2025 NFL Draft Class by Position: Running Backs, Part One

Last week, we kicked this series off with a look at the 2025 crop of quarterbacks. From prospect summaries to class comparisons to rookie draft projections, we laid out the landscape for what is arguably the most shallow and least exciting position in this year's NFL draft. Now we get to the good stuff.

This will be the second article in a six-part series covering the relevant names in the class, with one each on the quarterbacks and tight ends and two each on the running backs and wide receivers. Most specifically, we'll be painting this year's prospects in the context of previous classes — granting you a helpful point of reference for each position.

And while the quarterbacks were somewhere between average and uninspiring, the running back group is both star-studded at the top and deep enough to demand multiple articles in this series. We'll cover the names likely to go in the first round of rookie drafts here and the balance in the ensuing piece.

Previous Class Grades

Before we dive into the names on 2025 draft boards, let's set the scene with a quick look at recent classes.

Coming off a dismal 2024, you may be tempted to avoid running backs in rookie drafts until the end of time. That would be a mistake. The class was predictably weak, with zero backs selected in the first round and just one — with a torn ACL — selected in round one (Jonathon Brooks). Still, it was a historically unproductive group: they combined for just 1,036 PPR fantasy points, fewest by any class in the last 15 years. And to make matters worse, not a single one is likely to have a strong hold on an RB1 role in 2025, with fifth-round pick Tyrone Tracy Jr being the closest (for now).

However, we only need to look back one year prior to remember just how good a rookie RB group can be. The 2023 class gave us Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs, both round one locks in startup drafts today, along with De'Von Achane, who's squarely in the top five at the position as well. Plus, second-year breakout Chase Brown (RB15 in startup ADP) is an unexpected stud, and even Tank Bigsby, Tyjae Spears, and Zach Charbonnet have had valuable stretches. If Robinson, Gibbs, Achane, and Brown remain in their current value ranges for a few years, this could be remembered as one of the better classes of the (young) century.

Think that was a flash in the pan? Slide back one more year to the 2022 class. While none of these guys were selected on day one, Breece Hall, Kenneth Walker III, Kyren Williams, and James Cook are currently all top-12 startup picks at the position. Hall, Williams, and Cook have all already posted at least one top-eight PPR fantasy season — as has Rachaad White — while Walker, Isiah Pacheco, and Brian Robinson Jr. have all logged RB1 stretches of varying lengths. The class may not be quite as top-heavy as 2023, but it's still an excellent group that's given us several valuable assets.

Unfortunately, the couple of classes prior to 2023 were more disappointing than they were landscape-changing. We expected more out of Najee Harris, Travis Etienne, and Javonte Williams in 2021, and while Rhamondre Stevenson and Chuba Hubbard have been quite good over short stretches, no one in this class has cemented themselves as a multi-year RB1. As for 2020, Jonathan Taylor has done his best to carry the class, but Clyde Edwards-Helaire was a mega-bust at 32nd overall and none of the other Round 2 picks — D'Andre Swift, Cam Akers, JK Dobbins, and AJ Dillon — have garnered any consistent or lasting value. Both classes have given us enough to avoid the "F" grade that 2024 has earned (so far), but neither has shifted the state of the position in dynasty.

So where does the 2025 class stack up? We're going to have to dive in to find out.

Meet the Prospects

The clear number one running back in this class is also the consensus 1.01 in rookie drafts, even in superflex formats, so this is the kind of player who changes a class and a positional landscape all on his own.

Ashton Jeanty, Boise State

Pick Projection: Round 1 (Raiders, Cowboys, Steelers)

Comps: LaDainian Tomlinson, Alvin Kamara