Free agency is almost here. Jobs will change, dollars will fly, and we will enjoy it–because what else is a football diehard supposed to do in March?

Today, we're answering the five biggest questions facing the free agent RB class:

  • Who is the most productive RB hitting the open market?
  • Which RB could be poised for much bigger things in a new environment?
  • Is there an RB ready to continue their comeback szn?
  • Which back looks like the wild card of the class?
  • Could someone benefit mightily from an injury discount?

As always: It's a great day to be great.

Looking for my breakdown on the top free agent QBs for 2025? Read here!

The Top 2025 Free Agent RBs In Fantasy Football

Father time can f*ck off: Aaron Jones

  • 2024 rushing stats: 255 carries, 1,138 yards, 5 TD
  • 2024 receiving stats: 51 receptions, 408 yards, 2 TD
  • Fantasy PPR points per game: 14.2 (RB20)

A-aron is fresh off racking up a career-high 306 touches as the focal point of the Vikings' offense. His prowess as a pass-catcher was also on full display: His 408 receiving yards were good for his most in a season since 2019.

And yet, it's tough to look at Jones' advanced numbers from last season and conclude that he was anything close to elite. The Vikings' 21st-ranked offensive line in rush yards *before* contact per carry didn't help matters; just realize Jones ranked 17th or worse in missed tackles forced per carry, explosive rush rate, yards after contact per carry, and successful rush rate alike among 31 qualified RBs.

Ball security was also a problem.

Most combined fumbles and drops among all RBs in 2024:

31 next December, the history of RBs putting forward RB1-caliber seasons in fantasy land at this age is nearly non-existent. That doesn't mean Jones can't return usable fantasy value in the right environment; just realize it's almost a certainty that we've seen the best ball of 33's career already.

Ideal landing spot: Chiefs

While it's easy to put pretty much any skill-position player in Kansas City and love the fit, Jones' dual-threat skill-set really would gel nicely here–his ability to still supply some explosive plays from time to time would particularly be a godsend for Patrick Mahomes and company.

Quit calling the man boring: Najee Harris

  • 2024 rushing stats: 263 carries, 1,043 yards, 6 TD
  • 2024 receiving stats: 36 receptions, 283 yards, 0 TD
  • Fantasy PPR points per game: 12 (RB25)

Let’s play a game!

  • Player A: 3.9 yards per carry, 2.9 yards after contact per carry, 20.7% missed tackles forced per rush, 5.8% explosive run rate
     
  • Player B: 3.9 yards per carry, 2.7 yards after contact per rush, 15.1% missed tackles forced per rush, 5% explosive run rate

Player A is Najee Harris from 2021 to 2024 with the Steelers, and Player B is David Montgomery from 2019 to 2022 with the Bears. Note that the latter back’s offensive line actually vastly out-produced the former when looking at rank in yards before contact per carry (Chicago ranked 15th vs. Pittsburgh’s 29th).

Now, it hasn't all been ideal: Harris put forward a not-so-great (read: bad) combination of explosive play and success rate last season.

 

Harris might not have the sort of provocative one-hitter quitter home-run speed that gets the people going, but the man has never missed a game while continuously proving to be a handful in one-on-one situations. I’m tired of the public calling this man boring.

The NFL's only RB with 1,000-plus rush yards in each of the past four seasons, Harris has three-down ability (caught 74 passes as a rookie!) and is fresh off a season in which he racked up a 24% missed tackle rate–good for the eighth-highest mark among all RBs with 150-plus carries.

Ideal landing spot: Bears.

Sign me up for Harris becoming Ben Johnson’s new D-Mont in Chicago. Yes, the elephant in the room here is Harris the reality that the Bears offensive line needs to step the f*ck up to be at all compared to the Lions' offensive environment.

Also, yes, Steelers offenses have ranked 21st, 26th, 28th, and 16th in scoring during his short career: The ability for Caleb Williams and company to flirt with even above-average status could provide Harris with a newfound fantasy-friendly heavy dosage of goal line attempts.

Comeback szn is in the air: J.K. Dobbins

  • 2024 rushing stats: 195 carries, 905 yards, 9 TD
  • 2024 receiving stats: 32 receptions, 153 yards, 0 TD
  • Fantasy PPR points per game: 14.8 (RB18)

On the one hand, Chargers RBs as a whole simply weren't very good in 2024:

  • 25th in tackles avoided per carry
  • 21st in yards after contact per carry
  • 21st in explosive rush rate

On the other hand, it was alarming how much more efficient Dobbins (4.6 yards per carry) was over Gus Edwards (3.6) and Kimani Vidal (3.6) alike. Maybe we didn't see Dobbins flash the same sort of long speed that was regularly on display during his days at Ohio State, but this was still a very good RB!

Most rush yards over expected per carry in 2024 (min. 175 carries):

  1. Derrick Henry (+1.77)
  2. Saquon Barkley (+1.62)
  3. Chuba Hubbard (+11.16)
  4. Bucky Irving (+0.94)
  5. Jahmyr Gibbs (+0.91)
  6. James Cook (+0.82)
  7. Josh Jacobs (+0.73)
  8. Bijan Robinson (+0.66)
  9. Jonathan Taylor (+0.61)
  10. J.K. Dobbins (+0.6)

Dobbins' last deal with the Chargers included just $50,000 in guaranteed money. A bigger salary will certainly be warranted this time around, but hey, Los Angeles has plenty of room to dish out some extra cash at the moment. Why not do so for the team's reigning leading rusher and alternate captain?

Ideal landing spot: Chargers

Dobbins' return from injury was a great story last season, although it's tough to think of a better spot for him than simply staying home in Los Angeles. Even traveling across the division to Kansas City or Denver would present more urgent committee concerns.

Ultimately, the Chargers are growing a big, badass offensive line, enjoy pounding the rock, and have proven willing to feed Dobbins 15-plus touches with regularity. That's a tough combination to complain about.

What if this is the real RB1 available?: Rico Dowdle

  • 2024 rushing stats: 235 carries, 1,079 yards, 2 TD
  • 2024 receiving stats: 39 receptions, 249 yards, 3 TD
  • Fantasy PPR points per game: 12.4 (RB24)

Dowdle entered the season seemingly in a committee alongside Ezekiel Elliott, but the starting job was all his by Week 9. And for good reason: The former undrafted free agent emerged as a perfectly solid RB despite working behind the league's 31st-ranked offensive line in yards before contact per carry.

Dowdle among 31 RBs with 150-plus carries in 2024:

  • Yards per carry: 4.6 (No. 10)
  • Yards after contact per carry: 3.3 (No. 10)
  • Yards over expected per carry: +0.3 (No. 16)
  • Missed tackles forced per carry: 19.1% (No. 15)
  • Explosive run rate: 8.1% (No. 15)

The consistency behind Dowdle's ability to pick up yards after contact was particularly impressive: He led the entire NFL in percentage of carries to gain at least three yards after contact (51%) in 2024.

It remains to be seen if Dowdle will be back in Dallas in 2025 and beyond. Either way, kudos to the 26-year-old talent for becoming the 10th RB in team history to post a 1,000-yard season on the ground.

Ideal landing spot: Broncos

It's unclear what the chances of Dowdle returning to Dallas are, but his "Let the blind lead the blind!" tweet doesn't exactly seem like a great sign!

Under the assumption that Rico isn't seeing eye to eye with the Jones family at the moment, why not move further west and team up with Sean Payton and company? Dowdle's ability to consistently churn out positive yards would be a godsend inside an RB room that struggled to get much of anything going last year, and joining the league's reigning 10th-ranked scoring offense could help the 26-year-old veteran improve upon his measly two-TD rushing total from 2024.

Those damn Injury Gods: Nick Chubb

  • 2024 rushing stats: 102 carries, 332 yards, 3 TD
  • 2024 receiving stats: 5 receptions, 31 yards, 1 TD
  • Fantasy PPR points per game: 7.9 (RB42)

Chubb's ability to get back on the field after 2023's brutal knee injury was a great start to a fairytale. Unfortunately, the story didn't exactly end well.

Chubb among 46 RBs with 100-plus carries:

  • Yards per carry: 3.3 (No. 45)
  • Yards after contact per carry: 2.7 (No. 38)
  • Yards over expected per carry: -0.25 (No. 38)
  • Missed tackles forced per carry: 19.6% (No. 25)
  • Explosive run rate: 4.9% (No. 46)
  • PFF rush grade: 62.5 (No. 44)

Now, the Browns' 22nd-ranked offensive line in yards before contact per carry didn't exactly help matters, but the 29-year-old veteran had previously never averaged below *five* yards per carry in a season. Last year was easily the worst version of Chubb we've ever seen.

It would make a lot of sense if Chubb has already played the best football of his career; we'll see if the Browns or someone else thinks otherwise during free agency–although his season-ending foot injury is also far from ideal.

Ideal landing spot: Vikings

A workhorse role somewhere is probably out of the question, but a cheap deal on potentially the best overall offense that Chubb has ever been a part of? Sign me up. Much like a boxer, even if Chubb's big-time speed might be fading, it'd make sense if the 227-pound bowling ball maintains enough power and strength to still provide some goodness in short-yardage situations. And if Chubb happens to re-find vintage form? Good luck to the rest of the NFC North.

More Free Agent Running Backs To Monitor

Jaylen Warren (RFA): He has already been tendered by the Steelers. Ranks first in tackles avoided per carry (29.8%) and sixth in explosive run rate (9.5%) since entering the league in 2022. While part of this is the reality that Warren's pass-catching prowess leads to him often getting to attack lighter boxes, a featured role consisting of around 200 carries with bunches of targets (similar to what Austin Ekeler had in Los Angeles) could be borderline erotic for fantasy purposes.

Jordan Mason (RFA): Only Derrick Henry and Saquon Barkley had more rushing yards than Mason during the first eight weeks of 2024. Even more impressive was the manner in which the 49ers' overqualified backup running back went about picking up his yards. Third in Next-Gen Stats' rushing yards over expected per carry, Mason finds himself in elite company when looking at some of his advanced rushing metrics. It'd make a lot of sense if Mason is (again) the next man up behind Christian McCaffrey in 2025.

Emanuel Wilson (ERFA): Quietly flashed as Green Bay's usual No. 2 RB behind Josh Jacobs. Top seven in both explosive rush rate and tackles avoided per carry among all RBs with 100-plus carries, Wilson more than made the most out of his opportunities, although it's unclear if he'll still be viewed as the backfield's second banana once 2024 third-rounder MarShawn Lloyd is healthy.

Raheem Mostert: 33 in April, Mostert's yards per carry cratered to a career-worst 3.3 in 2024–1.5 lower than anything he had ever previously achieved in a single season. An early-season chest injury didn't help matters; just realize it's tough to imagine another NFL squad signing up to overly feature the 10-year veteran even if Mostert doesn't have a ton of overall mileage (870 career touches) due to the majority of his early-career action coming on special teams.

AJ Dillon: Missed all of 2024 with a neck injury. "Quadzilla" never exactly lived up to his second-round billing with the Packers, but he was at least good enough to earn 200-plus touches in each of the 2021-2023 seasons. The one calling card for Dillon is his ability to fall forward; at a minimum, he's capable of serving as an early-down/short-yardage committee piece.

Javonte Williams: Williams was electric before his brutal 2022 knee injury, but sadly, it's been a while since we've seen that version of the former 35th overall pick. Times were particularly tough in 2024 despite running behind PFF's second-ranked offensive line, as Williams ranked second-to-last in yards over expected and after contact per carry last season.

Alexander Mattison: The one-time hurdle master looked like a shell of his former self in 2024, averaging a career-low 3.2 yards per carry while boasting the position's fourth-worst mark in rush yards over expected per rush. Hilariously bad around the goal line, it seems far from a given that Mattison factors into any backfield in 2025. 

Samaje Perine: Secured just 48 regular-season touches with the Chiefs last season despite the backfield seemingly being up for grabs at various points throughout the year. His pass-blocking prowess and ability to work in the two-minute drill could still earn him a committee job somewhere, but the 29-year-old veteran hasn't cleared 100 carries in a season since entering the NFL back in 2017.

Ty Johnson: Was a walking big play for the Bills last season, even if James Cook and Ray Davis were the top-two rushers on the team. Still, Johnson's average of 8.4 yards per touch ranked *first* among all RBs with 50-plus combined carries and receptions in 2024. The 27-year-old veteran has the pass-catching ability to work his way into a committee somewhere.

Kareem Hunt: Hunt's lack of long speed didn't help this offense's ongoing obstacle of creating explosive plays, but the man certainly proved to be a useful piece capable of picking up the needed yardage more times than not. Consider: Hunt's 55.5% success rate trailed only Bijan Robinson (60.2%) and Derrick Henry (58.8%) among 31 RBs with at least 150 carries! Perhaps the 29-year-old veteran will (again) wait until injuries occur in the regular season before signing anywhere; just realize Hunt's ability to at least get what's blocked could (again) land him some early-down work somewhere.

Cam Akers: He performed admirably in Minnesota last season (4.6 yards per carry) despite his plethora of lower-body injuries over the years. Seemingly a favorite of Kevin O'Connell, it'd make sense if Akers is back with the Vikings next season; here's to hoping the 25-year-old talent can continue to function free of the Injury God's wrath.

D'Onta Foreman: Has provided some surprisingly solid early-down juice in pit stops with the Titans and Panthers over the years, but his performance in Cleveland (3.3 yards per carry) left quite a bit to be desired. Foreman's one-dimensional game makes him far from a lock to make an active roster in 2025.

Kenneth Gainwell: The longtime Eagles backup has some juice in the open field and presents theoretical three-down ability based on his size (5'9", 200 lbs) and pass-catching ability (102 receptions since entering the NFL).

Khalil Herbert: The yards over expected King failed to eat into Chase Brown's every-down workload after being traded to Cincy, although his 27 touches on an elite 95% snap rate in Week 18 with Brown sidelined were certainly encouraging. There's sneaky high-end handcuff upside here should Herbert remain with the Bengals.