topAs the 2025 NFL Draft approaches, the running back class has captured the attention of casual viewers and diehard fans alike. The 2025 RB group figures to be one of the deepest, most talented in years — just as game-changing ball carriers are becoming more valuable and more integral to offensive success.
How do the perplexing RBs of the 2025 class stack up, and what might their NFL projections be? Below, you’ll find our current top 10 RB rankings for the 2025 NFL Draft.
10) Dylan Sampson, Tennessee
With Nico Iamaleava and a revamped receiving corps, the Tennessee Volunteers’ offense didn’t meet expectations in 2024 — but a not-so-quiet bright spot was RB Dylan Sampson, who accumulated 1,491 yards and 22 touchdowns on 258 carries.
At around 5’8″, 200 pounds, Sampson is one of the smaller backs in the 2025 NFL Draft class, but he doesn’t let any size mismatch intimidate him. He keeps his legs unforgivingly active, allowing him to excel as a cutting dynamo and as a finisher through contact.
Where Sampson truly makes his money is with his explosiveness, agility, speed, and blend of creativity skills. He has the running leverage and wiry frame to play bigger than his size, but his dynamism is what will make him a valuable part of an RB rotation.
9) Devin Neal, Kansas
People forget about Devin Neal, but they shouldn’t. After rushing for over 4,000 yards and scoring over 50 total touchdowns in four years at Kansas, Neal has somehow fallen under the radar in the 2025 NFL Draft RB class. Still, his evaluation holds middle-round merit.
At 5’11”, 213 pounds, Neal has always been one of the more well-put-together backs. Despite his frame and compact mass, he has surprising burst and short-area twitch, and he can weaponize that twitch with his sharp creative feel to swim through crowds.
With his short-strider mold, Neal maxes out in space relatively quickly, and he’s not overly physical — preferring to absorb rather than dish out contact. But he’s a complete runner and a reliable if unspectacular receiver, with a bountiful future waiting on Sundays.
8) Ollie Gordon II, Oklahoma State
Overall, the 2024 calendar year was one to forget for Ollie Gordon II. He was arrested on suspicion for DUI in July, and he fought through injuries (lower body, leg) and an offensive regression at Oklahoma State. That doesn’t mean Gordon himself should be forgotten.
It was just one summer ago that Gordon was being talked about as one of the best RB prospects in the 2025 NFL Draft. And in the right situation, he might be able to resurrect the same ability that had him affixed as an early-round contender.
Despite functioning as a long-strider at 6’2″, 225 pounds, Gordon flashes eye-popping cutting flexibility and lateral freedom for his size. He’s an unnaturally proficient creator in a volume back’s body, with pass-blocking prowess as a bonus.
7) Damien Martinez, Miami (FL)
Damien Martinez first showed up on the 2025 NFL Draft radar when he emerged as a consistent 1,000-yard runner at Oregon State in his first two seasons. In year three, he joined Cam Ward in Miami, cracking 1,000 yards while averaging a career-best 6.3 yards per carry.
Martinez’s resume as a receiving threat is still woefully barren, but he’s truly one of the most complete volume running backs in the entire 2025 NFL Draft class. At 6’0″, 217 pounds, he assuredly looks the part, and he checks almost every box.
Martinez is explosive and uber-physical rolling downhill, and yet, there’s a compelling finesse and calculation to his game. He’s a smooth footwork operator with spatial instincts, great diagnostic vision, and the fluidity to set up cuts just as well as crushing hits.
6) Cameron Skattebo, Arizona State
A star of the Sun Devils’ CFB Playoff run in 2024, Cameron Skattebo managed to shove his way into the early-round 2025 NFL Draft RB conversation, much like he shoves past first- and second-level defenders with brawling, prejudiced physicality.
At 5’9 1/2″ and almost 220 pounds, Skattebo is one of the most rocked-up runners in the 2025 NFL Draft, and his 39.5″ vertical and 10’3″ broad jump showcase the explosive capacity he still has at that size. He’s a rare specimen with special contact, balance, and grit.
As a runner, Skattebo bears some similarity to former Carolina Panthers’ Pro Bowler Jonathan Stewart — except that Skattebo has a lot more potential out of the backfield as a receiver. He may go on to be one of the best value buys in the 2025 class.
5) Kaleb Johnson, Iowa
Good things can come from Kirk Ferentz’s old-school Iowa Hawkeyes. Kaleb Johnson is one of those good things. Johnson rumbled for 1,537 yards and 21 touchdowns on 240 carries in 2024, and he breaks into our Top 5 in a stacked 2025 NFL Draft RB class.
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At 6’1″, 224 pounds, Johnson isn’t the most explosive or the fastest back, but he compensates with some of the best vision and creative instincts the class has to offer.
A fast first- and second-level processor, and an efficient footwork technician, Johnson knows how to use his setup space to bait defenders and clear lanes. He also has the bend and constant leg churn to create chunk plays once he’s working vertically.
4) Quinshon Judkins, Ohio State
One of the trickiest quandaries for talent evaluators in the 2025 NFL Draft cycle is ranking the two-headed RB tandem at Ohio State. Quinshon Judkins comes in as the second-best of the two on our Top 10, but he’s equally compelling as an early-round option.
Judkins rode his historic early production to an opportunity with the Buckeyes in 2024, and he was able to win a BCS National Championship while sharing touches with TreVeyon Henderson. His production dipped, but his projection remains tantalizing for scouts.
At 6’0″, 221 pounds, Judkins is a hyper-energetic, short-strider with elite burst and searing speed through gaps. He’s not an adept creator when things go off-script, but when things are on schedule, he’s a super-charged carving knife with his keen vision and quick pace.
3) TreVeyon Henderson, Ohio State
Henderson and Judkins are graded very similarly on our 2025 NFL Draft board, but Henderson comes away with a slight edge, even though he’s a year older (22). Henderson is the type of back that every offensive coordinator would love to have in their RB room.
Henderson had no qualms about sharing the Ohio State backfield with Judkins, and even as Judkins eclipsed Henderson in carries, Henderson bested Judkins with his efficiency. He was the better goal-line option and receiving threat.
At 5’10”, 202 pounds, Henderson is a compact, low-to-the-ground slasher with the burst and speed to reach the second level in a blink. He’s physical and hyperactive, yet he’s a controlled pass-catcher and an ultra-reliable pass-protector with third-down value.
2) Omarion Hampton, North Carolina
Jeanty is the most heavily marketed Round 1 RB in the 2025 NFL Draft, but there’s another player who should hear his name called within the first 32 picks in a just world: North Carolina’s Omarion Hampton.
Having amassed 3,164 yards and 30 touchdowns over the past two seasons, Hampton has the tools to be an impact starter as a volume back in the NFL. At 6’0″, 221 pounds, his size and physicality stand out as separating traits, but he brings even more to the table.
Hampton’s speed and burst, when he’s able to find a hole, is borderline special for his size, and he has the vision and spatial awareness to tempo his runs and create second-level windows with his footwork. He’s the real deal, as NFL defenses will soon discover.
1) Ashton Jeanty, Boise State
You’ve heard it since the start of the 2025 NFL Draft cycle: Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty is different. We’re here to put your mind at ease and confirm that he is. Entering the cycle, Jeanty was my highest-graded RB since Bijan Robinson. He remains on that podium.
College football watchers in the know expected Barry Sanders-esque numbers from Jeanty in 2024, and he got close. Jeanty’s legendary 2024 campaign placed him second all-time behind Sanders in single-season rushing yards with 2,601, at 7.0 yards per carry.
Jeanty racked up 30 total touchdowns last season, including 29 scores on the ground, en route to a second-place finish in Heisman Trophy voting.
At 5’8 1/2″ and an almost 220-pound playing weight, Jeanty brings a devastating elusion fusion to the fold — using his low center of gravity, elite explosiveness and agility, sharp vision and creative instincts, and physical edge to terrorize defenders every week.