While this year’s draft is shaping up to break records in terms of the number of offensive players selected in the first round, the running backs in this year’s class are unlikely to contribute to that total. This year’s class isn’t a heralded group overall. In fact, it’s more likely that this draft will set the record for the latest the first running back has even been taken in the modern draft era, which currently is held by the Tennessee Titans selection of Bishop Sankey 54th overall in 2014 (which was immediately followed by the second running back in Jeremy Hill). The Dallas Cowboys are a popular choice to take their running back of the future with their second round pick (56th overall), and dynasty fantasy managers will bump that player up their draft boards considerably.
Without a standout number one back, it’s hard to evaluate the order of this class. It’s nearly impossible to find even five draft experts who have the top backs ranked even close to the same order.
The biggest thing teams will be looking at for this year’s crop of runners will be team fit. While we don’t have any generational talents about to enter the league, we do have plenty of skilled players who can fit into and even excel in certain roles as long as the offence is catered to their strengths.
In no particular order, we’ll take a brief look at the biggest names at the running back position, highlight their strengths, look at their weaknesses and seeing what type of role they could fill in the NFL.
Jonathan Brooks – Texas
Height: 6’0”
Weight: 216 lbs
Year: Sophomore
Age: 20.7
NFL Player Comparison: Rhamondre Stevenson
Pros: Jonathan Brooks is incredibly shifty and has outstanding balance, making him a nightmare to take down one on one. His jump cuts before hitting the line of scrimmage ensure that defenders can’t cheat by anticipating what gap he’ll hit. He’s an extremely patient runner, following his blocks to perfection before putting his foot in the ground and exploding downhill. He has big time acceleration and can beat defenders outside when necessary. Brooks also brings a lot to the passing game. He’s a natural receiver and can turn the ball upfield after the catch to gain positive yards.
Cons: The glaring red flag here is the injury. Brooks suffered a torn ACL on November 12th. While that injury is less of a death sentence for running backs than it used to be, it’s still assumed that whoever drafts Brooks will need to wait at least one full season before seeing what he can truly do at the NFL level. With the injury occurring so early in his sophomore season, he only has 283 career touches in college, which doesn’t give teams a lot of tape to evaluate. Whoever drafts him will have to be confident about their medical evaluations before committing to him (side note – the Cowboys doctor was the one who performed the surgery on Brooks). On the field, Brooks occasionally tries to bounce around in the backfield for too long, allowing the gaps to fill up causing the play to fall apart. His technique in pass blocking also leaves much to be desired, as he prefers to blast his shoulder into defenders as opposed to getting his hands and arms involved, but at least he’s more than willing to step in and block.
Summary: Brooks has the potential to be a high end three down back in the NFL. Were it not for the injury concerns, he would be a shoe in first round pick. However, the NFL undervalues the position so much, so his ceiling is a day two pick with hopes that he can really break out in 2025.
Trey Benson – Florida State
Height: 6’0”
Weight: 216 lbs
Year: Junior
Age: 21.7
NFL Player Comparison: Clyde Edwards-Helaire impersonating Kenneth Walker III
Pros: Benson is a small, explosive runner with incredible feet. He has remarkable short speed quickness that lets him take advantage of gaps other backs wouldn’t be able to hit. He can change direction on a dime and uses that powerful change of direction speed to power through any arm tackles and explode through contact. His career missed tackles forced per carry over the past decade was tops across all power five conferences over the past decade. He wasn’t used often in the passing game, but does appear to have soft hands and his open field elusiveness will make him dangerous on swing passes and screens at the next level. He’s also been credited with a grand total of zero fumbles throughout his college career. Benson can be a home run hitter, with four plays of 50-plus yards, and was the only FBS player with both a 80-plus yard reception and run in 2023.
Cons: Benson suffered a torn ACL as a freshman at Oregon, and only had 6 carries in his sophomore season which led to him transferring to Florida State, so his development has been slightly delayed at the college level. He’s someone who can execute any run in the playbook. But, if the design starts to fall apart he hasn’t shown the vision to create from the backfield, and often ends up getting bottled up by the backside of his own offensive linemen. Despite his big play potential, Benson only recorded one game over 100 rushing yards with the Seminoles in 2023.
Summary: Benson could have benefitted from more experience at the college level, but was under-utilized due to his injury and to Florida State’s less than stellar running back packages. Still, he has all the tools to be a very productive back in the NFL. His spotty vision and run instincts will likely limit him to being utilized in a committee, but he can definitely improve an offence as a rotational piece who has the potential to be a good 3-down back.
Blake Corum – Michigan
Height: 5’8”
Weight: 205 lbs
Year: Senior
Age: 23.4
NFL Player Comparison: Kenyan Drake
Pros: Blake Corum is a tough, do it all playmaker that I feel like many old school offensive coaches will fall in love with. Corum uses his muscular frame and low center of gravity combined with his quick feet to beat would-be-tacklers with jukes and jump cuts on a consistent basis. He’s a hard charging runner who plays with good balance and can take hits without disrupting his pace. The 23 year old, more than any other back in this draft, has shown he’s capable of handling a heavy load. He produced three straight 1,000 plus yard seasons in college, scoring 59 touchdowns over that stretch, while only losing 2 fumbles on over 700 touches. He might be the most pro-ready running back in the draft who has enough upside to come in and take over a starting role.
Cons: While his college production is certainly impressive, teams could also be turned off by his usage. The lifespan of running backs is extremely short. And Corum already has some hard miles on him. His overall frame is also smaller than desired. There haven’t been many running backs drafted at 5’9” or below who have had overly successful careers in the NFL. In fact, only 6 players who fit that criteria were even drafted in the top 100 from 2011 – 2021. Corum was also a detriment in the passing game. He wasn’t asked to run many routes, and his shorter arms hinder him in pass blocking, despite his willingness to get involved.
Summary: Overall, Corum is a steady back who makes quick decisions in the backfield. His low centre of gravity and quick cuts let him escape congestion at the line of scrimmage, but his overall career will be limited by his effectiveness on third down situations.
Jaylen Wright – Tennessee
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 210 lbs
Year: Junior
Age: 21.0
NFL Player Comparison: Melvin Gordon
Pros: If there’s a team looking for an explosive back to pair with a bruiser, Jaylen Wright is their guy. Wright, who’s a former track star, ran a blistering 4.38-second 40-yard dash at the combine and nearly set the record for the broad jump at the position. While I try not to put too much stock in the combine results, Wright’s explosiveness showed up on the field for the Volunteers, as he averaged 7.4 yards per attempt in 2023, finishing with 1,013 yards on just 137 attempts. Wright is more than just a burner. He’s a patient runner that will follow his blocks properly before using that elite acceleration to break away from the second level of defenders. Wright wasn’t a high volume pass catcher in Tennessee, but flashed some route running ability, particularly on go routes where he could just blow by linebackers in the middle of the field.
Cons: Wright does ‘t profile to be an every down back. His small, low frame doesn’t allow him to be a pile-mover, so expecting him to be the smash-mouth runner on a consistent basis would be an ill-advised use of his talents. Even at the college level, Wright averaged just 11 carries per game, and has yet to develop the vision to take advantage of the spaces that are opened up ahead of him. It’s hard to convince an NFL GM to bring him in as a part time running back who has yet to prove much in the passing game and has minimal special teams experience. Despite his explosive speed, he wasn’t used as a returner in college.
Summary: Wright has some flaws in his game for sure. He often leaves too much meat on the bone on his runs, but makes up for it with his explosive scampers that can tilt the field in his team’s favour. If he could get onto a team with a solid run plan and be worked in for 8-10 touches a game in a complimentary role, he can carve out a strong NFL career.
Marshawn Lloyd – USC
Height: 5’8”
Weight: 220 lbs
Year: Senior
Age: 23.3
NFL Player Comparison: Duke Johnson built like fire hydrant
Pros: Lloyd is the definition of a spark plug back. Pop him into your offence when it starts to get sluggish and he’ll give it an extra boost. He has incredibly quick feet and high level elusiveness to accompany his thick muscular frame. He racked up 47 missed tackles forced on just 115 carries in 2023, adding another 10 missed tackles forced on 13 catches. You don’t need to be a stats nerd to recognize that those are elite numbers. Lloyd uses his burst and acceleration to get to the corner and beat pursuit angles, and really shines when he uses his hesitation and jump cuts to make defenders whiff at the point of contact. Lloyd is also a tough inside runner who will continue to pump his legs and spin his way to extra yards.
Cons: There are only 6 other backs in this entire class that are older than Lloyd, and he hasn’t had much time as a lead back in college. He missed his entire freshman season with a torn ACL and was unable to take over a backfield until a couple of seasons later. The amount of 23 or older rookie running backs who had such late breakouts who were actually successful in the NFL is extremely low. He’s never really carried a true, number one back workload and has had some ball security issues (three fumbles in 2023, 8 total in his college career) that will definitely scare teams off as well.
Summary: Lloyd is a shifty runner with dynamic cutting skills and the short area explosion that teams look for in a secondary back. He doesn’t have the profile of a future high volume back but he can definitely become an extremely valuable rotational piece for any number of prolific offenses.
Audric Estime – Notre Dame
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 221 lbs
Year: Junior
Age: 20.6
NFL Player Comparison: Chris Carson
Pros: Estime is a big, physical back who loves to fight through tackles and has a knack for creating big plays. He’s a powerful runner with excellent contact balance and never stops churning his legs to pick up extra yards. He runs through arm tackles with ease and is the type of runner that defenders just get sick of having to tackle throughout a game. He may not be the quickest back in the class, but if he gets to the outside and has the opportunity to use it, he has a vicious stiff arm that would stop most defenders in the NFL from making the tackle. If there’s green grass ahead of him, he’s tough to slow down once he gets up to speed, as he tallied 22 runs of fifteen plus yards last season.
Cons: Estime has a tendency to dance behind the line a little too much, giving the defence a chance to gang tackle him before he can get in the clear. His lack of lateral agility in the short area causes him to get stuck in the mud far too often and doesn’t have great start/stop ability. While he had a 100% catch rate in 2023, he was only targeted 17 total times, so his ability in the passing game is still very much in question.
Summary: Estime could be the best running back in this class – as he has the build and run power to be a RB1 as a downhill grinder that also can break off a big run. Not to mention, he’ll only be 21 in September. He’s still a scary investment for most teams, however. He has plenty of flaws to clean up in his game, including ball security, decisiveness and lateral quickness, and didn’t perform well at the combine. The natural traits are there, but if a team isn’t willing to work to develop him as their running back of the future, he could just as easily flame out in a couple of seasons.
Braelon Allen – Wisconsin
Height: 6’1”
Weight: 235 lbs
Year: Junior
Age: 20.3
NFL Player Comparison: James Conner
Pros: Braelon Allen didn’t have the normal route to the NFL draft. Allen took extra classes during the pandemic to be able to reclassify from the 2022 to the 2021 class. That allowed him to become a 17 year old college freshman in Wisconsin. Despite being originally recruited as a linebacker, with the thought that he could play both linebacker and safety, Allen was moved to running back due to a myriad of injuries and took over as the Badger’s bell-cow back before turning 18. Allen already has ideal size to accompany his quick feet. He’s a patient runner who lets the blocks develop and will keep his feet moving through contact, anticipating lane developments to set his runs up to be successful. He brings bulldozer power and loves to run over defenders in space and is dedicated to improving his game. He’s a noted gym rat and was described by head coach Paul Chryst as “ultra competitive”.
Cons: Allen lacks the explosive secondary speed to become a true difference maker in the NFL. He can grind away yards and cause the occasional miss, but he can easily be chased down by defenders if he makes it to the open field. He also lacks the skills in the passing game to be a true three down back in the NFL. His muscular frame doesn’t allow him to make the necessary turns and adjustments as a receiver. He has also had 9 fumbles over the past three seasons, and, as is a running theme of running backs in this draft, has a fairly lengthy injury history.
Summary: Allen’s ability to read running lanes and dedication to football will make him a valuable member of any locker room in the NFL. He has the lane reading ability and footwork to become a good NFL player. He’ll need to be a little more creative while evading defenders, and his run away ability will hinder his ceiling once he reaches the pros, but I think he’ll give a team an excellent floor.
-Devon Gallant
Twitter: @DevGallant
Photo: Maize & Blue Nation. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.