Final Rookie Report Card: Running Backs
Throughout the 2024 season, the Rookie Report Card series covered 34 of this season’s incoming rookie class. We looked at the performance to date, their potential for the rest of the season, and, of course, their long-term potential as fantasy assets. Now that we’ve wrapped up the regular season, it’s time for final grades. We looked at the quarterback class last week. This week, we’ll dive into the running back class, grading them on their 2024 performance and what I believe they’ll do moving forward in this edition of the Final Rookie Report Cards.
Jonathon Brooks, RB CAR
2024 stats: nine carries for 22 rushing yards and three receptions on three targets for 23 receiving yards, no touchdowns.
Regular Season Rookie Report Card: Week 14
We knew we would not have Brooks at our disposal to start the season, but many dynasty owners hoped to get him as the fantasy playoffs approached and may have seen him as a potential late-season piece to push for a title. Instead, we got a lackluster three-game sample culminating in a season-ending injury that puts Brooks’ 2025 season in jeopardy. Even excusing the injury part of his terrible rookie season, when Brooks was on the field, he didn’t show much, and this season was a complete and total loss. Brooks’ long-term future isn’t as bright as it was a year ago. Back-to-back ACL tears of the same knee, playing on a team that just gave a new contract to Chuba Hubbard, and will probably look to add depth at the position this off-season all look bad for Brooks despite being the top running back in this year’s class.
Trey Benson, RB ARI
2024 stats: 63 carries for 291 rushing yards and one touchdown, six receptions on six targets for 59 receiving yards
Regular Season Rookie Report Card: N/A
Do you want to know how bad this year’s rookie running back class was? Benson was the rookie RB6 but was RB70 overall. I still believe in the talent, and at certain points over the last off-season, I had Benson as my RB1, but he did not get off to a very good start. When he got the snaps and touches, he did OK, and it would be interesting to see what he could do as a legit starting option with 200-ish touches. I’m still holding out hope for Benson, as I think the talent is there, and the opportunities will come. James Conner played the most games of his eight-year career as a 29-year-old last season. It’s hard to imagine Conner suddenly becoming a model of good health into his 30s, potentially opening a window for Benson in 2025 and beyond.
Jaylen Wright, RB MIA
2024 stats: 68 carries for 249 rushing yards, three receptions on six targets for eight yards and no touchdowns
Regular Season Rookie Report Card: N/A
Wright was my favorite running back in this year’s class. Sadly, he only saw w171 snaps as a rookie and did very little with them. However, in week five, he got 13 carries and led the Dolphins with 86 rushing yards, averaging 6.6 yards per carry- showing a bit of the explosiveness we saw in college and at the combine. Jeff Wilson Jr‘s contract expires at the end of the 2024 season, and soon-to-be 33-year-old Raheem Mostert‘s contract has a built-in out this off-season and expires after the 2025 season. The pieces are falling in place for a one-two punch in Miami featuring De’Von Achane and Jaylen Wright in the very near future, and I think he has as much upside as anyone in this class.
Blake Corum, RB LAR
2024 stats: 58 carries for 207 yards, seven receptions on eight targets for 58 yards and no touchdowns
Regular Season Rookie Report Card: Week 11
I think my C- might be a little too generous. He never got double-digit touches, only once saw more than a 20% snap share, and never got into the end zone. He was the clear No 2 in Los Angeles, but Kyren Williams got 350 touches this season- the third-most in the NFL. Williams missed 12 games over his first two seasons, and if he were to miss substantial time again, Corum would likely see significant snaps and touches in his absence. Unfortunately, that’s the only path to meaningful volume for 2025. After that, Williams is a free agent, and it could be Corum’s job to lose if the Rams realize they put nearly 1,000 touches on Williams’ 5’9″, 194-pound frame in only four years.
Ray Davis, RB DEN
2024 stats: 113 carries for 442 yards and three touchdowns, 17 receptions on 19 targets for 189 yards and three receiving touchdowns
Regular Season Rookie Report Card: Week 3
I didn’t realize Davis got into the end zone six times this season. He was the 14th highest-scoring rookie, the RB3 among rookies, and finished as RB40 overall. Overall, among veterans, that’s not great, but compared to his rookie peers, I don’t think many people expected 130 touches and over 630 yards from scrimmage from a fourth-round pick sharing a backfield with James Cook. He was one of the few usable rookie backs this season with seven double-digit fantasy performances. Even in a complimentary role as the second option behind Cook, Davis showed enough to be a usable fantasy option in the future.
Kimani Vidal, RB LAC
2024 stats: 43 carries for 155 yards, five receptions on nine targets for 62 yards and one receiving touchdown
Regular Season Rookie Report Card: Week 16
I liked Vidal as a sleeper option at the position this year, but after his debut in week six, where he had 51 yards from scrimmage on six touches and scored a touchdown, it was all downhill from there. Given his sixth-round draft capital, he’s easily replaceable on a team that proved in the playoffs that it needs several more explosive options across the entire offense. I only give him a C- long-term because JK Dobbins‘ contract is expiring, Gus Edwards‘ contract has a built-in out after this season, and Hassan Haskins has no dead cap hit. All three could easily be gone entering 2025, leaving Vidal as the only running back on the roster to fill in a backup role behind an incoming rookie.
Bucky Irving, RB TB
2024 stats: 207 carries for 1,122 yards and eight touchdowns, 47 receptions on 52 targets for 392 yards
Regular Season Rookie Report Card: Week 4
What a season. I was not a Buky Irving fan coming into the year, but he convinced me otherwise as the season progressed. Just missing an RB1 finish as RB13, Irving did everything you could ask for from a rookie back. With 200+ carries, 1,000 rushing yards, 40+ receptions, eight scores, and 1,500+ yards from scrimmage, the future looks bright for the 22-year-old rookie. He looks to be an integral part of this Baker Mayfield-led Buccaneers offense for the foreseeable future.
Tyrone Tracy Jr, RB NYG
2024 stats: 192 carries for 839 yards and five touchdowns, 38 receptions on 53 targets for 284 yards and one touchdown
Regular Season Rookie Report Card: Week 5
Raise your hand if you thought Tyrone Tracy would be the ninth-highest scoring rookie this year, ahead of Rome Odunze and Marvin Harrison Jr. Raise your hand again if you thought Tracy would be RB26, finishing ahead of Kenneth Walker, Rhamondre Stevenson, Brian Robinson, and Javonte Williams (among others). I assume nobody raised their hands. I liked Tracy as a prospect, but as a converted wide receiver, I thought he would be doing much more as a pass catcher out of the backfield and a lot less rushing. He ended the season with the 23rd most touches and the 25th most carries in the NFL— a surprising number of volume for the fifth-round pick. The Giants have many holes to fill this off-season, and the emergence of Tracy means running back won’t be one of them. Leaving him safe for at least one more season, and maybe more.
Audric Estime, RB DEN
2024 stats: 76 carries for 310 yards and two touchdowns, five receptions on five targets for 27 yards
Regular Season Rookie Report Card: Week 10
Given the performances we saw from everyone else in the Broncos’ backfield, I thought Estime would get a legit crack at the starting job for at least a few games. Instead, he only led the team in snaps once and was second in snaps three times. Javonte Williams is a free agent, and I can’t imagine Sean Payton bringing him back, Jaleel McLaughlin – who I like – is more of a change of pace option, meaning there is a world where Estime is Denver’s top back entering 2025, but we are looking at a deep incoming rookie running back class, and if Payton thought Estime was the long-term answer, you think he would have kicked the tires on him a little more this season.
Braelon Allen, RB NYJ
2024 stats: 92 carries for 334 yards and two touchdowns, 19 receptions on 27 targets for 148 yards and one touchdown
Regular Season Rookie Report Card: Week 2
I’m fascinated that Allen is still only 20 years old. The youngest player in the NFL is buried behind one of the league’s best running backs in Breece Hall. Despite that, Allen managed to score the 18th most points among rookies en route to an RB51 finish. This is my article, so I get to grade on a curve, and there is no way any of us thought Allen would do anything behind Hall with notorious rookie-hater Aaron Rodgers under center. Getting into the end zone three times and amassing nearly 500 yards from scrimmage- under those circumstances- was a big win. Sadly, the Jets are a dysfunctional organization in a freefall to the bottom of the standings with no long-term answer at quarterback, and the only path to fantasy success for Allen would be if Hall leaves as a free agent after 2025.
Isaac Guerendo, RB SF
2024 stats: 84 carries for 420 yards and four touchdowns, 15 receptions on 16 targets for 152 yards
Regular Season Rookie Report Card: Week 6
As we have seen multiple times in the past, being the Christian McCaffrey handcuff can often be a fantasy goldmine. Guerendo had five double-digit games, two games with over 20 points, and one game over 30. Unfortunately, he will always be stuck behind McCaffrey as both of their contracts run through the 2027 season. He will be a priority handcuff for the next three seasons and nothing more, but he has plenty of upside once he gets on the field in a Shanahan offense.
- Off-Season Mock Drafts: Where the Rookies Fit in Ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft - March 22, 2025
- Off-Season Mock Drafts: Month-to-Month Changes - March 15, 2025
- Off-Season Mock Drafts: Have We Learned Anything? - March 9, 2025
