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Ashton Jeanty (2) of the Boise State Broncos brushes off Elijah Robinson (0) of the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors during the first half of the game at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex in Honolulu on Oct. 12, 2024. Darryl Oumi/Getty Images
As the NCAA football regular season nears its conclusion with rivalry games this weekend, we’ve been looking at some of the top prospects for the 2025 NFL Draft. With plenty of viewing options over the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend, it’s a good time to finish off the offensive prospects. We’ve already looked at the top quarterbacks, receivers, interior offensive linemen, and offensive tackles who should hear their names called by an NFL team in the coming year.
Next, we'll look at the top running backs heading to the NFL this spring. The top back is clear this year: Ashton Jeanty is putting up record-breaking numbers this season. But which backs are considerations for NFL front offices after his name is called? Here are our top nine, with two Big Ten universities having their top backfield tandems both ranking well.
Ashton Jeanty—Boise State
Rushing: 275 carries, 2,062 yards, 27 touchdowns
Receiving: 18 receptions, 102 yards, 1 touchdown
Jeanty (5–9, 215) is putting together one of the more impressive career stat records by a running back in recent memory in the college ranks. He’s carried the ball 651 times for more than 4,200 yards and has scored 48 touchdowns in his three years at Boise State. He’ll be a finalist for the Heisman Trophy this season. The question becomes if NFL teams negatively view the number of times he’s carried the ball before going pro.
Omarion Hampton—North Carolina
Rushing: 259 carries, 1,475 yards, 14 touchdowns
Receiving: 34 receptions, 295 yards, 1 touchdown
Like Jeanty, Hampton (6–0, 220) has been a strong lead back for multiple seasons; he had over 1,500 rushing yards for North Carolina in 2023. He’s bigger and a more active threat out of the backfield than Jeanty, which could help his stock rise. But, again, the question is whether or not NFL teams will negatively view him having over 500 carries in his last two college seasons.
Jonah Coleman—Washington
Rushing: 173 carries, 1,008 yards, 9 touchdowns
Receiving: 21 receptions, 160 yards
Coleman (5–9, 229) spent two years at Arizona before transferring to Washington (a move that would have been inside the Pac-12 if the traditional conferences had stayed put). His stock has risen this season and he hasn’t carried the ball as often as many of the other backs on this list.
Quinshon Judkins—Ohio State
Rushing: 135 carries, 759 yards, 8 touchdowns
Receiving: 15 receptions, 109 yards, 1 touchdown
TreVeyon Henderson—Ohio State
Rushing: 98 carries, 730, 6 touchdowns
Receiving: 17 receptions, 110 yards
When we talk about guys who play a pro game in a pro system but haven’t taken too much tread off their tires, this pair at Ohio State (and, later in this piece, Michigan) fit the bill. Henderson (5–10, 208) could have been a highly picked prospect a year ago; his rushing peak was his freshman season in 2021 with 1,248 yards. He’s accumulated only 544 carries over four full seasons as a lead back. Judkins (6–0, 219) was used more heavily in 2022 and 2023 at Ole Miss (545 carries over two seasons) than he has been this year for the Buckeyes (only 135) but that shared workload may ultimately benefit his draft stock.
Johnson (6–0, 225) has been a solid back for the Hawkeyes for three seasons but really emerged in his junior campaign. He has good size and speed and will benefit from putting up good tape against good Big Ten defenses this season. He’s also increased his usage out of the backfield as a receiving option this year.
Dylan Sampson—Tennessee
Rushing: 231 carries, 1,307 yards, 22 touchdowns
Receiving: 17 receptions, 135 yards
Sampson (5–11, 201) has had a strong junior campaign for the Vols, and he’s the typical peak-at-the-right-time back from a draft perspective. He had only 164 carries before this season but has shown a knack for finding the end zone this season and good speed.
Donovan Edwards—Michigan
Rushing: 124 carries, 578 yards, 4 touchdowns
Receiving: 16 receptions, 81 yards, 1 touchdown
Kalel Mullings—Michigan
Rushing: 153 carries, 832 yards, 11 touchdowns
Receiving: 6 receptions, 35 yards
Edwards (6–1, 212) has split time in the Michigan backfield all four years he’s been in Ann Arbor, first primarily with Blake Corum (now in the NFL) and with Kalel Mullings this year. Mullings (6–2, 233) has been the bulldozer in the backfield for Michigan this season while Edwards has been the more versatile back. Edwards has had better than 200 receiving yards in each of his previous three seasons.
Tab Bamford has been writing about sports for two decades. He has worked with the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Big Ten Conference, Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and been credentialed for all-star events and postseason games in MLB, the NFL, NHL, NBA and NCAA.
