Thor Nystrom presents an updated edition of the 2025 NFL Draft running back rankings, featuring Ashton Jeanty still on top, but several players like Damien Martinez and Cam Skattebo moving up the rankings.

Running Back Rankings for the 2025 NFL Draft

See below for how I rank the full class of incoming running backs, with specific analysis on my top 11 to follow.

Read the FULL THOR 500 here — Thor Nystrom's full ranks of the 500 best players in the 2025 NFL Draft!

NFL Draft RB Rankings Analysis: The Top 11

1. Ashton Jeanty | Boise State | 5-8/211 | RAS: N/A | COMP: LaDainian Tomlinson

Jeanty has a compact build, tight wiry muscle packed in a 5-foot-8 frame. Jeanty runs low to the ground, giving defenders one of the smallest surface areas in this class to hit. 

In my decade doing NFL Draft work, I have never seen a college player who is more difficult to tackle. Jeanty has the contact balance of the spinning top at the end of Inception. He is barely fazed by first contact. Defenders slide off Jeanty like they’ve hugged an electrical fence. 

Jeanty easily led the nation for the second straight year in yards after contact per attempt, with 5.25. His 151 missed tackles forced led the nation by 50 (Cam Skattebo was second with 101)! Jeanty’s 1,970 yards after contact shattered the single-season CFP-era record, and was more than 250 yards higher than any other RB had … in total! Three-quarters of Jeanty’s rushing yards last season came after contact.

Jeanty’s speed-to-power conversion juices him with electricity at the contact point. He has a deep bag of tricks to deal with oncoming defenders, including a tornado spin move. In college, Jeanty posted a career missed tackles forced rate of 37.1% with 4.78 yards after contact per rush. 

Bijan Robinson had 39.3/4.40 at Texas, Saquon Barkley had 25.4/3.51 at Penn State, and Christian McCaffrey had 19.0/2.89 at Stanford. Jeanty’s 5.25 yards after contact per attempt was more than a full-yard higher than that trio ever had in a single season.

Jeanty doesn’t have the like-water agility of Barry Sanders. Jeanty parries flurries of cuts together in space, painting a herky-jerky mirage for defenders. If you think of Sanders like a fish in a creek, you can think of Jeanty like an armored knight slalom skiing. 

Jeanty picks up speed as he goes, but is capable of immediately making 90-degree direction changes, or flipping directions violently repeatedly while retaining speed and body control.

In the beat after contact, and immediately out of cuts, Jeanty has an instant-acceleration button to get himself back into space. Jeanty has solid long speed, but it’s not elite. The elite trait is Jeanty’s ability to access top speed in a few steps. 

Behind the line, Jeanty’s style forces second-level defenders to choose their gaps before he does. Once they’ve made their decision, Jeanty ensures it’s the wrong one. Defending Jeanty is an exercise in frustration —at every turn, you are set up to fail.

Jeanty gleefully screws with pursuit angles by toggling speeds, sometimes throttling down to a near jog to allow downfield blockers to wipe out threats before re-punching the gas. This is where you see his hand-above-the-chessboard genius, maneuvering himself like he’s playing a video game and can see all 11 defenders simultaneously. 

Jeanty doesn’t pull out the stiff arm unless he has to, but it’s a cattle prod to the facemask when he needs it. Jeanty consistently falls forward to get an extra yard or two when he’s dead to rights. 

He is keenly aware of where the first-down line and end zone are, and you’ll see even more gritty contortionism out of him when he has a shot to cross either. In 2024, 31% of Jeanty’s runs ended in either a first down or a touchdown. 

Some are going to assume that Jeanty isn’t much of a receiver because he caught only 23 dumpoffs with three drops in 2024. Pay that no mind. Boise State radically changed Jeanty’s usage last season in an attempt to challenge Sanders’ record and get Jeanty to New York for the Heisman ceremony—his pass-game work from 2023 was directly funneled into carries in 2024.

In 2023, 65 of Jeanty’s 516 offensive snaps came in the slot or out wide. Jeanty caught 44-of-48 targets in 2023 for 578 yards and 5 TD—with zero drops—good for an elite-elite 91.6 PFF receiving grade. Jeanty was an all-district receiver as a junior in Texas’ highest level of high school football.

The only area of Jeanty’s game that I can nitpick is his pass-pro. All the feel that he has as a runner and receiver go out the window in this phase. He seems to be a little slow to denote danger, and, while he’s willing to scrap, his technique is poor. 

He doesn’t always square a power base under him leading up to contact, and he’s usually late to punch, allowing the defender to touch him first and dictate the dance. I could care less. If I’m  lucky enough to have Ashton Jeanty on my team, he’s going to be out running routes when we’re passing the ball. 

Jeanty is the best running back prospect to enter the NFL since Saquon Barkley. He will be a star from Day 1.

2. Omarion Hampton | North Carolina | 6-0/221 | RAS: 9.61 | Comp: Deuce McAllister

Hampton reminds me of former Saints RB Deuce McAllister, who measured into his NFL Combine at 6-foot-1, 222 pounds and ran a 4.41 40 with a 37.5” vertical jump. Hampton ran a 4.46 40 with a 38” vertical jump at 221 pounds.

Hampton has the same upright running style as McAllister, with similar foot speed between the tackles. He has the same ability to contort and slither through creases into space.

Hampton is a hard-charging north/south runner who does not mess around behind the line. It’s an aggressive ethos—particularly for the zone-blocking system that he played in at North Carolina—that has its positives and negatives.

Hampton always gets, at minimum, what’s blocked for him. He has a very disciplined running style, never out over his skis, and consistently keeps a sturdy base beneath him as he travels his north/south path.

The downside to this style is a lack of evasion. It’s not what Hampton is trying to do, and he doesn’t have the wiggle to try. Hampton has one direction change in him on a given run, and it’s going to come off a cut around the line of scrimmage.

One of Hampton’s most impressive traits is his contact balance. Hampton is a banger, and his style requires a fortified center of gravity—he’s got it. He brings a hammer into contact, trying to blast his way to a few extra yards.

Hampton posted at least 67 missed tackles forced each of the last two seasons, while logging a stellar 4.35 yards after contact per attempt (89th percentile). Hampton has all the body armor he needs for grunt work. 

He is a rocked-up 221, a physique he built through maniacal weight room work. Hampton could stand to run with more patience and more tempo—but that’s just not who he is. He can miss opportunities by not allowing them to develop, or by not seeing alternate lanes open up when he’s become the locomotive on tracks.

Hampton is an inconsistent pass blocker. Hampton looks for work, and he brings his muscle-bound frame to every fight. But he has a habit of stepping forward prematurely, giving him infeasible angles to reach pressure if it pops up from an unexpected direction.

And when he engages, Hampton’s technique is scattershot. He doesn’t know what to do with his hands. Too often, Hampton simply acts as a human shield, parking his body between the defender and his quarterback, allowing the defender free access to his chest.

Hampton was productive as a receiver at UNC, with 67 catches for 595 yards (and only two drops) the past two years. Hampton’s 1.38 YPRR in 2024 is top 10 in this RB class. He has a very specific niche.

Hampton wasn’t given the opportunity to run many different kinds of routes out of the backfield at UNC—he was rarely asked to leave it at all. Hampton is skilled in the screen game, he has the fluidity for swings, and he’s a reliable last-resort dumpoff option.

The Tar Heels’ goal with Hampton in the receiving game was simply to get him into space to let him do damage—extended handoffs behind the line of scrimmage. Over the last two seasons, Hampton had a -1.5-yard aDOT. But thanks to that north/south style suited for the work, and his ability to break tackles, Hampton barreled forward to 11.7 yards per reception.

3. Kaleb Johnson | Iowa | 6-1/224 | RAS: N/A | COMP: Larry Johnson

Johnson is bouncy and light in tight quarters on inside-zone concepts. He doesn’t go down on first contact, and he has very good feet. Last season, between the left guard and right guard, he had 131 carries for 839 yards, good for 6.4 yards per carry. Johnson finished with an identical 6.4 YPC over 240 total carries.

Mid-zone concepts allowed Johnson to take his hard-charging fight to the defense. On outside-zone runs, Johnson displays admirable patience picking down the line and waiting for his opportunity.

Johnson is a threat to take it to the house when he gets into the third level. He did this plenty in 2024, finishing 90th percentile in breakaway rate. Johnson assumes an upright sprinter’s stance with open grass in front of him, his legs close together. He doesn’t pump his arms much, and there is zero wasted movement. 

While Johnson ran only a 4.57 40 at the NFL Combine, he hit a max speed of 22 mph on that run, the same top speed that Iowa’s GPS tracking system clocked him at last season. Johnson’s 40 was killed by a 7th-percentile 1.62 10-yard split. 

Johnson is able to mitigate the lack of explosion and give himself a runway to access his high-end top speed on stretch-zone concepts. These are the runs where Johnson looks like Le’Veon Bell. 

Johnson baits and switches second-level defenders, forcing them to declare first, sucking them into a muck of bodies as he escapes into space. This gives him a higher preponderance of clean holes through which to build up speed.

Johnson is very difficult to tackle in space. Johnson has filthy contact balance, particularly for his angular running style. It’s difficult to impede his momentum, even amid a tackle attempt. He’s a light pole caked in grease. 

Per PFF, Johnson was 94th percentile in yards after contact per attempt. When Johnson has a head of steam, he’s a speed-to-power locomotive. Johnson used his big shoulder pads as weapons at the end of runs.

This past season, Johnson showed some flashes as a receiver on a team that badly struggled to throw the ball. Johnson caught 22-of-25 targets (2 drops) for 190 yards and 2 TDs last season. Basically all of those yards were of Johnson’s creation.

Johnson didn’t run many true routes, but he’s got strong hands, and he’s impossible to tackle one-on-one. He’s a checkdown option, and can be used on screens. Johnson had an aDOT of -3—with 11.9 yards after the catch. Johnson made his own opportunities with 12 forced missed tackles on those 22 catches. Johnson was 97th percentile in missed tackles forced per reception.

One area where Johnson struggles is pass-pro. To be fair, Iowa rarely asked him to stay back and block on passes. Johnson logged only 54 career pass-pro reps. But in his only two seasons with more than 10 pass-pro snaps, Johnson posted ugly PFF pass-pro grades of 21.3 (2022) and  29.9 PFF (2024). 

Johnson will appeal to zone-run offenses looking for a bell cow. I expect Johnson to be exactly that for his new NFL team immediately.

4. TreVeyon Henderson | Ohio State | 5-10/202 | RAS: 9.43 | Comp: Reggie Bush

Henderson runs with his torso upright and his knees bent like coiled springs. He can accelerate from 0-60 in a blink, and is bursty through holes. A track star in high school, Henderson ran a 4.43 40 at the NFL Scouting Combine with a sparkling 9.43 RAS.

Henderson doesn’t have juke-machine agility—he has a little hip stiffness—but he’s extremely sudden laterally when he needs to be. That springy lower half of his has teleportation qualities east/west—Henderson can pull out the reverse Uno card with a hard foot in the dirt when confronted by immediate penetration and hit the gas down the line the other direction.

Many backs with Henderson’s athletic profile are finesse air/space archetypes who dance/evade and toggle speeds. Not Henderson—he has his hand on the throttle at all times, and he stays on a straight-ahead path when it’s there for him. 

Henderson’s north/south explosion juices him with legitimate speed-to-power electricity, and he’s fearless running downhill, accelerating into contact. Henderson will also go airborne around the goal line, and leapfrog defenders who declare their intention to go low too early. 

Henderson shows high-level balance in moments like these—keeping his feet while flattening a safety, or landing on his feet after hopping a linebacker in space and immediately returning to top speed.

There were other moments when Henderson was knocked off his feet easier than I was expecting—a glancing shot from the side that caused him to lose his feet, or an off-angle attempt that stole his balance. There is some inconsistency between the tackles because of this.

Henderson’s appetite for contact can also be seen on his blocking tape. There are flashes of beautiful violence, where Henderson immediately spots the free rusher, steps up, squares, and flattens the guy. 

He also flashed coming forward on the attack as a run blocker, with some slick pancake blocks on the perimeter on Will Howard designed runs. He’s a willing scrapper, he understands his assignment, and his eyes and technique got better and better as he went along.

As a receiver, Ohio State liked to use Henderson on swings and play-action concepts that sought to delay and misdirect the defense. For whatever reason, Henderson wasn’t used a ton on screens—though a delayed screen ended up being his most memorable pass-catching moment in college (the back-breaking 75-yard TD in the CFP semifinals against Texas before halftime).

Henderson has good hands—he had 45 catches with only two drops the past two seasons. More impressively, on the topic of hands, Henderson had zero career fumbles on 667 touches.

Henderson averaged only 10.7 offensive touches per game in 2024. But he posted a career-high 7.6 yards per touch—with 81.2 all-purpose yards per game—while staying healthy for all 16 games. Keeping Henderson healthy and full strength is what makes possible a play like he made against the Longhorns. 

Henderson can’t hit a grand slam for you in a high-leverage spot if he’s in street clothes. This is the Aaron Jones-corollary in Henderson’s evaluation. Luckily, the kind of early-down grinder that you’d pair with Henderson is one of the cheapest resources in the NFL to acquire. 

5. Quinshon Judkins | Ohio State | 6-0/221 | RAS: 9.89 | Comp: Joe Mixon

Well-built with a prototypical frame, Judkins runs with short choppy steps. He has a herky-jerky style, creating indecision in defenders coming downhill. Judkins can string together extremely sudden micro-cuts.

Judkins is blessed with explosive acceleration, including out of cuts, allowing him to burst through direction changes. The trait of Judkins’ that his coaches fixate on is his vision. If a cutback lane opens, he’s going to see it. 

The game obviously moves slowly for Judkins. Approaching the line, his feet seem connected to the flow of the line, while he has sonar tracking on the movement of the linebackers. He instantly reacts to defenders' movements in his peripheral vision.

Judkins is comfortable in tight quarters. He breaks a lot of tackles in the box because of his combination of agility, acceleration, contact balance, and ability to instantly get north-south out of east-west. Over his three-year career, Judkins forced 197 missed tackles, good for 81st-percentile missed tackles forced/attempt. 

Judkins’ burst is sufficient to steal the corner. At the combine, Judkins finished tied for No. 2 among RBs with a 1.51 10-yard split. The 6-foot, 221-pounder also opened eyes with a 4.48 40-yard dash. Judkins’ 38.5-inch vertical was top 5 at the position, and his 11-foot broad jump led the group.

Over his career, Judkins caught 59 balls with only three drops, posting a strong 4.8% drop rate. His route portfolio did not consist of much more than checkdowns and swings, but he’s adequate in those departments. 

The same cannot be said of Judkins’ pass blocking. Though Judkins seems open to the idea, he at present lacks the instincts and technique for the work. Too frequently, he finds himself at incorrect depth to complete a block or out over his skis throwing hands.

My preference for Judkins in the NFL would be for him to take rests on passing downs. Judkins is a bell-cow runner who has proven capable of shouldering a heavy load. You’ll just need to pair him with a passing-down back.

6. RJ Harvey | UCF | 5-8/205 | RAS: 8.41 | Comp: Tyjae Spears 

Harvey may be short, but he’s well-built at 205 pounds. He’s a home run hitter who ran a 4.40 40 at the NFL Combine with a 38-inch vertical. Harvey is blessed with very quick feet and a springy lower-half. 

I love his bouncy lateral agility behind the line of scrimmage. He smoothly swerves from danger, punches the gas, and reaches top gear in a few steps. Harvey runs low to the ground, and, when he gets going, he runs with more power and authority than you’d expect.

In 2024, Harvey posted strong broken tackle (69), elusive rating (122.2), and yards after contact (3.88) metrics. He runs through arm tackles and bounces away from off-angle attempts.

Harvey is a skilled and proven receiver. He’s one of three FBS running backs in this draft class to catch at least 19 balls with at least 1.25 YPRR each of the last two years. In space, he’s slippery as a banana peel and has a NOS button when he needs it. 

Harvey is horrid in pass protection, but he’s a good enough receiver that the point needn’t be belabored beyond that. Harvey has had recurring ball-security issues. Over the past three seasons, he had nine fumbles— three each season—five of which were lost. This better get fixed, because it will get him benched in the NFL. 

Harvey also got a chunk of his explosive runs in college by bouncing outside and outrunning linebackers and safeties—that won’t be as viable at the next level. He needs to modulate his running strategy slightly in the NFL, where his speed won’t be the same kind of trump card that it was in college. I actually like Harvey’s between-the-tackles work, so I’m bullish on his chances.

7. Damien Martinez | Miami | 5-11/217 | RAS: 9.32 | Comp: Laurence Maroney

Big, physical back with sweet feet. Productive three-year starter in two vastly different offensive systems at Oregon State and Miami. For a bigger back, Martinez is extremely fluid. 

The violence of Martinez’s one-cut direction changes can surprise defenders. Martinez runs with power, snapping arm tackle attempts. He’s extremely effective between the tackles. Martinez runs with good tempo and patience, allowing his offensive line to work for him.

I love Martinez’s leg-drive through contact—the play isn’t over until you have him dead to rights. You have to bring your lunchpail into contact— he’s going to lower his shoulder and try to run you over. But if you overcompensate loading up into contact, Martinez can also make you miss.

Martinez’s pass-pro work noticeably took a big step forward in 2024—but that’s damning with faint praise, as it was unsightly prior to that at Oregon State. Martinez is also a mediocre receiver. He’ll secure balls within his frame on checkdowns and screens, but isn’t the most fluid.

Overall, Martinez proved that he was a strong athlete at the NFL Combine with a 9.32 RAS. Martinez profiles as the early-down grinder in a committee. He needs to be paired with a passing-down back.

8. Devin Neal | Kansas | 5-11/213 | RAS: 8.55 | Comp: Durable Jay Ajayi

Neal is an instinctual slasher in a big package. His feet are elite—choppy, blur-fast, and precise. In space, Neal is slippery, and hard to square up. 

He adds to the illusion by toggling speeds, messing with defenders’ angles. Neal runs with vision and patience, staying on schedule behind his line. If a cutback lane opens, he’s going to find it. 

Neal caught 51 balls the past two years. The Jayhawks should have been more creative with his usage. Neal’s career 0.5 aDOT tells that story. He brings untapped potential as a receiver to the NFL.

Neal improved as a pass blocker in 2024. He entered the season with a stated goal of doing just that—if Neal keeps improving in this area, you’ll absolutely be able to trust him doing so at the NFL level.

Neal best fits an outside-zone system. He is a highly intriguing potential NFL starter who could be had on a discount in this stacked RB class. 

9. Cam Skattebo | Arizona State | 5-9/219 | RAS: N/A | Comp: David Montgomery

Skattebo has a classic bowling-ball build, short and dense. He runs low to the ground, with one of the surest centers-of-gravity of this running back class. Skattebo is an inflatable pop-up punching bag in how much punishment he can take while keeping his feet.

What Skattebo lacks is top-end speed. But he is extremely quick, accelerating to his top gear in a few steps. Between that and his vision behind the line, Skattebo finds holes and breeches them into the second level. 

Skattebo presents a complex problem for defenders trying to tackle him one-on-one in space. He has quick feet and can change directions suddenly with a hard cut. You also can’t get lower than him when he goes into his battering-ram routine and loads up behind his shoulder pads. Skattebo is a tackle-breaking machine who finished No. 2 in the FBS behind Jeanty last year in forced missed tackles.

Skattebo is a value-add in the passing game due to his receiving utility. Arizona State gave Skattebo bell-cow work as a runner, and Skattebo also finished No. 2 on the team in receptions. He led this RB class with 1.92 YPRR. 

Skattebo isn’t necessarily a dynamic route runner. What you do is manufacture his touch outside the tackles with blockers in front of him and let Skattebo go into his berserker routine in space. 

Skattebo isn’t much of a pass blocker, and he’s not going to have many explosive plays in the NFL. He’s an efficiency player. He’d best be deployed in the NFL as part of a committee with an athletic air back—a Jahmyr Gibbs to Skattebo’s David Montgomery.

10. DJ Giddens | Kansas State | 6-0/212 | RAS: 9.78 | Comp:  Zach Charbonnet 

Giddens is a good-sized workhorse back who ran for more than 1,200 yards each of the last two seasons. In 428 carries during that time, Giddens fumbled only one time. Giddens is a taller back, and he runs upright. He’s a smooth and natural runner. Giddens is scheme versatile, with extensive experience running in both gap and zone concepts.

He’s not a thumper. And yet, Giddens is a strong runner between the tackles, averaging more than 5 YPC between the guards last year. Giddens has good patience and vision—especially for a guy who didn’t start playing football until his sophomore year in high school—and he’s bouncy with sudden footwork in a phone booth.

Giddens opened eyes at the NFL Scouting Combine with a 4.43 40, which finished tied for No. 7 amongst the RB group. He added a 10-foot-10 broad jump and a 39.5-inch vertical leap, which each tied for No. 2 among the RBs. The 6-foot, 212-pounder left Indianapolis with an elite 9.78 RAS. 

You can see this juice on tape. Last year, Giddens finished No. 4 in breakaway yards and No. 2 in breakaway rate. Giddens, Ashton Jeanty, and Kaleb Johnson were the only three backs in the country last year to average more than 4.0 yards after contact per attempt with above a 50% breakaway rate. 

Giddens cannot be trusted in pass-pro. As a receiver, Giddens has potential. Kansas State did some cool things with him, shifting Giddens out in the slot or out wide. Giddens looks the part, with the size and athleticism of a boundary receiver. When you can isolate him in a mismatch, Giddens can pin the defender to his back on a drag or slant. 

He’s always dangerous with the ball in his hands, averaging over 10 YAC/reception in college. The issue is that Giddens sometimes fights the ball, and there are instances of concentration drops. Giddens had an elevated 10.8% career drop rate. If Giddens can clean that up, he could become a weapon in the pass game.

11. Bhayshul Tuten | Virginia Tech | 5-9/206 | RAS: 9.29 | Comp: Isiah Pacheco

Tuten spent the past two years with the Hokies after transferring up from FCS North Carolina A&T. A high school track star, he was King Tuten of the NFL Combine, blazing a 4.32 40. 

That matched the time of De’Von Achane, who Tuten outweighed by 18 pounds. Tuten and Achane share the fourth-best combine 40 at the RB position since 2013. Meanwhile, Tuten's vertical and broad jumps were both 96th percentile.

The explosion we saw in Indianapolis is evident on his film. Tuten is a home run hitter who finished No. 8 in the FBS in breakaway yards last fall. Of the 20 backs ranked in this column, Tuten was No. 5 in elusive rating last season.

He has an unpredictable, kinetic running style that can cause hesitation in oncoming defenders. Tuten’s hard cuts in space at high speeds make him a tough target to square up. Tuten runs low to the ground and is fearless, building up to a speed-to-power element that snaps arm tackles early in runs and usually leads to extra yards at the end of them. 

Tuten’s style is a bit hurried and breakneck at times, not always displaying the patience and vision you’d prefer in a zone system like Virginia Tech ran. Tuten’s biggest question as a runner is ball security—over the past two seasons, he fumbled nine times. 

His hands are also iffy as a receiver. Despite being confined to primarily a checkdown/screen guy—with a career aDOT of 0.2—Tuten had an elevated 9.4% drop rate. Strangely, Tuten’s best work as a receiver came early in his career at North Carolina A&T.

Virginia Tech didn’t seem to trust him as a receiver, phasing Tuten down to a -1.4 aDOT on 27 targets in 2024 for a meager 0.43 YPRR. Tuten, however, is a decent pass blocker who is happy to scrap.

More NFL Draft Running Back Scouting Reports

• Ashton Jeanty follows in LT's footsteps
• Kaleb Johnson is the next Larry Johnson
• Omarion Hampton goes from injury to the NFL doorstep
• TreVeyon Henderson will be Clinton Portis 2.0
• Quinshon Judkins ready for a heavy load in the NFL

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