⚡ Since the beginning, I have not been afraid of Najee Harris’s impact on Omarion Hampton, especially now with Harris dealing with an injury. Since 2019, RBs drafted in the first round are a 50-50 shot to be an RB1 as a rookie/first-year player. The Chargers had the 11th most rushing attempts in the NFL last year with Gus Edwards and a recovering J.K. Dobbins at the helm, and return the same coaching staff. Somehow, Hampton is still being drafted as the RB17 despite being a first-round RB, in a run-heavy offense, and Harris’s injury. Things seem to be lining up nicely for Hampton this season.

🟡 There have been four running backs in my RB Model (data from 2024-2019) who have a prospect score above 180: Bijan Robinson, Jonathan Taylor, Breece Hall, and Najee Harris. Three of the four were an RB1 in their rookie year, and Breece Hall was on pace to be one until his injury (fantasy RB7 up until then). Unsurprisingly, Ashtony Jeanty and Omarion Hampton made that list in 2025, but so did Kaleb Johnson with a score of 184. He’s currently being drafted in RB3 territory, and in an Arthur Smith offense, that seems absurd. Jaylen Warren is there, but let’s not pretend Najee Harris wasn’t fed the rock last year and was a usable asset in that offense. At the price of RB27 by ADP, I’ll gladly take that in redraft leagues. 🔴 🔵

⚔ He’s in a split backfield right now, but Jordan Mason is a nice Zero-RB candidate. Not only should he be getting work by default given Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell’s love of split workloads, but should anything happen to Aaron Jones, even more work is open to him. Not only that, but the Vikings have also been impressed with his receiving skills in training camp, opening even more avenues to relevance:

🏴‍☠ Bucky Irving went off towards the end of the year last year, but Rachaad White was the RB21 in PPG from Weeks 12-17 (minimal workload in Week 18 but oddly didn’t see a carry). Under Dave Canales, he was a Top-5 RB. With Liam Cohen he finished the year as the RB22 overall and in PPG. That’s two different OC’s, and he’s been relevant both years. Is this the year the coaching staff stops feeding him the ball? Maybe, but given Bucky’s smaller size, White should still factor in and should get some receiving usage as well.

🥈 🥉 Honorable mentions: Isiah Pacheco, Brian Robinson, Austin Ekeler, Ray Davis, Jaylen Wright, Woody Marks.

🦁 For example, Jahmyr Gibbs scored a touchdown every 15.6 rushing attempts. The average RB scored every 31 touches. Again, I’m not saying I’m avoiding Gibbs or any of these guys I mentioned in the paragraph above. I’ve drafted all of them in bestball this year. I’m just saying temper expectations because they fit the profile that usually sees regression.

🦬 One name I will highlight who was not part of that uber-efficient group was James Cook, and only by the slimmest of margins. The major cutoff (among other parameters) I set for a RB to qualify as an efficient runner was 5 YPC. Cook was at 4.9 last year. He also scored a rushing touchdown every 12.9 carries. That is completely unsustainable. He’s also missing camp due to a contract dispute, another red flag for me. Ray Davis and Ty Johnson are capable backups who could eat into his workload this year as well. Buffalo was one of two teams with more rushing than passing scores last year (the other being Philadelphia), and they were also in the bottom eight in pass attempts. In the previous three seasons, they were average or above average. A lot is working against Cook this year.

🔵 While it’s a bit tough to label a guy with a Round 8 ADP a fade simply because the cost to invest isn’t that much, I will be doing just that by mentioning Tyrone Tracy here. New York has the toughest strength of schedule in 2025, according to Sharp Football Analysis. That doesn’t bode well for the running game in multiple facets. First, the defensive fronts they will face include Philly twice, Lions, Vikings, Dallas, Broncos, all of whom have top-12 front seven’s. But not just that, they will face a lot of top offenses, including Kansas City, the Chargers, San Francisco, and Washington twice, in addition to the other aforementioned teams and their offensive prowess. Tracy might not find room to run, but he could be used in the passing game. But that’s an area newcomer Cam Skattebo excelled in college. And Skattebo could also take some rushing work too, especially in the short area, as he’s the bigger back. It’s just tough for me to buy into Tracy this season.