5 Running Backs to Avoid (2025 Fantasy Football)

When preparing for your fantasy football drafts, knowing which players to target and others to avoid is important. The amount of information available can be overwhelming, so a great way to condense the data and determine players to draft and others to leave for your leaguemates is to use our expert consensus fantasy football rankings compared to fantasy football average draft position (ADP). In this way, you can identify players the experts are willing to reach for at ADP and others they are not drafting until much later than average. Let’s dive into a few notable fantasy football players below. And you can check out which experts are higher or lower than our expert consensus rankings using our Fantasy Football Rankings Comparison Tools.

Fantasy Football Draft Advice: Players to Avoid

Fantasy Football Draft Picks to Avoid

Running Backs I Like Less Than ECR

Expert Consensus’s Rank	Player	Pat Fitzmaurice’s Rank	Diff.
21	David Montgomery DET – RB	25	4
22	D’Andre Swift CHI – RB	26	4
25	Quinshon Judkins CLE – RB	29	4
34	Travis Etienne Jr. JAC – RB	39	5
37	Rhamondre Stevenson NE – RB	41	4

David Montgomery could be hard-pressed to turn a profit on his low-end RB2 ADP. He shares work with Jahmyr Gibbs, one of the most talented RBs in the league. Montgomery has averaged 16.8 and 15.8 touches a game in Gibbs’ first two seasons. I’ll bet the under on 15.8 touches a game for Montgomery in 2025, as I expect an uptick in Gibbs’ usage. We could also see a dip in Montgomery’s TD total. He’s scored 13 and 12 touchdowns the last two years, as the Lions ranked first and fifth in scoring those two seasons. If the Lions scale back Montgomery’s usage to give Gibbs more snaps, or if the Detroit offense has hiccups after losing offensive coordinator Ben Johnson to the Bears, Monty’s TD total could slip. He’s a quality running back, but I see Montgomery as more of an RB3 than an RB2.

The Cleveland Browns took Quinshon Judkins early in the second round of this year’s draft and will probably use him as their lead back, though he’ll have to fend off competition from veteran Jerome Ford and fellow rookie Dylan Sampson. A powerful, decisive runner with good contact balance and nifty feet, Quinshon Judkins had 1,567 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns as a true freshman at Ole Miss. His last two college seasons were good but not quite as awe-inspiring. The limitation of the Cleveland offense could keep Judkins’ fantasy value in check this year, but he has a chance to provide RB3 or flex value, if not more.

Travis Etienne is going into the final year of his contract. He was outplayed by Tank Bigsby last season, and now the Jaguars have drafted the speedy Bhayshul Tuten. Etienne had 1,484 yards from scrimmage and 12 touchdowns in 2023. He was terrific over the first half of that season but slowed down in the second half. Then the bottom fell out last year. Etienne averaged 3.7 yards per carry last season. More damning is that he averaged minus-0.28 rushing yards over expected per carry, per NFL Next Gen Stats. It’s possible Etienne goes back to being the playmaker he was as a rookie in 2022 and for the first half of the 2023 season. But it’s possible the Jaguars marginalize Etienne in 2025 and let him walk after the season.

Rhamondre Stevenson may have peaked with his 1,040-yard rushing season in 2022. He missed five games in 2023, and his 2024 season was a disappointment. Stevenson averaged a career-low 3.9 yards per carry last season, and his seven fumbles cost him some playing time. Now, the Patriots have added playmaking RB TreVeyon Henderson, a second-round draft pick. A 50/50 workload split might be the best Stevenson investors could hope for in 2025.