With most of the big-ticket free agents already snatched up, it’s time to fully dive into draft season and begin our series of positional rankings, kicking things off with the running backs! As is the plan with all of these pieces over the next five-and-a-half weeks, I will present my top ten prospects with a compact breakdown of their strengths, weaknesses and context how I personally value them. And we’ll alternate between offense and defense, sort of contrasting their respective counterparts.

There’s been plenty of discussion about this RB class, with people going as far as calling it “generational”. While I believe that’s a bit of an overstatement, we do have an elite name at the top, one that could easily be number one in the rankings for many other years and great depth beyond that.

Let’s break them down:

 

1. Ashton Jeanty, Boise State

5’9”, 210 pounds; JR

 

No matter how you slice it, Jeanty is a top-ten overall prospect in this draft class, and while he arguably may not be quite as clean as Bijan Robinson a couple of years ago, he’s firmly in the tier right below him historically. He’s coming off one of the all-time great seasons for a college back, carrying the Broncos to a Mountain West title and a first-round bye in the CFP. This guy runs super low and follows his tracks with a great feel for how to get through tightly packed areas. While he could be a little more violent with sticking his foot in the ground when cutting back zone concepts, he displays impeccable pacing to execute gap-schemes with multiple pullers, naturally adjusting his stride length and gears. You never see him go down on first contact and he’ll sort of propel himself forward as he pushes off defenders around the line of scrimmage, before in space he can either cross up and swipe by guys in pursuit or drop his pads emphatically to bounce off them. I don’t believe Jeanty has elite start-stop quickness or long speed, but his low center of gravity and contact balance make him a nightmare to get on the ground. He never seems to fight passes, smoothly transitions up the field and is a no-nonsense runner after the catch. The two areas he’ll need to work on are prioritizing ball-security when he’s already being wrapped up and doing a better job of working inside-out in blitz pick-up.

 

Grade: Top five

 

 

2. Omarion Hampton, North Carolina

6’0”, 220 pounds; JR

 

Hampton looks and plays like an NFL running back with a thick, muscular build and an apparent appreciation for the physical nature of the game. He shows an excellent feel as an inside zone runner, to allow things to develop but hit creases with a purpose when they open up, yet on man/gap concepts he will keeps his shoulders parallel to the line of scrimmage and paces his steps adequately, with a surprising ability to get skinny through narrow creases. Although he can a little over-reliant on his speed to win the corner, you like seeing beat scraping linebackers that way, plus then he can curve his path to get North, turns his body away from reaching arms and runs behind his pads, giving tacklers little room to actually wrap him up. I wouldn’t call him a particularly creative open-field runner, in particular when he gets to the third level, but I love his indirect contact balance to shrug off tacklers from the side and then the re-acceleration to go the distance after being held up momentarily. Hampton isn’t going to give you a whole lot as a route-runner currently and has a tendency to clap at the ball, but he barely drops it and if he can eliminate those moments where he launches or dips into contact too much, he has the willingness and striking power to become an excellent pass-protector in order to be a true three-down player. He belongs in a tier by himself right behind Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty.

 

Grade: Top 20

 

 

3. Quinshon Judkins, Ohio State

6’0”, 220 pounds; JR

 

Judkins is one of the very few running backs, who you thought was ready to play in the NFL as a freshman based on size, speed and violence he ran the ball with. This is an every-down player, who can handle a heavy workload, who had plenty of homeruns spread throughout his career but even more so was able to grind down opponents with the cumulative effect his style brings. He has surprising agility to elude early penetration, his acceleration as he bends runs up the field and goes through the line of scrimmage really pops, and then he drops his pads with bad intentions. I wouldn’t call him the most intricate or conceptually advanced runner, who uses pacing or different footwork to his advantage, and too often he slightly overruns or actually bangs into his pullers on power/counter occasionally and creates muddy pictures for himself. Judkins doesn’t offer great creativity in the open field and has room for improvement for how to utilize stiff-arms, but how he uses that off-arm to help out his balance and the power to clear defenders swinging at him makes him a locomotive once he gets through the second level, plus then he has more wiggle to actually make a safety miss than they might expect. His receiving usage was largely limited to swing routes, but he does have reliable chops to take advantages of those opportunities. And although he’ll need to refine his technique, he packs the mass and mindset to embrace car-crash collisions with second-level blitzers.

 

Grade: Top 50

 

 

4. TreVeyon Henderson, Ohio State

5’10”, 210 pounds; SR

 

Henderson burst onto the scene as the next great freshman running back for Ohio State and while he never quite reached the heights that this promised, he leaves Columbus with over 4600 yards and 48 touchdowns from scrimmage. He can glide between lanes and momentarily stop behind blockers to make second-level defenders hesitate and then his explosion through the hole is breath-taking. He clearly got his shiftiness back in 2024, being able to teleport sideways effortlessly it seemed like to maneuver around defenders grasping for straws against him, he fends off guys in pursuit very well with his off-arm and he has legit breakaway speed, yet what I really like is the fact that he’ll drop his shoulder into the chest of an awaiting safety when needed. This is a smooth route-runner with soft hands and the ability to make subtle adjustments to his path to be incredibly dangerous in the screen game as well. Having said that, his vision between tackles can be a little spotty, as he’s more of a one-speed runner and you see him bump into the backs of his blockers more often than you’d like and I don’t believe he offers the type of raw strength or contact balance to survive glancing speed or plow through bodies. So re-creating a situation where his juice is paired with more of a hammer like Quinshon Judkins this past season may be an optimal strategy. What I love the most about Henderson though is that he looks like he’s at least 20 pounds heavier when stonewalling blitzing linebackers, as he urgently cuts down the space to them and stops them in their tracks with a solid base.

 

Grade: Second round

 

 

5. Cam Skattebo, Arizona State

5’10”, 215 pounds; RS SR

 

This dude’s a flat-out ball player, who will contribute as a runner, receiver and pass-protector. I’m not going to act like I considered Skattebo a legitimate high-end NFL prospect a year ago, but not only did he spearhead the Sundevils’ Big 12 title and CFP appearance as a 2300 scrimmage yard producer, he displayed tremendous growth individually. He’s built low to the ground with a dense frame, yet he’s shockingly light on his feet and makes subtle adjustments shifts to knife through gaps better than guys below 200 pounds. He’s very diligent with pacing his runs and dictating how defenders have to position themselves, along with accelerating full throttle throttle into imminent contact, to bleed out what’s available conceptually. Skattebo provides the mobility in his lower half to stack moves on top of each other, he runs with an incredible level of balance to re-gather and a determination that is second to none. On top of that, he’s a well-coordinated catcher of the ball who rapidly turns upfield and he brings the thunder as a personal protector. Now, he lacks the speed to cleanly win the corner on defenses or burn angles from defensive backs, while lacking a certain dynamism in space. Still, there are so many refined skills for the position that I’m willing to make him a workhorse back IF he can learn not to expose the ball to getting punched out, as he allows the elbow of his carrying arm to swing pretty far (ten fumbles across 753 total touches since 2022).

 

Grade: Early third round

 

 

6. Damien Martinez, Miami

6’0”, 220 pounds; JR

 

I’ve been a fan of Martinez from the first time I watched him as a true freshman at Oregon State. Across two seasons there, he was one of the most effective (outside) zone runners in the nation, with how attentively presses the front-side and doesn’t waste any movement once it’s time to go North, efficiently transitioning his momentum even when suddenly demanded and he has to do so off the “wrong” foot. Last year at Miami, we saw him execute more vertical concepts, where he could pull up linebackers and efficiently get to the opposite side of blocks/double-teams. This guy gets low in his cuts and reduces his frame very well to knife through creases, regularly pulling his pads through as two defenders converge on him from different sides. He displays excellent balance and body-control, to not allow arm-tackles or people trying to trip him, to hold him up a whole lot, he lands his hand to the crown of the helmet of pursuit defenders and is capable of stringing together moves in succession with no delay, including one of the best spins. I don’t think he has special burst to where you’d see some other guys get through a lane untouched and he’d benefit from pulling his knees up higher to get caught up in the trash down. Martinez was heavily underutilized in the passing game and is more of a body-catcher, but he does have the functional strength and showed the potential to become an excellent personal protector at Senior Bowl practices.

 

Grade: Third round

 

 

7. Kaleb Johnson, Iowa

6’0”, 225 pounds; JR

 

First and foremost, running a 4.57 with a 1.62 split at the combine was very underwhelming considering what Johnson had put on tape, and now you’re wondering what that’ll look like against NFL speed. However, that’s not representative of what I saw on tape and how often he was able to win foot-races against Big Ten defenses. This past season, he became a much more patient with keeping his shoulders square to the line of scrimmage on man concepts, he’s very efficient with planting/off either foot to cut back after stressing opponents horizontally and he’s very natural with using subtle shifts to his running path, as plays progress. Johnson pulls his knees and cleats up in a way that allows him to not get tripped up by trash down low and due to better pad-level, balance and stiff-arm utilization, he broke tackles at a significantly higher rate in 2024 compared to years past. At the same time, you see his loose hips and change-of-direction skills in the open field as well as an underneath option in the passing game, while he makes it a priority to get to and meet blitzers from different angles early on. I do believe he’s more someone who’ll force linebackers to take a wider path to the quarterback rather than that he can actually stun them, and while he’s improved in that area, too often he’ll still stop his feet instead of embracing collisions in the hole and maximizing yardage he could gain through contact.

 

Grade: Third round

 

 

8. Dylan Sampson, Tennessee

5’8”, 200 pounds; JR

 

Sampson burst onto the scene as a junior, leading the SEC in carries (258), rushing yards (1491) and touchdowns (22), as the steady drumbeat of the Volunteers offense. For a young buck, he already understands pacing pretty well on gap schemes with pulling linemen, alters his stride length behind bodies and then hits the accelerator right as the lane opens up for him to dart through. He stays tight to the backside of blockers on the move and then he can kind of play with defenders at the edge of the box, whether he pulls them in and then captures the edge with his burst or forces guys to sell out with working over the top of blocks, then puts on the breaks and makes them overrun the point of their meeting. The two things that really stand out about Sampson once he breaks into space is how well he fends off the reach of defenders in and his body coordination to evade contact yet not lose his balance with his feet not aligned to his upper body. For a slashing runner with the extra gear to split safeties, I appreciate his willingness to run into a pile in short-yardage situations. I did see him tip-toe around and bounce things out wide too much when Tennessee actually doesn’t face super-light boxes, where a gap should be open based on alignment alone and too often he gets pulled/twisted down when bodies around the line of scrimmage are able to just grab a piece of him. His usage as a receiver was very limited, but he does have soft hands and plays above his weight class as a protector.

 

Grade: Fringe top 100

 

 

9. Trevor Etienne, Georgia

5’9”, 200 pounds; JR

 

The younger brother of former Jaguars first-round RB Travis Etienne, Trevor comes in a little smaller, but showed exciting flashes early on already at Florida prior losing some shine last year at Georgia, when he was banged up for stretches. In terms of mobility in his lower half, the quick acceleration and how effortlessly he shifts gears, this is still a pretty exciting prospect. Although he doesn’t yet show the greatest vision and conceptual mastery, to where he doesn’t optimize lanes for himself and last year with the Bulldogs, I thought he was dancing around or spinning into contact more so, he’s does have a knack for getting skinny and navigating past congested areas, slithering between friend and foe along the way. He can kind of look like an ice-skater at times with the different stride lengths and abruptness of his cuts, which he can deploy in consecutive fashion, including a nasty dead-leg, and he slips through more tackles than his size might suggest. Now, he won’t drag along bigger bodies to grind out tough yards and seeing his breakaway run rate drop off by about 15% last year compared to previously is somewhat concerning, but what he provides as a receiver should give him a solid baseline for an NFL role. Etienne is sudden with how he releases out of the backfield, has the snappy hips to separate and sticky hands to make him an early contributor through that facet.

 

Grade: Early fourth round

 

 

10. LeQuint Allen Jr., Syracuse

6’0”, 205 pounds; JR

 

Allen is one of the most complete running backs in this class. He urgently approaches the line of scrimmage, but with enough lateral explosiveness to shift over a gap while not really losing speed and he finished with violence, often times steamrolling a flat-footed safety. He brings tremendous determination to churn out yardage through contact, but will also make overzealous pursuit defenders miss with jump-cuts and occasionally even leap over diving tackling attempts. As a receiver, he’s produced rare numbers for the college game with the burst out of his stance, how clean he is in his transitions, the soft hands and how efficiently he navigates around friend and foe in the screen game. Plus, he does a great job of scanning through the protection, meeting blitzers earlier or presenting himself as a target underneath. There’s definitely room for growth with how he manipulates first- and second-level defenders, forcing them to leverage themselves incorrectly and he’s more of an upright runner without the flexibility to reduce his surface area and wiggle himself through skinny creases. What limits him from being a bonafide RB1 at the NFL level however are his lack of creativity in the open field and the fact you did see him get caught from behind on multiple occasions by ACC defenders. Still, I believe he has three-down potential as part of a one-two punch and to me he is criminally underrated based on where you typically find him on consensus boards.

 

Grade: Fourth round

 

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Just missed the cut:

 

R.J. Harvey, UCF

5’8”, 195 pounds; RS SR

 

Harvey has been one of the most fun and productive backs in the country over the last two years (basically 3000 combined rushing yards). He kind of glides before it’s time to stick his foot in the ground and shift into another gear. You see a natural feel for how to alter pace and stride length, he’s incredibly twitchy to get himself out of trouble and he’s a master at disassociating his upper and lower half, reducing his surface area for tacklers as he navigates around defenses. Obviously he can make third-level defenders look silly with sudden moves and has the 4.4 speed to go the distance, but it’s his ability pop up after bouncing off hits or squirm through converging tacklers for additional yardage that really surprised me. Having said, he’s overly reliant on taking advantage of superior speed against the competition he faced and bouncing runs, while not having the raw strength to effortlessly clear arm-tackles by bigger bodies around the line of scrimmage. In the passing game, he needs to be firmer with his strike in blitz pick-up and there’s some inefficiency with his routes as well as leaving his feet unnecessary for the ball, but he can run by guys if you ask him to go deep, he’s very deceptive in how he sets up screens and you want to tap into those open-field skills through that avenue as well.

 

 

Bhayshul Tuten, Virginia Tech

5’9”, 205 pounds; SR

 

Tuten is one of the most explosive testers we‘ve seen for the position at the combine and boy, does that show up on the field. He‘s most comfortable in a wide zone scheme with his burst to capture the edge but also the vision to spy voided lanes on the inside, gaining speed as he bends upfield. Not only does his footwork enable him to tightly navigate around bodies on the perimeter, but his curvilinear acceleration, hip mobility to slightly adjust his tracks and top gear make him a homerun hitter when given space. You legitimately split safeties in two-high looks when he turns on the afterburners. Tuten was heavily underutilized in the passing game in part because of he dealt with drop issues until eliminating those this past season and he‘s been a sub-par protector throughout his career. He does present a fast threat to the flats and can be a dangerous option in the screen game. Yet if you can get over the fact that he won‘t give you a whole little churning out yardage throughout contact around the line of scrimmage, he‘s a highly exciting option as part of a committee. What he needs to correct is bracing for contact at an angle in order to avoid having the ball slapped or punched out (nine combined fumbles over the last two years).

 

 

Devin Neal, Kansas

5’11”, 205 pounds; SR

 

In terms of size, natural feel as a runner and production, Neal has been one of the top backs in college football over the last couple of years. He’s a shifty runner with impressive start-stop ability, who pairs excellent patience to stress defenses horizontally before getting upfield as well as one of the best jump-cuts to get to the opposite side of blocks after pulling guys up with square pads initially. Although, he will stop his feet at times when he’s about to approach condensed space when he should just hit it and take what is there. He slightly alters his tracks based on multiple pursuit angles, but then can cut on a dime and makes defenders or make them look like they’re stuck in quick-sand when he gives them a little stutter and then accelerates away from them. As a receiver, he does a good job making himself available, is confident in his hands and consistently makes the first man miss after the catch, although he was almost purely utilized on screens and as a dump-off option flaring out into the flats. Ultimately, he may be considered more of a change-of-pace option rather than someone who can moonlight as a legit RB1 without special initial burst, violence or long speed, but he’ should be a productive player in the league for a long time.

 

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The next names up:

D.J. Giddens (Kansas State), Ollie Gordon II (Oklahoma State), Marcus Yarns (Delaware), Brashard Smith (SMU), Tahj Brooks (Texas Tech), Jordan James (Oregon), Raheim Sanders (South Carolina) & Jarquez Hunter (Auburn)