For the first time in a while, the fantasy football running back landscape did not change much in the 2025 NFL offseason. However, despite the lack of movement, a few players are in for bigger roles in the coming season than they had in 2024.
With running back being arguably the most important position in the game, nailing the mid-to-late-round picks is essential. Elite players come at a premium, but leagues are often won or lost in the middle rounds. Finding the right so-called “sleeper” targets is typically the biggest indicator of draft success.
Like any other skill position, usage and volume are the backbone of a running back's fantasy value. Analyzing that usage and identifying the players in the right situation to expand on their previous roles is the key to pinpointing the right breakout candidates.
The traditional list of top-tier players remains dominant in 2025, with Derrick Henry, Saquon Barkley, Kyren Williams, Joe Mixon, and Josh Jacobs still leading the way. A few players joined them at the top — Jahmyr Gibbs, Bijan Robinson and Bucky Irving, among others — but the traditional A-list talent made statements in 2024 despite growing age concerns.
Without much movement in the offseason, there are not as many breakout candidates in 2025 as there have been in previous years. Yet, with players like Irving breaking out down the stretch and others like Isiah Pacheco in line for big bounce-back years, multiple players are primed for improvement.
With the 2025 NFL season around the corner, reviewing the top five running backs who are on track to receive more touches is crucial for fantasy football success.
5. Jaylen Warren, Pittsburgh Steelers
After three years of sharing a backfield with Najee Harris, Jaylen Warren is finally listed as the Pittsburgh Steelers' starting running back to begin the 2025 season. Although he is a perfect example of a complementary, change-of-pace player, he is atop the list of players ready to absorb some of the usage Harris left behind.
Three years into the league, Warren has sandwiched one good year with two mediocre ones. He showed promise in a limited role as a rookie and built on it with a career-best season in 2023, but regressed in 2024. Despite some fans viewing him as a better player than Harris, Warren received just 28 percent of the running back carries on the year. It was a disappointing step back for those who wanted to see him surpass his former teammate on the depth chart.
The Steelers drafted Kaleb Johnson to be the next lead back in Arthur Smith's run-heavy offense, and he is undoubtedly the team's future. However, Warren will likely begin the year with a more substantial lead than some fans predict.
Warren might not have the ideal frame to be a traditional workhorse back, but Mike Tomlin and Smith both continue to tout him as the leader of the backfield. Perhaps they want to bring Johnson along slowly, but Warren certainly appeared to take over the backfield in the second half of the 2024 season. Over the final seven weeks of the regular season, Warren played over 50 percent of the offensive snaps in five games after crossing that mark just once in his previous eight outings.
Johnson might accept a larger workload as the season progresses, but Warren will still absorb a lot of the usage that Harris left behind. After fielding 120 carries in 2024, he is certainly in line for a larger rushing workload in 2025.
If nothing else, Warren will not cede his role as the third-down back. The 26-year-old has a limited rushing game, but he remains one of the best pass-catchers out of the backfield in the league. The increased usage might not lead to a direct spike in production, but Warren is being drafted later than Johnson in most leagues, making him one of the most underrated running backs in the 2025 fantasy football season.
4. Tyjae Spears, Tennessee Titans
The idea that Tony Pollard owns the Tennessee Titans' backfield slowly diminished as the 2025 season progressed and Tyjae Spears got healthier. Pollard was certainly a workhorse early in the year, but Spears cut into his workload so profoundly that they were practically on even ground by the end of the season.
Spears, who missed five games in 2024 with various injuries, was never able to fully settle in. A hamstring injury kept him out of three games between Weeks 7 and 9, before a concussion kept him out of Week 12. Spears then missed the final game of the year with yet another concussion.
However, when he was on the field, Spears played at least 40 percent of the offensive snaps in seven of his 12 games, including the two weeks he left early with injuries. Pollard, who only missed one game on the year, saw his usage skyrocket with his teammate sidelined. Pollard fielded 42.3 percent of his total carries in the five games that Spears missed.
The development was not a surprise, as head coach Brian Callahan teased that approach throughout the 2024 offseason. That notion appeared to be true at the end of the 2024 season, when Spears, not Pollard, handled the majority of the backfield work in three of the final four games.
Injuries limited Spears to just 84 carries in 2024. They also affected his efficiency, dropping his numbers from 4.5 yards per carry as a rookie to just 3.7 yards per attempt in year two. Had he not gotten hurt, Spears was likely on track for 130-160 carries, which would have him in a dead-even split with Pollard.
3. Trey Benson, Arizona Cardinals
If there is one A-list running back whose usage is bound to decline, James Conner sticks out like a sore thumb. Ahead of his age-30 season, Conner is coming off the highest-usage season of his career, one that resulted in a top-15 finish in fantasy football.
All credit to Conner on his improbable season, but that type of usage late in a running back's career is historically unsustainable. Add to the fact that Conner has not been the most durable player throughout his career, and Trey Benson figures to be in line for additional work in 2025.
Whether by design or not, Benson did not play much in his rookie season. The 2024 third-round pick ceded nearly all the backfield work to Conner, who only missed one game. Benson ended the year with just 63 carries, which he took for 291 rushing yards.
Conner was a revelation in 2024, but the odds of him repeating his career-high season at 30 years old are slim to none. The team drafted Benson to be his eventual successor, and he has treated himself as such in the offseason. Benson views himself as a co-starter with Conner entering his second season.
He might not be on even ground with Conner just yet, but the gap is expected to close in 2025. Conner will not come anywhere near the 236 carries he had in 2024, and Benson is the primary beneficiary.
Two years ago, Benson burst onto the scene with 990 rushing yards with Florida State in 2022 after taking just six carries in his previous season at Oregon. He could be in line for similar second-year success with the Cardinals in 2025 and become one of the most improved running backs in fantasy football.
2. Bucky Irving, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Bucky Irving dominated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' backfield late in the year to wind up as the RB13 in season-long PPR leagues. However, despite leading the team with 1,122 rushing yards and appearing in all 17 regular-season games, he still ended the year with a lower offensive snap share than Rachaad White. Irving played just 45.2 percent of the offensive snaps in 2024, while White was on the field for 51.8 percent.
As crazy as it sounds, Irving did not even come close to reaching his full potential in his rookie season. He only received three starts all year and did not play more snaps than White until Week 6. Irving still led the team with 207 carries on the year, but he could not seem to break free from a frustrating timeshare, making it a small miracle that he performed as well as he did.
Entering year two, Irving is now listed above White on the depth chart as the Buccaneers' starting lineup. Perhaps even more notable, Tampa Bay lost its offensive coordinator, Liam Coen, in the offseason and replaced him with Josh Grizzard.
As much of a loss as Coen is to the offense as a whole, it might be a better scenario for Irving's fantasy football outlook. The ever-creative Coen has always been a fan of using multiple running backs, leading to his dreaded “three-headed monster” comment last season with Irving, White and Sean Tucker. Grizzard has a much more traditional approach, which should allow Irving to be the lead back that he is.
Irving's 207 carries in 2024 were a good start, but he should be in line for anywhere between 250 and 270 in 2025. White will still be a factor in the offense, but expect a much more pronounced backfield rotation in 2025, with Irving clearly in front.
1. Isiah Pacheco, Kansas City Chiefs
Few running backs were as limited by injuries in 2024 as Isiah Pacheco. After falling just short of a 1,000-yard season in 2023, fantasy football managers were high on the Kansas City Chiefs running back at the beginning of the year. But instead of building on the momentum, Pacheco suffered a fractured fibula injury that remained an issue all season.
As a result, Pacheco went from being one of the biggest darkhorses to one of the biggest disappointments. He eventually made his way back to the field, but when he returned, it was not in his traditional starting role. Pacheco returned from a nine-game absence in Week 13 as a backup to Kareem Hunt, whom the team signed after his injury.
Nothing about Pacheco's 2024 campaign looked good, but he is now coming off a full offseason of recovery. The aggressive runner appears to be back on track after participating in all of the team's offseason practices. The depth chart reflects that, given his placement ahead of Hunt in the starting lineup.
Hunt had his throwback season in 2024, but he was one of the most inefficient running backs in the league. The Chiefs need Pacheco, and all signs suggest he will return to his 2023 form.
Although barely a threat in the passing game, Pacheco's rushing usage will skyrocket in 2025. He fielded just 83 carries in 2024, but is now in line for the best year of his career. Expect close to 230 carries for the Rutgers alum in 2025 and a return to the list of elite running backs in fantasy football.
