Dynasty Football Factory’s 2025 NFL Draft Coverage: Raheim Sanders

Raheim Sanders | South Carolina                                      6’0” 217 lbs.                                 6/8/2002 (22)

Raheim Sanders was signed by the Los Angeles Chargers as a UDFA following the conclusion of the 2025 NFL Draft. 

COLLEGE PRODUCTION

Believe it or not, there was once a time when Raheim “Rocket” Sanders was one of the most coveted assets in all of Devy. Coming off his 2022 true sophomore campaign, Rocket posted over 1,700 scrimmage yards and found the endzone a dozen times, dominating the college ranks with his “bully ball” playstyle. Heading into the 2023 season, it was all but assumed Sanders was destined for another monster season and would subsequently declare for the 2024 NFL Draft. However, injuries derailed his junior year, dealing with a knee injury followed by a shoulder injury which required surgery. When he did see the field that year, Sanders was noticeably playing hurt and posted some dismal efficiency number similar to that of Jaydn Ott this past season. 

After a nightmare Year 3, Sanders transferred to South Carolina for his senior season, where he found his footing once again. Sanders amassed 1,200 scrimmage yards and 13 touchdowns for the Gamecocks in 2024. It was reported that Sanders had ballooned up to 240+ pounds by the end of the 2023 season, but by the 2024 season he had dropped back down to around 230 pounds, and he even weighed in at a light 217 pounds at the NFL Combine. Dropping the weight helped Sanders regain some of the explosion and burst he played with in 2022 which gave me some hope for his NFL projections. He was also an integral part of this passing attack at South Carolina, earning 30 targets and averaging 1.51 yards per route run (YPRR). 

From an efficiency standpoint, Sanders has never really been elite. 2022 was arguably his most efficient season, with nearly a 30% missed tackle rate, 6.5 yards per attempt (YPA), and nearly a 50% breakaway rate. 

FILM

Raheim is more of your one-cut, downhill runner. He plays with power and force, rather than finesse. Lateral agility has never been a strength of Sanders which can affect his ability to avoid tacklers. He has decent vision and patience, waiting for his blocks to develop and has the size and strength to grind out an extra yard or two with every run. Sanders is a reliable pass-catcher out of the backfield but won’t be an RB you ask to run many complex routes. Sanders should be a sufficient enough pass protector at the NFL level if given the chance. 

ATHLETIC TESTING

Sanders posted an RAS score of 7.08. He reportedly was clocked at 23.55 mph during his 40-yard dash, which was the fastest recorded time of all the RBs at the event this year. As you can see from the RAS card, it takes a while for Sanders to get up to top speed. His 4.46 40-time was excellent, especially for a guy his size, but his 10 and 20-yard splits were average. We care more about the split times with RBs, as the 40-time mostly just tells us about breakaway speed. The split times let us know if the prospect has the quick burst and explosion to hit the gap and fly into the second level. 

Sanders’ shuttle and 3-cone times also confirm the lack of lateral agility, as he posted poor times in both of these departments. Sanders is clearly a talented athlete, but he has more straight-line speed than quickness, and he’s a bit stiff in the hips. 

DRAFT ANALYSIS 

Rapid Reaction to Draft Capital: Poor (undrafted)

Rapid Reaction to Landing Spot: Average

Raheim Sanders signed with the Los Angeles Chargers as a UDFA. 

Being one of the few Raheim Sanders “bulls” pre-draft, I was incredibly disappointed to see he wasn’t selected on Day 3. He lands with head coach Jim Harbaugh, who we know loves to run the football. Unfortunately, Harbaugh took Omarion Hampton in Round 1 and signed Najee Harris this offseason. The absolute best-case scenario would be Sanders entering the season as the RB3 on the depth chart, and even that is unlikely. With Najee being on a small one-year deal, if he disappoints in 2025, it’s possible Sanders can move his way up to being Hampton’s primary backup and will have some contingent value, but I’m not holding my breath. 

FANTASY INSIGHTS

Prior to the draft, I had Sanders as a late round three rookie pick in Superflex formats. I wasn’t blind to the red flags, but I was hopeful his size, strength, and proven ability to handle a large workload would land him some decent draft capital. That never came to fruition, and now Sanders will be lucky to make the 53-man roster. I’ve dropped him down to my 58th overall rookie prospect. He’s not draftable in your upcoming Dynasty rookie drafts, but he may be worth a waiver bid and tax squad stash after the draft.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article, and I hope you got some valuable information you can use for your fantasy team! If you’d like additional insight into Dynasty Football news and analysis, please follow me on Twitter at @jim_DFF. Until next time, keep grinding out there, DFF family! #DFFArmy #AlwaysBeBuilding