mates, or just want some NFL content to fill the June-to-August void, the full NFL in London Podcast episode has the complete breakdown, reasoning, and banter behind every single pick.

🎧 Listen to the full episode now to hear every argument in full — and stick around for the next one, when Wade and Ryan (hopefully) show up prepared to rank the NFL’s top tight ends.

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