2025 Fantasy Football RB Tiers: From Bijan Robinson To Derrick Henry To Trey Benson

Break down every fantasy football running back into tiers for 2025, from elite studs to high-upside handcuffs, and get the edge you need in your draft.

Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson (7) attempts to catch a pass in front of Carolina Panthers linebacker Jacoby Windmon (41) in the first quarter at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Rankings and ADP are very important for determining who to pick in your fantasy drafts. However, many fantasy owners prefer to use tiers. Many fantasy options are so close that it makes more sense to group them into tiers because they are essentially interchangeable. It also allows fantasy owners to see how many players are available in the same positional group when drafting to decide what position they need to be targeting at any given pick. These are our updated running back tiers. 

Tier 1 

Bijan Robinson, Atlanta Falcons

Saquon Barkley, Philadelphia Eagles

Jahmyr Gibbs, Detroit Lions

Nothing has changed at the top. These three studs are still the top guys and deserve to be drafted as so. No one else has been able to crack this group yet. 

Tier 2

Derrick Henry, Baltimore Ravens

Ashton Jeanty, Las Vegas Raiders

De'Von Achane, Miami Dolphins

Jonathan Taylor, Indianapolis Colts

Chase Brown, Cincinnati Bengals

While none of these guys have been able to make it into Tier 1, they all have the ability to perform with these guys if things break right for them. Any back in this group has the ceiling as finishing as the RB1 overall, along with a safe floor. 

Every single Derrick Henry touchdown from 2024 😤 pic.twitter.com/wjtaysY8W1

— Football’s Greatest Moments (@FBGreatMoments) August 4, 2025

Tier 3

Bucky Irving, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Josh Jacobs, Green Bay Packers

Omarion Hampton, Los Angeles Chargers

Kyren Williams, Los Angeles Rams

Every back here has the upside to finish as an RB1, but if they don't should still be in the range of a fringe RB1. Aside from injury, there is no reason why any of these guys shouldn't have a Top 15 overall running back floor. 

Tier 4

Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco 49ers

Chuba Hubbard, Carolina Panthers

Breece Hall, New York Jets

James Cook, Buffalo Bills

James Conner, Arizona Cardinals

Kaleb Johnson, Pittsburgh Steelers

All of these players could easily end up being RB1s this season; however, they could also tumble and not even finish as RB2s. While their upside is similar to Tier 3, they lack the safe floor to climb into that tier. McCaffrey is the guy who will pop out being this low, but it's Hubbard who could really be in a tier of his own. 

Christian McCaffrey is reportedly close to being back to 2023 form 👀

(via @mattbarrows) pic.twitter.com/7Xzd9jygIm

— Yahoo Fantasy Sports (@YahooFantasy) August 7, 2025

Tier 5

Kenneth Walker III, Seattle Seahawks

Isiah Pacheco, Kansas City Chiefs

Alvin Kamara, New Orleans Saints

Pacheco has climbed up to Tier 5 while Kamara is hanging on for dear life. All three of these backs have serious concerns, but they also have proven to have the upside of being their team's bell-cow back. 

Tier 6

David Montgomery, Detroit Lions

TreVeyon Henderson, New England Patriots

The workload for both of these backs is a bit of a question mark; nevertheless, if the volume is there, they both have the ability to be high-end RB2s. Montgomery with touchdowns and Henderson with explosive plays in the passing attack.  

Tier 7

D'Andre Swift, Chicago Bears

RJ Harvey, Denver Broncos

Aaron Jones Sr, Minnesota Vikings

Tony Pollard, Tennessee Titans

Brian Robinson Jr, Washington Commanders

Jordan Mason, Minnesota Vikings

This is a big tier of backs who should be strong flex options, but we wouldn't want to trust them as our RB2. Swift dropped to Tier 7 and Mason climbed into it. RJ Harvey's status is currently very much up in the air after reports of him struggling mightily in pass protection and currently being listed as the RB5 on the Denver Broncos depth chart.   

Denver Broncos running back RJ Harvey (37) during rookie minicamp at Broncos Park Powered by CommonSpirit. | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

Tier 8 

Joe Mixon, Houston Texans 

Najee Harris, Los Angeles Chargers

Jaylen Warren, Pittsburgh Steelers

Rhamondre Stevenson, New England Patriots

Jaydon Blue, Dallas Cowboys

Tyrone Tracy Jr, New York Giants

JK Dobbins, Denver Broncos

This is a hodgepodge of guys we don't love, but we also can't just ignore. Dobbins climbed into this group as Mixon plummeted down into it. The two guys on the rise here could be Tracy and Dobbins. A Cam Skattebo injury has made Tracy much more intriguing heading into Week 1, and Dobbins looks locked in as the Broncos RB1 at least for early in the year.   

Tier 9

Zach Charbonnet, Seattle Seahawks

Rachaad White, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Quinshon Judkins, Cleveland Browns

Dylan Sampson, Cleveland Browns

Jerome Ford, Cleveland Browns

This tier features two of the most high-upside backups in the league who could also have flex value of their own. We also put the Cleveland Browns running backs in here because we aren't sure what to do with them until we get more information on Judkins, which has left this entire backfield in limbo.  

"He better get this thing pleaded out"@HaydenWinks & @JakobSanderson break down what could be coming for Quinshon Judkins pic.twitter.com/fDkpjUyKav

— Underdog Fantasy - Josh & Hayden (@UDFootballShow) July 29, 2025

Tier 10

Bhaysul Tuten, Jacksonville Jaguars

Travis Etienne, Jacksonville Jaguars

Tank Bigsby, Jacksonville Jaguars

Cam Skattebo, New York Giants

Javonte Williams, Dallas Cowboys

Tajae Spears, Tennessee Titans

Nick Chubb, Houston Texans

All of these guys could be worth taking a flier on and could end up having standalone fantasy value. They could also just end up being useless backups. Skattebo is the most intriguing of the bunch, but is now in danger of missing the start of the season after re-aggravating a hamstring injury.   

Tier 11

Trey Benson, Arizona Cardinals

Isaac Guerendo, San Francisco 49ers

Tyler Allgeier, Atlanta Falcons

Ray Davis, Buffalo Bills

MarShawn Lloyd, Green Bay Packers

Keaton Mitchell, Baltimore Ravens

These are the high-end handcuffs. In many cases, you may be drafting these guys ahead of some of the players in higher tiers, but they likely won't have much, if any, value if their team's starter doesn't get injured. However, they could be league-winners if the starter does end up going down. Reports about Mitchell have been very negative as of late, nevertheless, we aren't ready to drop him yet.