By Cooper Girolamo
The 2025 NFL draft may have the deepest and most exciting running-back class in recent memory. While recently most teams stopped prioritizing their top picks on a running back as they usually don’t equate to winning, the recent successes of Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry being the reason their teams were so good teams now may be more inclined to use a top pick on an RB. With top guys like Ashton Jeanty and Omarion Hampton are expected to be drafted early and immediately make an impact. there are also guys like Cam Skattebo and Devin Neal who will be drafted later and still make an impact from day one. With the top three backs being Jeanty, Hampton, and Kaleb Johnson, there are some teams for each of them that they can step in and be the day one starter and lead their team to new successes.
Ashton Jeanty
Dallas Cowboys (Pick #12)
Ashton Jeanty, the 5’9″ 215-pound workhorse out of Boise State is the only running back widely regarded to go in the first round. Jeanty had the nation on notice this year with the race to see if he would pass Barry Sanders’ single-season rushing yards record. While he fell 28 yards short, Jeanty’s season was a major success. He lead the Boise State Broncos to their first college football playoff game, attaining the three seed before falling to Penn State. Jeanty also was runner-up for the Heisman Trophy, falling just short of Colorado’s Travis Hunter.
Jeanty is a power back who stands in the backfield differently than anyone else, as he stands straight up, having fans give him the comparison of Michael Myers from the Halloween movies. Jeanty averaged .43 missed or broken tackles per touch, which is almost triple the national average of .15. He set the CFP single season forced miss tackle record with 163 and single season yards after contact record with 1,970, each by a wide margin.
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All of this makes Jeanty the perfect pick for the Dallas Cowboys with pick 12. The Cowboys are coming off a very disappointing season and want to get back to their winning ways. They had the worst rushing attack this year with backs Rico Dowdle and an aging Ezekiel Elliot leading the way. Elliot in his prime was a fantastic running back and Jeanty is very comparable to Elliot coming out of school. The Cowboys picked him No. 3 overall in the 2016 NFL draft showing Jerry Jones is not scared to take an RB with their first pick.
Dallas also just saw what their rivals the Philadelphia Eagles just did with a top running back, winning the Super Bowl, and would love to copy their formula. While running back is not the biggest need for the Cowboys, owner Jerry Jones will have a lot of influence in the decision and I see him adding a star-studded back to help Dak Prescott, Ceedee Lamb, and the rest of the offense get back to their high-scoring ways.
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Omarion Hampton
Las Vegas Raiders (Pick #37)
Omarion Hampton, the 6’0″ 220-pound running back out of the University of North Carolina is the perfect fit for the Las Vegas Raiders with the 37th pick in the NFL Draft come April. The word surrounding Hampton going into the draft by coaches is “violent”, he is a violent runner who punishes defenders who try to bring him down. Hampton fits in with the Raiders so perfectly for one because of their new head coach, Pete Carroll. In Carroll’s successes with the Seahawks, he had himself a powerful, violent back in Marshawn Lynch. Hampton can be Carroll’s version of Lynch in Las Vegas.
Last season, the Raiders had the least number of rushing yards in the league led by backs Zamir White, Alexander Mattison, and Ameer Abdullah. All struggled to get any traction on the ground. With the top rushing teams, Ravens, Eagles, Commanders, and Buccaneers all being playoff teams, the Raiders would love to get a top rusher to get them back to their glory days. Hampton is the perfect man for the job with him being a workhorse for the Tar Heels putting up over 250 carries, 1500 yards, and 15 scores each of the last two years. With the Raiders most likely addressing the quarterback situation in free agency or the draft this year, the new man they bring in would love to have Hampton standing their beside him from day one.
Kaleb Johnson
Los Angeles Chargers (Pick #55)
Kaleb Johnson, the Iowa running back, is the least talked about back coming into the draft even though most draft experts have him as the third-best running back in the class. The 6’0″ 225-pound back has a great mix of speed and strength. He can bully defenders with his trucking ability and yet still has that break-away speed. In his final year as a Hawkeye, Johnson averaged 6.4 yards per carry, had 1,500 yards, and an amazing 21 touchdowns. He also caught 22 passes and added two receiving touchdowns as well.
Johnson seems like a perfect fit for a Harbaugh-designed run-first offense which makes him a great pick for the Los Angeles Chargers at pick 55 towards the end of the second round. The Chargers had a solid run game and were a playoff team this past season, but with their main back JK Dobbins hitting free agency and back-up Gus Edwards being on the older side along with mainly being a goal line back, Johnson could come in and be their bell cow from day one. Even if the Chargers decide to bring back Dobbins, he has struggled to stay healthy for an entire season with a history of season-ending knee injuries. In this case Johnson could be the perfect insurance option and/or could also serve as RB 1A and 1B with Dobbins. Whatever way you slice it Johnson would fit in perfectly with the Chargers system.
With these just being some of the many very talented running backs to be in this year’s draft, every team has to do their research as there are some real game changers in the running game that could be very beneficial to any team come April.
