vikings.com

2026 NFL Draft Prospects for Vikings: Running Back

Expert Rankings

Leaning into the prospect leaderboards from some popular draftniks — Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks of NFL Media, Mel Kiper, Jr., of ESPN, and The Athletic's Dane Brugler, proprietor of "The Beast" — we've gathered rankings for the "Top 10" running backs. Additionally, in an effort to widen the scope, we've included snapshots of all the runners explored by Pro Bowl RB turned analyst Maurice Jones-Drew.

Note: Heights and weights are from each player's profile on NFL.com (linked for each player's name).

Jeremiyah Love

School: Notre Dame | Age: 20 | Ht: 6-foot | Wt: 212 pounds

2025 stats: 199 rushes, 1,372 yards (6.9 avg.), 18 TDs; 27 catches, 280 yards (10.4 avg.), three TDs

Career: 433 rushes, 2,882 yards (6.7 avg.), 36 TDs; 63 catches, 594 yards (9.4 avg.), six TDs

Experts' Position Rankings

Bucky Brooks: RB1

Dane Brugler: RB1

Daniel Jeremiah: RB1

Mel Kiper, Jr.: RB1

Maurice Jones-Drew: RB1

Well-above-average: The second runner-up for the 2025 Heisman Trophy, Love presides over the Fighting Irish's all-time chart for yards per carry, with 6.7 (min. 200 attempts). Some notable RBs he bested are Audric Estime (6.2; 4th), Jerome Bettis (5.7; 8th), Ricky Watters (5.6; 9th) and Kyren Williams (5.1; 20th).

Jadarian Price

School: Notre Dame | Age: 22 | Ht: 5-foot-11 | Wt: 203 pounds

2025 stats: 113 rushes, 674 yards (6.0 avg.), 11 TDs; six catches, 87 yards (14.5 avg.), two TDs; 12 kickoff returns (37.5 avg.), two TDs

Career: 280 rushes, 1,692 yards (6.0 avg.), 21 TDs; 15 catches, 162 yards (10.8 avg.), three TDs; 22 kickoff returns (36.1 avg.), three TDs

Experts' Position Rankings

Bucky Brooks: RB2

Dane Brugler: RB2

Daniel Jeremiah: RB2

Mel Kiper, Jr.: RB2

Maurice Jones-Drew: RB6

The rundown: Price has great wiggle and wham! power. He also has enough speed to gain the corner on defenders — and blow past them as a kickoff returner. Price's career return average is second in CFB history (min. 20 runbacks) to former Texas A&M RB Leeland McElroy, who averaged 36.6 yards from 1993-95.

Read full news in source page