Running backs are back! Last season's strong performances by veterans Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry have NFL teams thinking differently about the position in the draft. But here's the thing: Teams don't have to select a running back early in the 2025 draft to get a good one.
This year presents a very good class of backs, according to our BackCAST projection system. Last year, Braelon Allen was the only prospect with a BackCAST over 40%. This year, nine backs have a score over 40%. And eight others have an above-average score. In addition, most of the top backs also have quality receiving talent. Good running backs will be coming off the board in all seven rounds.
Here is how BackCAST, which was developed by Nathan Forster, works. It projects running back success based on statistics that have correlated with success in the past. Historically, a college running back who has a good size-speed combination, had a high average yards per carry and represented a large percentage of his college team's running attack is more likely to succeed at the NFL level.
BackCAST considers these factors and projects the degree to which the running back will exceed the NFL production of an "average" drafted back during his first five years in the NFL. For example, a running back with a plus-50% score is projected to gain 50% more yards than the "average" drafted running back. It also projects whether each running back is likely to be heavily involved in the receiving game or is more of a "ground-and-pound" back.
What follows are some of the notable projections for running back prospects in the 2025 draft.
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Full BackCAST Score rankings
Methodology: How it works
