Where RBs land in Prisco’s Top 100: Saquon Barkley stands atop group; star AFC back among notable snubs

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It’s that time of the year again when our guy Pete Prisco combs through the entire NFL and stacks up who he believes are the top 100 players heading into the upcoming season. One of the more notable takeaways from Prisco’s 2025 player ranking is his newfound (rekindled?) love for the running back position. 

Last year, Prisco listed only two backs inside his top 100 list. Fast forward to the 2025 edition, and a total of eight running backs sit inside Prisco’s Top 100. That includes Saquon Barkley falling inside the top five as the No. 3-ranked player overall, and he headlines a group of six running backs who are in the top 50. 

While we can make a friendly jab at our buddy Prisco and say he’s getting soft nowadays, placing this many backs inside of his top 100 does reflect what felt like a renaissance at the position last year. Of course, Barkley was the headliner of that resurgence as he was a key cog for the Philadelphia Eagles winning Super Bowl LIX, but Derrick Henry and Josh Jacobs were two other notable backs who changed teams last offseason and went on to have a serious impact. Meanwhile, there were a few second-year backs who burst into the limelight with breakout years in 2024. 

As is the case with every ranking that has ever been published on the internet, there are some things to nitpick here with Prisco’s list. While Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford going unranked is arguably the biggest snub of them all, there are a couple of running backs who also have a good case to have landed inside the top 100. 

Below, we’ll go through each running back that Prisco ranked, where they land inside the top 100, and then highlight two snubs who did not make the cut.

Where QBs land in Prisco’s Top 100: Patrick Mahomes No. 1 again, where Jalen Hurts ended up, who was snubbed

Jeff Kerr

• Overall ranking: No. 3
• Positional ranking: No. 1
• 2024 ranking: Not ranked

“Barkley rushed for 2,005 yards in leading the Eagles to a Super Bowl victory. He can do so many things for the Eagles offense, which is why he is a real MVP candidate heading into this season.” — Pete Prisco

• Overall ranking: No. 14
• Positional ranking: No. 2
• 2024 ranking: No. 91

“All King Henry did was rush for 1,921 yards in his first season with the Ravens to show he’s far from slowing down. At 31, he is beating back Father Time — for now.” — Pete Prisco

• Overall ranking: No. 32
• Positional ranking: No. 3
• 2024 ranking: Not ranked

“Gibbs rushed for 1,412 yards with 52 catches and 20 touchdowns in 2024, emerging as a big-play threat in the Lions offense. He is the prototypical “air” back who excels in space.” — Pete Prisco

• Overall ranking: No. 39
• Positional ranking: No. 4
• 2024 ranking: Not ranked

“In his second season in the league, Robinson was third in the league with 1,486 yards rushing. He averaged an impressive 4.8 per rush, while also catching 61 passes.” — Pete Prisco

• Overall ranking: No. 41
• Positional ranking: No. 5
• 2024 ranking: No. 8

“McCaffrey missed the first eight games of the 2024 season with Achilles issues, then had a knee injury that ended his season, limiting him to four games. He’s healthy again, which is the most important thing heading into the 2025 season.” — Pete Prisco

• Overall ranking: No. 50
• Positional ranking: No. 6
• 2024 ranking: Not ranked

“In just 13 starts, Taylor finished fourth in the league in rushing with 1,431 yards. He averaged 4.7 yards per rush, his best since 2021. Injuries have kept him out of 10 games the past two seasons.” — Pete Prisco

• Overall ranking: No. 66
• Positional ranking: No. 7
• 2024 ranking: Not ranked

“In his first season with the Packers, Jacobs rushed for a career-high 1,329 yards with 16 total touchdowns. His toughness running the ball helped key the Packers offense.” — Pete Prisco

• Overall ranking: No. 94 
• Positional ranking: No. 8
• 2024 ranking: Not ranked

“Irving started just three games as a rookie in 2024, and had just 207 carries, but he still ran for 1,122 yards with eight rushing touchdowns. He averaged 5.4 yards per rush and I expect him to have many more carries this season and for him to be higher on the list in 2026.” — Pete Prisco

Notable RB snubs from Prisco’s Top 100

Jones sort of gets left in the dust when it come to running backs who changed teams last offseason, but the former Packer turned Viking had tremendous success in 2024. Jones is coming off a first season in Minnesota where he was just one of seven running backs to finish with at least 1,540 yards from scrimmage. The other six were inside Prisco’s Top 100. His 5.1 yards per touch were also better than Josh Jacobs (5.0) and Jonathan Taylor (4.9). 

Cook is currently amid a contract dispute with the Buffalo Bills, but there’s no denying that he was a highly efficient figure out of the backfield in 2024. His 16 rushing touchdowns were tied with Derrick Henry and Jahmyr Gibbs for the co-lead in the NFL. While his 1,009 yards rushing don’t immediately jump off of the stat sheet, they do when you factor in his rushing attempts. Cook ran the ball 207 times last season, which is tied with Bucky Irving for the fewest attempts of backs who rushed for over 1,000 yards. Cook’s 4.9 yards per rush average actually was better than the Bijan Robinson (4.8), Taylor (4.7), and Jacobs (4.4). 

This news was originally published on this post .

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