The rookie rankings roll onward with my top 10 running backs.
These are how I would order the 2025 NFL rookie running backs for dynasty fantasy football purposes. Though the running backs who produce a lot of fantasy value tend to be the best backs in real life as well.
If you’re looking for my tight end or wide receiver rankings, click the links.
jeantymockdraft.jpg
Connor Rogers’ latest mock draft takes a look at the first three rounds of the 2025 NFL Draft, giving team-by-team analysis with a focus on needs.
1. Ashton Jeanty, Boise State
Jeanty is the latest in the long line of “generational” prospects, but this time it truly counts. His 2024 season featured 374 carries for 2,601 yards and 29 scores. His yardage total trails only Barry Sanders’s all-time record and he also cracked the top 10 in touchdowns. The nerd metrics are just as high on Jeanty. Since 2013, Jeanty’s .41 missed tackles forced per attempt and 5.2 yards after contact average are both top-five for a single FBS season (min. 200 carries).
Boise State chose not to use him as a pass-catcher in 2024. And why would you go through the hassle of throwing him a pass when he’s putting up seven yards per carry on 27 attempts per game. Jeanty was, however, a staple of the Broncos’ 2023 passing game with 43 receptions for 569 yards and five scores. He averaged 3.1 yards per route run. The only other FBS running backs to average more than three YPRR in a season since 2013 and get drafted are Christian McCaffrey, Jahmyr Gibbs, and Elijah Mitchell.
There aren’t true knocks on Jeanty’s game. The biggest “issue” is his size. He weighed in at 211 pounds but is just under 5’9”. We’re a decade removed from the last sub-5’9 back who ran for 1,500 yards, that being Maurice Jones-Drew. Does this bother me? Not really. Jeanty also faced weak competition at Boise State, a Mountain West School. He faced two Power Four teams in 2024, Oregon and Penn State. He shredded the Ducks for 192 yards and three scores. Penn State held to him 104 scoreless yards on a staggering 34 attempts. Jeanty did not test at the combine. You can’t do what he did in college without being an elite athlete, but he’s probably not a Saquon Barkley-level combine warrior. Jeanty’s floor in the draft looks like No. 12 to the Cowboys with the Jags at No. 5 as a potential ceiling. The red flags are laughably small and he emphatically checks nearly every box we look for in a fantasy running back. He’s an easy 1.01, even in Superflex drafts.
2. Omarion Hampton, North Carolina
Hampton forced a backfield split as a true freshman at UNC and claimed the RB1 role for himself as a sophomore. He dominated the ACC with 253 yards, 1,504, and 15 scores. Hampton held serve in 2024, rushing 281 times for 1,660 yards and another 15 touchdowns. Hampton’s advanced numbers were already good in 2023 and got slightly better in his final season. He hit 4.4 yards after contact per carry and gained 15+ yards on over nine percent of his attempts. The receiving game was his one area of major improvement. He averaged 1.4 yards per route run with a 38/373/2 line through the air.
From an NFL perspective, Hampton looks like a high-volume, effective back. He doesn’t have the receiving chops of Christian McCaffrey or the home run speed of Saquon Barkley, but Hampton has a proven track record of handling a bell-cow workload with high-end production to match. At 6’/220, he also has the build of a 300-touch back. With first-round draft capital looking more likely by the day, Hampton will have a profile similar to Dalvin Cook, Joe Mixon, and Josh Jacobs once the draft capital dust is settled.
3. Quinshon Judkins, Ohio State
Judkins was a three-star recruit at Ole Miss but looked like a five-star player out of the gates, lighting up the SEC with 274 carries for 1,567 yards and 16 touchdowns as a true freshman. Judkins then fell to 1,158 yards and 15 scores before transferring to Ohio State for the Buckeye’s National Title push. He split the backfield with TreVeyon Henderson, topping 1,000 yards for the third time and scoring 14 touchdowns, albeit on just under 200 attempts. Judkins averaged 3.4 yards after contact per carry as a true freshman and never hit that mark again. He also set a career high in breakaway rate at 9.8 percent in his first season at Ole Miss. Judkins did, however, improve his missed tackle rate in 2023. His breakaway rate also rebounded in 2024 and his lone season as a Buckeye was his first with a YPRR over one.
Judkins is a consistent and powerful runner but never showed elite breakaway abilities in college. He changed that narrative at the combine by running a 4.48 Forty at 221 pounds. He exceled in the burst drills as well en route to a 9.88 RAS, though that doesn’t include the agility drills, which he skipped. Judkins’ stellar combine gave him a ceiling that many draftniks previously thought didn’t exist. It also boosted his draft stock to the point of all but locking him in for second-round draft capital. As a sucker for size-speed backs who have a proven record of handling a workhorse role, Judkins narrowly edged out his Buckeye teammate for my RB3 spot.
4. TreVeyon Henderson, Ohio State
Henderson operated as the Buckeyes’ lead back as a true freshman, pacing the team in all rushing stats with a 183/1,248/15 line. Those would all be high-water marks for his career as he was banged up in 2022 and only appeared in eight games. He was then deployed in a committee with Miyan Williams as a junior and missed time again before being joined by Quinshon Judkins as a senior for another committee back campaign. Ryan Day seemingly threw in the towel on Henderson as a workhorse, but the former five-star recruit made the most of his workload in 2024, averaging 7.1 yards per carry. He was also an asset in the passing game with 27 grabs for 284 yards.
I have two major concerns with Henderson as a prospect. The first is that he never saw 200 carries in a season, and that was seemingly by design. His coaching staff didn’t want him handling a workhorse role in college and I don’t think we should expect that in the NFL. The second is that his advanced numbers weren’t sterling across the board. He was elite in breakaway run rate, busting off 15+ yard carries at a 15 percent clip in his final season while averaging 4.4 yards after contact. However, he averaged a measly 1.2 yards per route run and .26 missed tackles forced per attempt. He was expected to run a sub-4.4 Forty at the combine but came up just short with a 4.43 at 203 pounds. In both the good and the bad ways, I see Henderson as a Tony Pollard lookalike.
5. Kaleb Johnson, Iowa
Johnson burst onto the scene as a true freshman, leading the Hawkeyes in all rushing categories with a 151/776/6 line. He was banged up in 2023, missing for games due to an ankle injury. The Iowa offense was inexplicably worse in 2023 as well, ranking 132nd in points per game, further crippling Johnson’s production. He seamlessly rebounded in his final season with a Big 10-leading 1,537 yards and 21 scores. Johnson found another level in 2024, ranking top-five in the country in breakaway rate and yards after contact per carry (min. 150 carries) while toting the rock 240 times. He also showed off his capabilities as a pass-catcher, reeling in 22 balls for 188 yards and two scores at 1.3 YPRR.
Johnson is a home run hitter who has the size and skillset of a three-down player, though he’s only a replacement-level player as a pass-blocker and receiver. He also ran a middling 4.57 Forty at the combine. That’s not bad for a 224-pound back, but it does call into question his long speed. Johnson has a running style similar to fellow Big 10 alum Kenneth Walker but does so with a heavier—and by extension slower—build.
6. Bhayshul Tuten, Virginia Tech
Tuten didn’t get much love from college scouts coming out high school and landed at North Carolina A&T. He compiled 1,363 rushing yards and 13 scores as a sophomore before transferring to Virginia Tech. He immediately led the Hokies with 863 yards and 10 scores. Tuten added 239 yards and two scores as a receiver. He was also dominant as a kick returner, taking two to the house while averaging 28.9 yards per return. Tuten got even better as a senior, running for 1,159 yards at 6.3 yards per carry with 15 scores. His breakaway speed was on another level and he ran for over 600 yards on carries of more than 15 yards alone. He earned 54 percent of his yards on these attempts and went for 15+ yards on 11.5 percent of his carries. Both marks are in line with Ashton Jeanty. Tuten also leads the class in backfield dominator, RotoViz’s way of quantifying how productive a back is relative to his teammates.
Tuten lost his sleeper credentials and went mainstream at the combine. He ran a 4.32 Forty at 5’9/206. Twitter was quick to point out Tuten recorded the same time as De’Von Achane at nearly 20 pounds heavier. He also beat Achane in the burst drills.
Tuten is a home run hitter but brings plenty of versatility to the table as well. He will almost certainly return kicks as a rookie. His career mark of 1.3 yards per route run also suggests he can catch passes at the next level, though his numbers were far better at A&T compared to Virginia Tech. Tuten was made in a lab to be an outside zone runner in the pros (read: a Kyle Shanahan back). He won’t fit what every team is looking for on Day Two of the draft, but some team should be able to set him up for success.
NCAA Football: Fiesta Bowl-Penn State at Boise State
Cam Ward and Ashton Jeanty are at the top of the heap of their respective positions.
7. Cam Skattebo, Arizona State
College scouts had no interest in Skattebo coming out of Rio Linda High School and Sacramento State was the only D1 school to make him an offer. Skattebo quickly proved to be above his FCS competition with 520 yards at 9.1 yards per carry. He took the next step in 2022 and rushed for 1,369 yards at 7.0 yards per carry. Skattebo was then called up to the majors and transferred to Arizona State. His production dipped in his first year as a Sun Devil but exploded in 2024. Skattebo led the Big 12 with 293 carries for 1,711 yards and came up one score short of RJ Harvery’s conference-leading 22 touchdowns. Skattebo is a ball of butcher knives, slowly carving his way through the turf. He only generated 15+ yards on 7.1 percent of his attempts, but he did so while averaging 4.1 yards after contact with over 100 missed tackles forced in 2024. Skattebo was a solid receiver for three seasons and found a new gear in that area of his game last year. He caught 45 balls for 603 yards and three scores at just under two yards per route run.
Skattebo tested well in the burst metrics at the combine but opted out of the 40. He ran it at his Pro Day and clocked an unofficial 4.65-second time. That’s tremendously slow for an NFL back but was roughly the expectation. It’s not disqualifying either. Josh Jacobs and Devin Singletary both tested in the mid-4.6s and have had successful NFL careers. Zack Moss also fits this bill. Skattebo’s all-purpose skill set but lack of top-end speed make Moss a close comp for the former Sun Devil.
8. DJ Giddens, Kansas State
Giddens redshirted as a freshman and backed up Deuce Vaughn as a sophomore before taking over the starting role in 2023. He was a consistent chain-mover for the Wildcats, finishing top-10 in the country in carries of 10+ yards and missed tackles forced. Giddens amassed 1,226 rushing yards and 10 scores. He also added 323 receiving yards and three scores on 29 grabs. Most of Giddens’ advanced numbers fell in 2024. He averaged fewer missed tackles forced and yards per route run. But, Giddens unlocked a new ability as a senior: house call. He finished top 10 in the country in carries of 15+ yards at 25, propelling him to 6.6 YPC and 1,343 rushing yards.
Giddens put his name on the Day Two periphery at the combine with elite measurables and three-down size. He measured 6’/212 and ran a 4.43 Forty. He also recorded jumps above the 95th percentile, only struggling in the agility drills.
giddensras.png
It’s honestly refreshing to see a player participate in the agility drills even if they knew they weren’t going to do well. Bravo, DJ. Giddens checks nearly all of the boxes as a prospect but doesn’t have quite the same draft buzz as the players ranked ahead of him. I would be more than willing to send him soaring up the ranks if a team takes the plunge with him on Day Two of the draft.
9. Devin Neal, Kansas
Neal hit the ground running at Kansas with 707 rushing yards as a true freshman before rattling off three straight 1,000-yard seasons for a suddenly ascending Jayhawks program. He got there on volume early in his career before adding efficiency to the mix in 2023 and 2024. Neal averaged 3.7 YAC per attempt and 1.2 yards per route run over his final two seasons, both of which saw him eclipse 1,200 yards on the ground with 16 rushing touchdowns. He also hit 200 yards through the air in both seasons.
Neal wasn’t much of a home run hitter at Kansas and he put a ceiling on his potential with a 4.58-second Forty in Indy. Even in his best two seasons, Neal wasn’t overly elusive either, averaging a missed tackle forced on a quarter of his attempts. Neal is a no-nonsense runner who gets what’s blocked and then some. It’s not flashy, but there’s always a spot for him on an NFL roster.
10. RJ Harvey, UCF
Virginia recruited Harvey as a quarterback, but the undersized passer left UVA for Central Florida after one year, switching to running back in the process. Harvey didn’t see much work in 2020 and missed the 2021 season with a torn ACL. He came back with a vengeance in 2022, rushing for 796 yards at 6.7 yards per carry. He also crossed 1,000 scrimmage yards for the first of three times. Harvey would take the next step many times over during the next two seasons, culminating in a 232/1,577/22 rushing line last year. He averaged 1.4 yards per route run for his career and went for at least 200 yards through the air in each of his final three seasons. His career mark of 3.7 yards after contact per attempt is also strong.
Harvey is a one-cut speedster with 4.4 wheels at 5’8/205. He generated loads of explosive plays at UCF and backed that production up with elite burst drills at the combine.
He doesn’t play like a small back, though the size will be a limiting factor in the NFL. Harvey averaged 6.8 yards per carry on A and B gap runs last year while scoring 11 times on these inside attempts. He may be a better outside runner at the next level, but Harvey can more than handle his own when asked to run between the tackles. Harvey is a liability in pass protection, making him less than ideal for the typical third-down role even if he is dynamic when catching passes in the flat. He profiles as potentially elite change-of-pace back in the pros.