Everything this offseason has built up to this point.
With the 2025 Draft Kit in place as a North Star in how to play the game of fantasy football, I also know some of you are here because you want to know how I am playing drafts out myself this summer.
You want the answers to the test.
That is what this week is all about.
This is how I am approaching fantasy football drafts in 2025, continuing with the running back position.
I will also update this throughout the remaining time in the offseason if we get any significant news that impacts draft approaches.
| 2025 Fantasy Football Draft Strategy |
|---|
| Draft Kit Hub |
| QB Fantasy Football Draft Strategy |
| RB Fantasy Football Draft Strategy |
| WR Fantasy Football Draft Strategy |
| TE Fantasy Football Draft Strategy (Coming Soon) |
Even those with the draft kit may not have read every word written this offseason, but I am operating under the assumption you have at minimum checked out the player rankings page.
If you read only one thing, I would push you to the individual player writeups in the positional tiers posts if you haven't already.
With that in mind, these pieces will not be overly statistically centric and fully into the weeds on the pros or cons of each player, instead focusing on the approach to drafting the positions.
If you want further analysis on each player, check out those tiers, but here are some links to running back-related content that has influenced our decision making.
Running Back Fantasy Related Articles:
- Running Back Tiers
- Running Back Rankings
- Running Back Production Heading Into 2025
- Red Zone Points vs Expectation: Running Back
- What We Can Learn From ADP: Running Back
- Stats That Matter: Running Back
2025 RB Fantasy Football Draft Strategy
The most important thing to account for when entering any draft is your league settings.
The number of points your league rewards for receptions and the number of required starting spots for each position (including FLEX positions) impacts the top-down strategy you should be approaching your league with more than anything else.
In leagues that do not reward full points per reception and reduce the required starting wide receivers, running backs (particularly depth) gain more traction as your draft progresses than the receivers.
In 0.5 PPR formats, running backs gain ground in non-best ball formats.
In terms of points per game in those formats, running backs occupied eight of the top 10 spots at the skill positions.
They occupied 15 of the top 20 spots.
In full-PPR formats, running backs and wide receivers split the top 10 in points per game 50/50, while receivers made up 11 of the top 20 spots in those leagues.
Scoring settings matter.
The number of FLEX spots in your league matters.
If you are playing full-PPR formats and have to start three wide receivers (before even accounting for FLEX spots), wide receivers gain a significant point of emphasis in drafts.
You can win your league in many ways.
While it is great to have a plan before entering a draft, you still have to be able to adapt as things progress.
Especially at the running back position, things are fluid during the season.
We will have injuries, busts, and depth charts we were wrong in projecting.
Whether building a roster with a Zero-RB, anchor/hero RB, or RB-heavy approach, you can win.
This article will be about a top-down philosophy to the position, with draft targets to aid you in guiding any of those approaches.
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Elite Running Backs Offer the Biggest Edge
This one is an oldie, but it is still true today and worth remembering this time of the offseason.
The catch is that there are very few elite running backs per season.
Old-school, three-down, do-it-all fantasy backs are as finite a fantasy resource as ever.
The tides have turned, and elite fantasy backs that contribute in all phases of the game are hard to come by.
We could be experiencing a resurgence of talent at the position, however.
2025 drafts have arguably the strongest set of viable early-round running backs we have seen in several seasons.
We have young assets in Bijan Robinson, Jahmyr Gibbs, and De’Von Achane.
We have a decorated rookie class featuring two first rounders in Ashton Jeanty and Omarion Hampton to go along with ceiling candidates in TreVeyon Henderson and RJ Harvey.
Bucky Irving and Chase Brown are looking to build off excellent finishes to their 2024 seasons.
Those players all go along with an upside stable of veteran RB1 performers in Christian McCaffrey, Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry, Josh Jacobs, Jonathan Taylor, and Kyren Williams.
RB2 options were significantly better than WR2 options last season.
We have the deepest pool of players in that area we have had in some time.
All of that also coincides with an offensive pushback that is focused on heavier sets and running the football at a higher rate.
In previous seasons, my favorite approach has been an Achor-RB or “Hero” RB approach.
Early-round running backs have posted higher hit rates than their early-round wide receiver counterparts, and the finite resource that they have been given has made it easier to take one and then come back to the position after loading up at receiver.
This season, things are different.
Anchor RB still has a place in deeper formats that are full-PPR, start 3WRs, and have multiple FLEX spots, but more often than not, I am attacking the front of the running back position in a way that is not quite taking back to the 1990s, but it would make our fantasy forefathers proud.
The strength of the running back position in team building lies within the top-24 of the position, while the strength of the wide receiver is in the WR20-WR50 range.
With those areas in mind, my approach to this season is typically to have two running backs by Round 5 and three running backs by Round 8 in a typical draft. Adjust accordingly for your format caveats.
Those are not hard rules, but that is the structure I have built around the most often this year, laying out the strengths of the board.
Those top 24 running backs are typically off the board by the end of Round 7, but you might catch someone sliding.
That strength at wide receiver lines up with Rounds 5 through 10 of a regular 12-team draft.
This makes earlier running back selections more viable while reducing the number of good “Zero RB” targets later in drafts.
That makes it harder to successfully deploy a Zero-RB or Anchor-RB approach than in previous seasons.
We are also able to build receiving strengths, even when those types of targets for Zero and Anchor RB builds are coming off draft boards.
Outside of special circumstances, this is not a strong layout to complete Zero-RB.
Nearly all of the work I have done in the Draft Kit has signaled that the early round running backs have an edge on the early round wide receivers, but those early round receivers also have an edge over the field of the position, more so than the running backs.
When kicking off drafts, I still rarely start RB-RB and often split RB1 and WR1 to play both sides of that.
We will touch on this in the WR plans, but there are situations where WR-WR starts to make sense and are appealing.
However, I am very aware that you have to pay top dollar to acquire the players that have the best odds of becoming a league-defining running back.
Front-end running backs have more fragility than high-priced wide receivers, but that is the area of the draft where the margins between the two positions historically have been the tightest.
That is the gift and the curse of the position.
A back that pushes 300-plus touches in a season, stays on the field near the goal line, and remains involved in the passing game so they can thrive in all game scripts for fantasy football.
We want to chase opportunity firsthand.
After that, we can factor in things such as offensive environment into tie breakers within tiers of similar backs in types of usage.
We also want to add pass catchers since the one area consistently falling off among running backs is their involvement in the receiving game.
Bijan Robinson, Christian McCaffrey, Jahmyr Gibbs, De’Von Achane, and Ashton Jeanty check the most boxes for me among the Round 1 running backs.
Chase Brown, Josh Jacobs, and Bucky Irving in Round 2.
Omarion Hampton and James Cook in Round 3.
Kenneth Walker, TreVeyon Henderson, and RJ Harvey in Round 4.
James Conner and Alvin Kamara in Round 5.
Those are my favorites backs to build out my early stable around, but I also do not have any issues folding in early down options such as Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry, Kyren Williams, and Jonathan Taylor, among the players with receiving limitations.
I am not outright avoiding Breece Hall, and will grab him if he falls, but I do have reservations with him more so than the previous names at average cost.
Most often, when Hall is available, I prefer to take a Tier 1 QB if available, or George Kittle if I am not taking another running back.
Just past those names, Isiah Pacheco, Tony Pollard, D’Andre Swift, and Aaron Jones are players on my radar as a third running back if I do not have three of them by the time those players come up on draft boards.
The Best of the Rest at Running Back
Immediately after that section of the position, however, things widen at the position.
We are then mainly in a range where we want to play for upside outcomes.
In years past, these types of players would compete for an RB2 spot on many of my rosters, but we have more of a luxury this season to have them as bench stashes.
Especially when gamers are drafting running backs with minimal week-to-week upside or touchdown dependency as RB3/bench players.
Players like Jordan Mason, Rhamondre Stevenson, and Tank Bigsby are archetypes I have little to no interest in rostering in managed leagues.
They all play alongside a pass catcher and will be reliant on touchdowns outside of contingent outcomes.
Those running backs are great in best ball because you can soak up their touchdowns when they come along, but guessing week to week when the game scripts and scoring opportunities align is a frustrating endeavor.
If I am betting on contingent outcomes, I want to swing larger with younger backs such as Kaleb Johnson, Zach Charbonnet, Bhayshul Tuten, Ray Davis, Isaac Guerendo, Tyler Allgeier, Jaydon Blue, Bill Croskey-Merritt, Cam Skattebo, and Will Shipley.
Remember, we are drafting these players as bench options and not reliant on their floors.
When we get later in the draft, we want to focus on backs who are either on rookie contracts or are attached to dead-zone profiles to bet against.
The 2025 Running Back Draft Plan
You do not only have to draft players here, but I want to put everything mentioned so far into a more compact and linear layout:
- TOP-DOWN PLAN: Have two running backs by Round 5 and three running backs by Round 8 in a typical draft (caveats for adjusting around special formats).
- PRIMARY EARLY TARGETS TO OPEN WITH (Alpha RB or RB-RB Starts): Bijan Robinson, Christian McCaffrey, Jahmyr Gibbs, De’Von Achane, and Ashton Jeanty. *In non-PPR formats, add Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry
- I WANT TO DRAFT THESE RBS AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE WITHOUT BEING GREEDY: TreVeyon Henderson and RJ Harvey.
- AFTER TAKING ROUND 1 WR OR STARTING RB-RB: Anyone previously listed, but then Chase Brown, Josh Jacobs, and Bucky Irving.
- MID-RANGE RB2 OPTIONS TO DRAFT AT COST: Omarion Hampton and James Cook in Round 3. Kenneth Walker, TreVeyon Henderson, and RJ Harvey in Round 4. James Conner and Alvin Kamara in Round 5. *These are all backs I am looking to catch falling past ADP, regardless of the build
- FAVORITE RB3 PICKS: Anyone previously listed who is available, plus Isiah Pacheco, Tony Pollard, D’Andre Swift (PPR), and Aaron Jones (PPR).
- BENCH TARGETS: Zach Charbonnet, Kaleb Johnson, Bhayshul Tuten, Ray Davis, Isaac Guerendo, Tyler Allgeier, Jaydon Blue, Bill Croskey-Merritt, Cam Skattebo, and Will Shipley.
- CHASING EARLY SEASON USAGE IN HERO or ZERO-RB BUILDS: Jaylen Warren, Travis Etienne, Jerome Ford, Austin Ekeler.
- MR. IRRELEVANT ZONE: Keaton Mitchell, Woody Marks, Tahj Brooks, DJ Giddens, Jordan James, and Sean Tucker.
2025 RB Keeper Targets
Wrapping this up, a look at players I want to target in formats that allow keepers and would give them extra value in those leagues.
TreVeyon Henderson: Jahmyr Gibbs-esque archetype and explosiveness. It would not be far-fetched if Henderson were a Round 1 pick in the 2026 draft.
Omarion Hampton: Runway to be a feature back out of the packaging in a Jim Harbaugh-Greg Roman offense. Najee Harris is an unrestricted free agent after the season.
RJ Harvey: A poorer man’s version of Henderson, but attached to Sean Payton, an upcoming quarterback, and a good offensive line. J.K. Dobbins is only signed for 2025.
Quinshon Judkins: Career is off to a rocky start, but he will be on the cheaper end in drafts while still holding high draft capital. The Cleveland offense is fluid, moving forward for improvement beyond 2025.
Kaleb Johnson: Contingency value as a rookie, while Jaylen Warren is set to be an unrestricted free agent after the season.
Bhayshul Tuten: Explosive player who should take some ramp-up acclimating to the NFL, but Travis Etienne is an unrestricted free agent after this season. At the same time, Tank Bigsby has shown little receiving upside through two seasons.
Jaydon Blue: Wide open backfield and some squint-to-see qualities that overlap De’Von Achane as a prospect.
Jaylen Warren: Hyper-efficient back with better size than his usage suggests. An unrestricted free agent who can find a better home for 2026.
Braelon Allen: Sixth-youngest running back in the NFL with a front-end size and speed combination. Breece Hall is an unrestricted free agent after the season.
Zach Charbonnet: Has already shown RB1 contingency value, while Kenneth Walker is an unrestricted free agent after the season.
Bill Croskey-Merritt: Looks like he has a path similar to what Isiah Pacheco had as a late-round pick. Austin Ekeler is an unrestricted free agent after the season and will be 32 years old.
