Fantasy Sports

Nick Chubb Isn’t Washed and 2 Commanders Rise—6 RB Sleepers For Fantasy Football, 2025

It might be a big year for fantasy football running backs, and there'll be plenty of useful options late in your draft.
Alan Goldsher|
Nick Chubb invades Texas...and possibly your fantasy football team.
Nick Chubb invades Texas...and possibly your fantasy football team. | Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

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Jacksonville JaguarsWashington CommandersNew York GiantsCleveland BrownsHouston Texans

Re: the 2025 fantasy football season, this will be the Year of the Running Back. You heard it here first.

Sure, nobody will give you a side-eye if you snatch up a stud wide receiver like Ja’Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson, or Amon-Ra St. Brown with one of the first five selections of your fantasy draft. But as for This Guy, regardless of my draft slot, I’m grabbing running backs in both rounds one and two.

If I land in the top spot, we're talking Saquon Barkley, then at 20, I’d Hoover up a Jonathan Taylor or a Chase Brown. Hell, I might even take Kyren Williams at 21, because there’s a ton of wide receiving talent in the middle rounds. But if I land at, say, the five-spot and can strut into the third round with an Ashton Jeanty/Josh Jacobs duo, I’ll be feeling pretty good about myself.

But I digress.

When I go crazy with RBs early on—and I will, I will!—I’ll need to pick up a sleeper on our imaginary day two or day three.

Taking a handcuff—Philly’s Will Shipley or Indy’s DJ Giddens, for example—is a logical strategy, but as we all know, it’s all about volume, and there are a godly number of busy RB1s and backfield time-sharers who you should be able to acquire in round five and beyond. Here’re six of ‘em.

(All average draft posions [ADP] courtesy of FantasyPros.)

Nick Chubb, Houston Texans

Current ADP: 163

The Skinny: Last season in his first year in the Lone Star State, Texans RB1 Joe Mixon had himself a season, racking up 1,014 yards in 14 games. Mixon’s backup, Dameon Pierce, managed a modest 293 yards, but he averaged a whopping 7.3 yards per carry.

Point being, the Texans can run.

Assuming he’s fully healthy—and FWIW, the dude looks damn good in the weight room—Chubb will get his fair share of opportunities and might even steal a couple of goal line carries from Mixon.

He should be drafted in all leagues, and could be a slick DFS option in the season’s first month before he's super-high-owned.

Austin Ekeler, Washington Commanders

Current ADP: 139

The Skinny: It feels like Ekeler is 58-years-old and has been in the league for 29 years, but the fact is that he’s just 30, and, entering his ninth season, it seems like he still has plenty of gas in the tank. Heck, there are probably seven or eight teams on whom he’d be the undisputed bell cow.

But as it stands, he’s a second-stringer on a high-flying offense. That doesn’t sound super-sexy—nor does the fact that he only had 77 carries and 41 receptions last season—but Washington offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury isn’t afraid to spread things around, and an alternative backfield duo of Ekeler and newcomer Deebo Samuel Jr. could be a league-wide problem. Given Brian Robinson Jr.'s extensive injury history (read more about him below), Ekeler has the chance to carve out meaningful RB1 reps in this electrifying offense.

The volume might or might not be there, but the opportunities for chunk plays will, making Ekeler a nifty late-ish round dart throw.

Travis Etienne Jr., Jacksonville Jaguars

Current ADP: 95

The Skinny: The Jags roll into the season with what might be a straight-up 50/50 backfield timeshare between Etienne and Tank Bigsby, but that shouldn’t scare you away from Travis. The 26-year-old—he’s only 26; who knew?—is a fantastic receiver, hauling in 132 of his 170 career targets, a skill set that gives him a slight edge over backup Bigsby

If you can get a proven RB1 (or, more accurately, an RB1.5) all the way down at pick 95, you can hold your head high.

Jerome Ford, Cleveland Browns

Current ADP: 165

The Skinny: Before we found out that rookie Quinshon Judkins is a massive tool, the rookie out of Ohio State was Cleveland’s de facto starter. But taking his legal situation into account, his workload might not be as heavy as expected, thus there’s a chance Ford will get a whole lot more touches.

Last season, Ford averaged 5.4 yards per carry, punching in three tuddies in 14 outings, so he can do stuff. If the coaching staff decides Judkins is a team disruptor, Ford should be drafted way higher than 165. Way higher.

Brian Robinson Jr., Washington Commanders

Current ADP: 85

The Skinny: D’Andre Swift’s ADP is 61. RJ Harvey’s is 63. Kaleb Johnson’s is 68. All three—two unproven rookies and a disappointing veteran—are being selected ahead of the lead back from one of the league’s most explosive offenses.

Sure Robinson will be fighting for touches—see the Austin Ekeler entry above—but he’s a safer pick than the freshmen, and a way safer pick than Swift. Draft nerds can let him tumble down their draft boards...but they can’t let him fall too far.

Tyrone Tracy Jr, New York Giants

Current ADP: 83

The Skinny: Tracy ain’t Tiki Barber, but the Jints' running back room consists of Tracy, Devin Singletary, rookie Cam Skattebo, and, um, some other guys, making the second-year man the RB1 by default.

During his rookie season, Tracy was good, but not great, racking up 839 yards with a 4.4-yard rushing average. He posted three 100-plus-yard games, the most notable one being a 145-yard explosion in an October Monday Night Football clash in Pittsburgh.

He won’t give you that sort of production on a weekly basis, but here in the Year of the Running Back, Tracy will be a good get.

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Alan Goldsher
ALAN GOLDSHER

Alan Goldsher has written about sports for Sports Illustrated, ESPN, Apple, Playboy, NFL.com, and NBA.com, and he’s the creator of the Chicago Sports Stuff Substack. He’s the bestselling author of 15 books, and the founder/CEO of Gold Note Records. Alan lives in Chicago, where he writes, makes music, and consumes and creates way too much Bears content. You can visit him at http://www.AlanGoldsher.com and http://x.com/AlanGoldsher.

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