We’ve digested and analyzed the NFL Draft picks, depth charts and more. Now, as we await the fantasy football draft season, savvy managers will get ahead of the competition and ponder what could happen in 2025, especially at running back — a position that’s possibly more important than any other for fantasy football. Every year, new running backs emerge as team leaders with fantasy value, and there are often ways to predict who they will be. I’m breaking down every backfield and indicating who will be featured. Of course, some backfields are established, but in others, change is inevitable (the previous lead back is gone), so I’ll go through those quickly and then rank the Top 12 in-flux backfields.
Solidified
► Atlanta Falcons: Bijan Robinson — Top 5 running back. Rinse and repeat.
► Baltimore Ravens: Derrick Henry — Unless Henry gets hurt, there’s no chance for change, and I never bet on this freak of nature missing time.
► Buffalo Bills: James Cook — Ray Davis is a talented backup, but he’s not a significant threat to unseat Cook.
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► Detroit Lions: Jahmyr Gibbs — The No. 1 RB last year (second in FPPG), anything less than a Top 5 finish would be a massive disappointment.
► Green Bay Packers: Josh Jacobs — Jacobs is the Packers’ bell cow.
► Indianapolis Colts: Jonathan Taylor — Injury has been the only thing stopping Taylor, no matter who is at quarterback.
► Miami Dolphins: De’Von Achane — Achane was RB7 during a “disappointing” season.
► New Orleans Saints: Alvin Kamara — Devin Neal is an intriguing pick, and Kendre Miller could be more involved, but the only thing less likely than Kamara losing the top spot is the Saints winning six games.
► New York Jets: Breece Hall — Even though this backfield has several options and QB Justin Fields, who will run, Hall will be the top Jets running back.
► Philadelphia Eagles: Saquon Barkley — Next!
► Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Bucky Irving — Irving supplanted Rachaad White as the lead, and he won’t be giving the role back.
► Washington Commanders: Brian Robinson — The Commanders only added Jacory Croskey-Merritt in the seventh round, and while he and Austin Ekeler will share with Robinson, neither will finish first without an injury clearing their way.
Obvious change
► Cleveland Browns: Jerome Ford — Ford did an admirable job filling in, but the Browns obviously wanted more and drafted Quinshon Judkins and Dylan Sampson.
► Dallas Cowboys: Rico Dowdle — Dowdle is now with the Panthers, and the Cowboys will see if Javonte Williams can return to pre-injury form or if Jaydon Blue can lead, with Miles Sanders or Phil Mafah mixed in.
► Denver Broncos: Javonte Williams — As mentioned, he’s in Dallas now, opening up a clear path for RJ Harvey to compete with Audric Estime and Jaleel McLaughlin for the lead role.
► Kansas City Chiefs: Kareem Hunt — Isiah Pacheco didn’t look great after his return, but if he can bounce back, the lead is his. Otherwise, Hunt still has competition from Elijah Mitchell and Brashard Smith.
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► Los Angeles Chargers: J.K. Dobbins — As of today, he’s still unsigned, and the backfield is a two-headed monster with Omarion Hampton and Najee Harris.
► Las Vegas Raiders: Alexander Mattison — Ashton Jeanty is in town. Enough said.
► Pittsburgh Steelers: Najee Harris — Harris is now with the Chargers, and the Steelers have Kaleb Johnson to team up with Jaylen Warren.
► San Francisco 49ers: Jordan Mason — Mason signed with the Vikings, and as long as Christian McCaffrey plays even 10 games, CMC will be the top scorer.
Ranking potential backfield shakeups
1. Jacksonville Jaguars: Tank Bigsby — Bigsby performed better than Travis Etienne last season, but even so, Bigsby was just RB32 (RB38 in FPPG) on 175 touches. Bigsby wasn’t going to command much passing game work, Liam Coen is the new head coach, and the Jaguars doubled down in the draft with Bhayshul Tuten (Round 4) and LeQuint Allen (Round 7). Tuten is not a one-for-one comparison to Bucky Irving, but there are plenty of similarities, including receiving ability. Even if Bigsby holds off Etienne, the aforementioned lack of passing game upside opens the door to an immediate split of touches and inevitable change to Tuten as the top Jaguars running back, assuming Coen doesn’t get frustrated with the fumbles (more on fumbles later).
2. New England Patriots: Rhamondre Stevenson — It started with Stevenson’s disappointing season, grew with the offseason rumors and crescendoed with the drafting of TreVeyon Henderson. Stevenson had the chance to take over in New England, only to falter in more ways than one. Henderson is lightning in a bottle, uncorked and strapped to a rocket. It’s unlikely Henderson is a bell cow, even with Mike Vrabel at the helm, but he should lead the backfield touches. Even 200 would put Henderson clearly ahead of Stevenson and Antonio Gibson, especially in per-touch production.
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3. New York Giants: Tyrone Tracy — Don’t let your excitement of late-round/waiver-wire value cloud the truth of who Tracy is for a backfield — an explosive complementary piece. Cam Skattebo is a lead back. He’s also dangerous in the passing game. While Tracy was quite good in his opportunity as the lead, Skattebo is primed to be the top Giants running back. And let’s talk about ball security, since many like to knock Skattebo for that. It’s a bit tough given his 2022 Sacramento State season, but the numbers have him for 9-10 fumbles over his past three seasons. Well, let’s talk touch volume. Skattebo also had 752 touches in that span, giving him a 1.2-1.3% fumble rate. That’s a palatable number. For comparison, over the past three seasons, Aaron Jones is 1.6%, Jonathan Taylor 1.1% and Brian Robinson 1.3% … oh, and Tracy is at 2.2%. So before you toss aside Skattebo’s ability, particularly his bell-cow upside, because of fumbles, you need to put it into context and see that the Giants’ job is his for the taking.
4. Seattle Seahawks: Zach Charbonnet — Kenneth Walker’s injuries and 2024 play opened the door for Charbonnet to take the lead. This backfield ultimately favoring Charbonnet is quite possible, especially with Klint Kubiak now the offensive coordinator. Nevertheless, Walker has been the lead when healthy, so there is still a decent chance he’s the more valuable Seahawks back.
5. Los Angeles Rams: Kyren Williams — Death. Taxes. The Rams draft running backs.
McVay/Snead/Rams have drafted an RB every year since 2018
2018 – John Kelly, R6
2019 – Darrell Henderson, R3
2020 – Cam Akers, R2
2021 – Jake Funk, R7
2022 – Kyren Williams, R5
2023 – Zach Evans, R6
2024 – Blake Corum, R3
2025 – Jarquez Hunter, R4— Jake Ciely (@allinkid) May 20, 2025
So, you could argue that Williams’ role is in jeopardy or that Les Snead and Sean McVay are doing what they always do. The “Williams is a risk” camp will point to Williams’ inefficiency, ranking 35th of 37 running backs with 150+ touches in yards per touch (4.2). Only Kareem Hunt (4.1) and Rhamondre Stevenson (4.0) were lower, and we covered Stevenson losing his gig already. Williams wasn’t great in yards per carry either (4.1, which was 28th), but he was in line with Joe Mixon and just 0.1 behind Breece Hall and Alvin Kamara. The truth is Williams is much like Mixon — reliant on volume for Top 10 value — but that doesn’t mean Hunter or Corum is taking his job without advertising an upgrade in performance.
Corum averaged just 4.1 YPT and 3.6 YPC last year, and Hunter is a lot like Michael Carter or Chase Edmonds. If Williams falters early, McVay could pull the plug, as he has done before with Cam Akers and Darrell Henderson, but I don’t believe Williams is at risk from Day 1. If anything, how McVay treats his lead running back merely points to Corum and/or Hunter being great bench stashes if Williams gets hurt or loses his grasp on the lead role because of prolonged (multiple games) struggles.
6. Minnesota Vikings: Aaron Jones — Jones came up in the discussion about fumbling, but that will not stop him from being the leading backfield producer for the Vikings. Yes, Mason did quite well for the 49ers last year and helped his career, but he wouldn’t be the first running back to falter as a lead, especially in a different offense. Being with Kevin O’Connell helps mitigate the changing of offenses for Mason. However, Jones still had the 14th-highest YPT for running backs with 150+ touches — ahead of Alvin Kamara, Josh Jacobs, Jonathan Taylor and others. So, unless Jones hits a Season 9 wall, he’ll still be the better option, even if it comes with more sharing.
7. Chicago Bears: D’Andre Swift — As soon as Ben Johnson agreed to come to Chicago, the focus turned to Swift and what Johnson might do to change up the backfield. Swift had 13.1 and 13.8 FPPG, respectively, in his first two seasons in the NFL, then 11.8 in his final year with the Lions, 11.4 with the Eagles in 2023 and 11.3 with the Bears last year. Swift’s top two seasons were with offensive coordinators Darrell Bevell (2020) and Anthony Lynn (2021). When Johnson became the OC in 2022, Swift hit his high in YPC at 5.5. What does all of this mean? Well, the Lions didn’t draft a running back until Round 7 (Kyle Monangai), who is more of a power option and complement to Swift, in the Jamaal Williams vein. This backfield will be Swift with a mix of Monangai and maybe still Roschon Johnson, too, but outside of injury, it’s hard to see Swift not being the best fantasy value.
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8. Arizona Cardinals: James Conner — Trey Benson was one of the hottest backup-RB names last year, and then Conner went and played 16 games for the first time in his career. Conner has never played a full season, but he’s been pretty great while on the field. The odds of Benson overtaking Conner outright are slim, but so are the odds Conner doesn’t miss time. Conner and Benson are here merely on the injury risk, and while it would take Conner missing half the season or more for the first time, it’s more likely than his playing 16+ games again.
9. Houston Texans: Joe Mixon — It might seem disrespectful to Mixon to have him higher than No. 12, but Mixon has always been somewhat volume-reliant. He has just one season with more than 4.1 YPC and/or 4.6 YPT. Rookie Woody Marks isn’t in a tier with the elite rookie running backs, but he’s no slouch and has some Tyjae Spears to his game. While it would be a bit surprising to see a healthy Mixon fall behind Marks in value, it isn’t completely out of the question at this point in his career, especially if the Texans are looking for more of a spark after some disappointments in 2024.
10. Carolina Panthers: Chuba Hubbard — I finally cleaned up all the egg on my face for not believing Hubbard could succeed as the lead. Hubbard has more competition than originally thought after Jonathon Brooks was lost for the season, but even with Dowdle signing in free agency and the drafting of Trevor Etienne, Hubbard’s role appears just as secure as it was. Dowdle and Etienne have potential, but neither will threaten Hubbard, though they are intriguing waiver options if Hubbard gets hurt.
11. Tennessee Titans: Tony Pollard — Pollard nearly doubled Tyjae Spears’ total points last year and had 11.4 FPPG to 8.2 for Spears. Additionally, that was Pollard’s lowest mark of the past three seasons, while it was the best of Spears’ two NFL seasons. The Titans added Kalel Mullings — a power back — in the sixth round, but even so, there isn’t much of a reason to expect anyone but Pollard to lead the Titans in fantasy value.
12. Cincinnati Bengals: Chase Brown — Brown not being the best Bengals running back is low odds, and it came as a welcome sight that the Bengals only took a Round 6 running back in Tahj Brooks, who is extremely similar to Brown. They brought back Samaje Perine in free agency, but Zack Moss, Perine and Brooks won’t contend for the Bengals’ lead role. That job goes to Brown, who is more likely to build on his breakout season and push for Top 10 status than have less value than any other Bengals RB.
(Top photo of Tank Bigsby, Travis Etienne: Mike Carlson / Getty Images)
This news was originally published on this post .
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