NFL Supercoach | Best Cheapie QBs + RBs

We are inching closer and closer to the start of this year’s NFL Super Coach season, which means we need to finalise our teams for the season before those unlimited trades go away.

Cheapies are the most crucial part of any Super Coach team, as they are the way we generate cash and upgrade our guns to dominate the league. 

This year we’ll be referring to cheapies as players under the $10 million mark. Failing to hit the right cheapies will have you falling behind the 8-ball and wasting trades to get to where everyone else is.

We’re going to have a look at the highly owned prospects, possible POD cheapies, and ultimately decide who you should or should not target to start the year.

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Quarterback

QB is an intriguing position this year with not many standout options or week 1 starters due to a weak draft class at the position.

There are a few rookies available who may see time sooner rather than later and 1 veteran who, if he can find his past potential, is a real difference maker.

Fernando Mendoza ($5m, Las Vegas Raiders, BE 8, 54% ownership)

He’s the number 1 pick in the draft and the talk of the league for this draft class.

Mendoza had a pretty rough pre-season audition for the starting role in Vegas and will most likely start behind Kirk Cousins to start the season.

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Mendoza has the highest ownership amongst the cheapie QB’s and is in the most ideal situation out of this group. 

An improved offensive line, future star RB, and a healthy Brock Bowers will help the young gun slinger when he eventually gets the start.

This, however, is the concern: when will we see him? All reports suggest that new head coach Klint Kubiak is keen to bring him along slowly and ensure his development isn’t rushed, something that minority owner Tom Brady is also a huge supporter of (like he’d know anything).

If Cousins starts poorly or gets injured, it wouldn’t be a shock to see his starting timeline fast-forwarded to week 3/4.

If you’re happy to stash him, not have him generate cash and invest money elsewhere until he’s called upon, I can’t fault you. I, for one, will be doing something similar and will pray for him to have an early start to his career.

Verdict: Target 

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Carson Beck ($4.15m, Arizona Cardinals, BE 6, 7% ownership)

Beck is the most intriguing cheapie QB prospect for me this year. Before the Super Coach season launched, I had Mendoza penciled in as my bench QB, as I didn’t even give another QB from this class a thought.

Enter Carson Beck. Beck is a 3rd-round prospect who had a fantastic career at Georgia and was at one point touted as one of the best prospects for the 2025 draft class, but withdrew after suffering a season-ending elbow injury.

He entered the transfer portal and played his final year at Miami, where he led the team to a College Football Playoff berth, ultimately losing to this year’s no.1 pick Mendoza in the final.

Beck couldn’t have stepped into a worse team, but also couldn’t have stepped into a better situation to start early. The Cardinals are looking for their next answer at QB after Kyler Murray, future league MVP, was finally moved on.

Brisset is a placeholder, and Minshew is a veteran backup. Both QB’s will be given short leashes to prove themselves, and if results go as predicted, Beck will start sooner rather than later.

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If he’s thrust into the starting lineup, he does have a potentially potent offence around him. Jeremiyah Love was picked in the first round by the Cards and is touted to be one of the best RB’s in the league soon.

McBride is arguably the best TE in the league and produces at a WR1 level, and at WR he has Marvin Harrison Jr., who is looking to bounce back from an injury-riddled, average season, Michael Wilson, who’s coming off a breakout year, and a veteran presence in the ever-reliable Kendrick Bourne.

If Beck gets a start, I don’t expect many wins, as this team has many, many holes that can’t be filled.

What I will say is he has the potential to just sling the ball and score garbage-time points, much like Brisset did last year.

Brisset started from week 6 until the end of the year and was the QB7 during that 12-game stretch, which gives me some hope that Beck can do the same.

It also creates a huge headache for me when picking between Mendoza, or Beck as my bench QB option.

Verdict: Target 

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Deshaun Watson ($8.63m, Cleveland Browns, BE 13, 9%)

The riskiest option of all QB cheapies. Watson is playing for arguably the worst team in football, is coming off of back-to-back Achilles ruptures, and most importantly, he hasn’t shown anything to give Browns supporters, let alone Super Coach owners, any hope that we will be good this year. 

The powers that be at Super Coach HQ have done the heavy lifting for us to help prove how bad Watson has been. The last time he had a statistically good Super Coach season was 2020/21, where he was the 4th-ranked player and averaged 46 points. Since then, he either hasn’t played full seasons or has just been flat-out terrible.

Since 2022, he has had 3 seasons where he has played games, and his average PPG has declined year on year from 29.2 to a measly 22 in 2024. Nothing in Cleveland suggests things are going to get easier.

There is a good young cast of prospects there, but no one is a proper proven commodity. Outside of his own poor play, Watson will be relying on 2 rookie WR’s, an inconsistent WR1 in Jeudy, a 2nd-year TE who is a candidate for the sophomore slump, and an okay running game.

If you think Watson can be a temporary buy and generate you some coin until the other cheapies start playing, then by all means go ahead.

What I will say is there is every chance he gets injured easily and quickly, or he’ll be benched for Shedeur if he starts bang-average.

Also, if you’re a draft veteran, you will know it’s not a good idea to go for someone who is average on a bad team. 

Verdict: Fade

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Running Back

One of the harder positions to fill this year. Most of us would love to be blessed with 4-gun RB’s from the get-go, but it will mean your Super Coach team will be lacking in other departments.

There’s a consensus top 2 RB’s this year in the cheapie department, but the 3rd spot is being hotly debated between a bunch of young vets who get a shot at starting roles and then some exciting rookies who could prove to be hidden POD gems. 

Jeremiyah Love ($4.95m, Arizona Cardinals, BE 8, 64% ownership)

This guy is a must-have. There are some concerns around an ankle injury, but Love is this year’s Ashton Jeanty.

The numbers may look ugly throughout the year, but Love should stack up as a top 12 RB if he stays healthy. 

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Love is part of a young and not-so-great Cardinals team; there’s no denying that. One concern is Tyler Allgeier, who has been brought in this year and famously has stolen many carries from Bijan Robinson over the last few seasons in Atlanta; however, I wouldn’t be too concerned that this will have a major impact on him overall

There isn’t denying the talent of the 3rd overall pick of this year’s draft. Love is being compared to top RB’s like Bijan, Gibbs, and CMC due to his elite speed, versatility, and pass-catching ability.

If anyone is getting comps to those Super Coach and draft studs, then you should probably take a look at them. 

With catches being worth one point, Love as a check-down option for whoever is under centre is going to rake in points for owners.

If we go off his projected stats, Love is looking at double-digit touchdowns through both the air and on the ground, as well as 1500 all purpose yards and 55 receptions.

Love may not be a season keeper for most, but he will be a very important part of the cash cow puzzle for all. 

Verdict: Target

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Jadarian Price ($4.55m, Seattle Seahawks, BE 7, 59% ownership)

Price finds himself in a brilliant situation where he’s been drafted in the first round by reigning Super Bowl champions the Seattle Seahawks without any competition for at least the first 4 weeks.

This situation also puts Price under immense pressure to perform from the start to give this team the best chance of repeating. 

Seattle decided to let Kenneth Walker walk and are awaiting the return of Zach Charbonnet, who suffered a knee injury in the playoffs last year and isn’t eligible to return until at least week 5 of the season.

Price is a good all-round versatile back who will contribute on the ground and through the air and will see the majority of playing time over Holani and Wilson.

One thing to be wary of is Price has been a backup to fellow must-have cheapie Love whilst the 2 were at Notre Dame, so it will be interesting to see how he handles an increased workload and lead back role in the NFL.

Price is a must-have for the first quarter of the season whilst Charbonnet is out; however, keep in mind once Charbs is back to full health, he will most likely eat into a lot of Price’s work and split carries with the first year back, which may or may not affect his upside down the stretch.

Verdict: Target

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Bhayshel Tuten ($6.93m, Jacksonville Jaguars, BE 11, ownership 31%)

Tuten is a very intriguing prospect for this upcoming season. Last year he skyrocketed up draft boards after an impressive pre-season as chatter ran rampant around him taking over from Etienne.

That didn’t eventuate, and Etienne went on to be a standout for the Jags and the No.10 overall RB in Draft and Supercoach. 

Etienne’s exploits last year give some hope that Tuten can replicate similar numbers to that this season and be an absolute steal for coaches.

Trevor Lawrence and this offense are another year along with head coach Coen and are poised to do big things in the AFC, with Tuten being a focal part of that.

Tuten’s 83 carries last year only amassed him 307 yards at 3.7 YPC; however, he did score 5 TD’s in that limited usage. He also added 10 catches for 79 yards and 2 TDs, showing he does have dual-threat capability.

If Tuten is given a similar workload to what Etienne had last year, it’s predicted he’ll have almost identical stat lines, which should mean he will make you a ton of cash.

Verdict: Target

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Jonathon Brooks ($4m, Carolina Panthers, BE 6, ownership 22%)

Every fan should just be stoked to see this guy get on the field and get an opportunity to live out his dream of playing. Every fan should also be highly intrigued by this 3rd-year, $4m vet who has only had 9 carries in his career to date.

Brooks has had an unfortunate start to his NFL career, where he spent the majority of his first year out recovering from a torn ACL that he suffered whilst in college, only to retear the same ACL after only 3 games back in his rookie season.

He spent the entirety of 2025 on the PUP list rehabbing his knee and is set to finally go this season.

There is major concern around Brooks and how his knee is going to hold up. Just this week he’s been off to the side training due to soreness in his knee.

The Panthers are banking on him to be healthy for week 1 as Chuba Hubbard, last year’s RB 1, is recovering from injury himself and hasn’t participated in pre-season to date. 

Brooks also may have trouble producing given the somewhat lackluster offense the Panthers seem to throw out most weeks. He may be a victim of being on a mediocre team and thus may not see the production that coaches want to see. 

Brooks was the first RB off the board in the 2024 draft, and it’s finally time for him to show the league why. Can his body hold up and allow him to be a candidate for cheapie of the year? Only time will tell. 

Verdict: Fade

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Jonah Coleman ($4m, Denver Broncos, BE 6, ownership 6%)

Jonah Coleman was selected in the 4th round of this year’s draft and is a guy quickly rising up draft boards who has real potential to start sooner rather than later. Coleman is listed as RB 3 on the depth chart, but if the offensive rookie of the year hype surrounding him is true, then that won’t last long.

Reports coming out of Denver suggest he’s been by far the most impressive RB in practice and on the field. A bruising, tough, downhill runner, Coleman has all the traits of the type of RB head coach Payton likes to employ in his game.

Dobbins is the starter at the moment and was brought back in free agency; however, he’s proven time and time again that he can’t complete a full season without some sort of injury.

Coleman is cheaper cap-wise, and if given an early opportunity due to a Dobbins injury has a case to take over lead back roles.

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Regardless of Dobbins’ status, Coleman is predicted to take over 2nd-year back RJ Harvey on the depth chart early on in the season.

His upside as both a bruising runner as well as a genuine pass protector will see him see the field more in Payton’s offence.

Harvey is the superior pass catcher and will most likely see more of those snaps, but all signs are pointing to Coleman getting the nod over Harvey with regard to carries in the backfield. 

My only concern with choosing Coleman to start the season is: when are we going to see him with meaningful contributions? It took until mid-season for one of last year’s standout rookies, Henderson, to really start generating decent cash, and I personally think Coleman could have the same sort of trajectory.

If you’re willing to hold him as your 6th and bank on either Dobbins missing time at the start of the year or Coleman contributing down the stretch, then go for him. If you want a more guaranteed early contributor, look elsewhere. 

Verdict: Target

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Marshawn Lloyd ($4m, Green Bay Packers, BE 6, 5% ownership) 

Lloyd is only becoming relevant due to incumbent RB1 Josh Jacobs deciding to be this year’s off-season baddie. Jacobs is on the exempt list, meaning his status for week 1 is still up in the air. There’s plenty of uncertainty around the position in Green Bay, but as it stands, Lloyd is the RB1. 

Lloyd has been sharing first-team reps throughout training camp with Chris Brooks during Jacobs’ absence due initially to injury.

Brooks is more of a 3rd-down blocking back, so won’t be in line to take the early-down work from Lloyd; however, the move earlier in the week to trade for Steelers 2nd-year back Johnson indicates the team may be looking to employ more of a committee in the absence of their lead back.

Lloyd was drafted in 2024 and has only 1 game and 6 carries in the NFL. Prior to that, in college he was primarily a backup and doesn’t have a huge amount of volume over the 3 years he was there.

His career to date has been plagued by hamstring, groin, and thigh injuries. There are huge question marks around whether or not he can even stay on the field; hence, the Packers need to find more RB depth in Johnson. 

I think if we get more clarification around the exact role that Lloyd will be playing in this offence in terms of workload, backfield share, and then finding out how long Jacobs will actually be out for,  I’d be more inclined to take a punt on him as my 6th RB if there is a distinct role carved out for him. Until then, he will sit on the sidelines for me.

Verdict: Fade… But watch this space for more news