- - 2025 Fantasy Football RB Exit Interview: Lack of chaos saw running back position enjoy continued stability this season

James KohDecember 31, 2025 at 8:35 PM

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When it came to fantasy running backs, a weird thing happened in 2025 in that well… nothing happened.

What I mean is that almost every single year the running back position sees huge, massive, seismic shifts. It’s the most volatile position in football because of injuries and the relatively short prime years the game’s stars enjoy.

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It’s the whole premise behind handcuffs and the zero-RB movement; those strategies work when there is chaos at the running back position. But for the last couple of years, the position has really enjoyed a lot of stability.

2025's top RB scorers (through 17 weeks) -

Christian McCaffrey, 49ers — 356.9 half-PPR fantasy points

Jonathan Taylor, Colts — 334.4

Bijan Robinson, Falcons — 325.5

Jahmyr Gibbs, Lions — 309.6

De'Von Achane, Dolphins — 289.3

James Cook, Bills — 284.2

Derrick Henry, Ravens — 259.4

Kyren Williams, Rams — 235.7

Travis Etienne Jr., Jaguars — 231.6

Chase Brown, Bengals — 231.1

Javonte Williams, Cowboys — 225.3

Josh Jacobs, Packers — 219.1

The Other Shoe Never Dropped

All the bad stuff zero-RB’ers were waiting on largely died on the vine. Christian McCaffrey was supposed to be a massive injury risk. He didn’t miss a single game and finished in a familiar spot as the game’s top-scoring running back in PPR formats.

“There is absolutely no way in hell James Cook is going to score at the rate he did last year!” He had 18 touchdowns last year, he has 14 through 16 games this year. He was the RB8 in 2024, he finished as the RB6 in 2025. That’s a giant DX crotch chop to you regression nerds!

The Curse of 370 was a dark, shadowy spectre looming over the shoulders of Saquon Barkely and Derrick Henry entering drafts. And while there’s no question both backs saw noticeable dips in efficiency, the bite was largely de-fanged.

Sure, Saquon was a disappointment, drafted as the RB2 he finished as the RB14, but he wasn’t the reason why you lost. He played 16 games and while he whiffed during championship week, he had fewer than 8.5 PPR points in just three games this year. He wasn’t a league-winner like he was last year but he was a consistent contributor with a few spike weeks. You would’ve liked more given his price but overall he was still a good player.

Derrick Henry had 16 touchdowns last year, another 16 this year and tacked on another 1,600 scrimmage yards onto his Hall of Fame tally. Henry’s biggest problem was actually that his coach forgot he existed for large portions of games. Oh by the way, he did this at the age of 31! Henry treated the 2025 season like he did the 2018 Jags, stiff-arming TWO negative narratives into the dirt.

Still can't believe Derrick Henry took this one 99 yards to the house. @Titans via @nfl pic.twitter.com/dEf0r99oDG

— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) April 7, 2021

Young Players Never Materialized

Rookies or sneaky second-year players always seem to jump to the forefront of the fantasy landscape, think Bucky Irving and De’Von Achane last year. But this year? There was a shocking lack of season-long, high-end production from young players.

Ashton Jeanty’s season was rocky as he posted five games of fewer than 8.5 PPR points, and while I thought he showed truly elite upside for stretches of games, the Raiders' offensive line and coaching madness was too much for him to overcome.

Drafted as a top 6-7 running back (🫲6 7🫱) he finished as the RB13 on the season. Like Saquon, he wasn’t bad, he just wasn’t quite what we wanted in fantasy.

I was told Travis Etienne Jr. was actually terrible and that Tank Bigsby was going to take over the Jags backfield. Then Tank was traded and then I was told this was a move to actually get Bhayshul Tuten the rock more so that he could overtake ETN. Meanwhile Etienne just kept plugging away.

TreVeyon Henderson was downright dominant from Weeks 10-15 averaging 22.6 PPR points across those five games, but other than those handful of games, he was largely unplayable as Rhamondre Stevenson consistently held onto the starting gig.

I thought Quinshon Judkins was going to take off but after a hot start, he cooled considerably. He averaged 15.5 PPR PPG from Weeks 2-5, 10.8 PPG from Week 6 on, five times scoring single-digit PPR points.

Cam Skattebo could have been that guy but unfortunately he got hurt. Omarion Hampton and RJ Harvey were terrific down the stretch but were unplayable until distressingly late into the season.

Woody Marks, Kyle Monangai and Jacory Croskey-Merritt had their moments and will be intriguing players going into next year, but were at best role players this year.

And remember Kaleb Johnson??? Drafted as a high-upside, top-30 running back prospect, a player that should have been a perfect schematic fit apparently evaporated after Arthur Smith did his yearly nonsense.

The Biggest SurprisesJavonte Williams, Cowboys

I mentioned Etienne earlier and there’s no question him finishing as the RB10 through Week 17, after being drafted around RB30, is one of the season’s biggest surprises. That being said, there was no bigger out-of-left-field season than Javonte Williams in Dallas.

EVERYONE thought he was toast after injury-ravaged seasons in Denver but he announced his arrival in Week 1 in an island game with a 20-spot and just kept on producing. He carried teams to early-season winning records and even though he slowed a touch in the back half (going from 17.3 to 12.4 PPR PPG), he rarely crushed your team. He only had one single-digit PPR game after his Week 10 bye and finished the season as the RB11.

Rico Dowdle, Panthers

From Week 5 to 15, Uncle Rico was a top-10 fantasy back averaging a whopping 17.4 PPR PPG. This was all found money as well considering Rico was a running back taken outside the top 55 at the position. In the vast majority of leagues he was a waiver wire hero. Before you consider this a flukey season, keep in mind, Dowdle has now put together BACK-TO-BACK 1,300 yard seasons for two different teams. Give this man his proper due.

Kenneth Gainwell, Steelers

It’s unfortunate Gainwell flopped during championship week (6.8 points in PPR) because otherwise he was insanely productive. He’s still arguably the waiver wire pickup of the year considering he’s the RB9 since Week 11. Despite the big finish, I have literally zero clue what this running back rotation looks like next year. It’s because of this lack of clarity I imagine he’ll still go in the later rounds of drafts next year, but we’ll see.

The Busts

Speaking of fantasy flameouts, Kaleb Johnson was the most notable rookie bust but despite all the consistency I’ve been yapping about, you can’t tell the story of a fantasy football season without harping on the guys who torpedoed your various teams.

Bucky Irving, Bucs

It’s generally a gentleman’s agreement that professional fantasy analysts don’t bring up injured players when talking about season-long disappointments but it’s worth noting that Bucky lost a lot of juice this year.

After impressing with a 5.4 yards per carry average as a rookie, Irving averaged a lowly 3.4 YPC this past year. That’s a massive dropoff. And this wasn’t just an injury issue. He averaged 3.3 YPC before the injury.

Add to Bucky’s slump was the fact that new offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard refused to give him goal-line carries late in the year. Between Weeks 13-17, when Bucky returned from injury, he had three carries inside the 10-yard line; Sean Tucker had seven such carries. Bucky, across nine games this year, scored just ONE rushing touchdown. Something to keep in mind for 2026.

Isiah Pacheco, Chiefs

A top-25 running back selection, folks thought they were investing in a solid floor guy considering he was the clear lead back in what was supposed to be a more explosive KC offense this year. Well… none of that happened. Pacheco averaged an awful 6.7 PPR PPG in the 13 games he played this year. Kareem Hunt was arguably the better back in both real life and in the fake game.

Chuba Hubbard, Panthers

After a surprising breakout season in 2024, compiling 1,366 yards and 11 touchdowns in 15 games, the team added Rico Dowdle in the offseason. That, combined with an early-season injury that lingered, tanked Chuba’s entire 2025 campaign. He saw a nearly 50% reduction in yards (717) and scored just four times across 14 games. Drafted as a top-20 RB, he finished as the RB37.

David Montgomery, Lions

If you were expecting 2024 Ben Johnson usage in 2025 for Montgomery, you played yourself. He was solid early when the offensive line was healthy but from Week 6 on, he averaged just 8.2 PPR points per game; the RB35 in per game scoring. He cracked double digits in just four of his last 11 games played.

It’s a slow drip but as Jahmyr Gibbs has ascended, Montgomery has gotten slightly fewer snaps, saw slightly fewer targets and most importantly saw a slight reduction in goal-line carries. That combined with fewer scoring opportunities in general (DET went from 33.2 PPG to 28.9 PPG), meant he wasn’t scoring touchdowns at an absurd rate. It’s hard to see any of that bouncing back in 2026, especially as Montgomery is entering his age-29 season.

Way-too-early fantasy RB rankings for 2026 -

Jahmyr Gibbs, Lions

Bijan Robinson, Falcons

Christian McCaffrey, 49ers

Jonathan Taylor, Colts

De’Von Achane, Dolphins

Saquon Barkley, Eagles

James Cook, Bills

Chase Brown, Bengals

Omarion Hampton, Chargers

Derrick Henry, Ravens

Ashton Jeanty, Raiders

Bucky Irving, Bucs

Josh Jacobs, Packers

RJ Harvey, Broncos

TreVeon Henderson, Patriots

Travis Etienne Jr., Jaguars

Breece Hall, Jets

Kyren Williams, Rams

Kyle Monangai, Bears

Woody Marks, Texans

Javonte Williams, Cowboys

Rico Dowdle, Panthers

Kenneth Walker III, Seahawks

Tyrone Tracy Jr., Giants

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Sports”