It is much better to have an idea of where you stand on an incoming
talent before he is drafted, if only the public tends to cater to
popular opinion and "fit" after he is selected. Evaluating
the incoming rookie class before the draft gives us a more stable
ground on which to base our opinions and helps us avoid some of
those "popular" pitfalls.
The goal with this piece (and the other three position-by-position
summaries) is to provide a slightly quicker but still very thorough
overview of some of the top prospects that were not covered in
my draft profiles. The hope is that this exercise will give readers
all the information that could ask for as they begin preparing
for upcoming rookie drafts.
Bhayshul Tuten Draft Profile
Vitals
College: Virginia Tech
Height/Weight: 5' 9"/206
Hands: 9"
Age: 22 (at the time of the 2025 season opener)
Best Team Fit(s): 49ers, Raiders, Chargers,
Broncos, Bears, Browns, Cowboys, Saints, Steelers
Bottom Line
Tuten tested in the 95th percentile or above in the 40, vertical
jump and broad jump at the NFL Combine. The numbers do not lie,
as 54 percent of his rushing yards in 2024 came on explosive runs.
He is more than just a big-play back with gaudy measurables, however.
His 62 missed tackles forced was tied for 16th in FBS - a mark
that is even more impressive when we consider he logged only 183
carries. Tuten is not the kind of back who will string together
multiple moves to make a defender miss in space, but he does not
lack for lateral agility either. It is more that he is a solid
206-pound piece of scrap iron metal that can deliver a punch and
run through contact.
Tuten was not used very creatively in the passing game at Virginia
Tech, but there would seem to be ample upside for him as a receiver
because his athleticism would make him a nightmare for most linebackers.
He is also one of the better and more willing blockers in this
class, which is no small thing for a back of his size.
Ball security may be the biggest issue that Tuten has entering
the pros, as he fumbled nine times on 406 touches over two seasons
as a Hokie. Although he was not charged with a drop on 27 targets
in 2024, he had five on 39 targets as a junior. At this point
in his career, he seems unsure of his hands at times and thus
relies too heavily on catching the ball with his body. He misses
cutback opportunities a bit more often than ideal and lacks patience
at times, although both could have been a product of the Hokies'
emphasis on getting him to the perimeter.
His muscular build gives him a chance to be a bell-cow, but not
every coach is going to feel comfortable trusting a 206-pound
back with a huge workload very often. As a whole, Tuten is one
of the more enticing running backs in this draft class with limited
warts in his game.
The point of emphasis for his new team should be correcting the
fumbling issue, which may always be a concern given his relatively
small hands. With that said, there is little other reason - outside
of maybe a stubborn old-school coach that believes big backs are
the only ones that can be bell-cows - why Tuten cannot be a three-down
back for a NFL team by the end of his rookie season.
DJ Giddens Draft Profile
Vitals
College: Kansas State
Height/Weight: 6' 0"/212
Hands: 9 1/4"
Age: 22 (at the time of the 2025 season opener)
Best Team Fit(s): Broncos, Chargers, Raiders, Cowboys, Steelers,
Bengals, Browns, Saints
Bottom Line
Giddens turned in some of the best film by any player at any
position last season against Colorado. Forget the fact he showed
his potential as a workhorse back with 220 total yards on 27 touches.
He forced 12 of his 55 missed tackles for the season and broke
off eight explosive runs (10-plus yards). If Giddens can bring
that to the table more often in the NFL, he has a real chance
at being a top-five back in this loaded class.
Looking at his 2024 season from a macro perspective, he possesses
as good of a vision-quickness combination as any back in this
draft. His contact balance may not be quite elite, but it is not
far off. Giddens will occasionally get knocked for a lack of power,
but his 4.16 yards per carry after contact tell a different story.
He may not truck tacklers in the same way an Ashton Jeanty or
Omarion Hampton occasionally do, but there is no shortage of times
that Giddens carried a defender or three for a few yards. In a
nutshell, he is a smooth and easy mover who fumbled only once
on 478 touches over his final two seasons in college.
It is worth mentioning that Giddens did not begin playing football
until his sophomore year of high school, which may explain a couple
of his current shortcomings. Probably the most notable area of
improvement for Giddens is how high he runs, which likely explains
why his missed tackles forced number (55) wasn't any higher. There
were several times that a potential big play came to an end because
a second-level defender was able to square him up and win a leverage
battle he should not have been able to win. Some of that is a
matter of being high-cut, but he could do a better job of lowering
his pads too.
Giddens flashed potential as a receiver and K-State did a better
job than most teams of using him on actual receiver routes on
occasion, but a 12 percent drop rate over the last two seasons
is not ideal. He is no more than an average blocker in pass pro
either, although identifying who to block does not appear to be
an issue. That tells me his struggles in pass pro are more technical
than anything, which can be improved through pro coaching.
Given his current struggles as a pass-catcher and blocker, it
is probably too much to ask for him to emerge as a Week 1 three-down
back. With that said, he is one of the more impressive runners
in this draft and should push for an early-down role right away.
Cam Skattebo Draft Profile
Vitals
College: Arizona State
Height/Weight: 5' 9 1/2"/219
Hands: 9 3/8"
Age: 23 (at the time of the 2025 season opener)
High-end NFL Player Comp(s): Peyton Hillis (John Riggins)
Low-end NFL Player Comp(s): Jacob Hester
Best Team Fit(s): Steelers, Bears, Broncos, Saints
Bottom Line
Do you remember the fight sequences in the Rocky movies? Countless
big shots given and received and not a lot of punches blocked,
correct? Skattebo throws crushing body blows and violent haymakers
on nearly every run. Few backs I have ever watched seek contact
out and even fewer - if any - play through it like Skattebo. His
contact balance is as good as any prospect I have ever seen and
his desire to keep his legs churning puts him in an elite class
in terms of running with power. Most college running backs are
typically happy with three yards per carry after contact. Skattebo
averages over four and it was a bit shocking to see the number
was that low after watching every one of his 293 carries. He trailed
only Ashton Jeanty in missed forced tackles last season, but one
of the big reasons there was such a gap between Jeanty's 151 and
Skattebo's 103 was because Jeanty carried the ball 81 more times.
Skattebo is already hard to tackle as a player carrying 219 pounds
on a 5-9-ish frame, but he accentuates his power by lowering his
pads consistently. To his credit, he has the patience and vision
to find the hole and can alter his path at the second level. Unlike
most power backs, he was used quite frequently in the screen and
swing game, where he naturally made life hell for any linebacker
or safety that had to take him on one-on-one.
Skattebo only missed one of the 26 games in his two seasons at
Arizona State, but his ability to hold up long-term given his
current play style is easily the most concerning aspect of his
profile. Even the most bruising of NFL backs do not invite the
contact he seeks. As is the case with most backs who are among
the best at generating yards after contact, ball security is also
an issue with 10 fumbles over the last three seasons (one fumble
every 75.2 touches). He possesses surprising burst but tends to
be caught from behind (assuming the defender can wrap him up).
Much like his running style, pass pro can sometimes be hit-or-miss
with him either delivering a knockout blow or coming up empty.
NFL coaches will almost certainly love Skattebo as a four-minute
back and short-yardage option, but it may be a bridge too far
to ask him to be anything more than the thumper in a thunder-and-lightning
backfield given the way he plays. There is no question he should
be able to handle heavy workloads when the situation calls for
it, but his career could end up resembling Hillis' (meaning one
great year and several injury-shortened ones) if he is asked to
carry the mail for too long.
Dylan Sampson Draft Profile
Vitals
College: Tennessee
Height/Weight: 5' 8"/200
Hands: 8 3/4"
Age: 20 (at the time of the 2025 season opener)
Best Team Fit(s): Broncos, Chargers, Cowboys, Raiders, Browns
Bottom Line
Pure electricity. That is perhaps the best way to sum up Sampson.
His acceleration is among the best in the class. He is also one
of the few backs in this class who is a threat to score from anywhere,
which should not be surprising given his track background. However,
the SEC Player of the Year is so much more than just a good athlete.
He runs with as power as any 200-pound running back I can remember
and has uncommon contact balance for a back of his size. He is
surprisingly good at breaking tackles - 70 forced missed tackles
on 258 carries in 2024 - and in short-yardage - 80 percent of
his third-down carries with four or fewer yards to go were converted
in 2024.
That is not it. He is a disciplined between-the-tackles runner
who understands the value of tempoing his runs and does not need
to exaggerate his moves in the hole to avoid second-level defenders.
With that said, he is very quick and quite elusive, routinely
hitting linebackers and safeties with a spin move - sometimes
even two or three on the same play. In short, he can run by you
or through you despite being 200 pounds.
While there is no question Sampson earned his yards, it is also
worth noting that no running back in this draft class ran against
light boxes more often. Somewhat surprisingly, Sampson appears
more comfortable running inside and bouncing outside (if necessary)
than he does on runs designed to go outside. His biggest shortcomings
at this point are ball security (he averaged a fumble about once
every 70 touches in 2024), identifying the right defender to pick
up in pass pro and as a receiver out of the backfield.
Regarding his work as a pass-catcher, the Volunteers showed little
desire to get him in space and let him go one-on-one with a linebacker
in space, which is hard to understand for a running back with
his elusiveness. Those drawbacks - along with his size - make
it unlikely he will be anything more than a lead back in a committee,
especially early in his career. With that said, he will still
be attractive to many teams because the NFL values explosive plays
as much now as it ever has and he can deliver the goods in that
regard.
Devin Neal Draft Profile
Vitals
College: Kansas
Height/Weight: 5' 11"/213
Hands: 8 1/2"
Age: 22 (at the time of the 2025 season opener)
Best Team Fit(s): Chargers, Broncos, Colts, Browns, Saints
Bottom Line
One of the most common mistakes in evaluating running backs is
the notion that they have to be exceptionally fast, big or quick.
Neal is about average in each of those areas, yet he leaves Kansas
as one of the best players in program history because he is so
good in the areas running backs actually need to be good at to
make a living in the pros.
Neal excels in part because he is decisive and never in too much
of a hurry. He is powerful yet elusive. His contact balance is
very good. He proved dependable and durable on 837 college touches,
losing only four fumbles - including only once over his last 500
touches - and not missing any games across his 50-game college
career. Perhaps his best attribute is his utility in the passing
game. The trust he shows in his hands is obvious and reflected
in the fact he fell just short of an 80 percent catch rate on
101 targets with only five drops in four seasons with the Jayhawks.
I already touched on the reasons Neal is not a more sought-after
player. In a league that craves big plays, Neal is unlikely to
produce many of them. He is more fluid than fast and more strong
than big. He can make defenders miss in space, but he does it
more with anticipation and subtle moves and less with sharp jump
cuts. Perhaps the biggest hole in his game at the moment is pass
protection, which comes as a shock for two reasons: 1) the way
he runs suggests his football IQ is high and 2) he generally is
in a good position to block. The problem is he does not anchor
down and/or explode into the defender, which led to some laughably
bad reps.
NFL teams can live with a three-down back who is not overly fast
or quick, but Neal will have a hard time filling that role at
the next level until he improves as a blocker. He has three-down
upside, but the most likely outcome for him is as a 1A back in
a committee who loses reps to a scatback in known passing situations.
RJ Harvey Draft Profile
Vitals
College: UCF
Height/Weight: 5' 8"/205
Hands: 9"
Age: 24 (at the time of the 2025 season opener)
Best Team Fit(s): Chargers, Broncos, Cowboys, Colts, Browns,
Saints
Bottom Line
It is not hard to watch Harvey and not see at least some shades
of a lighter Jaylen Warren, who has carved out a nice niche for
himself as a pro. He runs with power, rarely goes down on ankle
tackles and has proven to be a weapon as a pass-catcher out of
the backfield. Harvey is also explosive, as he was one of two
FBS players to break off an 80-yard run in 2023 AND 2024. Just
as impressively, 21.6 percent of his runs went for 10-plus yards
over the last two seasons.
Part of his secret sauce is that he is patient and possesses
a low center of gravity and strong legs, which makes him hard
to hit and harder to knock off balance. He also did not transition
full-time to running back until after his true freshman season
at Virginia (he transferred to UCF in 2020, so he is still relatively
new to the position.
Where he falls short are some of the areas that would make sense
for a player who did not begin playing running back full-time
until after his true freshman season, such as bouncing runs, ball
security and blocking. How many of those issues can be resolved
to a satisfactory degree over the next two years is debatable.
There is also the age issue. He is 24 now and will turn 25 before
the Super Bowl. How many teams will be thrilled with the idea
of investing two years into a player who will be 27 years old
before he is more of a finished product?
Like Warren, Harvey could have the masses screaming for him to
be used more often year after year because he is an explosive
player. However, there are enough concerns at the moment to keep
him in more of a 1B role just as the Steelers have with Warren.
He is capable of a bigger role down the road, but it is fair to
wonder if he will not be one of those backs who is pigeonholed
into a role and cannot break out of it by the time he has shored
up his biggest weaknesses.
Ollie Gordon Draft Profile
Vitals
College: Oklahoma State
Height/Weight: 6' 1"/226
Hands: 9 1/2"
Age: 22 (at the time of the 2025 season opener)
High-end NFL Player Comp(s): Lite version of Brian Robinson Jr.
Low-end NFL Player Comp(s): AJ Dillon
Best Team Fit(s): Bears, Broncos, Steelers, Bengals, Cowboys,
Raiders, Browns
Bottom Line
Gordon's size would suggest he is a strong inside runner and
a tackle-breaking machine. While there is some of both to his
game, he is more of a well-rounded back than a thumper. His physicality
does not show up as much inside the tackles as it does once he
gets to the second level of the defense, although part of the
problem with the former is that he is a high-cut player who also
runs upright. Those two things in conjunction with one another
and his 6-1 frame naturally make it harder for him to keep his
feet when he is contacted down low.
What he lacks in explosiveness, Gordon makes up for in other
areas. He is also a very capable receiver out of the backfield,
although he will likely never be anything more than a quality
option on screens and swings. Although he relies a bit too much
on chop blocks, he is nonetheless very good at it and should be
considered strong in pass pro.
While there is nothing wrong with Gordon's 4.61 speed at his
size, he ran to that time for the most part in 2024. His yards
after contact per rush attempt metrics are not bad (3.47 for his
career), but they should be better and were actually more average
in 2022 and 2024. Most of his lower half is tight, which means
he has little chance of avoiding a loss if the defense gets penetration.
It also means he needs to be in an offense that asks him to focus
on running very little outside the tackles.
Gordon's legs and feet surprisingly stop on contact more often
than not as well, which defies logic since he typically performed
well in short yardage. There is also the small issue of how much
of an outlier his 2023 season was in comparison to 2022 and 2024.
Was the offensive line and quarterback play entirely to blame?
Gordon did not run with as much vigor last season. That much is
not in question. Did he lose interest once the Cowboys' season
went sideways and focus on trying to avoid an injury so he could
be ready to roll for the NFL, as some have suspected?
Gordon was one of the handful of players that I was willing to
judge based almost entirely on his 2023 season, but the fact of
the matter was that film was only marginally better. High-cut
runners who are as tight in the hips and ankles as Gordon need
great interior blocking to succeed, especially in the NFL.
He might get lucky in that regard, but most NFL teams do not
seem to prioritize great interior blocking. Gordon's willingness
to block and sure hands as a receiver will keep him around the
league for a while, but there may only be a handful of teams who
can make him look good. I also worry his overall running style
and general lack of big-play ability will make it hard for him
to stay healthy long-term, which means coaches will likely make
him more of a committee back than the potential low-end featured
back many hope he can be.
Doug Orth has written for FFToday since 2006 and joined the
Fantasy Points website before the start of the 2024 season. He is
also a highly successful high-stakes player who often appears as
a guest analyst on Sirius XM. Doug is also a member of the Fantasy
Sports Writers Association. Please check out his new podcast with
JJ Wenner called "The All-Out Blitz."
