Fantasy Football Breakouts: Ray Davis, Tank Bigsby, Bucky Irving

The 2025 fantasy football season is several months away. However, it’s never too early to start looking ahead to next year. While the NFL Draft class is loaded with several talented running back prospects, let’s not forget about the emerging stars in the league. Here are early running back breakout candidates for the 2025 fantasy football season.

Fantasy Football Breakout Candidates

Bucky Irving (TB)

Irving had an excellent finish to his rookie year. The former Oregon star was the RB6, averaging 16.8 half-point PPR fantasy points per game over the final seven weeks of the regular season, totaling 12.3 or more in every contest except the one he left early with an injury. However, Irving could be even better in 2025 as the full-time starter. Don’t be surprised if he has a De’Von Achane-like sophomore breakout season. Both studs played well at times as rookies, while Achane finished as the RB6 in 2024.

Tank Bigsby (JAC)

Outside of Brian Thomas Jr., nothing went right for the Jaguars’ offense this season. However, Bigsby finished the year as the RB32, averaging 7.8 half-point PPR fantasy points per game. By comparison, Travis Etienne Jr. was the RB36, averaging 7.4 fantasy points per contest. More importantly, Bigsby had week-winning performances. He finished with more games totaling over 23.5 fantasy points (two) than Etienne had with more than 11 fantasy points (one). Jacksonville could trade Etienne this offseason in the final year of his rookie deal, likely making Bigsby the starter.

Ray Davis (BUF)

While James Cook will remain Buffalo’s clear-cut No. 1 running back, Davis could get more work next season. The rookie ended the year as the RB38, averaging 6.3 half-point PPR fantasy points per game. While he was primarily Cook’s handcuff, Davis had several top-24 weekly finishes. More importantly, the rookie played well with an expanded workload, averaging 14.5 fantasy points per game in the three contests with double-digit rushing attempts, totaling at least 13.2 in every outing. Don’t be surprised if he has consistent flex value next season.