Top Prospects in the 2025 NFL Draft: Running Back Edition

The 2025 NFL Draft is just around the corner, ushering in the last wave of mock drafts and predictions for all 32 clubs. Input from Top-30 visits, Combine metrics, Senior Bowl production and interview assessments are factored into each team’s draft-board assembly process. The Buccaneers own the 19th overall pick in the first and the 53rd overall pick in the second. While the Buccaneers do not have a glaring need at the running back spot with a loaded room including Bucky Irving, Rachaad White and Sean Tucker and Tampa Bay will likely not be taking a running back until the later rounds (if at all), it is always fun for football junkies to dive into an evaluation of the top prospects. Each class brings unique talent and as the pendulum swings back to the run game in the NFL with the physicality of the Ravens, 49ers, Bears, Eagles, Bills and Bucs, the once de-valued running back position in a pass-heavy league has been resurrected. This year’s class is loaded with spark plugs and depth options. Here is an overview of some of the best running backs of the 2025 class:

Ashton Jeanty was the featured back in Boise State’s gap and zone run scheme. He concluded the 2024 season as the Heisman Trophy runner-up and produced one of the most prolific seasons in college football history. Jeanty joined Barry Sanders as the only FBS players to surpass 2,600 rushing yards in a single campaign. He led the FBS with 151 forced missed tackles in 2024 and posted 12 carries of 50-yards-or-more (no other player eclipsed five). The unanimous All-American pairs a low center of gravity with elusiveness in space. He slips through contact and explodes through holes. He is adept in the passing game with natural receiving skills and quickly accelerates to top speed. Jeanty, Boise State’s all-time leading rusher, is an instinctive back with stellar footwork for cutting.

Omarion Hampton rushed for 100 or more yards in 10 of 12 games in 2024 and set a UNC single-season record with 2,033 all-purpose yards. He continued his conference production from 2023 into 2024 and served as the featured back for North Carolina. Hampton is a bruising back that plasters into defenders once he gets north-south. Hampton pairs power with speed to bully defenses into submission. He barrels downhill with deceptive burst for a 220-pound man. Hampton provides experience in pass protection and is able to bait defenders before cutbacks, winning the leverage battle.

Kaleb Johnson shined on outside zone runs at Iowa and will thrive in a zone-based NFL system. Out of Iowa’s run-centric scheme that heavily utilized multiple tight end groupings, Johnson compiled a historic year in 2024. This past season, he set school single-season records for total touchdowns (23), rushing touchdowns (21) and total points scored (138). Johnson became the third player in program history to eclipse the 1,500-yard rushing marker and is a disruptive one-cut runner. Johnson has the power element to carry tacklers and patiently follows blocks. He makes timely cuts off the zone horizontal stretch and had zero fumbles in 2024. He has natural hands in the screen game and scored at least one touchdown in 12 regular-season games in 2024.

TreVeyon Henderson finished in the top-five in program history in rushing yards (seven yards behind Eddie George) and number-three in total touchdowns (48). Henderson served as a four-year starter in Ohio State’s diverse run game – including gap and zone principles -and provides an upside as a blocker and on option routes as a pass-catcher. Henderson delivers jarring blocks and quickly sheds linebackers in one-on-one’s. 22.1 percent of his carries in 2024 resulted in gains of 10-or-more yards (third best in FBS) and he can effortlessly bounce runs to the outside. Henderson possesses a lethal spin move that leaves defenders reeling and he finishes forward, lowering pads when working between the tackles.