Ian Hartitz is looking ahead to 2025 with his way-too-early 2025 fantasy football rankings, so let's dive into the running back position:

You: It's entirely too early to rank and tier RBs ahead of the 2025 season.

Me: So what?

Presenting: My way-too-early breakdown of the *fantasy* RB landscape ahead of next season. We'll assume full-PPR scoring. As always: It's a great day to be great.

Interested in my way-too-early QB Rankings and Tiers for 2025? Check 'em out here!

2025 Fantasy Football Rankings - Running Back Tiers

Tier 1: League-winning ballers

RB1: Eagles RB Saquon Barkley

  • One cool stat: Nobody was tackled at the one-yard line and did NOT score a TD on the same drive more than Barkley (11 times!) in 2024. Sheesh.
     
  • Offseason storyline to watch: Will the tush push be outlawed? I doubt it, but yeah—the only real potential red flag for Barkley ahead of 2025 is simply the idea that nobody can be that freaking good two seasons in a row. 28 in February, we aren't looking at age cliff concerns just yet, and Barkley will once again profile as one of the league's most-fed RBs behind arguably the game's single-best offensive line. The "players with X amount of touches in a season regress afterward" studies are often noisy due to small and arbitrary sample sizes. Consider this: Barkley would have been the PPR RB9 last season without scoring a single touchdown. Anyone actively fading the man in 2025 is simply betting on injuries that don't even exist.

RB2: Falcons RB Bijan Robinson

RB3: Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs

  • One cool stat: Gibbs' 6.4 yards per touch is the ninth-highest mark among any RB with at least 200 touches in a season since 2000. There really wasn't a more dangerous back in the run and pass game last year.

 

  • Offseason storyline to watch: The absence of Ben Johnson will force Gibbs and company to at least somewhat adjust to a new play-caller. The return of four offensive line starters and basically every meaningful key party elsewhere makes it unlikely the Lions revert back to pre-2022 form; just realize a small crack in the continuity at hand here adds at least some hesitation to (again) projecting Gibbs for a monster season, although on the other hand, maybe the next OC will be more willing to split the backfield 60/40 in his favor.

Tier 2: Elite, but look at them, they're OLD

RB4: 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey

  • One cool stat: CMC (22.1) joins Jim Brown (20.8) and LaDainian Tomlinson (20.3) as the only RBs in NFL history to average at least 20 PPR points per game.
     
  • Offseason storyline to watch: McCaffrey went on the record in early January saying he's already close to being fully recovered from his season-ending knee issue. So with the assumption of good health, will the 49ers make public statements about a newfound plan to limit McCaffrey's workload? CMC posted 88%, 94%, and 82% snap rates once fully healthy last season even after Jordan Mason's rock-solid performance in his absence, so Kyle Shanahan letting it be known that he plans to embrace more of a platoon at the position would be the biggest factor in dropping McCaffrey down the ranks in the absence of a newfound injury.

RB5: Ravens RB Derrick Henry

  • One cool stat: Henry racked up a league-high eight games with at least 15 carries and an average of 5.5 yards per rush. Saquon Barkley (6) was the only other RB with more than five such games.
     
  • Offseason storyline to watch: Will the Ravens continue to largely ignore their offensive line? They replaced three starters just fine this past offseason, but their left side of the offensive line in Ronnie Stanley and Patrick Mekari are both free agents. Ultimately, even this isn't *that* big of a concern thanks to the gravity of Lamar Jackson: Ravens RBs have ranked 3rd, 1st, 7th, 5th, 6th, and most recently 2nd in rush yards BEFORE contact per carry since 2019.

Tier 3: Overall RB1 upside

RB6: Dolphins RB De'Von Achane

  • One cool stat: Achane led all RBs in PPR points from purely receiving production last season–a full 38.9 more points than the next-closest back Alvin Kamara. The pint-sized speedster even flashed the ability to win as a true WR on the outside.
     
  • Offseason storyline to watch: What sort of offseason moves will the Dolphins make to both their offensive line and backfield? Both starting guards Robert Jones and Liam Eichenberg are unrestricted free agents, while Raheem Mostert turns 33 in April, and it's unclear if Jaylen Wright did enough to earn another chance in the rotation. This spot will hold up just fine if Achane's pass-catching and explosiveness are again featured in something close to a three-down role, but more of a clear-cut committee could result in a light bump down the ranks.

RB7: Rookie RB Ashton Jeanty

  • One cool stat: Jeanty's 2,601 rush yards last season are good for the second-highest single-season mark in college football history behind only Barry Sanders (2,628).
     
  • Offseason storyline to watch: Will Jeanty land on a roster with a dire need for a three-down workhorse (Dallas? Denver? Minnesota?), or be drafted to a team that plans to use him in more of a 1A/1B situation? The talent at hand and expected first-round capital should result in plenty of year-one touches regardless; just realize this RB7 standing is based on the former coming to fruition–something in the RB2 range would be more reasonable should Jeanty land on an NFC West or South squad.

RB8: Colts RB Jonathan Taylor

  • One cool stat: JT ended the season with 100-plus total yards in five consecutive games–good for the longest active streak in the NFL.
     
  • Offseason storyline to watch: Will Anthony Richardson be given a full leash as the team's unquestioned starter? On the one hand, his gravity in the read-option game will theoretically widen rushing lanes for JT. On the other hand, Richardson nearly had as many rushing TDs inside the five-yard line (4 vs. 5) as Taylor last season, and his extended plays are more likely to end in scrambles than fantasy-friendly checkdowns. The presence of a pocket passer at QB would lock in JT's rushing share inside the five-yard line and give him a better opportunity to reach 2021's overall RB1 heights.

Tier 4: You know what you're getting, and it's awesome

RB9: Packers RB Josh Jacobs

  • One cool stat: Jacobs racked up an NFL-high 97 missed tackles forced on the ground last season. It's the second time in three years that he's led the league in this metric.
     
  • Offseason storyline to watch: Did the Packers really want to give Jacobs a whopping 337 touches last season? Or did the near season-long absence of third-round pick MarShawn Lloyd prohibit Matt LaFleur from implementing more of a committee approach as he did with Aaron Jones, Jamaal Williams, and AJ Dillon in the past? Offseason coachspeak about this could drop Jacobs a few spots down the ranks, although it'd still be tough to overly bicker about the upside of the clear lead back inside the league's reigning eighth-ranked scoring offense.

RB10: Rams RB Kyren Williams

  • One cool stat: Williams has scored 31 TDs in 28 games over the past two regular seasons. Christian McCaffrey (21 in 20 games) is the only other RB to average at least one score per game since 2023.
     
  • Offseason storyline to watch: Will Matthew Stafford still be the Rams' QB next season? Stafford restructured his contract last July, effectively turning his deal into a one-year stint by giving up many 2025 guarantees. Williams' efficiency as both a rusher and (especially) receiver truly wasn't anything special last season; moving on to a less-proven QB could prevent the rising fourth-year back from having as many fantasy-friendly goal-line opportunities. 

RB11: Texans RB Joe Mixon

  • One cool stat: Mixon was the RB2 in PPR points per game (21.2) behind only Saquon Barkley (22.7) in Weeks 1-14 … but then worked as the RB37 (8.2) on a per-game basis during the fantasy playoffs in Weeks 15-17.
     
  • Offseason storyline to watch: Are the Texans content to (again) feature Mixon as the team's undisputed three-down back? They boast the league's second-most expensive offensive line ahead of 2025 and managed to enable Mixon to largely great fantasy heights even with CJ Stroud badly regressing from his rookie campaign. Really, the only non-injury (or age cliff) factor that could overly drop Mixon from this spot would be a major offseason move in free agency or the draft to add the sort of competition that would make a newfound committee exceedingly likely.

RB12: Saints RB Alvin Kamara

  • One cool stat: Kamara really hasn't ever busted in fantasy land. His finishes in PPR points per game since entering the league in 2017: RB4, RB4, RB8, RB1, RB5, RB13, RB3, and most recently RB5.
     
  • Offseason storyline to watch: Are the Saints able to supply any sort of juice to their offense while dealing with the league's worst salary cap situation? They currently boast -$57.7 million in effective cap space–nearly $20 million under the next most-screwed team. PFF's reigning 22nd-ranked offensive line isn't exactly ideal, and there really doesn't seem to be an easy way to necessarily improve on Derek Carr. Honestly, keeping things as is might not be the worst thing for Kamara's volume considering Carr's tendency to force-feed him the ball in the passing game: Only the Broncos and Jets have targeted their RBs more than the Saints over the past two seasons. 

RB13: Panthers RB Chuba Hubbard

  • One cool stat: Chuba managed to average 1.16 rushing yards over expected per carry last season (Next-Gen Stats). The only RBs better on 200-plus carries? Derrick Henry (+1.77) and Saquon Barkley (+1.62). Pretty good company!
     
  • Offseason storyline to watch: What will the recovery timeline look like for Jonathon Brooks (knee)? Another late-season ACL recovery is far from ideal for the rookie, although his absence sets up (another) potential workhorse role for Hubbard during (at least) the first few months of the season. Of course, Carolina might feel compelled to add another high-end party to the position with Miles Sanders profiling as a likely cut candidate.

Tier 5: You could imagine a top-10 finish

RB14: Buccaneers RB Bucky Irving

  • One cool stat: Over the last 10 years only three RBs have averaged north of four yards after contact per carry with a minimum of 200 carries in a season: 2021 Nick Chubb, 2018-19 Derrick Henry … and 2024 Bucky Irving.
     
  • Offseason storyline to watch: Will the Bucs look to make a big move at RB? It was great to see OC Liam Coen embrace Irving as a legit every-down back despite his much-discussed diminutive size, but it's possible that was more so due to Rachaad White's inefficiency than anything. Adding a high-ish quality free agent, or a day two rookie, could be the difference between ranking Irving as a legit low-end RB1, or more of an upside RB2 (as he is here).

RB15: Bills RB James Cook

  • One cool stat: Cook converted just 2.3% of his touches into scores during the 2022-23 seasons–41st among 53 qualified backs. But in 2024? Cook's 7.5% TD rate was easily first among 51 qualified backs. The latter mark is good for the seventh-highest mark among any RB with 200-plus touches in a season since 2000.
     
  • Offseason storyline to watch: Will OC Joe Brady leave for a head coaching job? If so, a future OC might not be as keen to keep feeding Cook the rock near the goal line. We've already seen Ty Johnson (free agent) mightily eat into Cook's receiving workload; it'd be tough to paint too high of an upside scenario should this backfield devolve into far more of a three-headed scenario.

RB16: Bengals RB Chase Brown

  • One cool stat: Brown had a rather meh 39% snap rate and worked as the RB33 in PPR points per game (11) in Weeks 1-8 before Zack Moss was sidelined with a season-ending neck injury. After? Brown played on an elite 85% of the offense's snaps and averaged 20.9 PPR points per game–the fourth-highest mark among all RBs.
     
  • Offseason storyline to watch: How many resources will the Bengals devote to their backfield alongside Brown? You'd think his second-half production would warrant far more of a featured role to start the 2025 season relative to last year if Moss is the only real competition, but adding a top-100 draft pick into the equation could make things quite a bit more interesting.

Tier 6: Veterans with plenty of potential to surprise

RB17: Jets RB Breece Hall

  • One cool stat: Hall's offensive line situation has been as bad as anyone over the past three years: Only Titans RBs have averaged fewer yards before contact per carry than the Jets since 2022.
     
  • Offseason storyline to watch: Pretty much everything. The Jets need a new head coach and offensive coordinator. Possibly a new QB. Morgan Moses and Tyron Smith are free agents. Could the Jets look to move on from Hall in the last year of his contract? The 23-year-old explosive pass-catching RB still has the profile of a super duper star in fantasy land, but it remains to be seen if that opportunity will be afforded in a suitable manner in New York.

RB18: Seahawks RB Kenneth Walker

  • One cool stat: Walker forced a missed tackle on a ridiculous 39.9% of his carries in 2024. How great is that number? 2021 Javonte Williams (31%) and 2020 Nick Chubb (30.5%) are the only other RBs to have also cleared 30% over the past 10 years.
     
  • Offseason storyline to watch: PFF's reigning 31st offensive line ranked 30th in rush yards before contact per carry. Seattle is one of just four teams with under $25 million devoted to the offensive line ahead of 2025. They have spent *one* top-50 pick on the position over the last eight drafts. So yeah: PLEASE upgrade the big uglies up front, Seattle. Pretty please. Also, keep an eye on their next OC; Zach Charbonnet is talented enough in his own right to feasibly turn this into a fairly evenly split committee.

RB19: Cardinals RB James Conner

  • One cool stat: Conner has gone for 1,000-plus total yards and eight TDs in each of the past four seasons. The only other RBs to do that: Joe Mixon and Derrick Henry. Great day to be great.
     
  • Offseason storyline to watch: The Cardinals used the 66th overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft on Trey Benson for a reason, yet the rookie only racked up more than five touches in four games—each decided by 20-plus points. Conner signed a two-year, $19 million extension in November; he's clearly locked in as the team's featured back, but offseason hype around Benson could make this a more likely committee situation ahead of 2025.

RB20: Lions RB David Montgomery

  • One cool stat: Only four RBs have gained at least 1,000 total yards in each of their first six seasons since 2010: Josh Jacobs, Alvin Kamara, Ezekiel Elliott … and Montgomery!
     
  • Offseason storyline to watch: Montgomery signed a two-year, $18.25 million extension in October, and Jahmyr Gibbs also isn't going anywhere. This leaves Monty with the same potential "problem" as Gibbs: What if a new OC decides to shake up the rotation? This wouldn't shoot Monty too far down the ranks or anything, although perhaps a new face in charge of the offense would feel compelled to make it less of a 50/50 split and more of the Gibbs show compared to the past two years.

Tier 7: We're saying there's a chance

RB21: Chiefs RB Isiah Pacheco

  • One cool stat: Pacheco's explosiveness and tackle-breaking ability simply weren't the same in 2024. Coming back from a broken fibula obviously played a role in the later-season performance, but still: Pacheco turned just *one* of his 83 carries into a gain of 15-plus yards–the third-lowest rate (1.2%) in the league ahead of only Braelon Allen and Gus Edwards.
     
  • Offseason storyline to watch: Will the Chiefs return Kareem Hunt to the backfield? We only saw two games of the Pacheco RB1 experience before he had to return from injury and split things up with Hunt down the stretch. However, those two games were pretty awesome: Pacheco racked up 18 and 24 combined carries and targets on 80% and 66% snap rates. Pacheco could warrant something closer to borderline RB1 treatment *if* the Chiefs largely refrain from adding any serious potential backfield competition, while the return of Hunt and the addition of a talented rookie could push him down these ranks even further.

RB22: Patriots RB Rhamondre Stevenson

  • One cool stat: Last year Stevenson became just the ninth RB to fumble at least seven times in a single season since 2010.
     
  • Offseason storyline to watch: Will new Patriots OC Josh McDaniels still view Stevenson as the team's undisputed lead back? Antonio Gibson was actually quite awesome with his opportunities last year. The weighting of that potential committee could be the difference between Stevenson profiling as a potential cheap workhorse in fantasy … or a dead zone trap.

RB23: Giants RB Tyrone Tracy

  • One cool stat: As much as Tracy's receiving ability was lauded as a former WR convert, the early returns weren't exactly great in 2024: His 40.6 PFF receiving grade was the third-worst mark among 58 qualified backs, as his six drops and 13.6% drop rate were the fourth-worst marks at the position.
     
  • Offseason storyline to watch: Are the Giants content with their 2024 fifth-round pick leading the backfield moving forward, or will more resources be added to the position? It'll be tough to get out of Devin Singletary's contract for at least another year, and adding an early-ish round RB to the equation wouldn't help the projection here.

RB24: Titans RB Tony Pollard

  • One cool stat: The common sentiment for Pollard in 2023 was that he lost his elite ability to pick up yards after contact because he was still recovering from injury. Well, his 2024 bounce-back campaign certainly seemed to help add credence to that idea:
    • Pollard yards after contact per carry:
      • 2024: 3.4 (No. 6 among qualified RBs)
      • 2023: 2.9 (No. 16)
      • 2022: 3.8 (No. 1)
      • 2021: 3.6 (No. 5)
      • 2020: 3.6 (No. 5)
      • 2019: 4.5 (No. 1)
         
  • Offseason storyline to watch: Can the Titans improve the offensive line (PFF's 28th-ranked unit to end 2024) and get someone under center that actually provides a semblance of weekly scoring upside? If not, Pollard will be tough to overly get behind as a (talented) 1.A piece of a committee that was pretty evenly split whenever Tyjae Spears was healthy enough to suit up.

RB25: Bears RB D'Andre Swift

  • One cool stat: Just 34% of Swift's carries resulted in three or more yards after contact–the third-lowest mark among all RBs with at least 150 carries last season.
     
  • Offseason storyline to watch: Will new Bears head coach Ben Johnson view Swift as a true three-down back? Roschon Johnson already started to eat into Swift's goal-line role last season—the addition of another party would make it awfully unlikely that Chicago hands Swift nearly 300 touches again.

Tier 8: You can see a path to excellence after 6-10 beers

RB26: Jaguars RB Travis Etienne

  • One cool stat: Etienne was actually outperformed by backup RB Tank Bigsby a lot last season. Like, a lot a lot.

 

  • Offseason storyline to watch: Do the Jaguars still view Etienne as their no-doubt lead back? He's only under contract for one more season and was getting periodically bypassed on the depth chart down the stretch of 2024 (at least in terms of touches). Now, he was dealing with early-season shoulder and hamstring injuries, and this offensive line has been ROUGH over the past two seasons, but yeah: The former first-round pick hasn't exactly earned the benefit of the doubt after a very strong 2022 campaign.

RB27: Commanders RB Brian Robinson

  • One cool stat: Robinson has actually been quite adept as a receiver despite his stereotype as an early-down grinder: His average of nine yards per reception is the seventh-highest mark among 69 RBs with at least 50 targets over the past three seasons. ESPN's advanced receiver rating has him ranked eighth overall among 151 qualified backs during the same span!
     
  • Offseason storyline to watch: What sort of moves will Washington make in their backfield? Simply bringing back Austin Ekeler would position B-Rob for another 250-ish touch pace with good health, but some sort of bigger investment in the draft or free agency could complicate things inside of an offense that will continue to have limited goal-line RB touches and targets as long as Jayden Daniels' dual-threat tendencies persist.

RB28: Buccaneers RB Rachaad White

  • One cool stat: Only two RBs have a higher overall score than White in ESPN's advanced receiver ratings over the past two years: Austin Ekeler and Christian McCaffrey.
     
  • Offseason storyline to watch: Was Tampa Bay's decision to give White just three total touches in his final 120 minutes of action last season simply due to playing in must-win games? Or is the plan moving forward to ALWAYS fully feature Bucky Irving? Hell, the addition of a third RB to the committee could hurt the roles for both players. White profiles as more of a FLEX-with-benefits RB3 handcuff target regardless; just realize a three-RB partnership would be really tough to get behind for all parties involved.

2025 Fantasy Football RB Rankings - Incumbent Free Agents

Note that this list refrained from discussing RBs from the Browns, Steelers, Cowboys, Chargers, Broncos, and Vikings due to the reality that their incumbent lead RB is entering free agency. A quick note on those players:

  • Browns RB Nick Chubb: Averaged just 3.3 yards per carry upon returning from his devastating knee injury–45th among 46 RBs with at least 100 carries last season.
     
  • Steelers RB Najee Harris: Maybe not the most explosive back in the world, but does rank a respectable eighth in missed tackles forced per carry (22.2%) over the past two seasons among 32 qualified RBs.
     
  • Cowboys RB Rico Dowdle: Led the entire NFL in percentage of carries to gain at least three yards after contact (51%) in 2024.
     
  • Chargers RB J.K. Dobbins: Averaged a stellar +0.6 rush yards over expected per carry in 2024–16th in the league and ahead of guys like James Conner (+0.48) and Chase Brown (+0.3).
     
  • Broncos RB Javonte Williams: Was electric before his brutal 2022 knee injury and does possess a three-down skill set, as evidenced by his 52 receptions in 2024.
     
  • Commanders RB Austin Ekeler: Eighth in yards per carry (4.8) and first in yards per reception (10.5) among 34 qualified backs; the veteran was a major dual-threat weapon for the Commanders' up-start offense in 2024.
     
  • Vikings RB Aaron Jones: Caught 50-plus passes for the third time in four seasons; Jones is still an explosive committee piece at worst even if it's unlikely anyone signs up to hand him another 300-plus touch workload.

Additionally shoutout to some of the league's top-tier handcuffs: Falcons RB Tyler Allgeier (586 career carries and targets with ZERO fumbles or drops!), Cardinals RB Trey Benson (still the clear-cut next-man-up behind James Conner), Rams RB Blake Corum (one injury to Kyren Williams away from a true every-down role), 49ers RB Jordan Mason (averaged 95 rush yards per game in Weeks 1-7), Seahawks RB Zach Charbonnet (PPR RB8, RB7, RB1 finishes when thrust into the starting role), and Bears RB Roschon Johnson (maybe poised to be in Ben Johnson's David Montgomery/Jamaal Williams role?)

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