
Draft Note by John Paulsen
Gainwell's RB21 finish in 2025 at Pittsburgh was a surprise, but the receiving volume that drove it was real–81 targets, 73 catches, 486 yards, and three scores, with a 92nd-percentile target share, 86th-percentile YPRR, and 81st-percentile route grade. He's primarily a pass-catching back, and that profile fits the Rachaad White role he's stepping into in Tampa. The rushing efficiency has some interesting markers too: his broken-tackle rate ranked at the 95th percentile (3rd in the NFL) on 114 carries, though his run grade (51st percentile) and elusive rating (54th percentile) were average. At 4.7 YPC, he’s not just a pass-catcher. However, the situation at Tampa is complicated. Irving is the likely lead back when healthy but he’s recovering from shoulder surgery. Sean Tucker handles goal-line work. Gainwell fits as the committee's passing-down piece, but in a three-way split where none of the backs has a clean role, consistent production is hard to project. Tampa has 132 vacated carries entering 2026, so there's volume available–it's just spread across enough bodies to limit any one back's ceiling, and Gainwell is unlikely to see 80+ targets again.
Kenneth Gainwell
- RB
- , Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- 27
- 200 lbs
- 5' 9"
- Memphis
- 93
- 2
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2026 Draft note
Gainwell's RB21 finish in 2025 at Pittsburgh was a surprise, but the receiving volume that drove it was real–81 targets, 73 catches, 486 yards, and three scores, with a 92nd-percentile target share, 86th-percentile YPRR, and 81st-percentile route grade. He's primarily a pass-catching back, and that profile fits the Rachaad White role he's stepping into in Tampa. The rushing efficiency has some interesting markers too: his broken-tackle rate ranked at the 95th percentile (3rd in the NFL) on 114 carries, though his run grade (51st percentile) and elusive rating (54th percentile) were average. At 4.7 YPC, he’s not just a pass-catcher. However, the situation at Tampa is complicated. Irving is the likely lead back when healthy but he’s recovering from shoulder surgery. Sean Tucker handles goal-line work. Gainwell fits as the committee's passing-down piece, but in a three-way split where none of the backs has a clean role, consistent production is hard to project. Tampa has 132 vacated carries entering 2026, so there's volume available–it's just spread across enough bodies to limit any one back's ceiling, and Gainwell is unlikely to see 80+ targets again.
2026 Strength of Schedule - TB
| W1 | W2 | W3 | W4 | W5 | W6 | W7 | W8 | W9 | W10 | W11 | W12 | W13 | W14 | W15 | W16 | W17 | W18 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 @CIN | 21 CLE | 6 MIN | 19 GB | 26 @DAL | 2 PIT | 28 @CAR | 17 ATL | 8 @CHI | BYE | 23 @DET | 28 CAR | 5 LAC | 1 @BAL | 11 NO | 17 @ATL | 20 LAR | 11 @NO |
Schedule difficulty based on schedule-adjusted, positional defensive ranking. Top DEF = 1, bottom DEF = 32.
Game Stats
| Week | Opp | RuAtt | RuYds | RuTD | Fum | YPC | Rec | RecYds | RecTD | Tgts | YPR | STD | 0.5 PPR | PPR | Snaps | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | @NYJ | 7 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 2.71 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 1.33 | 2.3 | 3.80 | 5.3 | 30/56 | 53.6% |
| 2 | SEA | 5 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 4.00 | 3 | 16 | 0 | 5 | 5.33 | 3.6 | 5.10 | 6.6 | 26/62 | 41.9% |
| 3 | @NE | 4 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 4.00 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 10.00 | 8.6 | 9.10 | 9.6 | 14/54 | 25.9% |
| 4 | MIN | 19 | 99 | 2 | 0 | 5.21 | 6 | 35 | 0 | 6 | 5.83 | 25.4 | 28.40 | 31.4 | 41/53 | 77.4% |
| 5 | BYE | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 6 | CLE | 6 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 3.67 | 6 | 14 | 0 | 6 | 2.33 | 3.6 | 6.60 | 9.6 | 20/59 | 33.9% |
| 7 | @CIN | 3 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 4.67 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0.50 | 1.5 | 2.50 | 3.5 | 22/57 | 38.6% |
| 8 | GB | 5 | 31 | 0 | 1 | 6.20 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2.00 | 1.5 | 2.50 | 3.5 | 24/63 | 38.1% |
| 9 | IND | 3 | -1 | 0 | 0 | -0.33 | 4 | 35 | 0 | 5 | 8.75 | 3.4 | 5.40 | 7.4 | 23/62 | 37.1% |
| 10 | @LAC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 2.00 | 0.4 | 1.40 | 2.4 | 27/52 | 51.9% |
| 11 | CIN | 9 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 2.67 | 7 | 81 | 2 | 8 | 11.57 | 22.5 | 26.00 | 29.5 | 41/65 | 63.1% |
| 12 | @CHI | 10 | 92 | 0 | 0 | 9.20 | 6 | 30 | 0 | 6 | 5.00 | 12.2 | 15.20 | 18.2 | 37/72 | 51.4% |
| 13 | BUF | 5 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 4.00 | 2 | 25 | 0 | 3 | 12.50 | 4.5 | 5.50 | 6.5 | 18/43 | 41.9% |
| 14 | @BAL | 4 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 3.75 | 6 | 27 | 0 | 7 | 4.50 | 10.2 | 13.20 | 16.2 | 25/52 | 48.1% |
| 15 | MIA | 13 | 80 | 0 | 0 | 6.15 | 7 | 46 | 0 | 7 | 6.57 | 12.6 | 16.10 | 19.6 | 34/66 | 51.5% |
| 16 | @DET | 9 | 50 | 0 | 0 | 5.56 | 5 | 78 | 1 | 7 | 15.60 | 18.8 | 21.30 | 23.8 | 40/74 | 54.1% |
| 17 | @CLE | 7 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 3.71 | 3 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 4.00 | 3.8 | 5.30 | 6.8 | 45/66 | 68.2% |
| 18 | BAL | 5 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 2.00 | 8 | 64 | 0 | 9 | 8.00 | 13.4 | 17.40 | 21.4 | 50/75 | 66.7% |
| Per game | 6.71 | 31.59 | 0.29 | 0.06 | 4.71 | 4.29 | 28.59 | 0.18 | 5.00 | 6.66 | 8.72 | 10.87 | 13.02 | 30.41/60.65 | 49.60% | |
| Totals | 114 | 537 | 5 | 1 | 4.71 | 73 | 486 | 3 | 85 | 6.66 | 148.3 | 184.8 | 221.3 | 517/1031 | 49.60% | |






