1 of 6 | Philadelphia Eagles star Saquon Barkley was the second-highest-scoring running back on a fantasy points per game basis last season. File Photo by Laurence Kesterson/UPI | License Photo
MIAMI, Aug. 14 (UPI) — Bijan Robinson, Saquon Barkley and Jahmyr Gibbs lead my Top 75 fantasy football running back rankings for the 2025 season.
Christian McCaffrey and De’Von Achane round out my Top 5. Derrick Henry, Kyren Williams, Ashton Jeanty, Josh Jacobs and Chase Brown are among my Top-10 options at the position.
Running back remains the premier position in many leagues, which often deploy three in weekly lineups. My draft strategy leans toward prioritizing wide receivers, but you still should conduct intense research into running backs around the league.
Strength of schedule, injury history, projected workload, offensive line strength or weakness, and red zone production are among key factors to consider when surveying the running back landscape.
My Top 75 wide receiver rankings are available here. Those rankings, as well as others, will be updated up until the start of the NFL’s regular season.
I split my top targets of the 75 ranked players into five tiers: Hall of Fame, All-Pro, Pro Bowl, Just Napping (early to mid-round targets) and Deep Sleepers (mid- to late-round sleepers). The full rankings are below.
Hall of Fame
1. Bijan Robinson, 2. Saquon Barkley
Robinson finished third in fantasy points per game among running backs last season, when he accumulated the fourth-most yards from scrimmage (1,887).
I expect even more production from the Atlanta Falcons running back this season, when he faces a schedule that includes six games against teams that ranked inside the Top 10 for the most fantasy points allowed to running backs in 2024. Those meetings include four games against teams that ranked inside the Top 5 for the most fantasy points allowed to the position.
Robinson and the Falcons do not have any matchups against teams that ranked inside the Top 5 for the fewest fantasy points allowed to running backs last season.
The Falcons also are turning to Michael Penix Jr. as their full-time starter for the first time and could opt to lean on their workhorse even more, leading to a career-high in touches for Robinson.
It’s understandable if you choose to pick up Barkley instead of Robinson with your first pick due to the Philadelphia Eagles’ recent dominance, but I think Robinson has the higher ceiling in 2025.
Barkley is fresh off an Offensive Player of the Year campaign that saw him compile a ridiculous 2,283 yards from scrimmage and 15 scores over 16 starts.
Unlike Robinson’s Falcons, the Eagles face a brutal schedule for fantasy football running backs. That gauntlet includes just one matchup against a team that ranked inside the Top 5 for the most fantasy points allowed to the position last season.