The 2025 NFL Draft is merely days away. An exciting time for sure, it’s also a nervous moment for dynasty fantasy football managers. This year’s group of running backs is considered the best since the historic 2017 class. While some will go to teams with obvious needs at running back, there will inevitably be a few who are drafted by teams that the fantasy community didn’t necessarily expect.
By no means is this list a blanket recommendation to sell every player. Rather, if you roster one (or multiple) of these running backs, at the very least, consider exploring trade options, as these RBs could see their dynasty values plummet during the draft.
D’Andre Swift, Chicago Bears
It would be a minor miracle if D’Andre Swift’s status as the unquestioned lead back for the Bears survived the NFL Draft. Playing for his third team in as many seasons, Swift saw a career-high 75.7% opportunity share in 2024. His 67% snap share was 10th in the league. Despite this heavy usage, Swift’s 12.6 fantasy points per game basically tied the previous year (12.5 ppg) for his career low.
For the past few months, the Bears have been heavily linked to Ashton Jeanty. If the Boise State product gets past the Raiders, he is very likely to go to the Bears. Even if he doesn’t, it would be a minor miracle if Chicago exited Day 2 without adding a running back.
Even if Swift doesn’t lose his job as the lead back (which would undoubtedly happen should the Bears draft Jeanty), it seems very probable that Swift will end up in much more of a committee this season.
Jerome Ford, Cleveland Browns
Nick Chubb’s return from another devastating knee injury did not go particularly well last year. Jerome Ford filled in admirably as the Browns’ lead back in 2023. He did so again in 2024. Now, the Browns have moved on from Chubb, who currently doesn’t have a job.
With that said, Ford hasn’t necessarily done enough to escape his status as a former fifth-round pick. He battled injury last year to produce just 9.6 fantasy points per game. Although he did average an impressive 5.4 yards per carry.
The Browns are a mess right now, and running back certainly shouldn’t be a priority. But given Ford’s lack of draft capital, even an early Day 3 pick could seriously push him for playing time.
Travis Etienne Jr. and Tank Bigsby, Jacksonville Jaguars
This is probably the least likely of this list to happen, but it’s one I’m not sure fantasy managers are even contemplating as a possibility. The Jaguars made a bunch of changes recently. They have a new head coach in Liam Coen. They cut Christian Kirk and Evan Engram. This is probably the last chance for Trevor Lawrence to prove he’s an NFL starter. There’s a lot at stake.
Last season, Travis Etienne Jr. performed like one of the worst running backs in football. After a smoke-and-mirrors 16.7 ppg in 2023, bolstered by an epic four-week stretch amidst an otherwise unimpressive season, the real Etienne showed up in 2024. Etienne averaged 8.7 ppg while his efficiency metrics declined across the board.
At the risk of being overly harsh, Etienne quite literally did nothing well last year. That resulted in him losing his stranglehold on lead back duties, getting outsnapped by Tank Bigsby several times, and even losing some passing down duties to D’Ernest Johnson.
Etienne wasn’t drafted by the current regime. He wasn’t even drafted by the former regime. Etienne joined the team under the very brief and dismal Urban Meyer era.
The Jaguars did pick up Etienne’s fifth-year option, which is something they had to do prior to last season. They are probably regretting it now. Even so, entering his fourth season, the Jaguars could easily move on from Etienne after this year.
Right now, Bigsby is the natural favorite to benefit should the current coaching staff not get what they want from Etienne. But what if they like neither? The Jaguars could easily spend a Day 2 pick on a running back, making now the optimal time to sell one or both of these incumbent backs.
Tyrone Tracy Jr., New York Giants
One of the most popular Day 3 rookies for redraft last year, Tyrone Tracy Jr. mostly delivered. On a very climbable depth chart, Tracy took replacement-level Devin Singletary’s job and never gave it back.
Tracy may have only averaged 10.7 ppg, but he did enough to earn the trust of his coaches. Even after some costly fumbles, head coach Brian Daboll went right back to him, knowing he was their best back.
MORE: 4 Rookie Sleepers To Target In Your Dynasty Fantasy Football League Ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft
Unfortunately, Tracy can never be anything other than a fifth-round pick, and a late one at that. Do the Giants need a running back? Absolutely not. But you know they feel some type of way after letting Saquon Barkley walk, only to watch him almost break the single-season rushing record en route to winning a Super Bowl.
Despite Tracy being perceived as a quality back, he wasn’t all that impressive as a rookie. He was remarkably average across the board. Basically, he didn’t do anything that would dissuade the Giants from seeking an upgrade.
Even if the Giants don’t take a running back on Day 2, any Day 3 running back could be perceived as a threat to Tracy. If the Giants take one in the fourth round, I certainly would be feeling a little uneasy about Tracy on my dynasty rosters.
Jaylen Warren, Pittsburgh Steelers
This is an interesting one because I don’t actually think Jaylen Warren is a sell. However, given the likelihood that the Steelers draft a running back, it would be a dereliction of duty to leave Warren’s name off this list.
Obviously, if the Steelers spend a first-round pick on Omarian Hampton or a second-round pick on TreVeyon Henderson, it’s going to be a problem for Warren.
With that said, I actually think there’s a decent chance Warren comes out of this draft appearing to have taken a hit in value, but actually does not, making him a potential post-draft buy candidate.
Warren has spent his entire career playing alongside Najee Harris. He’s quite literally never had a game where he had the entire backfield to himself. Now, Warren is the incumbent.
If the Steelers do take a running back in the second round, it’s probably bad news for Warren. But the only way they could do that is by either trading down out of the first round or trading up into the second round, as they currently don’t have a second-round pick.
If they take a running back in the third round or on Day 3, Warren’s role should still, at worst, be what it’s been. Given that he’s the one with experience now, I would project him to be the lead back over all but maybe 3-4 running backs in this class.
Chase Brown, Cincinnati Bengals
Sometimes, the fantasy community gets it very right. After a couple of explosive runs during very limited playing time behind Joe Mixon in 2023, Chase Brown as a very popular breakout candidate in 2024, despite the Bengals signing Zack Moss. It took Brown a few weeks, but he completely vanquished Moss, even before the veteran was lost for the season.
Here’s the thing with Brown, though. While clearly talented, Brown benefited from an otherworldly workload, the likes of which those of us who played fantasy in the 2000s can only dream about. From Week 9 through the end of the season, Brown saw at least an 80% snap share in every game.
Brown does not need to see that level of usage to be a productive fantasy back. But he does need to maintain almost as much to be treated like the weekly top-five RB he was.
The Bengals’ game plan was not to give their fifth-round sophomore RB 20+ touches every game. That’s why they signed Moss. The problem was that after Moss went down, they didn’t have a back on the roster talented enough or trustworthy enough to play.
This year, the Bengals are not going to enter the season intending to use Brown on every down. There will be another guy. What if they take that guy on Day 2 or early Day 3? What if he’s better than expected?
To be clear, no one is coming in to make Brown irrelevant. That’s not going to happen. But if Brown goes from over 20 touches a game to 12-14, that would put a significant dent in his fantasy value.