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10 Rapid Fire 2025 Rookie RB Class Observations

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Welcome to my 2025 running black class rapid-fire observations.

You can see our rapid-fire observations on the wide receiver and tight end class here:

1. TreVeyon Henderson‘s college football playoff performance will get him over drafted by the NFL and in Dynasty rookie drafts. I see many out there with Henderson as their overall running back 2 for Dynasty. His advanced analytics are pretty unimpressive including the lowest career missed tackles forced per attempt rate of any of the prospects expected to be drafted at 21.0%. This running back class is incredibly deep. There is no need to take a risk with someone with his profile that high in rookie drafts.

2. Ollie Gordon’s 76.6 PFF rush grade was the lowest in this class among the prospects expected to be drafted.

3. The top 5 running backs by PFF rush grade were:

Ashton Jeanty 96.6

Cam Skattebo 94.6

Damien Martinez 91.6

Devin Neal 89.9

R.J. Harvey 89.5

4. Harvey has become a “my guy”. Think about what he did at Central Florida. He was up against top-level competition in the Big 12 while being the extreme focal point of defenses each week. Despite this, he put up a great advanced metric profile. Here are some of his impressive metrics and where they ranked in this class

PFF Rush Grade last season: 89.5 (5th)

Missed Tackles Forced per Attempt career: 30.05% (4th)

Breakaway Run % career: 11.8% (1st)

Yards per carry career: 6.6 (1st)

Yards after contact career: 3.7 (10th)

Fantasy points per game last season: 29.5 (3rd)

5. Jacory Croskey-Merritt is a deeper sleeper you should be able to get in the fourth round of rookie drafts. Most won’t have him inside their top 20 running backs. He didn’t even get an invite to the NFL Combine.  Merritt played only one game this year but he flashed last year for New Mexico. In that one game for Arizona, he forced 7 missed tackles on only 13 attempts. An insane 53.8% rate.  This wasn’t a fluke as his 34% rate last year for New Mexico would still be top five in this class. Merritt is one of the twitchiest backs in this class. You will see him comped to Lesean “Shady” McCoy with his elite change of direction skills.

6. Jarquez Hunter is another prospect that flashes analytically. He should also be available late in Dynasty rookie drafts around when the twentieth running back is selected. I have him top 10 in my analytical model.  

Hunter ranks sixth in career missed tackles forced per attempt at (30.4%). He ranks third in percentage of career runs that went for 15 yards or more (10.5%). He ranks fourth in career yards after contact (4.01). This all comes with the SEC pedigree we love to see from our prospects, so you know he was putting up these metrics against the best competition.

7. Running backs who are integral to a team’s receiving game are key to sustainable fantasy success. Outside of Jeanty the two running backs who achieved the highest targets per route run were Jaydon Blue 25.2% and converted wide receiver Brashard Smith 24.4%.

8. Missed tackles forced is a key predictor of future NFL and fantasy success. The five missed tackles forced leaders in this draft class are:

Ashton Jeanty – 37.8%

Bhayshul Tuten – 36.2%

Cam Skattebo – 34.3%

Jacory Croskey-Merritt – 34.0%

Jarquez Hunter – 30.4%

9. With this class, I preach quantity over quality. I am not going to spend first-round draft capital on any of the rookie running backs unless I have the 1.01 for Jeanty. He is in a tier by himself. After that, if I am in the market for a running back I would trade a first-round pick for multiple seconds and thirds and then take several throws at the dart board.

This class is incredibly deep. I took a stroll through the NFL depth charts and there are 20 to 25 running backs from this class that I could see making NFL rosters.

10. There will be several impact Day 3 (selected 4th round or later) running backs.

Each of these running backs is currently mocked to be Day 3 or later and I will be very interested in them in rounds 3 to 5 of Dynasty rookie drafts.

I hope you enjoyed reading my article. My goal is to provide actionable advice you can utilize to improve your Dynasty team. You can follow me on Twitter @force_fantasy. #DFFArmy #FantasyFootball #AlwaysBeBuilding #NFL #NFLDraft #NFLTransactions #NFLTrades #AlwaysBeScouting

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