“Five Fantasy Football Running Backs Who Will Overperform ADP that You Must Draft According To Sr. NFL Analyst Justin Mark”
I’ve already had a couple of people reach out about doing a start-up draft. Is it too early? Absolutely not! Regardless of whether you have a draft this month or in three months, you have to start prepping now. This is my list of five fantasy football running backs you must draft! They will overperform their ADP!
Keep in mind, these aren’t a list of the top fantasy football running backs in order. This is a list of five guys that I think should be drafted higher than where they’re currently being ranked or taken. Based on ADP, you can jump the competition by taking these running backs higher. For me the running backs were harder to identify than the quarterbacks.
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1. Chase Brown – Cincinnati Bengals
Chase Brown really came out of his shell last year once he finally got the opportunities. He ended up finishing as the 12th fantasy football running back. That was after a slow start to the year as well. This year, he’s being drafted as the 13th running back off the board, and he’s one of my favorite guys to target because I see a top-10 performance coming.
When Chase Brown came into the draft, I talked with multiple college football guys who said he was the best running back in college football behind Bijan Robinson. Brown has just been waiting for his opportunity, and that opportunity finally came last year.
What’s even crazier is that even though he finished as RB13, he didn’t get double-digit carries until Week 4. He also sat out Week 18. With a full season of double-digit carries this year, I fully expect him to finish in the top ten and maybe even the top six.
2. Tyrone Tracy – New York Giants
Tyrone Tracy was an underrated running back last year in the fantasy football community. He was a guy who was scooped up very late, or maybe even on waivers. While he only finished as the 26th running back, he only had nine games with double-digit carries.
New York seems to have realized that Devin Singletary isn’t the answer for them at the running back position. It’s entirely possible they draft a running back in this loaded running back draft class. However, if they don’t, Tracy is their guy.
He finished the year with a 4.4 yard-per-carry average and 7.5 yards per catch. He can contribute in multiple ways, and if they give him the lead role this year, he’s going to way overperform his current ranking of 23.
3. James Cook – Buffalo Bills
James Cook’s rankings and ADP for 2025 are quite interesting to me. He’s currently going around RB14 after finishing as the eighth fantasy football running back in 2024. Even though he missed one game last year, he had the most rushing touchdowns in the league.
Fast forward to 2025, and not much has changed for Cook. He’s still in the same offense and still the starting running back. Ray Davis being there just like last year doesn’t bother me. Not to mention, Cook is playing for his next contract.
He feels like a lock to be in the top ten of fantasy football running backs again, and I don’t understand why he’s being pushed down to 14th. He’s one of my favorite to grab in the third or fourth round, especially if I’ve gone wide receivers in the first two rounds.
4. Brian Robinson – Washington
You may think I’m crazy for having a running back who finished as RB29 on my list of running backs to draft in your fantasy football drafts. However, I feel strongly that he will overperform his ADP of RB27. He’s RB35 off the board in Underdog Fantasy drafts.
Robinson lost some production last year due to missing three games, and as the offense learned to settle and grow with rookie Jayden Daniels. Austin Ekeler also took some of the workload. I still expect Austin Ekeler to take some of the workload in 2025.
However, Robinson is a sneaky guy to have in your flex. I’ve even done a couple of drafts already this year where he’s somebody I’ll throw in my RB2 spot, and I’m not uncomfortable with it at all. In a half-PPR league, he averaged 10.7 fantasy points per game.
I think Daniels runs less this year and Robinson runs more. Just for the record, 10.7 fantasy points per game in half-PPR topped CMC’s 10.1 fantasy points per game in the games he was healthy. CMC is currently being drafted in the five to ten range, depending on which site you’re on.
5. Najee Harris – Los Angeles Chargers
It’ll be weird seeing Najee Harris in a non-Steelers uniform. This one also has some dependency on what happens in the draft. If the Chargers draft a guy in the second or third round, Harris’ production will obviously be affected.
However, he’s going as the 21st fantasy football running back off the board, and in a Jim Harbaugh-led offense, I think he’s going to do much better than that. Harris has the heart that Harbaugh loves in his running backs and should get a lot of carries in an offense that should run more efficiently than his Steelers’ offenses were in the past couple of years.
Keep in mind, in Harris’s rookie season, he finished as the RB4. He was 14th the next season. He finished 20th in 2023 and in 2024. I strongly think his decline in fantasy football was more of the Steelers’ offensive woes rather than Harris. Expect to see him as a top-15 fantasy football running back this year in the Chargers’ offense, if he is the lead back.
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