Drafting the right players is key to winning your fantasy football league, but avoiding the wrong ones is just as important. Every year, certain players get overhyped, over-drafted or simply don’t live up to expectations.
To help you steer clear of potential landmines in your 2025 fantasy football draft, we asked our collection of Featured Pros to weigh in on which running backs they’re avoiding at their current average draft position (ADP). Whether it’s due to workload concerns, injury risk or inflated cost, these are the running backs our experts believe carry more risk than reward. Before you make your next pick, make sure these names aren’t on your draft board.
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Players Fantasy Football Experts Avoid
What one RB inside the top 100 in our consensus ADP do you plan on avoiding in all your drafts relative to their price and why?
Josh Jacobs (RB – GB)
“I’m passing on Josh Jacobs at his second-round price tag. Everything went right for him last year. MarShawn Lloyd‘s season was wiped out by injuries, clearing the way for Jacobs’ workhorse role. Jordan Love also dealt with injuries, pushing the Packers to go run-heavy. And Jacobs played a full season for just the second time in his career. I expect Lloyd to be a factor in 2025 and for Green Bay to throw more with a healthy Love. Plus, the last time Jacobs topped 300 carries, as he did last year, he averaged a career-worst 3.5 yards per carry the following season.”
– Jared Smola (Draft Sharks)
Breece Hall (RB – NYJ)
“Breece Hall is a risky pick for 2025 fantasy football drafts due to his declining efficiency and uncertain role in a potentially revamped New York Jets offense. In 2024, Hall averaged a career-low 5.1 yards per touch, down from 6.9 in 2022 and 5.3 in 2023, with only 876 rushing yards on 209 attempts, indicating a loss of explosiveness. His touchdown production dropped to five rushing scores in 2024 from nine total touchdowns in 2023, and his receiving stats fell from 76 catches for 591 yards to 57 for 483 yards, reducing his PPR value (which could further be limited with the arrival of Justin Fields at quarterback). The Jets’ coaching staff, led by Aaron Glenn, has hinted at a committee approach with Braelon Allen and Isaiah Davis, potentially limiting Hall’s touches. Additionally, the switch to Justin Fields as quarterback, who had a high check-down rate in 2024 but often runs instead of passing to running backs, could further decrease Hall’s receiving opportunities, making him a high-risk RB2 and a player that I will undoutbedly be passing on at his current ADP (36th Overall).”
– Brandon Murchison (RotoBaller)
“The one RB inside the top 100 in the consensus ADP that I plan on avoiding in all of my drafts relative to the price is Breece Hall of the New York Jets. He’s currently the highest-ranked running back scheduled to be a part of the dreaded running back by committee with Braelon Allen and Isaiah Davis. Hall will be the primary back, but it may cut into his overall production numbers throughout the season. You could play this from a different perspective and pass on Hall altogether and draft Braelon Allen in rounds 12-15 as a sleeper pick.”
– Jeff Boggis (Fantasy Football Empire)
Omarion Hampton (RB – LAC)
“Imagine this: A running back fresh off his fourth straight season of 1,000 yards on the ground, a top-10 season in 10+ yard runs and missed tackles forced — marks that are comfortably above average in Pro Football Focus’ (PFF) run grade, targets and yards after contact. Now imagine taking his backfield mate at RB16. I don’t dislike Omarion Hampton, but he needs a capable Najee Harris to ride the bench to make an impact for your fantasy team. I won’t be drafting Omarion anywhere at RB16 cost. Find me offering trades for him at a discount after Week 7.”
– Seth Miller (Crossroads Fantasy Football)
“This answer is unlikely to be popular, but Omarion Hampton is going way too high in drafts with an RB16 ADP. Hampton may have gone in round one of the 2025 NFL Draft, but Najee Harris still exists and will siphon too much work for Hampton to return value at that price. He should not be a rookie RB2, even, and I’d much prefer RJ Harvey or Kaleb Johnson a round or two later. Veterans Alvin Kamara, Chuba Hubbard, Joe Mixon and James Conner all fall behind Hampton, but I’d expect all to outscore him in points per game.”
– Justin Frye (Pro Football Network)
“Omarion Hampton is abundantly talented, and I feel fortunate to have landed him in a couple of my dynasty rookie drafts. But if the redraft price is a late fourth-round pick (46th overall), I’m out. It’s inevitable that Hampton is going to share work with Najee Harris. Plus, running backs have never caught many passes in Greg Roman’s offenses, and his offenses usually operate at one of the slower paces in the league. The timeshare arrangement, slow pace and modest receiving numbers are going to cap Hampton’s ceiling, and an RB16 ADP seems a little too optimistic.”
– Pat Fitzmaurice (FantasyPros)
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