Fantasy Football Running Back Draft Rankings: Projections, tiers, and average draft positions

Bijan Robinson, Christian McCaffrey, Saquon Barkley, Jahmyr Gibbs, and De’Von Achane make up the Tier 1 RB elite — the group drawing the best odds to finish as the top-scoring fantasy back in 2025.

What makes them so dangerous? Nearly every one of these studs can impact every part of the offense — running, catching, and racking up fantasy points no matter what the scoreboard says.

Robinson, in particular, made the leap in Year 2, turning 365 touches into a whopping 1,887 yards and 15 trips to the end zone. As the season wore on, his workload, and his dominance, only grew.

In the first eight games, he owned 64.5% of Atlanta’s backfield touches, averaging 98.8 yards per game. Down the stretch, that jumped to 72.7%, and his production exploded to 121.9 yards per outing. He punched in multiple touchdowns in four of those final nine games, totaling 10 scores in that span.

At just 23 years old, with first-round pedigree and proven top-tier NFL production, Robinson isn’t just a name on draft boards — he's a legitimate RB1 overall candidate. Over that late-season surge, he ranked first in expected fantasy points per game and second in actual points scored.

Fresh off a monster campaign that saw him pile up 2,283 total yards and 15 touchdowns, Barkley remains one of the safest bets in fantasy but expecting a carbon copy of last year’s numbers might be a stretch. 

His 2024 production leaned heavily on long touchdown runs, his receiving work dipped to a career low, and he just shouldered a staggering 482 touches — the heaviest workload for any player in a full season since DeMarco Murray’s 497 back in 2014. History isn’t on his side either, as no RB1 overall has repeated since 2002-03. 

Still, with his rare mix of talent, explosive play potential, a rock-solid offensive line, and one of the league’s most efficient attacks around him, Barkley has all the tools to take another run at the crown.

Even while splitting carries, Jahmyr Gibbs has proven to be one of fantasy football’s safest bets — and when he owns the backfield outright, his ceiling soars to RB1 overall territory. Through his first two NFL seasons, he’s finished as the RB8 and RB2 in PPR points per game, showing elite consistency and upside.

In 2024, Gibbs racked up 1,929 scrimmage yards and found the end zone 20 times on 302 touches. No running back with a similar workload matched his explosive efficiency, as he led the league in yards per touch (6.4). Among the 46 backs with at least 100 carries, he ranked 3rd in yards per carry (5.6), 1st in EPA per rush (0.14), 1st in runs of 10+ yards (16.4%), 3rd in yards before contact per carry (2.31), and 4th in first-down or touchdown rate (28%)

He also ripped off 14 runs of 20+ yards — trailing only Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry.

The formula is clear: when David Montgomery is sidelined, Gibbs explodes. In those weeks, he’s averaged a jaw-dropping 27.4 fantasy points per game. But with Montgomery active, that number dips to 16.9 — still good for RB11 last year, but a reminder that sharing a backfield caps his overall upside.

The Raiders struck gold at No. 6 overall in April’s draft, landing Ashton Jeanty — the clear-cut top fantasy rookie of 2025 after a stellar run at Boise State. He didn’t just stand out in college; he dominated, leading this year’s class in both yards after contact and broken tackle rate last season and across his entire career. With his explosive playmaking, three-down versatility, and knack for creating chunk plays, Jeanty has all the tools to become the league’s next superstar back. Vegas is expected to unleash him as a true workhorse from Day 1, making him a strong mid-range RB1 right out of the gate.

Jeanty's rise has been nothing short of meteoric. As a 19-year-old freshman in 2022, he tallied 976 yards and seven scores on 170 touches. He followed that up with a massive sophomore leap — 1,916 yards and 19 touchdowns on 263 touches in 2023 — before putting up video game numbers last season: 2,739 total yards, 30 touchdowns, and 397 touches. Now, he’s ready to bring that same production to Sundays.

Derrick Henry's first year in Baltimore went exactly as billed, a steamrolling success. He led all running backs in rushing touchdowns with 16 and ranked no lower than fourth in carries, rushing yards, goal-line attempts, and overall fantasy points. The King has now put together seven straight seasons finishing top-10 in both rushing yards and scores, proving he’s still one of the league’s most consistent ground threats.

At 31, practically retirement age in running back years, Henry hasn’t shown much, if any, drop-off. He still ranked top three in both yards per carry and yards after contact last season. The only real knock on his fantasy profile is his minimal passing-game work, finishing 51st among backs in targets. That keeps his ceiling in check, but with his dominant rushing production, he’s locked in as a rock-solid, back-end RB1.

De’Von Achane has kicked off his career with back-to-back top-6 fantasy finishes, each coming in a completely different flavor. As a rookie, he thrived on big-play explosions and jaw-dropping efficiency, while in 2024 he became more of a workhorse, racking up points through sheer volume. The dream for fantasy managers is seeing those two versions merge — and when Tua Tagovailoa was under center, we got a taste of it. In those games, Achane ranked RB1 in expected points per game and RB2 in actual scoring. Without Tua? The magic fizzled — plummeting to RB34 in expected points and RB42 in production.

Meanwhile, some fantasy drafters might think twice about Christian McCaffrey after the 49ers’ star was limited to just four games last year due to injuries. And in New York, after a letdown 2024 season, Breece Hall is poised for a major rebound but it's better to avoid for now. With Tanner Engstrand calling plays and Justin Fields adding a dual-threat element at quarterback, Hall could be set for a transition year.