Jacobs Gibbs’ Running Back Dynasty Rookie Rankings & Tiers : Post 2025 NFL Draft risers, fallers, more

We are so back! With landing spots secured, all that is left to do is speculate for months on end. Before we know it, August preseason action will be upon us! Let’s go!

Dynasty Running Back Rookie Rankings

TIER 1

RB1 — Ashton Jeanty, Las Vegas Raiders

TIER 2

RB2 — Omarion Hampton, Los Angeles Chargers

TIER 3

RB3 — TreVeyon Henderson, New England Patriots

RB4 — RJ Harvey, Denver Broncos
RB5 — Quinshon Judkins, Cleveland Browns
RB6 — Kaleb Johnson, Pittsburgh Steelers
RB7 — Cam Skattebo, New York Giants
RB8 — Bhayshul Tuten, Jacksonville Jaguars

TIER 4

RB9 — Jaydon Blue, Dallas Cowboys

RB10 — Dylan Sampson, Cleveland Browns
RB11 — Jarquez Hunter, Los Angeles Rams
RB12 — Trevor Etienne, Carolina Panthers
RB13 — Jordan James, San Francisco 49ers

TIER 5

RB14 — Tahj Brooks, Cincinnati Bengals

RB15 — DJ Giddens, Indianapolis Colts
RB16 — Devin Neal, New Orleans Saints
RB17 — Brashard Smith, Kansas City Chiefs
RB18 — Kyle Monangai, Chicago Bears
RB19 — Woody Marks, Houston Texans

TIER 6

RB20 — Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Washington Commanders

RB21 — LeQuint Allen, Jacksonville Jaguars
RB22 — Raheim Sanders, Los Angeles Chargers
RB23 — Damien Martinez, Seattle Seahawks
RB24 — Ollie Gordon, Miami Dolphins
RB25 — Phil Mafah, Dallas Cowboys

We took some serious hits at the RB position. Many NFL decision makers have been cited as willing to wait it out at the position because of the overwhelming depth in the 2025 class, and so, I’m not sure how to react to the draft capital info that we gained. Is Brashard Smith a Round 7 talent? No, in most drafts, Smith probably would have been selected in Round 4.

We saw players like Dylan Sampson and DJ Giddens selected by franchises that did not have a need at RB, and my guess is that was a result of difference in philosophy — those teams might have simply decided to take the best player available, even though it was not at a position of need. In reality, those two may have had Round 3 grades for most teams, but NFL decision makers were playing a game of chicken at the RB position. We saw several “RB runs” occur — when one team decided to pull the trigger, a ripple effect followed. From picks 2-15 in Round 4, Tuten, Skattebo, Etienne, Marks, and Hunter all went off the board. The Niners took Jordan James at pick 9 in Round 5, immediately followed by RB selections at pick 12 and 14. Similar runs occurred in Rounds 6 and 7.

I’m not sure what the best way to view the draft capital conundrum is. I’m thinking about it out loud. It feels irresponsible to cling to pre-draft value assessments and rank Round 6 or 7 running backs over Round 3 receivers, but I find myself pulled in that direction in several instances.

Risers

I never would have guessed that Blue would rank as a top-10 back from this class. I definitely prefer the prospect profiles for Sampson and Hunter, and both were selected ahead of Blue, so feel free to adjust however feels right to you. Blue brings receiving and big-play upside, which is intriguing as he joins a backfield that previously offered neither. The Cowboys didn’t address a glaring need at WR, so this offense will be strapped for playmaking beyond CeeDee Lamb.

Harvey’s stamp of approval was so freaking awesome. The track record for 24-year-old running back prospects is not good, but the track record for running backs selected early by Sean Payton is very good.

Johnson got the tailor-made system fit in Pittsburgh, and Tuten landed in the highly-coveted Liam Coen-engineered offense. There is a clear tier-break after Tuten at the RB position, in my opinion.

Monangai was the biggest late-round riser for me, as he not only beat out Raheim Sanders and Corey Kiner for a draft selection but also landed in a Chicago backfield that could present opportunities. I also moved Smith up my rankings a bit, even with Round 7 capital. The Chiefs traded up to get him. I’m excited to see Andy Reid’s vision. Brooks predictably moved down my rankings, but I do think that his landing spot in Cincinnati is a positive. The Bengals only had six draft picks and used four of them on two positions, so using one of the other two on a RB was noteworthy. Cincy easily could have waited until after the draft to add a UDFA. Instead, Brooks was hand-picked. He’s a perfect fit for the man-gap power running that Cincy does, and he might beat out Zack Moss as the preferred pass-protector in the backfield.

Fallers

Martinez, Sampson, and Giddens highlight the list for me. They feel buried. I’ll probably grab them as cheap bench stashes in rookie drafts where they’re available for cheap, but I was hoping for much more. The same goes for my boy Rocket Sanders. Sad. He has his work cut out for him if he’s going to prove the NFL wrong. I believe! He’ll be on all of my taxi squads!