Biggest fantasy football losers from 2025 NFL Draft running back picks

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With the dust settling from the 2025 NFL Draft, fantasy football analyst Matt Harmon examines the players whose stock has been damaged.

Round 1 picks

Ashton Jeanty, Las Vegas Raiders

The Raiders made the chalk pick at sixth overall, securing the services of one of the best running back prospects over the last decade. Ashton Jeanty comes into an offense ready to run the ball under the watch of Pete Carroll and Chip Kelly. While Kelly’s head-coaching tenure was messy, his offenses were fourth, seventh, 11th and fifth in rush attempts in his four years in the NFL. He’s now the highest-paid offensive coordinator and will have a considerable voice in the room.

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I’m ready to start the fantasy conversation for Jeanty at the RB5 spot in early consensus rankings. That puts him behind Saquon Barkley, Bijan Robinson, Jahmyr Gibbs and Derrick Henry. If you can make a strong bull case for the De’Von Achane, Bucky Irving or Josh Jacobs types ahead of Jeanty, that’s fine. But this is the tier we’re talking about for the rookie back.

The Raiders aren’t a perfect ecosystem but they have a competent veteran starting passer, a non-embarrassing offensive line and plenty of available touches. Sign me up.

Loser: No one. There wasn’t a back on the roster anyone was expecting to be a major contributor to the Raiders offense this season. The runway is clear for Jeanty to touch the ball 300 times as a rookie.

Omarion Hampton, Las Angeles Chargers

Omarion Hampton to the Chargers was one of my favorite pre-draft potential pairings and it came to fruition. He’s a home run hitter who is going to add some juice to an offense that only had one threatening presence last season in Ladd McConkey. He fits the gap-based ground game that Greg Roman employs and will be an off-tackle monster behind Joe Alt on the offensive right side.

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While fantasy managers will have to deal with some veteran deference in September with Najee Harris in the fold, I’d be stunned if Hampton isn’t the guy you want by midseason. Harris is on a one-year deal and the team didn’t make a significant financial commitment to the veteran back. Hampton should be ranking comfortably inside the top 24 running backs.

Loser: Najee Harris might be able to give you some weeks early on but has to drop into the low-end RB3 range now. Don’t write him off completely, as he’s injury insurance on a good offense if Hampton misses time.

Day 2 names to know

Quinshon Judkins, Cleveland Browns

Added to a Browns running back depth chart that is devoid of a true starter, Quinshon Judkins comes out of draft weekend a pretty significant winner. Judkins is a bruising grinder back who is capable of handling a big workload. Everything the Browns have done this offseason, both before and during the NFL Draft, signals they are getting back to Kevin Stefanski’s roots as a power run team. Judkins fits that to a tee.

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Now, it’s worth noting the Browns did continue to add to their running back stable, selecting Dylan Sampson out of Tennessee in the fourth round. Sampson is a smaller back who operates well in space. While he slightly complicates the picture for Judkins, his addition likely says more about the status of incumbent starter, Jerome Ford, than anything else. They have some overlapping skills, whereas Judkins and Sampson could form more of an actual duo.

The Browns offense isn’t bound to be an elite ecosystem in 2025 by any means with that trial-and-error quarterback room. However, I still think Judkins makes for a great upside RB2 bet.

Loser: Jerome Ford will immediately lose his starting gig to Judkins and could be pushed from the RB2 position by Sampson. This was a brutal draft for him and also likely ends any chance Nick Chubb had of returning to Cleveland.

TreVeyon Henderson, New England Patriots

When the TreVeyon Henderson selection was announced by the Patriots, I couldn’t help but think, “What’s old continues to be new again in New England.”

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Josh McDaniels is back as the offensive coordinator for the Patriots and Henderson just fits in so cleanly with the archetype of space backs this team has coveted over the years, from Kevin Faulk to Shane Vereen to Danny Woodhead to James White and everyone in between.

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Henderson likely presents more early-down rushing chops than just about everyone on that list. So he has more legitimate fantasy upside than just some PPR passing game-only running back. However, he does give Drake Maye an immediate outlet receiver and top-level pass-protector. He can also run in tandem with Rhamondre Stevenson, who will absorb some of the grinder carries to keep Henderson fresh for critical downs. Henderson’s not the cleanest fantasy projection unless he outright usurps Stevenson for early-down duties but nevertheless, I’m comfortable taking the plunge on Henderson once we get out of the top 30 or so running backs on the board.

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Loser: Rhamondre Stevenson was my No. 1 veteran on notice candidate from a pre-draft article. He’s now only a depth piece, even if he hangs on to less valuable early-down carries between the 20s.

RJ Harvey, Denver Broncos

Everyone knew that Sean Payton was going to take a running back he fell in love at some point in this year’s NFL Draft. That player turned out to be RJ Harvey.

The UCF product is a tackle-breaking machine who runs with aggression on early downs. This Denver Broncos rushing ecosystem is ready to be maximized by a talented rusher, considering they were 11th in yards before contact per running back rush last season but one of the worst in yards after contact. Harvey will undoubtedly boost the latter stat.

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The fantasy community is bound to go absolutely nuts over Harvey, especially since so many draftniks were quick to compare him to current golden boy, Bucky Irving. Before we go too wild, let’s remember that Payton has a history of using backs in specific patterns that often depend upon the individual player’s skill set. That can end up devolving into a straight committee approach. Considering Harvey has some defects in the passing game from a blocking standpoint on film, that could limit his Year 1 ceiling. He makes sense as a post-Round 5 sleeper pick in redraft but I wonder if offseason steam will push him even higher.

Loser: No one. Jaleel McLaughlin may hang on to a passing-down or change-of-pace role but no one was anticipating him sticking to the top of the depth chart. The same can be said for Audric Estimé. If you didn’t know a rookie was going to end up the RB1 of this team, you just weren’t following the breadcrumbs.

Kaleb Johnson, Pittsburgh Steelers

Perhaps the most obvious player to team fit at the running back position, if not the entire draft class. Kaleb Johnson wouldn’t be a prime producer with every team but his vision and quick cuts make him an ideal match for a zone-heavy scheme. Outside of the Atlanta Falcons, no team used zone concepts in their running game at a higher rate than the Pittsburgh Steelers.

A perfect fit in Arthur Smith’s offense and not much competition for work with Najee Harris gone and only Jaylen Warren remaining. Warren is a nice player but not a featured back. Johnson has a chance to push for 15 to 18 touches per game as a rookie. If this offense is even league-average with Aaron Rodgers added to the mix, he has to go down as one of the biggest winners of the weekend. He very well could check in as my RB2 among rookies behind only Jeanty.

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Loser: Jaylen Warren has his fans out there and I’m among that group. However, it was always extremely unlikely he would be the workhorse for this offense. He could end up holding down Johnson’s upside if he remains a fixture on third-down but his standalone value is capped.

Day 3 sleepers

Bhayshul Tuten, Jacksonville Jaguars

The Virginia Tech product ran the fastest 40-yard dash at the combine among running backs. Now, he’ll bring his explosive chops to a backfield that should be viewed as wide open with a new coaching staff in town. Tuten is a natural fit on outside zone concepts and has the speed to hit home runs on gap runs. He’ll be a late-round target for me as long as ball security issues don’t crop up and training camp reports indicate he’s being mixed in.

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Loser: Travis Etienne Jr. would have been billed as the lightning in a tandem with Tank Bigsby’s thunder. Not only has he just not become that player, but Tuten is better in that phase. Etienne will not be on my draftable list come August.

Cam Skattebo, New York Giants

The rugged Cam Skattebo almost single-handedly willed Arizona State to a deep college football playoff run. He might not have a lot of juice but he’s a tough runner who can catch passes. He’ll be a name to monitor this summer if he endears himself to a coaching staff that needs its young players to outkick expectations.

Loser: Tyrone Tracy Jr. is good enough to hold off Skattebo in a camp competition but my guess is drafters will bake that in as a certainty. I consider it a closer call than that.

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Jaydon Blue, Dallas Cowboys

We all expected the Cowboys to take a running back much earlier in the NFL Draft but they waited until Round 5 to select Jaydon Blue out of Texas. He’s a smaller back with speed so he may not end up a featured weapon. Nevertheless, the depth chart is wide open and Dallas has a hulking offensive line that could give Blue plenty of wide-open lanes.

Loser: No one. Was anyone bullish on the Javonte Williams-Miles Sanders tandem? Doubt it.

Ollie Gordon, Miami Dolphins

The Dolphins cannot help themselves. Despite massive needs for cheap young talents, they took yet another running back. At least Ollie Gordon is against type as a bigger grinder back. That theoretically is the type that they need to complement De’Von Achane. I’m not looking to find creative ways to invest in the Dolphins offense but he’s a name to know if he carves out a role.

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Loser: Jaylen Wright will face a push from Gordon. As a bigger back, the rookie might fit better as a short-yardage complement to Achane.

Devin Neal, New Orleans Saints

I had Devin Neal ticketed to go off the board in Round 4 based on his film. It appears the lack of high-end traits pushed him down further. He’s the right type of steady hand at the running back position that this team needs to complement and spell Alvin Kamara. He would be classified as a deeper sleeper but I like what the Saints have built on the offensive line enough to hold out some hope.

Loser: We might finally be at the end of the line with the Kendre Miller fantasy deep-sleeper agenda.

This news was originally published on this post .

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