Veteran Fantasy Running Backs: All Eyes on 2025 NFL Draft | North Divisions

by Samwise · Draft Strategy
running backs 2025 nfl draft

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Veteran Fantasy Running Backs “Sleeping With One Eye Open” during the 2025 NFL Draft | North Divisions

The excitement is palpable as NFL players and fantasy football managers watch as we edge closer to the 2025 draft. For the managers, an exciting bevy of capable running backs will learn their landing spots. For the current NFL crop of veteran running backs, it’s a “wait and see” approach. They will learn if they have backfield competition heading into the season.

Before the 2024 season, NFL general managers seemed to backtrack on the previously purported “age cliff” that backs fall into. As they discovered many of these veterans still had gas in the tank, several aging running backs received new contracts. Fantasy managers followed suit as the median age for “rock-toters” in 2024 had reached its highest point since 2020, a season limited by COVID-19 restrictions in the offseason. On one hand, maybe owners, GMs, and coaches did indeed notice the veteran running backs still had some juice left. On the other hand, perhaps it was all just a waiting game. All parties foresaw a deep crop of young rookie running backs entering the league this year.

As teams and fantasy managers wait with bated breath for the 2025 NFL Draft, many current starters are holding theirs. That’s not to say everyone is fearing for their job. However, with such an electric group entering the league, numerous backs from last season may be teetering on the edge of being usurped. Or, (at the very least) being forced into a timeshare. Let’s track down the names of guys who might be hot under the shoulder pads as their teams go shopping in Green Bay, Wisc. beginning April 24.

Today, we continue with the North divisions. Away we go.

JUMP TO: East Divisions | South Divisions

AFC North

Baltimore Ravens

The Ravens are in a pretty enviable position in the North. They can afford to concentrate their draft prep on other positions of need, as all four of the current backfield regulars are returning. Lost in the hubbub of Saquon Barkley‘s tremendous 2024, “King” Derrick Henry was right on his tail. The behemoth did not miss a single game all season and put up the second-highest rushing total of his career. His 1,921 yards on the ground and 16 touchdowns were nearly his best season. Those totals on the ground only fell by 100 yards and a single touchdown when he rumbled to the title of Offensive Player of the Year in 2020.

Aside from an injury-marred 2021 where he only started eight games and still nearly went over 1,000 yards, the 31-year-old remains a key cog for the offense. Henry is still being drafted later than he should be often in fantasy leagues. Along with routinely eclipsing 1,100 yards, the Alabama product has put up double-digit touchdowns each year since 2018.

Behind him, Justice Hill lies in wait. Hill has proven himself a go-to third-down option, gobbling up 47 catches (51 targets) a season ago. Keaton Mitchell was electric as a rookie in 2023 before tearing his ACL near the season’s end. He returned late in 2024, saying he felt even faster than before, although head coach John  Harbaugh was careful to mention he wasn’t fully recovered yet, but expects Mitchell to be on a “whole other level” in 2025. The insurance back is second-year pro Rasheen Ali, who has yet to fully immerse himself in games. The fifth-round pick’s dodgy style and 210-pound frame attracted the Ravens in the 2024 draft even though he was coming off an injury (ruptured bicep).

Pittsburgh Steelers | Jaylen Warren, Kenneth Gainwell, Cordarrelle Patterson

This isn’t entirely about all three Steelers backs potentially being replaced, but rather how the depth chart could shuffle. Pittsburgh could take a running back as early as Day 2. Jaylen Warren is a flashy runner and consummate professional; many fantasy managers assume he’ll take the reins for the departed Najee Harris (Chargers). However, there are questions about whether his size (5-9, 212 pounds) prevents him from assuming a full workload. Compounding the issue is that Warren is one of the best in the business as a change-of-pace back. Pittsburgh may desire to keep that weapon where it is.

All signs point to Pittsburgh replacing Harris with a big-ticket running back in the draft and keeping Warren in the role where he is most valuable. That leaves us with Kenneth Gainwell (free agency addition) and Cordarrelle Patterson (Arthur Smith’s love child). It’s unlikely they signed Gainwell for nothing, and Patterson already knows the system. However, either could be cut for $1 million. Odd-on favorite? 36-year-old Patterson gets his walking papers, Gainwell remains fantasy irrelevant as the No. 3, and Warren plays second-fiddle to a new face.

Cleveland Browns | Jerome Ford

Vintage Nick Chubb is not walking through that door for Cleveland. Another season, another viral video of Chubb doing 500-pound squats has Browns fans abuzz again. We’ve heard this story before. After suffering a devastating ACL/MCL injury in Week 2 of 2023, Chubb returned last season and averaged a paltry 3.3 yards per carry (YPC) before breaking his foot in Week 15. Cleveland will surely attempt to re-sign the free agent, but the injuries mounting are simply too much for one soon-to-be 30-year-old to handle, social media videos notwithstanding.

That leaves Cincinnati product Jerome Ford as the main attraction (for now) in Cleveland. The team’s love affair with Chubb cost Ford significant carries in 2024— 100 fewer, to be exact (204-104) as he was relegated primarily to a pass-catching role with 37 receptions. Ford’s career YPC sits at 4.4, but there are serious doubts whether he’s a true NFL bellcow. Ford is far more useful in the role he filled as a change-of-pace back in the NFL, and he does it well. A 97-point fantasy season is within reach again in 2025, should he serve in the same capacity. The only other running back of note rostered by the Browns is Pierre Strong, a fourth-round draft pick of New England traded to the team after his rookie season. He’ll be no more than a depth piece.

Rookies… Rookies Everywhere

Cleveland has its work cut out for it to become relevant again in one of the toughest divisions in football. They’ve been linked to so many prospects in this class, from Abdul Carter and Travis Hunter to Jalen Milroe and Damien Martinez, that no one truly knows what they’ll do with the second-overall pick.

Hunter was looking like the odds-on favorite of late, and today he came out and said he’d walk away from football if a team would not let him play both wideout and defensive back. The irony is that the Browns need too much help on the field and excitement in the stands. Hunter might have bought himself a ticket to the “Mistake on the Lake.” Pairing him with an exciting running back/quarterback duo would give them the overhaul they desperately need.

Cincinnati Bengals | Chase Brown

Chase Brown is electric. Does that mean he’s “the guy?” Not so fast. Brown showed out last season after free agent signing Zack Moss went down with an injury, and he held off Khalil Herbert (traded from the Bears) to assume the featured role. Brown finished 2024 with 1,350 yards from scrimmage and 11 trips to paydirt while looking every bit the starter. With that said, Brown is not only not the prototypical Bengals running back of years past, he’s not the prototypical running back in the AFC North. Many assume that the breakaway speed and pass-catching prowess fundamentally match the Bengals’ style. However, Cincinnati has historically relied on a backfield punisher in the division and is fond of a thunder/lightning approach.

The most interesting names of note here are the two Ohio State backs. Each has visited Cincinnati, and each provides the breakaway potential that Brown does, but with fewer durability concerns. In the ultimate “two birds, one stone” scenario, the leg up goes to TreVeyon Henderson. Not only did he amass 4,614 yards from scrimmage and 48 touchdowns in four years at Ohio State, but he’s also been repeatedly lauded as potentially the best pass-blocking back in the draft. That’s something Brown can’t do for you, and especially valuable to Cincinnati and their subpar protection of Joe Burrow.

NFC North

Detroit Lions

Notice a common theme? The teams that finished first in these two divisions are not restless in the backfield. The Lions re-signed David Montgomery to an extension that will keep him under team control through the 2027 season. The 27-year-old who turns 28 in June rumbled for 775 yards in a split role in 2024, adding 37 catches and breaking the plane 12 times.

Jahmyr Gibbs is not just one of the premier running backs in the league, but is virtually immune to the 2025 NFL draft. He’s also a stalwart in fantasy lineups, particularly in PPR leagues, for his prowess in all phases of the offense. In 2024 alone, Gibbs put up just short of 2,000 yards from scrimmage (1,929) and danced in the endzone a league-leading 20 times.

The pair is backed up by journeyman Craig Reynolds and further supported by 2024 fourth-round pick Sione Vaki, who has played both safety and running back at the University of Utah. The Lions have no reason to target a running back in the draft, save for depth in the case that an attractive prospect falls to them in the fifth or sixth round.

Minnesota Vikings | Everyone

Aaron Jones remains a productive and sometimes underappreciated back in the league. That doesn’t change the fact that he’s played a full season just three times in his eight-year career thus far. Going back to Green Bay, the coaching staff made sure to have a capable back on the roster to spell him the many times he missed parts of games or was inactive on Sunday. Minnesota must have gotten that memo. They brought in former 49ers running back Jordan Mason, presumably to battle Ty Chandler for the backup role.

The main issue here is that all three running backs are in danger of aging themselves out of contract talks. Jones (30 years old) is on a contract set to expire after 2026. Mason (26 in May) has the same contract expiration date. Chandler (27 in May) will be a free agent after the 2025 campaign. This all hardly jibes with the direction Minnesota is headed with their 22-year-old quarterback, J.J. McCarthy, and their weapons out wide.

In theory, the Vikings have the 2025 season before any major changes would need to take place. However, there’s no doubt that an attempt to gain years of stability at running back is staring the team in the face with the 2025 draft.

Green Bay Packers

It’s hard to foresee the host city taking a running back in the draft other than a late-round flier. Starter Josh Jacobs enters his second year with the team and is under contract through the 2027 season, with sizeable dead cap repercussions until that time. Jacobs rushed for 1,329 yards, chipped in 36 catches, and scored 15 times with the rock. Nice work if you can get it. He was primarily backed up by 25-year-old undrafted free agent Emanuel Wilson from prestigious Fort Valley State. Wilson kicked in 550 scrimmage yards and four touchdowns, performing admirably in the backup role.

The Packers have a host of other positions to address in the draft. They seem content to entrust a heavy workload to last year’s third-round pick MarShawn Lloyd (USC). He was projected not only as an above-average backup but a player who could be starting-caliber down the road. 2024 was a string of tough luck injuries for the rookie, but with a fresh start in 2025, Green Bay is hoping he lives up to the billing that made him a steal in last year’s draft.

Chicago Bears | D’Andre Swift, Roschon Johnson

In Caleb Williams‘ rookie season, the Chicago fed starting running back D’Andre Swift the pigskin 253 times—the most of his career—and found him in the passing game 42 more times. However, Swift has only averaged 859 yards rushing (per 17-game slate). On top of that, he’s only managed to play more than 14 games twice in his five seasons, though he was splitting carries early in his career. The team has a hefty “out” clause after the coming season. That clause could save them around $7 million, but at 26 years old, it’s more likely they restructure his contract and hold onto him through 2026.

Roschon Johnson is just 24 and has not made much of an impression on the coaching staff in Chicago. During his first two years in the league, he touched the ball just 136 times on the ground. That’s not encouraging for a player who was active for 29 of a possible 34 games. You’d expect that his usage would have gone up after Chicago traded much-maligned running back Khalil Herbert to Cincinnati. Alas, Johnson was inactive twice after that and only had 20 carries when he played.

The “Swift Show” at Soldier Field got the job done, but the offense was lacking the explosive element. With Williams under center for his second season, the Bears would be wise to secure a backfield stud for the future and allow Swift to spell him as necessary. He’d continue to provide a receiving threat as he has done in the past, with 237 catches over five seasons. Johnson will likely stay on as the No. 3.

Record Running Backs Selected in 2025 NFL Draft?

Could this crop of talented running backs eclipse 2017 for the most drafted in the 2000s (30)? Probably not, but there are seven rounds for a reason. For veteran NFL running backs and managers of fantasy in all formats, these questions and more will be answered. The players here will watch carefully to see what their teams do in Green Bay as it applies to their remaining relevance in the league. Not all will be bucked from their starting positions, but some will. Or they’ll be forced into a committee and watch from the sidelines as rookies slowly increase their snap counts.

In dynasty, this situation is particularly fluid; a veteran’s trade value immediately begins to diminish the moment a new fantasy running back is drafted. Now is the time to evaluate the players on dynasty rosters and be realistic about their role(s). Some of the players mentioned here only offer significant contributions to those set to contend for this year. For many, they may not lose their job immediately, but the clock is certainly ticking on their shelf life.

In the next article, we’ll wrap up the series of running backs watching the draft within the west divisions. Next thing you know, the draft will be upon us! Who else will be looking over their shoulder when the draft comes and a top-heavy group of running backs burst onto the scene?

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