We are three weeks deep into the 2025 NFL season, and slowly but surely, the top performers are beginning to take shape. There’s been plenty of movement at the running back position, with some big names falling short of expectations in recent weeks. Conversely, there have been some surprises looking like top backs in the league. PFSN has you covered with your RB rankings for the 2025 season, as our RBi metric puts a numerical value on how each back performs every week.
It’s worth noting that these rankings will shift dramatically as the season goes on. Later in the year, the rankings will provide a more accurate gauge of where each running back stands in the NFL. At this early stage of the year, these grades reflect how each back starts the season. With Week 3 in the rearview mirror, let’s rank the top 28 running backs in the NFL after one week of play.
28) Chase Brown, Cincinnati Bengals
2025 PFSN RBi Grade: 63.4 (D)
Last Week’s Ranking: 18
Of the starting running backs on this list who have completed all three games, Chase Brown is the only back with fewer than 130 rushing yards after Week 3. He actually only has 93 rushing yards with 2.0 yards per carry, which shows just how far behind he is compared to other running backs.
With an elusive rate of just 14.3%, Brown’s percentage is currently the lowest in the NFL. Of course, it doesn’t help that he averages -0.06 yards before contact per rush, indicating he doesn’t even get out of the backfield before getting hit on a typical carry.
27) Ashton Jeanty, Las Vegas Raiders
2025 PFSN RBi Grade: 63.8 (D)
Last Week’s Ranking: 28
With 47 carries in three weeks, Jeanty is tied for tenth in the NFL in rushing attempts. However, he’s just 24th in the league with 144 rushing yards, and that separation in attempts and yards shows that the Las Vegas Raiders’ run game has been inefficient to start the year.
Jeanty is one of just two running backs with a negative yards before contact average, with Chase Brown being the other. He also has a success rate as a pass catcher at 0.0%. For reference, no other RB in the league has a percentage lower than 16.7%.
26) Bucky Irving, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
2025 PFSN RBi Grade: 67.5 (D+)
Last Week’s Ranking: 25
Bucky Irving is averaging 3.1 yards per carry through three games. That total ranks 23rd among the 28 running backs qualified for this list, and he has also yet to score a rushing touchdown to kick off the 2025 season.
Among other analytical categories, Irving ranks in the bottom ten in elusive rate, boom-bust ratio, and yards after contact per rush. His rush success percentage of 21.4% is currently the lowest in the NFL, too.
25) Josh Jacobs, Green Bay Packers
2025 PFSN RBi Grade: 72.1 (C-)
Last Week’s Ranking: 16
It’s been a productive start to the year for Josh Jacobs off sheer workload: he heads out of Week 3 tied for second in the league with 58 rushing attempts. However, he’s only averaging 3.1 yards per carry on that workload.
Granted, the Green Bay Packers’ offensive line is only allowing Jacobs an average of 0.26 yards before contact per rush, which is tied for the second-fewest in the NFL. Still, his 17.2% elusive rate is the second-lowest in the league through three games.
24) James Conner, Arizona Cardinals
2025 PFSN RBi Grade: 72.6 (C-)
Last Week’s Ranking: 23
It was a slow start to 2025 for James Conner, as his 21.9% elusive rate is the third-worst in the NFL after Week 3. On 32 rushes, he had only 95 rushing yards with an average of just 3.0 yards per carry.
Unfortunately for Conner, he suffered a severe right ankle injury that figures to be season-ending. Trey Benson figures to be the new starting running back in Arizona’s backfield in his absence.
23) D’Andre Swift, Chicago Bears
2025 PFSN RBi Grade: 74.3 (C)
Last Week’s Ranking: 20
D’Andre Swift played a role in the Chicago Bears’ strong offensive performance in Week 3, as he took a screen pass 41 yards in his team’s 31-point outing against the Cowboys. In the run game, he wasn’t nearly as explosive: he averaged just 2.5 yards per carry on 13 attempts.
Swift is 15th among qualified running backs with 1.29 yards before contact per rush, but he’s only 22nd with 2.26 yards after contact per rush. That generally shows he isn’t as efficient as other backs in the league, given what he has to work with up front.
22) Omarion Hampton, Los Angeles Chargers
2025 PFSN RBi Grade: 74.5 (C)
Last Week’s Ranking: 26
Omarion Hampton broke his scoreless streak in Week 3, hitting paydirt for a touchdown in the Los Angeles Chargers’ win over Denver on Sunday. That said, he has yet to reach four yards per carry through the first three regular-season games of his NFL career.
a handful of Omarion Hampton’s best plays from Week 3
finished with 25 touches for 129 yards and a TD
the mission is clear:
create a lane between the tackles or on the edge, get Hampton downhill, and let the big man run really fast in a really straight line pic.twitter.com/yYuLNUBkbL
— Josh Norris (@JoshNorris) September 22, 2025
Taking on a lower workload in Week 2, Hampton saw an increase in carries from eight the week before to 19 carries in Week 3. With teammate Najee Harris now out for the year with an Achilles tear, expect Hampton’s workload to remain heavy.
21) Jahmyr Gibbs, Detroit Lions
2025 PFSN RBi Grade: 74.8 (C)
Last Week’s Ranking: 22
The inconsistency in Jahmyr Gibbs’ season thus far is jarring. For example, he scored two touchdowns on Monday night against the Ravens, but he averaged just 3.0 yards per carry and didn’t pick up double-digit yards on any of his 22 rushes.
One area for improvement is Gibbs’ contact balance, as his 1.91 yards after contact is the lowest average among qualified running backs. Otherwise, he’s proving to be a valuable safety valve in the passing game, catching 18 of his 19 targets through three games.
20) Nick Chubb, Houston Texans
2025 PFSN RBi Grade: 73.5 (C)
Last Week’s Ranking: 14
If you’re expecting fireworks out of Nick Chubb at this stage in his career, you’re sorely mistaken. Age and injuries have taken away some of the explosiveness he displayed earlier in his career. That said, he’s still been competent back for the Houston Texans.
Chubb has the fourth-lowest average with 2.12 yards after contact per carry, and his 32.4% success rate is also the fourth-lowest percentage in the league. But his 4.1 yards per carry is respectable, and he ranks just outside the top ten in boom vs. bust ratio.
19) Saquon Barkley, Philadelphia Eagles
2025 PFSN RBi Grade: 75.0 (C)
Last Week’s Ranking: 13
Through Week 3, Saquon Barkley is tied for the second-most rushing attempts in the NFL, trailing only Jonathan Taylor. Unlike Taylor, though, the reigning Offensive Player of the Year hasn’t been quite as efficient with his touches.
Barkley averages just 3.3 yards per carry, and he hasn’t broken away for a gain longer than 16 yards on an individual play. His yards after contact, elusive rate, and boom vs. bust ratio all rank in the bottom ten among qualified running backs.
18) Tony Pollard, Tennessee Titans
2025 PFSN RBi Grade: 75.5 (C)
Last Week’s Ranking: 17
With Tyjae Spears still hurt, Tony Pollard has been the primary back in the Tennessee Titans’ backfield by a considerable margin. He ranks sixth in the league with 54 carries and ranks 11th with 197 rushing yards to begin the year.
Pollard hasn’t gained more than ten yards on a single carry through three games. That lack of big-play ability gives him the third-lowest rush EPA per play in the league, though his boom vs. bust ratio is 11th in the league.
17) Chuba Hubbard, Carolina Panthers
2025 PFSN RBi Grade: 76.6 (C)
Last Week’s Ranking: 15
Chuba Hubbard has been remarkably average through the first three games of the season. He doesn’t rank in the bottom ten in rushing yards or yards per carry, but he doesn’t rank in the top ten of either of those categories, either.
Though he hasn’t been able to score a rushing touchdown yet this year, Hubbard has two receiving touchdowns in three games to his name. His 22nd-best rush EPA per play of -0.13 is offset slightly by his fifth-best 46.5% offensive rush success rate.
16) Kyren Williams, Los Angeles Rams
2025 PFSN RBi Grade: 77.1 (C+)
Last Week’s Ranking: 21
Averaging 4.7 yards per carry in Week 3, Kyren Williams had his most efficient game of the year in the Los Angeles Rams’ loss to the Eagles on Sunday, helping him rise up a few spots in PFSN’s RBi rankings.
This is the Sean McVay offense at its best.
Rams OL sells the run to the left. Eagles front 7 takes the cheese. Play comes back to the right. Jordan Whittington’s route takes out 3 Eagles’ defenders. Kyren Williams walks into the end zone. pic.twitter.com/ZaWQfq0XFO
— Blaine Grisak 💠(@bgrisakTST) September 23, 2025
Of the players who rank in the top ten in rushing yards, Williams is the only one who hasn’t had a carry beyond 20 yards. Despite that, he’s been pretty consistent running the ball; his boom vs. bust ratio is the seventh-best in the league.
15) Travis Etienne, Jacksonville Jaguars
2025 PFSN RBi Grade: 77.5 (C+)
Last Week’s Ranking: 12
After a hot start, which saw him tally 143 rushing yards in Week 1, Travis Etienne has dropped slightly down the RBi rankings each week since. That’s not to say he’s been bad, as he’s had touchdowns in each of his last two games. Still, efficiency has declined each week.
In his first three games of 2025, Etienne went from 8.9 yards per carry to 5.1 in Week 2, then down to 3.5 on Sunday. Still, he’s tied for fourth in the NFL with his boom vs. bust ratio.
14) Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco 49ers
2025 PFSN RBi Grade: 78.1 (C+)
Last Week’s Ranking: 9
From a pure rushing perspective, Christian McCaffrey has been somewhat disappointing in 2025. He averages just 3.4 yards per carry through three games, he doesn’t have a rushing touchdown to his name, and he hasn’t had a carry go beyond 15 yards.
McCaffrey’s success as a receiving back remains strong, though: he’s second among running backs with 2.11 yards per route run. He’s also making defenders miss at a 40.4% rate, which is the third-best elusive rate among qualified running backs.
13) Alvin Kamara, New Orleans Saints
2025 PFSN RBi Grade: 78.5 (C+)
Last Week’s Ranking: 1
A lot went wrong for the New Orleans Saints in their Week 3 loss to the Seahawks, and Alvin Kamara saw his RBi grading drop significantly as a result. After an outing which saw him average just 2.3 yards per carry, he dropped from first in the league in the metric all the way out of the top ten.
Not all hope is lost after just one game, as Kamara’s 40.0% elusive rate ranks fourth in the NFL. It’s also worth noting that his rush EPA went from third in the league after Week 2 all the way down to 21st after Week 3.
12) Derrick Henry, Baltimore Ravens
2025 PFSN RBi Grade: 78.9 (C+)
Last Week’s Ranking: 5
Week 1 started about as good as you could get for Derrick Henry, and Week 2 went about as bad as you could get. His outing in the Baltimore Ravens’ loss to the Lions in Week 3 was somewhere in the middle, which keeps him highly rated but drops him out of the top ten in RBi grading.
Henry leads the NFL with three fumbles, and he’s the only qualified running back on this list with multiple fumbles, as of this writing. Nonetheless, his 5.9 yards per carry average ranks second on this list, and he’s still fourth in the league with 242 rushing yards.
11) Jaylen Warren, Pittsburgh Steelers
2025 PFSN RBi Grade: 79.3 (C+)
Last Week’s Ranking: 8
At first glance, Jaylen Warren’s production might not warrant a ranking this high in PFSN’s RBi database. He has just 132 rushing yards through three games, and his modest 3.1 yards per carry isn’t an average that jumps off the page.
He’s more inconsistent than other top backs, as his boom vs. bust ratio of -18.6% is the fifth-lowest on this list. That said, Warren leads all running backs with 3.64 receiving yards per route run, and he ranks third at his position in receiving yards. That passing down value improves his value to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense significantly.
10) Breece Hall, New York Jets
2025 PFSN RBi Grade: 79.7 (C+)
Last Week’s Ranking: 3
His Week 1 performance against the Steelers was impressive, but Breece Hall has struggled in his two following games. He averaged just 2.9 yards per carry in Week 2, and that average dropped to 2.3 in Week 3.
In spite of that, Hall ranks tenth in the boom vs. bust ratio. His 1.81 receiving yards per route run rank fourth among qualified running backs, and he’s had the tenth-fewest yards before contact to work with to begin the year.
9) Kenneth Walker III, Seattle Seahawks
2025 PFSN RBi Grade: 80.2 (B-)
Last Week’s Ranking: 2
Perhaps no running back has had as bizarre of a start to 2025 as Kenneth Walker III. He’s averaged fewer than 2.5 yards per carry in two of his three games. The only exception was an outing in which he averaged 8.1 yards per carry. One of those two aforementioned down performances came in Week 3, but he still scored two rushing touchdowns.
Being tied for second with three rushing touchdowns, Walker’s ability to put points on the board helps his rush EPA per play reach 0.07, which is the fifth-highest average through three weeks. His 38.5% elusive rate also ranks sixth in the league.
8) J.K. Dobbins, Denver Broncos
2025 PFSN RBi Grade: 82.9 (B-)
Last Week’s Ranking: 11
The Denver Broncos drafted RJ Harvey in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft, and many anticipated he would quickly emerge as the team’s lead running back. Through three games, however, it’s J.K. Dobbins who has been far and away the best back on the team.
Dobbins has scored a rushing touchdown in each game he’s played this season. He has the fifth-best elusive rate in the NFL, the seventh-best rush EPA per play, and the third-best yards after contact per rush average.
7) Bijan Robinson, Atlanta Falcons
2025 PFSN RBi Grade: 84.2 (B)
Last Week’s Ranking: 10
Though he hasn’t scored any rushing touchdowns yet, Bijan Robinson has been one of the most productive backs in the league to start 2025. He ranks fifth with 239 rushing yards and averages a strong 5.1 yards per carry coming out of Week 3.
He’s fourth in his boom vs. bust ratio and places in the top ten in both his elusive rate and rush EPA per play. In addition to his value as a runner, Robinson ranks second among running backs behind only Christian McCaffrey with 164 receiving yards.
6) David Montgomery, Detroit Lions
2025 PFSN RBi Grade: 85.9 (B)
Last Week’s Ranking: 27
The biggest riser up the RBi rankings from last week, David Montgomery, exploded on Monday night to the tune of 151 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries, giving him 12.6 yards per carry.
David Montgomery gets loose for 72!#DETvsBAL 📺 ESPN/ABC pic.twitter.com/tA1bOUMUXm
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) September 23, 2025
Through the first three weeks, Montgomery leads all running backs with 0.18 rush EPA per play. He also leads the league with 4.82 yards after contact per rush, demonstrating his elite contact balance and toughness through hits.
5) Jordan Mason, Minnesota Vikings
2025 PFSN RBi Grade: 86.5 (B)
Last Week’s Ranking: 19
The injury to Aaron Jones was a blow to the Minnesota Vikings. But out of that situation, Jordan Mason has looked like one of the best running backs in the league in his absence. His 0.1 rushing EPA per play is second in the entire NFL through three games.
With an elusive rate of 45.0%, Mason leads all running backs coming out of Week 3. He also leads the NFL with an offensive rush success rate of 55.0%, making him one of just two backs with successes on more than half of their carries.
4) De’Von Achane, Miami Dolphins
2025 PFSN RBi Grade: 86.6 (B)
Last Week’s Ranking: N/R
Before Week 3, De’Von Achane didn’t have enough carries to qualify for the RBi rankings. Now that he averages ten carries a game, he finds himself comfortably in the top five in his first week of eligibility.
Achane comes out of Week 3 ranking second in the NFL with a 43.3% elusive rate, and he’s fifth among running backs with an average of 1.66 receiving yards per route run. He’s been a reliable playmaker amidst the Miami Dolphins’ struggles to begin the year.
3) Jonathan Taylor, Indianapolis Colts
2025 PFSN RBi Grade: 88.5 (B+)
Last Week’s Ranking: 4
Going into Week 4, Jonathan Taylor leads the NFL with 338 rushing yards. He also leads the league with 60 rushing yards, but he’s far from just a system running back: he’s averaging 5.6 yards per carry and is tied for second in the league with three rushing touchdowns.
Taylor followed up his 165-yard game in Week 2 with another outing above 100 rushing yards, scoring three rushing touchdowns in the process. He’s second in the NFL with 4.35 yards after contact per rush through three games.
2) Javonte Williams, Dallas Cowboys
2025 PFSN RBi Grade: 88.6 (B+)
Last Week’s Ranking: 6
A strong start to 2025 was carried on when Javonte Williams hit the field in Week 3. After scoring three touchdowns in his first two games, Williams ran for 76 yards on ten carries, boosting his season-long average to a commendable 5.3 yards per carry.
Williams’ average of 0.08 rush EPA per play is the third-best in the league, and he’s top ten in both his elusive rate and his yards after contact per rush. He’s proven he can pick up yards with both agility and power, and that’s made him the Dallas Cowboys’ bona fide starting running back.
1) James Cook, Buffalo Bills
2025 PFSN RBi Grade: 88.7 (B+)
Last Week’s Ranking: 7
The Buffalo Bills signed James Cook to an extension worth $48 million this offseason. So far, their star running back is making that signing a strong investment. After three games, he leads the NFL with four rushing touchdowns and has contributed as a receiving back, as well.
Second in rushing yards and third in rush EPA per play, Cook is averaging a strong 5.4 yards per carry to begin the year. Coming out of Week 3, he ranks in the top ten in practically every rushing analytical category that PFSN has.
