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 I’m lower on compared to ECR.

Fantasy Football Draft Advice: Running Backs to Avoid

Running Backs to Avoid

Running Backs I Like Less Than ECR

Expert Consensus’s Rank	Player	Derek Brown’s Rank	Diff.
9	Jonathan Taylor IND – RB	13	4
11	Kyren Williams LAR – RB	21	10
17	Chuba Hubbard CAR – RB	24	7
20	Omarion Hampton LAC – RB	25	5
22	D’Andre Swift CHI – RB	29	7

Jonathan Taylor posted another RB1 season (RB7 in fantasy points per game) while dealing with a high ankle sprain. He racked up 321 touches and 1,567 total yards with 12 scores. While I think Taylor should post another top 12 season in 2025, I do have some concerns. The quarterback play for Indy is a worry with how often they could be in the red zone this year, as well as his lack of pass-game involvement. Last year, Taylor ranked sixth in red zone touches. I don’t know if he comes close to that number this season, but I could easily be wrong. I don’t see more check-down opportunities for Taylor this season with Daniel Jones or Anthony Richardson under center. It’s not like he’s demanding those looks either, with his per-route performance in 2024, anyway. Last year, among 45 qualifying backs, Taylor ranked 37th in target share (7.4%) and 43rd in yards per route run and first downs per route run. Taylor is a solid pick again this year, but I struggle to see a ceiling outcome for him in 2025.

Last year, Kyren Williams pulled off his best yesteryear Rachaad White or Leonard Fournette impression. A volume gobbling inefficient back who turned in an RB1 season (RB10). Williams ranked first in snap share, second in opportunity share, and first in red zone touches. Williams had 350 touches and 1,481 total yards. With all that said, Williams was one of the most inefficient per touch backs in the NFL. Among 46 qualifying backs, he ranked 44th in explosive run rate, 37th in missed tackle rate, and 40th in yards after contact per attempt (per Fantasy Points Data). Williams could retain his stranglehold on the volume again in a contract year, but it’s also possible that Blake Corum or Jarquez Hunter could eat into his workload. Williams is a top 15-20 running back who could easily be an RB1 again or see his stock come crashing down.

Well, the Bears didn’t add any threat to D’Andre Swift’s workload before they selected Kyle Monangai in the seventh round of the NFL Draft. Monangai is more of a worry for Roschon Johnson and his standing as RB2 on the depth chart than Swift’s. Last year, Swift was the RB21 in fantasy points per game as he soaked up volume. He ranked tenth in snap share, seventh in opportunity share, tenth in carries, and 15th in targets among backs. Swift was inefficient every step of the way, ranking outside the top 32 running backs in explosive run rate, yards after contact per attempt, missed tackles forced per attempt, and yards per touch. Swift looks primed for another volume RB2 season in 2025 behind a reworked offensive line and with Ben Johnson at the helm.