8 Fantasy Football Sleepers: Running Backs (2025)

Get ready for your fantasy football draft with our fantasy football draft day cheat sheets. Our analysts dive into their favorite fantasy football draft targets and sleepers, as well as overvalued players and busts they’re avoiding in drafts. Let us help you prepare for your fantasy football draft with our cheat sheets! And use our Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet Creator to create your cheat sheet using our expert rankings, notes, and player tags. Here are some of our favorite fantasy football sleepers to draft.

Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet: Sleepers to Draft

Running Back Sleepers

The Steelers jettisoned Najee Harris and drafted his replacement, Kaleb Johnson, as their lead back in the third round of the NFL Draft. Last year, Harris operated in an offense that was fourth in rushing attempts as Harris soaked up 299 touches (10th-most). Even if we lower those year-one expectations for Johnson, even 250 touches would have ranked 21st in the NFL. Johnson brings a big play ability that has been lacking over the last 2-3 years. Last year, not only did he rank fifth in breakaway percentage, but he was also eighth in yards after contact per attempt and 14th in elusive rating (per PFF). My love for Jaylen Warren hasn’t dissipated, but we have to listen to the Steelers with their move to acquire Johnson’s services. Warren will likely operate in his usual role while Johnson does the heavy lifting for Arthur Smith’s run-centric offense. Johnson is an RB2/3 who could be an RB1 down the stretch in 2025 if he can distance himself further from Warren better than Harris ever could.

Jordan Mason moves from San Francisco to Minnesota in an offseason trade to become Aaron Jones’ running mate/handcuff. Mason sustained a shoulder injury and an ankle injury last year. The bum ankle ultimately ended his season. In the brief six games, he played 64% or more of the snaps as the starter for the 49ers, with an average of 21.3 touches and 111.8 total yards. He was a top-24 fantasy option at the running back position in four of those six outings and an RB1 in 50% of them. Mason finished top six among running backs last year in explosive run rate (second), missed tackles forced per attempt (sixth), and yards after contact per attempt (third, per Fantasy Points Data). Mason is a top-shelf handcuff again this season who could offer some stand-alone value in Minnesota’s high-scoring offense.

Jarquez Hunter is arbitrage Bhayshul Tuten in fantasy football drafts. Hunter, much like Tuten, is headed to the NFL (Rams) via the fourth round of the NFL draft. Also, like Tuten, Hunter finds himself possibly buried for 2025 behind two veterans, but he also possesses the talent and pathway to surpass one or maybe both of them in the running back pecking order. Kyren Williams is a free agent after this season. The Rams thought so much of Blake Corum’s rookie season that they addressed running back again this year. Hunter is incredibly talented. Hunter has ranked inside the top 24 in yards after contact per attempt in each of the last three seasons while also sitting in the top 22 in breakaway percentage in two of three years (per PFF). Hunter offers the Rams an explosive element that neither Williams nor Corum has. Last year, among 46 qualifying backs, Williams ranked 44th in explosive run rate, 37th in missed tackles forced per attempt, and 40th in yards after contact per attempt (per Fantasy Points Data). Hunter could be one of the best values of the fantasy football draft season.

Brashard Smith was another talented victim of this deep running back class. He dropped all the way to the seventh round of the NFL Draft, which was surprising. The Chiefs added him to their already overstocked backfield. The Chiefs are no strangers to allowing a seventh-round running back a legit shot at starting (hi, Isiah Pacheco), so we can’t say that Smith has zero shot. I was enamored with Smith’s receiving ability as a converted wide receiver, his lightning quickness, and his possible upside as a rusher for a player who is still getting acclimated to the position. Last year, Smith ranked 34th in breakaway percentage, second in receiving grade, and 22nd in yards per route run (per PFF). Smith’s skill set is different from every other back in this depth chart. He could easily carve out a stand-alone role as Kansas City’s new Jerick McKinnon.

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