5 Running Backs Experts Target (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: Running Backs

Let’s dive into players Pat Fitzmaurice likes more than the expert consensus rankings.

Players to Target

Running Backs to Draft at ADP

Pat Fitzmaurice’s Rank	Player	ECR	Diff.
20	Tony Pollard TEN – RB	25	5
38	Jerome Ford CLE – RB	46	8
40	Austin Ekeler WAS – RB	45	5
42	Bhayshul Tuten JAC – RB	56	14
47	Braelon Allen NYJ – RB	51	4

Austin Ekeler is being left for dead in early 2025 drafts, with an ADP in the low-end RB4/high-end RB5 range. But Ekeler was productive when healthy last year and is playing in an exciting, up-and-coming offense in Washington. Ekeler scored double-digit PPR points in 8-of-12 games last season and finished RB31 in fantasy points per game. When Brian Robinson Jr. missed a pair of midseason games with a hamstring injury, Ekeler had 134 yards from scrimmage and scored three touchdowns in those two contests. I’m not expecting a return to the high-end RB1 days for the 30-year-old Ekeler, but I think he’s a value in the later rounds.

The Jaguars selected Bhayshul Tuten with one of the first picks of Day 3 of the NFL Draft. Jacksonville is likely to have a messy RB committee this year with Travis Etienne, Tank Bigsby and Tuten, but Tuten could get an extended audition this year if the Jaguars decide they’re going to let Etienne walk after his contract expires at the end of the season. Tuten has game-breaking, sub-4.4. speed. If he gets to the edge, look out. But Tuten is also an effective inside runner who bursts through holes and doesn’t go down easily.

Tony Pollard had a strong 2024 season as the Titans’ workhorse starter. He ranked ninth in snap share, opportunity, and weighted opportunities. Pollard finished as the RB22 in fantasy points per game while ranking 18th in explosive run rate and sixth in yards after contact per attempt (per Fantasy Points Data). The pitiful nature of the Titans’ offense last year outside of Pollard crushed his season. He was only 22nd in red zone touches and was the RB15 in expected fantasy points per game. If Cam Ward can elevate this offensive ecosystem and Pollard can retain this awesome role, he could finish as a high-end RB2 this season.