Historically Good: Diving Into The 2025 RB Class
Diving into the 2025 NFL Draft's strongest position group, the Runningbacks.
The 2025 NFL Draft may produce 30+ RBs drafted, a historic note. Every team in the NFL should look into drafting a RB this year, the class is just that good. It’s deep, and it’s got some superstars at the top. Without further ado, let’s dig into the sheer firepower of the 2025 NFL Drafts strongest position group, RB.
Below are summaries, listed traits, strengths, and weaknesses of 30 RBs in the 2025 NFL Draft.
My pro comparisons are stylistic comparisons, not career comparisons!
RB: Ashton Jeanty - Boise State
Ashton Jeanty is one of the most unique RB prospects ever. Coming off of a year with over 2,700 yards and 30 TDs, he has a phenomenal rhythm to his game, and incredible contact balance. Defenders bounce off of him, he invites contact and has an exceptional success rate doing so. He gets better as the game goes on, which is natural as he averaged 26.7 carries per game this past season. He runs low to the ground with a wide base, has fast feet and great vision. Jeanty’s also slept on as a pass catcher, Boise State featured him in the passing game more in 2023 than they did in 2024, and in 2023 he had 43 receptions for 569 yards and 5 TDs. Ashton Jeanty checks every box as a RB prospect, and rightly so will hear his name called within the first 10 picks of the 2025 NFL Draft barring anything very unforeseen.
Pro Comparison: LaDainian Tomlinson
RB: Omarion Hampton - North Carolina
Hampton is a high-volume workhorse with amazing size, strength and aggression. He’s a violent downhill threat who invites contact, and proceeds to bounce off of defenders. He wears defenses down with his physicality and blends it with phenomenal technique and fundamentals. With being a great runner, Hampton is also a tremendous pass protector, a top-3 pass protecting RB in the class in my opinion. He’s a complete, 3-down back who will naturally find a lot of success in the NFL. Another back who should find himself in the 1st round in April due to these traits, and tape he’s produced. Like Jeanty, Hampton checks a ton of boxes as a prospect and has big-time star upside as a RB similar to Josh Jacobs, a comp I bring up frequently.
Pro Comparison: Josh Jacobs
RB: TreVeyon Henderson - Ohio State
Henderson, who I think could be a toss-up for RB2 with Hampton, is another phenomenal 3-down back. He plays with a low center of gravity and sturdy base, and can consistently win reps that way. He’s smart, elusive, and plays with good patience. Many people question his vision, but personally I think it’s just fine, won’t limit him at all in the NFL. Henderson is an absolute home-run hitting RB, tremendous big-play upside on every snap who leaves teams in the dust naturally. With all that great running ability, Henderson is also undoubtedly the best pass protecting RB in the class, he’s a smaller back but blocks with more intensity than most OTs, it’s insanity. He also has a lot of untapped potential as a receiver, flashing great moments as a receiving-back. All in all, Henderson is a 3-down back who will find a ton of success in the NFL, and has a ton of upside.
Pro Comparison: Aaron Jones
RB: Kaleb Johnson - Iowa
“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” Kaleb Johnson is a very smooth moving RB who also portrays nice contact-physicality. With that, he also has very impressive vision & making it his strongest trait. He’s a patient yet decisive runner, and keeps his feet active while reading the blocks in front of him. He’s very reliable, you’ll rarely see him get tackled for a loss. He’s not overly speedy nor elusive, but makes up for it by being an all in all super productive runner on every rep. Kaleb’s traits and running style could make him a premier RB1 in the NFL, or he could be a standout in a committee, either way whoever drafts him should be pleased down the line with an all in all very solid RB.
Pro Comparison: Arian Foster
RB: Quinshon Judkins - Ohio State
Judkins is a productive runner with good size and great contact-aggression. He runs with good burst inside, and possesses a nice, efficient game when running outside. He’s a missed tackle generator with his athletic traits and picks up steam downhill through reps. He runs with patience, then displays a sudden burst to rush past traffic at the line of scrimmage. He has NFL-level physicality as a runner and should be able to translate to the NFL-game smoothly as a result. He’s not the most elusive back, and needs to display a better ability to evade tackles, but all in all Judkins has the ability and upside to be a very solid back in a committee, or even possibly being a standout by himself with fine 3-down upside.
Pro Comparison: Blend of Joe Mixon and David Montgomery
RB: Devin Neal - Kansas
A workload runner with good size and 4-years of production to back up a Day-2 draft selection. Neal is very agile and blends it with very good vision and patience. He runs behind his blocks while maintaining decisiveness, able to find a hole and use his good burst to find his location and execute perfectly. One thing I love about Neal, he prioritizes ball security in his game and as a result has a low fumble rate. Ball security is job security. He pushes through initial contact and falls forward for good gains, and as a result wins a ton of reps. He’s not overly powerful, but he makes up for it with his agility, decisiveness, vision, burst, and rhythm to his game.
Pro Comparison: Bigger Bucky Irving
RB: DJ Giddens - Kansas State
Giddens is a workhorse with nice size, and very solid production. He slips off of defenders and navigates traffic very well. He plays with good patience and vision, and provides value as a pass-catcher. He’s shown flashes of elite elusiveness and combining that with being a runner with nice size, it elevates his upside. He’s also shown really good lateral agility to burst past defenses at a nice rate. Giddens overall blend of talent could make him a workhorse in the NFL, picking up tough yardage at the rate he does will earn his way into a rotation very quickly and potentially be the face of a rotation soon.
Pro Comparison: Blend of Chuba Hubbard and TJ Yeldon
RB: Damien Martinez - Miami
Martinez is a productive three-year starter with nice power and physicality. He plays with very nice patience, allowing blocks to develop in front of him and then attacks the openings. He punishes defenders downhill at a very high rate. He has tremendous contact balance and agility to blend with it. He’s the definition of a ‘bruising back’ with his frame and just how he runs. He also has adequate hands as a checkdown option, providing clear reliability and as a result is another RB in this stacked class who will find his way onto the field early and often. Despite a lack of breakaway speed, he’s always productive with 6.2 yards per carry on 514 career attempts.
Pro Comparison: James Conner
RB: Kyle Monangai - Rutgers
Monangai goes under the radar a bit in a stacked class, but he’s a surefire Top-10 RB for me. He’s insanely quick and explosive, able to navigate traffic very efficiently, and makes elusive cuts at a very high success rate. Monangai plays with great physicality for a smaller back, and is also a punishing pass protector, one of the best pass protecting RBs in the draft. Monangai’s breakaway ability makes it very tough for defenses to close in and stop him, a big reason for his very solid production in the past 2 seasons. He runs with a low center of gravity and sturdy base to absorb contact, and stay fighting through every rep. In open space, he uses his vision and explosiveness to create big-plays. Monangai is one of my favorite ‘sleepers’ in the draft and a Top-100 player on my board.
Pro Comparison: TBD
RB: RJ Harvey - UCF
Harvey is a quick and elusive back who can create space just based on his athletic ability. He has impressive short-area burst and is tremendous when taking it to the outside. He has impressive contact balance and nice lower-body strength which has boosted his productivity as a whole and makes him an attractive prospect. Harvey will be 24-years old in his rookie season and does have a lengthy injury history, but the sheer skills make him a very interesting prospect. He plays with nice vision and rhythm as a runner, and displays great ability to zoom through gap-to-gap at a high level. Harvey’s been healthy the past 2-seasons, and had incredible productivity with 1,600+ total yards both years and 25 TDs this past season. If he can stay healthy, Harvey could be a fantastic RB.
Pro Comparison: Austin Ekeler
RB: Dylan Sampson - Tennessee
Sampson is a great instinctual RB with great run-after-contact ability. He’s well-rounded and plays with great patience and vision. He’s a high effort player who fights through every rep and wins a lot as a result. He has an impressive feel for timing, as he sees lane-development in real time and attacks. He slips off of defenders and when he hits his top-speed he can be lethal. He’s undersized, will need to improve ball security, and needs to improve as a pass protector, but overall Sampson has a nice ceiling and should contribute to a rotation fairly quickly.
Pro Comparison: JK Dobbins
RB: Cam Skattebo - Arizona State
Coming off of a tremendous season leading Arizona State to the CFP, Skattebo displays great physicality as a runner. He plays with nice patience, and seeks out contact to punish defenders, a true carnage creator. Skattebo has impressive contact balance, remaining upright when knocked through traffic. He has an average bowling ball back build and lacks explosive speed, and will have to improve his ball security in the league, but Skattebo will be a good committee back in the league tasked with creating carnage and punishing defenders.
Pro Comparison: Jaylen Warren
RB: Ollie Gordon II - Oklahoma State
The 2023 Doak Walker Award winner as the nation’s top RB, Gordon’s production fell off in 2024 but the stat sheet was misleading. When opposing defensive coordinators keyed in on Gordon, and stacked the box, they naturally shut the game down as Ollie was the focal point of Oklahoma State’s attack. I have faith in Ollie to pick his production back up, as he’s showcased a great demeanor for volume carries and gets going downhill at a nice rate. He has adequate burst with nice contact-balance. One thing I love about Gordon is his pass-protecting ability, as he’s one of the premier pass-protecting RBs in the class. If Ollie Gordon can find his 2023 rhythm, he has 3-down back upside and can be one of the best value picks in the 2025 draft.
Pro Comparison: Braelon Allen
RB: Jaydon Blue - Texas
Blue is a very quick, very agile back who shined at Texas in a deep-committee. He can make sharp turns at a very high rate due to his sheer athletic talent. Ran a 4.38 40-yard dash at the combine and more than backed it up on tape, showcasing elite speed. He can sneak past opposing defenses to consistently get into the 2nd & 3rd level, and makes magic happen in the open field. Blue likely won’t be anything more than a committee back in the NFL, as he’ll have a similar role as he had at Texas, but he can also be very good in a committee being the flashy, speedy, athletic option. His fumble rate is alarming, to say the least, but a few changes to his mechanics can help, he just needs a team to believe in the pure talent.
Pro Comparison: De’Von Achane
RB: Bhayshul Tuten - Virginia Tech
Tuten is one of the most explosive athletes at the RB position in this draft. He has rare track-like speed to make him a home-run threat on every rep. He shows nice contact balance with effective vision and very solid elusiveness. He has powerful lower-body strength to propel himself to the 2nd & 3rd level of opposing defenses. Like Blue, Tuten’s ball security was an issue, and will be something he needs to improve in the NFL. But his toughness, athletic ability, vision, elusiveness, combine all of that and it checks enough boxes to make up for fumble-issues, and he just needs an offense to see the pure talent and take a shot on him. You wish he was a bit bigger with the physicality of his runs, but he’s got tremendous big-play talent to make up for it.
Pro Comparison: Isiah Pacheco
RB: LeQuint Allen - Syracuse
One of the most versatile backs in the draft, Allen’s got solid size and speed to be a very important back in a rotation at the next level. He’s a fantastic receiving back, with incredible production in that area at Syracuse. He’s decisive as a runner and displays smooth tempo through his cuts. In a class with some really solid pass protecting RBs, LeQuint Allen is right there with them, one of the most technically advanced pass protectors in the draft showing his true love for the game. He follows his blocks at a very nice rate and shows off his reliability consistently, rarely messing up. He lacks elite burst, but makes up for it in a number of ways.
Pro Comparison: Rachaad White
RB: Woody Marks - USC
Marks is one of the better backs at balancing patience with decisiveness, he glides through lanes and is able to shake past defenders at a high rate. As a result, he displays explosiveness in his game, he’s highly experienced and adds value as a pass catcher, and evades tacklers in space. He doesn’t have much power in his game, and also lacks home-run type speed, but he doesn’t need it to succeed, his feel for the game in itself is huge, and will make him a nice committee back in the NFL.
Pro Comparison: Tyjae Spears with more mass
RB: Jarquez Hunter - Auburn
Hunter is a run-after-contact machine known for his character and work ethic around Auburn. He’s a compact back with fantastic lower-body strength and drags tacklers for extra yardage. He embraces contact and can handle a heavy workload, as he gets better with volume. He doesn’t have great burst, but he makes up for it with great decisiveness and quick downhill transition. Hunter also provides kick return and special teams ability, which is a plus for a Day-3 RB. He’s had consistent production, and has the makings to translate to the NFL very smoothly.
Pro Comparison: TBD
RB: Jordan James - Oregon
James is a reliable back, he doesn’t have any elite traits but he gets the job done. He displays a very nice processor with good vision, patience and decisiveness. He has solid burst and quickness to round out his game, he doesn’t have true breakaway speed, but gets the job done without it. He’s well rounded and should be able to find a role with an NFL team early and often as a result, one of the cleaner evaluations in this class.
Pro Comparison: Jerome Ford
RB: Brashard Smith - SMU
Receiver turned Running back, Smith lacks ideal size but makes up for it with his quickness and explosiveness. Naturally, Smith is one of the best receiving-backs in the draft, and he’s got fresh legs with only 253 career carries, so should have a long career in the making if he lands with a creative OC. Smith is incredibly versatile, being able to line up in multiple variants and serving many purposes within an offense, all in all Smith has the athleticism and playmaking tools to make him a fun piece in a committee.
Pro Comparison: Duke Johnson
RB: Raheim Sanders - South Carolina
Sanders is a bowling ball back with great physicality. He feels blocking developments in front of him and hits the hole with great intensity. He’s elusive in tight quarters and blend it with his power, he can be lethal in spots. He creates extra yards with his vision and cut quickness. Sanders isn’t overly elusive or athletic, but he’s capable enough in those areas to where it isn’t a glaring issue. He’s battled his share of injuries but when healthy he’s flashed a lot of productivity and has the technique to become a very solid rotational back in the NFL.
Pro Comparison: Brian Robinson Jr.
RB: Tahj Brooks - Texas Tech
Brooks is a volume workhorse who recorded 633 touches for Texas Tech over the last 2 seasons and was very productive with those touches. He rushed for 100+ yards in 19 of his last 22 games, he’s incredibly consistent with a great rhythm to his game. He sets up opposing defenders then makes sharp cuts and finds his way into the open field. He adds a ton of value as a receiving-back as well, he’ll catch anything thrown within his radius, showcasing his true reliability. Brooks’ productivity stands out, and as a result he’ll fit into an NFL RB room quickly.
Pro Comparison: Chase Brown
RB: Trevor Etienne - Georgia
Etienne is a low-mileage back with nice traits to evade early traffic and find his way into the open field. His explosiveness is modest, but he has showcased three-down ability. Etienne’s able to win with vision, elusiveness, and efficiency. He makes smooth transitions to cut and accelerate which help him a lot in the open field and can rocket him past the 2nd level of the defense. He doesn’t offer explosive playmaking speed, but it’s not his game, he builds his draft stock on sorting through blitzes, finding the openings, and stacks yards with nice wiggle.
Pro Comparison: TBD
RB: Kalel Mullings - Michigan
Mullings is a big back who surprisingly stood out in the Michigan backfield this year. He has outstanding size and muscle for the position, and flashes very solid agility. Mullings has a very solid game IQ and understands the little things, he knows where he needs to be at all times and produced at a high level doing so. He’ll add special teams value to a roster on Day 1, a very likable trait for Day-3 RBs like I mentioned earlier. You’d like to see his vision improve a little more, and add more creativity to evade in space, but he has the makings to be a solid rotational back.
Pro Comparison: Roschon Johnson
RB: Marcus Yarns - Delaware
A two-year starter who produced three-down ability in the FCS. Yarns runs with good patience and nice burst. He bounces suddenly to find himself in the open field, and jukes open-field defenders into misses. Yarns adds value as a pass catcher with nice route-running ability out of the backfield, specifically on wheel routes he’s a matchup nightmare for LBs. The competition Yarns faced is a big question, facing slower and smaller defenders than the other backs in the class, and I also wished he displayed more contact balance in his time at Delaware.
Pro Comparison: James Cook
RB: Lan Larison - UC Davis
Larison racked up a lot of accolades at UC Davis, due to his fantastic production in the past 2 years. Coming off of a year with 2,312 total yards and 23 TDs Larison improved his draft stock a ton. He showcased great patience and vision, then used his short-area burst to take off and accelerate into the open field. He plays bigger than his frame with good contact balance and displays a ton of consistency. He shines as a receiving back, one of the best in the class, and he’s a very willing pass blocker. He needs to develop more moves after the catch but he doesn’t have many weaknesses. He’ll be able to shine as a 3rd-down weapon in the NFL.
Pro Comparison: Tyler Allgeier
RB: Donovan Edwards - Michigan
Coming into the year, Edwards was thought to be one of the better RB prospects in this class. A massive disappointment throughout the year as he failed to withhold the RB1 spot at Michigan, but with that being said Edwards has nice traits as a runner. He has a really solid athleticism score and has all the tools to be a good RB in the league, but needs to put his skills all together. His burst, toughness and plus pad-level play is all notable. I want to see Edwards’ vision improve, and showcase more creativity in the open field, but he has upside to be a good backup in the NFL.
Pro Comparison: Ke’Shawn Vaughn
RB: Ja’Quinden Jackson - Arkansas
Jackson has an elite frame and has solid speed to pair with it. He has solid vision and powers through reps to keep runs going for the long haul. He has a lot of upside as a pass protector with his size and toughness, but it’s not quite where you’d want it to be. He lacks NFL burst to get to the 2nd level, his fumble rate is alarmingly high, and he lacks creativity as a runner.
Pro Comparison: TBD
RB: Corey Kiner - Cincinnati
Kiner is a consistent, productive, compact runner with nice aggressiveness who rarely gets brought down by the first tackler. He processes quickly and gets downhill in a hurry, and makes subtle adjustments to alter and avoid traffic. Kiner adds value as a pass-catcher with natural hands and accelerates nicely after the catch. He lacks great burst, and needs to improve his ball security, but all in all he could pave out a nice role in the NFL.
Pro Comparison: TBD
RB: Phil Mafah - Clemson
Mafah is a RB with a Linebacker-like frame, running at 234 lbs. He lacks initial quickness but is a volume runner, flashing as a workhorse at Clemson this past season. He accelerates through contact to finish reps strongly, and follows blocks at a very high level. He doesn’t offer much in the passing game which will limit his upside a lot, but he could find a role as an early-down backup in the NFL.
Pro Comparison: TBD
30 RBs listed!
This is a very fun RB class, with a lot of draftable guys and a lot of different flavors. There are even more RBs I left out of this as I haven’t watched enough, but this was a lot in itself!
My full RB rankings should be out in the near future, hopefully ranking all 30 of the guys listed in this article, from Ashton Jeanty to Jordan James to Corey Kiner this is a DEEP RB class.
Stay tuned for more draft content on here and everyday on my X.
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