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Even if you have only briefly and superficially sampled NFL draft coverage so far this spring, it seems unlikely you could have missed the buzz surrounding the incoming class of running backs. It is an obviously skilled group.
Whatever else the 2025 running back class eventually becomes, this is already one of the most-hyped position groups in the nearly 50-year history of the draft industrial complex. It’s not as if the hype is undeserved, either.
This year’s class features both extraordinary depth and outrageous talent at the top. It includes seven different backs coming off 1,500-yard collegiate rushing seasons, three of whom gained over 2,000 scrimmage yards. This is legitimately a phenomenal class, loaded with accomplished runners.
These guys are so good, we had to split the position preview pod into part one and part two.
Conveniently, in a draft in which the running back pool is so uncommonly gifted, several turnkey backfield situations exist in premium fantasy offenses. We have an almost perfect storm of talent and opportunity ahead. It’s possible we don’t yet have every name arranged in their proper order on pre-draft cheat sheets, but there’s basically zero question as to whether this rookie class will deliver immediate fantasy stars.
It’s happening.
With so many analysts screaming at you about the potential for this year’s rookie RBs to emerge as perhaps the all-time best class, you might have a few questions about the competition for that particular title. Today, I have been tasked with producing the definitive ranking of history’s top running back drafts — wheelhouse stuff for an ancient person who specializes in unserious, unresolvable sports debates.
Please note that the ranks below are scientifically formulated and rigorously backtested. They are final, not to be questioned.
Competition for the 10th spot was fierce, with the 2001 class only narrowly edging 2016 (Derrick Henry, Ezekiel Elliott), 2002 (Clinton Portis, Brian Westbrook) and 1972 (Franco Harris, Lydell Mitchell, Lawrence McCutcheon). We are giving the nod to ‘01 both for its depth — McAllister, Rudi Johnson, Travis Henry — and in recognition of Tomlinson’s GOAT credentials. He was a top-three fantasy back in six consecutive seasons, which never happens, and he ranks third on the career TD list (162).
OK, this is the one class on the list still capable of improving its ranking ... or fading from the conversation entirely.
Robinson and Gibbs are gonna be top-five picks in pretty much every non-superflex fantasy draft in the season ahead. De’Von Achane is looking like a plausible first-rounder as well, and Chase Brown just delivered a season with 1,350 total yards and 11 TDs. But the strength of this class is obviously at the top. If Robinson and Gibbs continue along their early-career trajectories, 2023 can achieve top-five status.
Not only does this rookie class include three backs who cleared 10,000 career rushing yards — Dillon, Barber and Dunn — but, technically, it also features the undrafted Priest Holmes, an inner circle fantasy legend. At his peak, from 2001 to 2003, Holmes averaged 1,530 rushing yards, 69 receptions, 2,189 scrimmage yards and 20 touchdowns per season. Again: legend.
Also, just in case you were not aware that Dillon has two of the all-time top-20 single-game rushing performances on his resume, now you know. He was a monster.
Martin is the sixth leading rusher in NFL history, a Hall of Famer and five-time Pro Bowler. He topped 1,000 rushing yards in each of his first 10 seasons, which is silly. Davis, of course, is the Shanahaniest running back to ever do it. In his prime seasons, pre-injury, he was a 2,000-yard rusher, a league and Super Bowl MVP.
This running back class is somewhat slept on, due to various first-round busts (notably Ki-Jana Carter and Rashaan Salaam). But ‘95 also delivered Hall of Fame backs from the third and sixth rounds.
Apologies to the zoomers, the millennials, Gen Xers and anyone else who isn’t familiar with the three names above, but all of them are enshrined in Canton. That’s rare stuff. Also, by the standards of the era, all three were surprisingly versatile players with legitimate receiving ability.
Let me tell you, I got plenty of pushback from Yahoo readers back in ‘56 when I told everyone Gifford should be the PPR 1.01 — but wow did I nail that one. Just a great call by young Behrens. It’s the reason they keep me around.
Almost without exception, every draft between 1969 (O.J. Simpson) and 1982 (Marcus Allen) featured exactly one dominant rusher of rare ability, but never two. Finally, 1983 delivered a pair of game-altering, era-defining running backs. Dickerson opened his career with three rushing crowns in his first four years. In 1984, he set the NFL’s single-season rushing record (2,105) and personally gained 44.8% of his team’s total yards.
Craig became the league’s first 1,000-1,000 player way back in 1985, one of two seasons in which he cleared 2,000 scrimmage yards. He was a three-time Super Bowl champ, four-time Pro Bowler, the 1988 Offensive Player of the Year and the prototypical modern back who happened to arrive decades ahead of his time. Craig is one of the more ludicrous omissions from any Hall of Fame across all sports. Around here, we fully respect the man’s career.
Like ‘83, this is another class headlined by two era-defining backs. Brown essentially owned the rushing title throughout his career, winning it in eight of his nine seasons. He still holds the career mark for rushing yards per game (104.3) and he’s third among all backs in yards per carry (5.2). He held every significant league rushing record at the time of his retirement. At 6-foot-2 and 230 pounds, Brown would be undeniably great today in the current game. The highlights are cartoonishly good.
Hornung ran for 50 career touchdowns, caught 12, passed for five and kicked 66 lifetime field goals. He won multiple league championships on either side of a year-long gambling suspension that hit in his prime. Just an unreasonably wild career, the sort we will never see again.
With all due respect to Ahmad Bradshaw and Michael Bush, both of whom were also drafted in 2007, this is a running back class notable for two of the most productive and stylistically thrilling rushers in NFL history. Combined, Peterson and Lynch gained 30,019 total yards and scored 220 touchdowns. These two, unassisted, drag their class into the top three. Lynch offers tie-breaking intangibles, separating this group from '57 and '83.
Charles, CJ2K and Forte were three of the greatest all-purpose backs of their era, each clearing 10,000 total yards and 60 career touchdowns. Johnson of course still holds the single-season record for scrimmage yards (2,509) and Charles averaged 5.4 YPC over his 11 years, the highest rate of any back since the merger.
And still, it’s not just the names at the top that make this class a serious challenger for the No. 1 spot in the ranks. The depth in this group is honestly breathtaking. The class of ‘08 is stacked with former fantasy first-rounders (Charles, Johnson, Forte, Ray Rice, Rashard Mendenhall), semi-stars (Darren McFadden, Jonathan Stewart), legendary teases (Felix Jones, Kevin Smith) and one-hit wonders (Peyton Hillis, Steve Slaton, Justin Forsett).
It’s a class that truly had everything, in abundance.
This rookie class is so good that McCaffrey is actually only its fourth-leading career rusher, behind Mixon, Kamara and Aaron Jones.
It’s so good that Austin Ekeler wasn’t even drafted.
It’s so good that Dalvin Cook and James Conner don’t rate a mention until the third sentence of this write-up.
Leonard Fournette was the first back selected in this draft class (fourth pick overall) and he’s generally regarded as a miss, but that’s simply a reflection of the crazy depth and talent at the spot in 2017. Fournette has a pair of 1,000-yard rushing seasons to his credit and he was one of the decisive players for Tampa Bay in Super Bowl LV. Even the disappointing backs in this draft class had stellar careers.
So yeah, Ashton Jeanty, Omarion Hampton, Cam Skattebo and friends certainly have a chance to go down as one of the all-time RB classes — possibly the all-time class. But we cannot concede the title just yet. This year’s backs will need to displace several incredible classes before entering the conversation with 2017, a group that’s far from finished.
Continue reading...
Whatever else the 2025 running back class eventually becomes, this is already one of the most-hyped position groups in the nearly 50-year history of the draft industrial complex. It’s not as if the hype is undeserved, either.
This year’s class features both extraordinary depth and outrageous talent at the top. It includes seven different backs coming off 1,500-yard collegiate rushing seasons, three of whom gained over 2,000 scrimmage yards. This is legitimately a phenomenal class, loaded with accomplished runners.
These guys are so good, we had to split the position preview pod into part one and part two.
Conveniently, in a draft in which the running back pool is so uncommonly gifted, several turnkey backfield situations exist in premium fantasy offenses. We have an almost perfect storm of talent and opportunity ahead. It’s possible we don’t yet have every name arranged in their proper order on pre-draft cheat sheets, but there’s basically zero question as to whether this rookie class will deliver immediate fantasy stars.
It’s happening.
With so many analysts screaming at you about the potential for this year’s rookie RBs to emerge as perhaps the all-time best class, you might have a few questions about the competition for that particular title. Today, I have been tasked with producing the definitive ranking of history’s top running back drafts — wheelhouse stuff for an ancient person who specializes in unserious, unresolvable sports debates.
Please note that the ranks below are scientifically formulated and rigorously backtested. They are final, not to be questioned.
10. Class of 2001: LaDainian Tomlinson, Deuce McAllister, various others
Competition for the 10th spot was fierce, with the 2001 class only narrowly edging 2016 (Derrick Henry, Ezekiel Elliott), 2002 (Clinton Portis, Brian Westbrook) and 1972 (Franco Harris, Lydell Mitchell, Lawrence McCutcheon). We are giving the nod to ‘01 both for its depth — McAllister, Rudi Johnson, Travis Henry — and in recognition of Tomlinson’s GOAT credentials. He was a top-three fantasy back in six consecutive seasons, which never happens, and he ranks third on the career TD list (162).
9. Class of 2023: Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs
OK, this is the one class on the list still capable of improving its ranking ... or fading from the conversation entirely.
Robinson and Gibbs are gonna be top-five picks in pretty much every non-superflex fantasy draft in the season ahead. De’Von Achane is looking like a plausible first-rounder as well, and Chase Brown just delivered a season with 1,350 total yards and 11 TDs. But the strength of this class is obviously at the top. If Robinson and Gibbs continue along their early-career trajectories, 2023 can achieve top-five status.
8. Class of 1997: Corey Dillon, Tiki Barber, Warrick Dunn
Not only does this rookie class include three backs who cleared 10,000 career rushing yards — Dillon, Barber and Dunn — but, technically, it also features the undrafted Priest Holmes, an inner circle fantasy legend. At his peak, from 2001 to 2003, Holmes averaged 1,530 rushing yards, 69 receptions, 2,189 scrimmage yards and 20 touchdowns per season. Again: legend.
Also, just in case you were not aware that Dillon has two of the all-time top-20 single-game rushing performances on his resume, now you know. He was a monster.
7. Class of 1995: Terrell Davis and Curtis Martin
Martin is the sixth leading rusher in NFL history, a Hall of Famer and five-time Pro Bowler. He topped 1,000 rushing yards in each of his first 10 seasons, which is silly. Davis, of course, is the Shanahaniest running back to ever do it. In his prime seasons, pre-injury, he was a 2,000-yard rusher, a league and Super Bowl MVP.
This running back class is somewhat slept on, due to various first-round busts (notably Ki-Jana Carter and Rashaan Salaam). But ‘95 also delivered Hall of Fame backs from the third and sixth rounds.
6. Class of 1952: Ollie Matson, Frank Gifford, Hugh McElhenny
Apologies to the zoomers, the millennials, Gen Xers and anyone else who isn’t familiar with the three names above, but all of them are enshrined in Canton. That’s rare stuff. Also, by the standards of the era, all three were surprisingly versatile players with legitimate receiving ability.
Let me tell you, I got plenty of pushback from Yahoo readers back in ‘56 when I told everyone Gifford should be the PPR 1.01 — but wow did I nail that one. Just a great call by young Behrens. It’s the reason they keep me around.
5. Class of 1983: Eric Dickerson and Roger Craig
Almost without exception, every draft between 1969 (O.J. Simpson) and 1982 (Marcus Allen) featured exactly one dominant rusher of rare ability, but never two. Finally, 1983 delivered a pair of game-altering, era-defining running backs. Dickerson opened his career with three rushing crowns in his first four years. In 1984, he set the NFL’s single-season rushing record (2,105) and personally gained 44.8% of his team’s total yards.
Craig became the league’s first 1,000-1,000 player way back in 1985, one of two seasons in which he cleared 2,000 scrimmage yards. He was a three-time Super Bowl champ, four-time Pro Bowler, the 1988 Offensive Player of the Year and the prototypical modern back who happened to arrive decades ahead of his time. Craig is one of the more ludicrous omissions from any Hall of Fame across all sports. Around here, we fully respect the man’s career.
4. Class of 1957: Jim Brown and Paul Hornung
Like ‘83, this is another class headlined by two era-defining backs. Brown essentially owned the rushing title throughout his career, winning it in eight of his nine seasons. He still holds the career mark for rushing yards per game (104.3) and he’s third among all backs in yards per carry (5.2). He held every significant league rushing record at the time of his retirement. At 6-foot-2 and 230 pounds, Brown would be undeniably great today in the current game. The highlights are cartoonishly good.
Hornung ran for 50 career touchdowns, caught 12, passed for five and kicked 66 lifetime field goals. He won multiple league championships on either side of a year-long gambling suspension that hit in his prime. Just an unreasonably wild career, the sort we will never see again.
3. Class of 2007: Adrian Peterson and Marshawn Lynch
With all due respect to Ahmad Bradshaw and Michael Bush, both of whom were also drafted in 2007, this is a running back class notable for two of the most productive and stylistically thrilling rushers in NFL history. Combined, Peterson and Lynch gained 30,019 total yards and scored 220 touchdowns. These two, unassisted, drag their class into the top three. Lynch offers tie-breaking intangibles, separating this group from '57 and '83.
2. Class of 2008: Jamaal Charles, Chris Johnson and Matt Forte
Charles, CJ2K and Forte were three of the greatest all-purpose backs of their era, each clearing 10,000 total yards and 60 career touchdowns. Johnson of course still holds the single-season record for scrimmage yards (2,509) and Charles averaged 5.4 YPC over his 11 years, the highest rate of any back since the merger.
And still, it’s not just the names at the top that make this class a serious challenger for the No. 1 spot in the ranks. The depth in this group is honestly breathtaking. The class of ‘08 is stacked with former fantasy first-rounders (Charles, Johnson, Forte, Ray Rice, Rashard Mendenhall), semi-stars (Darren McFadden, Jonathan Stewart), legendary teases (Felix Jones, Kevin Smith) and one-hit wonders (Peyton Hillis, Steve Slaton, Justin Forsett).
It’s a class that truly had everything, in abundance.
1. Class of 2017: Christian McCaffrey, Alvin Kamara, Joe Mixon
This rookie class is so good that McCaffrey is actually only its fourth-leading career rusher, behind Mixon, Kamara and Aaron Jones.
It’s so good that Austin Ekeler wasn’t even drafted.
It’s so good that Dalvin Cook and James Conner don’t rate a mention until the third sentence of this write-up.
Leonard Fournette was the first back selected in this draft class (fourth pick overall) and he’s generally regarded as a miss, but that’s simply a reflection of the crazy depth and talent at the spot in 2017. Fournette has a pair of 1,000-yard rushing seasons to his credit and he was one of the decisive players for Tampa Bay in Super Bowl LV. Even the disappointing backs in this draft class had stellar careers.
So yeah, Ashton Jeanty, Omarion Hampton, Cam Skattebo and friends certainly have a chance to go down as one of the all-time RB classes — possibly the all-time class. But we cannot concede the title just yet. This year’s backs will need to displace several incredible classes before entering the conversation with 2017, a group that’s far from finished.
Continue reading...
