As part of Fantasy Life's year-long NFL Draft coverage, I'll be heading to Mobile this week to cover the Senior Bowl — filing reports, updates, and interviewing players. This is the second of three preview pieces I'll be writing ahead of the game. You can find the QB preview here, and the pass catchers here.

Here's my latest NFL Mock Draft and here's my colleague Matthew Freedman's latest mock. And here is my…  

2025 Senior Bowl Running Back Preview

The RBs participating in this year's Senior Bowl:

  • Donovan Edwards (Michigan)
  • Ollie Gordon II (Oklahoma State)
  • RJ Harvey (UCF)
  • Jarquez Hunter (Auburn)
  • Woody Marks (USC)
  • Damien Martinez (Miami)
  • Kalel Mullings (Michigan)
  • Devin Neal (Kansas)
  • Brashard Smith (SMU)
  • Bhayshul Tuten (Virginia Tech)
  • Marcus Yarns (Delaware)
  • Cam Skattebo (Arizona State)
  • Trevor Etienne (Georgia)
  • LeQuint Allen (Syracuse)

News: Kansas State RB DJ Giddens was unable to participate in the postseason all-star circuit due to an undisclosed upper-body injury. He is expected to be healthy for the NFL Combine next month.

Thor Nystrom's Pre-Senior Bowl RB Rankings

  1. Devin Neal (Kansas)
  2. RJ Harvey (UCF)
  3. Cam Skattebo (Arizona State)
  4. Damien Martinez (Miami)
  5. Ollie Gordon II (Oklahoma State)
  6. LeQuint Allen (Syracuse) 
  7. Jarquez Hunter (Auburn) 
  8. Bhayshul Tuten (Virginia Tech) 
  9. Marcus Yarns (Delaware)
  10. Kalel Mullings (Michigan) 
  11. Trevor Etienne (Georgia) 
  12. Woody Marks (USC) 
  13. Brashard Smith (SMU) 
  14. Donovan Edwards (Michigan)

Most to Prove: Ollie Gordon II (Oklahoma State)

Gordon rushed for 1,732 yards on 6.1 YPC as a sophomore in 2023. He was named a Unanimous All-American and won the Doak Walker Award and Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year. In 2024, the former four-star recruit fell off to 808 rushing yards on 4.6 YPC as his supporting cast sagged and defenses ganged up on him. 

Gordon is going to provide an NFL offense with take-what-the-blockers-give-me short-yardage efficiency. He has good size at 6-foot-2, 225 pounds, and he doesn’t mind mixing it up. Gordon is a downhill runner who doesn’t dance.

He’s not explosive, so you aren’t going to see him in the second-level at the NFL level as often as you did in 2023. Gordon’s yardage output that season was propped up by explosive runs. He has decent top-end speed, but Gordon needs a runway to reach it.

Gordon also has stiff hips. He has mediocre agility, and direction-changes require him to build back up to top-speed. Gordon stays in his downhill lane because of this. I don’t like how high he runs – he takes a lot of punishment. 

Gordon is a reliable receiver, catching 69 balls the past two years. This part of his game explains the apocryphal Najee Harris comps. To be fair to Gordon, he has legitimate pass-game utility. 

Gordon has some of the best pass-blocking film in this class. He’s looking for work, he denotes danger quickly, and he steps up aggressively. Gordon is a really nifty cut-blocker – he chops down intruders. 

In Mobile, it is imperative for Gordon to regain the momentum he lost during the regular season. Gordon must emphatically prove his short-yardage chops while shining in the pass game.

Most to Gain: RJ Harvey (UCF)

A 5-foot-9 dual-threat quarterback coming out of high school, Harvey signed with Virginia, where he redshirted in 2019. Harvey transferred to UCF and converted to RB. He was a part-timer in 2020 before missing 2021 with a torn ACL. Harvey flashed as a committee back in his return in 2022, and then piled up big numbers his final two seasons as Gus Malzahn’s featured back.

Harvey may be short, but he’s well-built at 210 pounds. He’s a homerun hitter who ran a reported 4.41 in the 40 out of high school. Harvey is blessed with very quick feet and a springy lower-half. I love his bouncy lateral agility behind the line of scrimmage. He smoothly swerves from danger, punches the gas, and reaches top-gear in a few steps.

Harvey runs low to the ground, and, when he gets going, he runs with more power and authority than you’d expect, dropping the shoulder on descending defensive backs. In 2024, Harvey posted strong broken tackle (69), elusive rating (122.2), and yards after contact (3.88) metrics. He runs through arm tackles and bounces away from off-angle attempts.

Harvey is a skilled and proven receiver. He’s one of three FBS running backs in this draft class to catch at least 19 balls with at least 1.25 YPRR each of the last two years (SMU’s Brashard Smith, also at this event, was one of the others). In space, he’s slippery as a banana peel and has a NOS button when he needs it. He’s horrid in pass-protection, but he’s a good enough receiver that the point needn’t be belabored beyond that.

Harvey's had recurring ball-security issues. Over the past three seasons, he had nine fumbles – three each season – five of which were lost. This better get fixed, because it will get him benched in the NFL. 

Harvey also got a chunk of his explosive runs in college by bouncing outside and out-running linebackers and safeties – that won’t be as viable at the next level. He needs to modulate his running strategy slightly in the NFL, where his speed won’t be the same kind of trump card that it was in college. I actually like Harvey’s between-the-tackles work, so I’m theoretically bullish on his chances.

Harvey is old for a prospect, having played six years in college. To get into the RB6 discussion behind the consensus top-5 of Ashton Jeanty, Kaleb Johnson, Omarion Hampton, Quinshon Judkins, and TreVeyon Henderson, Harvey will need a big Senior Bowl week followed by a huge NFL Combine.

Mystery Man: Marcus Yarns (Delaware)

Only one non-P5 running back will participate in the Senior Bowl this year – and he comes to us from the FCS. Yarns is an undersized (5’10/185) burner. As a runner, his style is reminiscent to Jawhar Jordan (Texans via Louisville) from the last draft class, but Yarns is significantly faster. On-field GPS data has clocked Yarns at 22 mph. 

I’m sure Yarns is going to get some Keaton Mitchell comps. It matches from a size and speed (Mitchell ran a 4.37) perspective. But Mitchell was a better runner, in part because he made defenders miss.

Yarns lacks play strength, and he doesn’t break many tackles. For a 185-pound back, he doesn’t regularly make guys miss. Yarns’ game is acceleration and speed. He’s looking for his crease, and then he turns into a sprinter. He runs with shot-out-of-a-cannon urgency and keeps to his straight-line path.

Yarns is a really interesting weapon in the passing game. He was an unfair assignment for FCS linebackers or safeties. Yarns would sprint past them on wheel routes, or leave them in the dust with a one-cut direction change on an angle route. Among all RBs in this class, only Yarns posted 1.8 YPRR or better each of the last two seasons. 

Yarns looked like a natural on concepts where Delaware shifted him into the slot (7.6% of snaps). In 2023, only three running backs in the FCS or FBS had 20-or-more catches with an aDOT higher than Yarns’ 3.2. And despite missing time with injury in 2024, only nine FBS/FCS RBs had more catches with a higher aDOT than Yarns. 

At the next level, I see Yarns shifting around more to exploit mismatches with his speed. He’s also an interesting thought experiment as a potential position convert. Could he provide Tutu Atwell-like utility as a skinny one-trick-pony burner? It’ll be fascinating to see how Yarns is used at the Senior Bowl – and how many snaps he’ll see in the slot. 

Two other RBs to watch

Devin Neal (Kansas

Neal is an instinctual, finesse slasher. His feet are elite – choppy, blur-fast, and precise. In space, he is slippery, and hard to square up. Neal adds to the illusion by toggling speeds, messing with defenders’ angles. He runs with vision and patience, staying on schedule behind his line. If a cutback lane opens, he’s going to find it. 

Neal functioned as a reliable dump-off guy in Kansas’ offense, catching 51 balls the past two years. The Jayhawks should have been more creative with his usage. Neal’s career 0.5 aDOT tells the story. There is a good bit of untapped potential here as a receiver. 

Neal (5’11/215) is 20 pounds heavier than Bucky Irving, but he has a similar running style – for better and worse – and will likewise not be a flashy tester at the NFL Combine. Neal lacks long speed and was caught from behind in college. 

My other nitpick with Neal is that he runs like a back of Irving’s size, and doesn’t bang with his 215-pound frame. Last season, Neal averaged 3.3 YPC on runs to either side of the center. For reference, Kansas’ RB2, Daniel Hishaw, a 220-pound plodder, averaged 3.75 on those runs. If you guessed that Neal is a poor pass blocker, you guessed correctly. 

Neal best fits an outside-zone system. In this stacked RB class, Neal is a highly-intriguing potential NFL starter who could be had on a discount on Draft Day. A statement week at the Senior Bowl could solidify his standing in the tier behind the class’ consensus top-5 RBs.

Donovan Edwards (Michigan)

Edwards spent his Michigan career as the 1b back behind Blake Corum and then Kalel Mullings. He’s well-known, thanks to his huge national championship game in 2023 and his appearance on the cover of the wildly popular College Football 2025 game.

I see Edwards as a skinny Kalen Ballage. Ballage ran a 4.46 at 6’1/228 coming out of Arizona State. Between that and his receiving ability, Ballage drew plenty of pre-draft hype. But his tape was littered with missed opportunities, running into the backs of his offensive linemen and missing holes. Edwards’ film is the same frustrating exercise. 

Edwards is a tall, explosive runner. But he only gets to use his long speed when the hole opens where it’s supposed to. Edwards doesn’t see alternate possibilities – he’s the quarterback who’ll throw into double-coverage to the primary read while missing a wide-open receiver on the other side of the field. Edwards is a one-cut-and-go type runner, but his game lacks the decisiveness and creativity you’d prefer from that style. 

Edwards doesn’t run with much power, and he doesn’t make defenders miss – he runs upright, and doesn’t fluidly change directions. The past two years, Edwards posted elusive ratings of 35.9 and 45.0, two of the worst marks you’ll see in this class.

Fortunately, Edwards is a good receiver. He knows how to run a route, and he has strong hands. You can deploy him out of the slot and outside. But due to ineffectiveness as a pass blocker and his issues sensing opportunities as a runner, he’s going to need to be a receiving specialist to stick. I see him as a late-Day 3 prospect in this stacked running back class.