The high-end talent that’s characterized many recent NFL drafts might be lacking at the other so-called “skill” positions, but that isn’t the case at running back, where several front-line starter candidates will be available in 2025.
Given Saquon Barkley‘s historic campaign for the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles this season, it’s fitting that this class reminds me a bit of the 2018 crop in which he was selected No. 2 overall by the New York Giants.
Passionate draft fans might remember that two other runners — Rashaad Penny (Seattle, No. 27 overall) and Sony Michel (New England, 31st) were drafted in the 2018 first round, while eight backs came off the board within the first 71 selections. That’s roughly 50 picks earlier than most years. Only two backs were taken that high last spring: Jonathan Brooks (Panthers, No. 46 overall) and Trey Benson (Cardinals, 66th).
Fortunately, like that 2018 class, this year’s batch of running backs is both talented and deep. In fact, there will be NFL contributors available well into Day 2 who did not make the cut for this article. Listed at the end are some of the many quality middle- and late-round candidates.
But first, here are my top running back prospects for the 2025 NFL Draft, along with their draft grades, player comps and best team fits.
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Prospect grade: Top 10
Best-case comp: LaDainian Tomlinson
Best team fit: Dallas Cowboys
Like Barkley in 2018, Jeanty is universally regarded as the top back and well worth top-10 consideration. He offers an exceptional combination of burst, vision, contact balance and breakaway speed, galloping for gains of 50-plus yards in nine of his 14 games in 2024. Jeanty’s eye-popping 7.0 yards per carry during the Broncos’ march to the CFP is all the more impressive when you consider that he led the nation with 374 attempts. He is fast enough to beat linebackers to the perimeter and has impressive awareness for cutback lanes.
Simply put, Jeanty is both a bell cow and a big-play specialist. He is a future All-Pro candidate who can be the face of a franchise. If he were to somehow last to No. 12 overall (as projected in this mock draft), Jerry Jones and the Cowboys should be the ones sprinting — to the podium.
Prospect grade: Top 50
Best-case comp: Jonathan Taylor
Best team fit: Pittsburgh Steelers
With all due respect to the aforementioned Jeanty, it is Hampton who offers perhaps this year’s most intriguing combination of size, speed and power — a mix that could catapult him into the first round. Some questioned how well Hampton would adjust to the stacked boxes in 2024 with quarterback Drake Maye leaving North Carolina early for the NFL. Hampton delivered again, leading the ACC in rushing yards for the second consecutive year before leaving UNC early himself, after tallying 3,565 yards and 36 touchdowns in just three seasons.
For a big man, Hampton can really accelerate from second to third gear, gobbling yardage in chunks. And Hampton plays up to his frame, barreling through contact and showing no concern for his own well-being with almost reckless leaps into defenders to get every inch of yardage. Hampton is a blue-collar brawler with a pro-ready game.
Prospect grade: Top 50
Best-case comp: Najee Harris
Best team fit: Los Angeles Chargers
Well-built and a more explosive athlete than many of the relatively heavy-footed Hawkeyes of the past, Johnson was the breakout star of this RB class, catapulting into the first-round conversation with a Big Ten-leading 1,537 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns. He explodes to daylight nicely for a big back, but it is his knack for getting skinny through traffic — keeping his feet moving with hunched shoulders and high-knees to break through congestion — that really stands out. He is one of those rare big backs who commands attention from every defender.
That said, his best fit would be in a run-heavy scheme like Iowa’s. Johnson wasn’t asked to do much in the passing game in college and could need a crash course if expected to contribute in this area immediately in the NFL. Consider this, according to PFF, Johnson engaged a defender in pass pro just 52 times in his three years at Iowa. All others making this article registered at least 80 blocking attempts in 2024 alone.
Prospect grade: 2nd round
Best-case comp: Joe Mixon
Best team fit: New York Giants
Given that he’s dominated elite competition in two very different schemes, Judkins will be viewed by some as the safest of this year’s running back class. He was an immediate standout at Ole Miss back in 2022, leading the SEC in rushing yards (1,567) and touchdowns (16) before transferring to Ohio State before the 2024 campaign season in a successful quest to win a national championship. Sharing the backfield with TreVeyon Henderson — a fellow future NFL starter — lessened Judkins’ workload (194 attempts, 1,060 yards, 14 TDs), but scouts will appreciate that he’ll enter the pros with lots of tread left on the tires. He toted the rock at least 20 times in 14 games over two seasons at Ole Miss but never had more than 17 touches in any game for the Buckeyes.
If given the opportunity to be a bell cow in the NFL, he could prove to be an even better player at the pro level. Judkins has a well-developed frame to handle a large workload and is a classic slasher who slalom-skis his way through traffic, gobbling up yardage with long, strong strides.
Prospect grade: 2nd round
Best-case comp: Josh Jacobs
Best team fit: Las Vegas Raiders
Henderson might lack the prototypical frame and highlight reel moves of some of his peers but is as pro-ready as it gets, combining instincts, toughness and three-down versatility. Henderson is a sledgehammer on skates, alternately blasting his way through defenders or leaving them frozen with stop-start balance and burst that makes him play faster than he’ll likely test. He possesses true breakaway ability, which might surprise since he’s sometimes pigeonholed as a between-the-tackles specialist. Henderson averaged 7.1 yards-per-attempt in 2024 — the most of any running back on this list — highlighted by a pair of 50-plus yard touchdown scampers against Oregon.
Rather than pout when the Buckeyes brought in the aforementioned Judkins as a transfer, Henderson welcomed him and became one of this year’s better backs in the passing game, showing off the soft hands as a receiver and physicality as a pass blocker to earn immediate playing time in the NFL.
Prospect grade: 2nd round
Best-case comp: James Cook
Best team fit: Kansas City Chiefs
In today’s era of NIL deals and marketing, it is surprising that Sampson didn’t land an endorsement from Maytag or General Electric washing machines as he possesses the elite “spin cycle” of this year’s stellar running back class. He capitalized on a breakout 2024 campaign to head to the NFL early, leading the SEC with 1,491 rushing yards and 22 touchdowns last season. Before that, he showed plenty of big-play flair with a stellar 6.1 ypc and 13 rushing touchdowns in limited duty over his first two seasons.
Sampson lacks the bulk of most of the other runners on this list, but he is so slippery to and through the hole, leaving would-be tacklers frustrated with impressive jump-cuts and full 360-degree spins off contact. He might never prove to be a true bell-cow in the pros, but his big-play potential could be the perfect finishing touch to an offense needing just a bit more firepower.
Prospect grade: Day 2
Best-case comp: Kenneth Walker III
Best team fit: Denver Broncos
With only two seasons against FBS competition, Tuten is one of the wild cards of this year’s class, but his ability to impact the game as a runner, receiver and returner has the NFL’s attention. Tuten began his college career at North Carolina A&T, earning FCS All-American honors in 2022 with the fifth-highest rushing total (1,363 yards) in school history. He enjoyed immediate success after transferring to Virginia Tech a year later, starting all 13 games and registering 1,633 all-purpose yards, including kickoff return touchdowns of 94 and 99 yards against ACC rivals Virginia and Florida State, respectively.
Tuten isn’t the cleanest back on tape, sometimes running up the backs of his blockers seeking the big play rather than just burrowing his head to get a few tough yards. He possesses soft hands, toughness in pass protection and elite speed, however. He was clocked at 7.03 seconds in the 60-meter dash as a high school prep in New Jersey back in 2021. He could be the fastest member of this year’s running back class.
Prospect grade: 3rd round
Best-case comp: Najee Harris
Best team fit: Baltimore Ravens
While straight-line speed is certain to get the aforementioned Tuten plenty of attention in workouts, Skattebo’s draft stock could actually slip in the coming months as he might be the slowest of this year’s top RB prospects. If that is indeed the case, scouts should ignore their stopwatches and instead refer to Skattebo’s dominant tape at Arizona State (and previously at Sacramento State), where he showed exceptional pad level, contact balance and desire to rack up 5,772 yards from scrimmage and 51 touchdowns. He was the heart of an ASU squad that obliterated preseason expectations to win the Big 12, earning All-American honors in 2024 by breaking the school’s all-time rushing records with 1,711 yards and 21 touchdowns.
Skattebo might lack the lateral agility most teams are looking for, but he can be nearly unstoppable running downhill. Some teams prioritize backs who run angry. Skattebo plays with a ferocity that will help him outperform his draft slot. He is a block of granite who simply does not fall backwards.
My favorites of the rest:
- Kyle Monangai, Rutgers (5-9, 209)
- Jordan James, Oregon (5-9, 210)
- Devin Neal, Kansas (5-11, 220)
- Tajh Brooks, Texas Tech (5-9, 229)
- Woody Marks, USC (5-10, 215)
Rob Rang is an NFL Draft analyst for FOX Sports. He has been covering the NFL Draft for more than 20 years, with work at FOX, Sports Illustrated, CBSSports.com, USA Today, Yahoo, NFL.com and NFLDraftScout.com, among others. He also works as a scout with the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League. Follow him on X @RobRang.
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