Fantasy football managers will rejoice when they hear this is one of the better running back classes we’ve seen in recent NFL Draft cycles. It’s led by a star prospect, could see multiple names called in Round 1 and is flush with Day 2 options that could unseat established veterans early in their careers.
The last time we saw a class in this neighborhood was in 2017, which saw two backs in Leonard Fournette and Christian McCaffrey go in the top 10 and produced multiple star backs late like Dalvin Cook, Alvin Kamara, Joe Mixon and Aaron Jones. We also watched guys like James Conner, Kareem Hunt and Chris Carson have strong stretches. Even quality role players like Jamaal Williams, D’Onta Foreman, Samaje Perine and Marlon Mack came out of this class.
The 2025 running back crop has a long way to go to reach those heights but drafters will find several intriguing names that will matter as early as their rookie season in this year’s class.
Ashton Jeanty, Boise State
Ashton Jeanty’s storied college career has finally come to an end but his journey as a future fantasy monster is just beginning.
If you’re looking at any statistics list for collegiate running backs last season, Jeanty’s presence might make you think you’ve made a mistake and filtered for two seasons. He had 2,601 rushing yards last season, No. 1 in the FBS and besting the second-place finisher, Cam Skattebo, by almost 1,000 yards. He scored 30 total touchdowns.
The tape backs up the production for Jeanty. He’s a powerful, compact runner who maintains excellent contact balance. His stout frame doesn’t create a large strike zone for tacklers and he’s difficult to track down in congested traffic at the line of scrimmage. His whopping 5.25 yards after contact per rush attempt shows just how electric he was at creating plays on his own.
Jeanty is bound for the upper half of the first round. I struggle to see him getting out of the top 10, with the Bears being his possible floor and even a potential trade-up target for a lurking team. At some point, in a class lacking in blue-chip talent, teams will just be weighing much lower grades vs. Jeanty. The Boise State product might not be a Saquon Barkely-level prospect but many evaluators have him grouped with guys like Bijan Robinson and Ezekiel Elliott, who were featured backs early in their NFL careers.
Omarion Hampton, UNC
It feels as if Omarion Hampton has settled in as the consensus RB2 in this class. This crop of running backs after Jeanty is both deep and talented, so someone could push him with a strong landing spot in the post-draft phase of rookie analysis. That being said, Hampton is a really talented back and fits into the mold of players at the position I like.
At 221 pounds, Hampton has good size and doesn’t lack for explosive ability. When he gets a lane, he can gash defenses. He’s hard to bring down and runs with good balance and lower-body strength. If you don’t get out of the way, he’s going to barrel into you.
Hampton lacks some nuance and makes mistakes while identifying lanes. There are some ...
