Invest in running back upside early in drafts: With a deep pool of wide receivers and a growing pool of tight ends, targeting the elite running backs early could pay dividends if done correctly.
Identify your favorite draft position for this strategy: Based on ADP, Bijan Robinson at 1.01 could be paired with the upside of Bucky Irving and the safety of Kyren Williams, making for a very desirable trio.
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In the fantasy football world, you’ll often hear about strategies such as “zero RB” or even “hero RB,” which refers to specific approaches heading into a draft. While having a set strategy can help you feel prepared, it’s important to be ready to pivot from the original game plan if things don’t go as planned, or if there’s significant value on the board at your pick.
With that being said, for those who do want to approach a 2025 fantasy draft by attacking the running back position early and often, there are several strong candidates to consider in each of the first three rounds. With some draft positions yielding better results than others based on current average draft positions, certain slots may be more desirable to attempt this strategy from than others.
PPR Scoring Top Finishers by Position since 2015
TOP:
3
5
10
25
50
75
100
150
QB
60%
62%
53%
54%
40%
32%
27%
21%
RB
23%
22%
26%
19%
22%
25%
27%
27%
WR
17%
16%
21%
25%
33%
37%
39%
40%
TE
0%
0%
0%
2%
4%
6%
7%
12%
0.5 PPR Scoring Top Finishers by Position since 2015
TOP:
3
5
10
25
50
75
100
150
QB
77%
76%
72%
60%
43%
32%
27%
20%
RB
13%
12%
13%
16%
22%
25%
25%
26%
WR
0%
2%
5%
13%
22%
29%
33%
34%
TE
0%
0%
0%
1%
3%
4%
6%
10%
Non-PPR Scoring Top Finishers by Position since 2015
TOP:
3
5
10
25
50
75
100
150
QB
93%
92%
92%
78%
53%
39%
32%
24%
RB
7%
8%
8%
17%
29%
32%
31%
31%
WR
0%
0%
0%
5%
17%
26%
33%
37%
TE
0%
0%
0%
0%
1%
3%
5%
9%
As you can see in the charts above, the running back position (after quarterback) offers the most overall top-10 upside among the skill position players. In non-full PPR formats, that upside extends to even the top 25 overall. Hitting on two or three of the running backs with top-10 overall potential gives fantasy managers a massive weekly advantage and increases the odds of bringing home a championship.
The running back position also carries risk. It’s not just a more injury-prone position, but it also has a high dependency on volume. If the touches go away at any point, either due to inefficiency or unexpected shared workloads — which has become much more common in recent years — it makes the early investment in the position less than ideal.
This article will focus on PPR scoring, since that is where the ADP is pulled from on Yahoo!.
Draft strategy context:
League size: 12 teams
Scoring settings are full PPR
ADP referenced is from Yahoo!
RB Archetypes to Target
The chart below highlights the key metrics that the top-five PPR running back finishers over the past five seasons hit. This will help us identify the criteria needed for each of the backs going in Rounds 2 and 3 to pay off.
Key metrics from past fantasy RBs who finished inside the top five since 2020:
Top-5 RBs (since 2020)
Snap Share
Touch Rate
Goal-to-Go Touch Rate
Targets per Route Run
Yards per Route Run
PPR PPG
Average
70%
46.0%
51.7%
0.21
1.47
23.5
Round 1
There are six first-round running backs this year, so regardless of draft slot, fantasy drafters should get an opportunity to start drafts with one of these top options. This also means that choices thin out a little quicker in the next couple of rounds, though there will be opportunities to start running back-heavy through the first three rounds, especially if any of these first rounders fall into the second round.
For now, each of these top-six options checks the majority of boxes needed to be a hit for us in 2025 and lock down our top running back spot.
Achane’s snap share and overall touch rate improved greatly from Year 1 to Year 2, helping to alleviate a potential natural dip in overall efficiency.
Achane still finished as the PPR RB6 on the year. Heading into 2025, he is being drafted in a similar range, setting high expectations for this season as a potential darkhorse RB1 overall finisher.
Where Achane offers arguably more upside than any other player at his position is as a receiver, as he’s coming off a season where he led the position in receiver alignment snaps (178) — 120 from the slot and 58 out wide.
Following the Jonnu Smith trade, Achane’s potential to improve on his receiving usage in 2025 has only increased to the point where he is a great bet to lead all running backs in targets this season after finishing just behind Alvin Kamara last year.
Achane paced the position in receiving yards (592) and tied for the league lead in receiving touchdowns (six) in 2024, and he could widen the gap in that regard this season.
While Achane took 23 carries in goal-to-go situations (fifth), he did not perform well in that regard, ranking 43rd among 60 qualifying backs in PFF rushing grade (56.4) and posting the fifth-worst stuffed run rate (52.2%). If that were to continue, the team may look to share that load more.
However, a general improvement from Miami’s offense can still lead to more scoring opportunities this season and help make up for those inefficiencies, which would put Achane in a great position to hit big in 2025.
Jacobs’ first season with the Packers led to a massive workload of 301 total carries (sixth). He turned that into 1,329 rushing yards (sixth) and delivered a career-high 15 rushing touchdowns (fourth).
Jacobs’ 53% touch rate last season is the best mark among these Round 2 and Round 3 running backs in 2024. Heading into 2025, there shouldn’t be much concern about his workload taking a significant hit.
On top of the top-10 workload last year, Jacobs delivered top-10 numbers in PFF rushing grade (90.6), yards after contact per rushing attempt (3.45) and PFF elusive rating (90.1).
There’s nothing overly flashy about Jacobs’ game, and he’s not a volatile enough asset where the fantasy community will be pushing one way or the other. There’s a safe steadiness in targeting Jacobs as our RB2 for this running back-heavy build.
Jacobs finished as the PPR RB5 last season. As long as he’s healthy again, he’ll look to return similar value with his workload alone.
Much like with Jacobs, there is a level of safety in betting on Taylor’s workload to yield RB2 production.
Taylor’s 80% snap share ranked second to only Kyren Williams among all Rounds 1-3 running backs, and there’s little risk of him losing many of those snaps as long as he’s healthy.
Health has been the biggest issue for Taylor, who has missed significant time in each of the past four seasons since finishing as the overall RB1 in 2021.
With little backfield competition, Taylor brings one of the safer floors thanks to his workload. He averaged 17.1 PPR points per game in 2024, which was a top-12 rate for the position.
Getting Taylor as our RB2 creates a strong potential for weekly production through the first two picks of the draft.
From Week 10 on last season, when Irving’s improved opportunities became more consistent, he ranked seventh in both rushing yards (703) and receiving yards (218) as the PPR RB7.
Continuing on that pace in Year 2 would allow Irving to comfortably return that mid-range RB1 fantasy potential.
A high level of play thrust Irving into a starting role in the second half of last season, despite his being an undersized Day 3 rookie.
He finished the year as one of the 10 highest-graded running backs in rushing (90.0) and receiving (90.5).
Arguably, the most impressive aspect of Irving’s rookie season, when considering his stature, is that he led the position in yards after contact per attempt (3.93) and ranked in the top five in missed tackles forced per attempt (0.28).
Continuing to play at a high level in Year 2 would keep him in a workhorse role, potentially helping him finish as a top-eight fantasy running back or higher.
From Week 10 and on last season, Irving averaged 18.8 opportunities (targets plus carries) per game, which, considering his efficiency as a runner and receiver, would put him well in range of this high-end fantasy potential.
Over the past two seasons, only Bijan Robinson has played more regular-season snaps among running backs (1,631) than Kyren Williams (1,565). And only Saquon Barkley (592) and Derrick Henry (605) have more carries over that span than Williams.
At this point, Williams deserves to be in the same conversation as both Jacobs and Taylor in Round 2 as nothing less than a safe workhorse back to bet on through volume alone.
Even if there’s some concern about other Rams backs cutting into Williams’ workload in 2025, his new three-year contract extension should provide fantasy managers with confidence.
With that, Williams’ workload shouldn’t be viewed as being in significant danger in 2025. He has back-to-back seasons of finishing among the top eight scorers at his position, so getting him in Round 3 as our potential RB3 is a great start.
Brown took over as the Bengals’ lead back in Week 4 last season and never looked back.
From Week 4 through Week 17, he logged 215 carries, the seventh most among running backs, while his 57 targets ranked third over that span.
If that usage carries over into 2025, Brown should once again find himself firmly in RB1 territory.
Brown ranked third in targets at the position after taking over as the starter, and he made the most of that workload.
He earned a top-10 PFF receiving grade and scored four receiving touchdowns on 54 catches — both ranking inside the top five at the position.
Brown was Cincinnati’s clear leader in goal-to-go carries (22), converting six of his seven rushing touchdowns from those opportunities.
There have been few changes to the Bengals’ offense from last year, and if they continue to find the success they did on that side of the ball again in 2025, Brown should benefit and return potential RB1 value.
Cook just delivered his second straight top-10 fantasy season on the back of elite efficiency in one of the league’s best offenses.
Despite ranking outside the top 25 in opportunities per game, Cook posted the second-best mark in fantasy points per snap (0.55) among qualifiers at the position.
He surpassed 1,000 rushing yards and posted 4.9 yards per carry — a top-10 mark at the position — helping buoy his fantasy value through elite efficiency.
Cook’s role as a receiver dipped in 2024 after he finished in the top 20 in running back targets the year prior. He fell to 40th in that category but still managed to find the end zone twice through the air and ranked 26th in yards per route run.
His 27 goal-to-go carries ranked in the top five in the league and helped fuel his 16 rushing touchdowns, tied for the NFL lead. Twelve of those scores came from goal-to-go situations, showcasing his central role near the goal line.
Cook also got a shiny new contract extension this offseason. That should alleviate potential concerns fantasy managers might have about Cook not being a part of this Bills’ offense in 2025.
Navigating the Rest of the Draft
Continuing to use Yahoo!’s average draft position data, we can get a better idea of how these strategies play out using the early, middle and late picks.
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