4 Bell Cow Fantasy Football Running Backs: Top One-Man Backfields to Target In Drafts (2025)

June 11, 2025

Adam identifies four bell cow fantasy football running backs in one-man running back (RB) committees to target and draft in 2025. Draft these RBs: Joe Mixon, Alvin Kamara, James Conner, Javonte Williams.

We identified four one-man backfields to chase in 2024. We missed on a few guys, but that doesn't mean we won't dust ourselves off and try again in 2025.

As always with many of my articles, I won't highlight some of the most obvious guys who fit the mold. Bijan Robinson, Saquon Barkley, and Ashton Jeanty come to mind when thinking about bell-cow backs in 2025. But they're all first-round picks this season, and you can (maybe) only get one this season, depending on your draft slot.

Instead, I'll dig deeper to uncover more cost-effective options at the running back position. These guys, currently going outside the top 50 picks on Underdog, all project for heavy workloads again this upcoming season. Chase these one-man backfields in 2025.

Joe Mixon, Houston Texans

Underdog ADP - 51.7 (RB16)

In his first season with the Texans, Mixon was handed the fifth-highest opportunity share (77.7%) among all running backs. Per Fantasy Points Data, he averaged the fourth-most expected fantasy points per game (XFP/G) in 2024 (17.2) behind just Alvin Kamara, Robinson, and De'Von Achane.

XFP accounts for types of opportunities (red zone, targets, etc.) and estimates how many fantasy points a player should have scored based on those touches. In its simplest terms, we want running backs with a high XFP/G on our fantasy teams. Their teams use these guys in high-leverage situations.

The Texans did select USC RB Woody Marks with the 116th pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, but he profiles as more of a pass-catching specialist (think Kenneth Gainwell). He'll compete more with Dare Ogunbowale and Dameon Pierce than he will with Mixon. He'll have to gain head coach DeMeco Ryans' trust as well.

Earlier this week, the Texans also added veteran Nick Chubb to the backfield on a one-year contract. Last season, Chubb played in just eight games and posted a career-low 3.3 YPC. Given his underwhelming performance, he will likely compete alongside Pierce and Marks for the No. 2 role.

Ryans loves his veteran tailbacks. Last season, it was Mixon. In 2023, it was fifth-year man Devin Singletary who averaged 18.9 opportunities per game after the Texans' bye week.

Needless to say, it'll be hard for Marks to cut into Mixon's workload as long as Ryans is in charge. Without much other legitimate competition, this is again shaping up to be Mixon's backfield in 2025.

Alvin Kamara, New Orleans Saints

Underdog ADP - 61.5 (RB20)

Kamara led the league in XFP/G in 2024 at 19.3. He turned those 19.3 XFP/G into 19 PPR fantasy points per game. Before sustaining a groin injury in Week 15, Kamara was averaging a whopping 23.6 opportunities per game.

Per PlayerProfiler, he was seventh among running backs in snap share (73.1%) and sixth in opportunity share (76.4%). And in the passing game, he led all backs in targets (89) and was second in route participation (55.6%).

Sure, the Saints had a different head coach in 2024 (Dennis Allen and Darren Rizzi) than they do in 2025 (Kellen Moore), but Moore's already stated that Kamara will be a "big part of the offense" this season.

Kellen Moore on Alvin Kamara: "A premiere player in our league." pic.twitter.com/fhIxgd7GoM

— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) April 1, 2025

The Saints also didn't do much this offseason that would lead us to believe otherwise. They used a sixth-round pick on Kansas RB Devin Neal, and they'll roll over perpetual underachievers Kendre Miller and Clyde Edwards-Helaire from 2024.

Kamara will turn 30 in late July, but he hasn't shown signs of slowing down anytime soon. Fantasy managers should continue to ride him as long as the Saints continue to give him a massive workload.

Chase this relatively cheap one-man backfield in 2025.

James Conner, Arizona Cardinals

Underdog ADP - 66.4 (RB22)

There weren't many running backs better than Conner in 2024. Per PFF, Arizona's RB1 was one of just six backs to grade above a 90 on the season. Other backs in that group included Derrick Henry, Bucky Irving, and Jahmyr Gibbs.

Despite averaging 18.5 touches per game, the 30-year-old proved to the Cardinals brass that he's still got it. Per Fantasy Points Data, Conner forced the most missed tackles per attempt (0.29) last season behind only Kenneth Walker.

JAMES CONNER APPRECIATION POST pic.twitter.com/LQS44fvecG

— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) October 22, 2024

For comparison, Gibbs, who was electric last season, forced 0.23 missed tackles per attempt in 2024. Per PlayerProfiler, Conner led all running backs in Juke Rate (32.5%) last season and was sixth in yards created per touch (4.27).

With that kind of efficiency, head coach Jonathan Gannon and company would be insane to reduce the veteran's workload in 2025. When specifically asked about decreasing Conner's workload, Gannon told reporters, "he's gonna get himself ready to carry the load for us."

Don't worry about Trey Benson, Emari Demercado, and Michael Carter, and this is very much a one-man backfield with Conner as the bell cow.

Javonte Williams, Dallas Cowboys

Underdog ADP - 121.5 (RB39)

This one might seem a little crazy, and you'd be right. The former Broncos running back has a current Underdog ADP of 121.5. He's going more than 50 picks after the other three one-man backfields discussed in this article.

But hear me out. Williams told the media this offseason that he finally feels like himself again after suffering an ACL and LCL tear midway through the 2022 season. There is no doubt he has struggled running the football since the injury, averaging just 3.6 yards per carry in the last two seasons.

In 2025, he'll get a chance to prove all of his doubters wrong with a new team. At the very least, he'll be the first guy up for the Cowboys come Week 1, considering the relatively weak backfield competition in Dallas.

Miles Sanders fell off a cliff after his time in Philadelphia, while rookies Jaydon Blue and Phil Mafah are unproven NFL assets with just Day 3 draft capital.

Despite the recent rushing woes, two things Williams has done well throughout his career are catching the ball out of the backfield and pass-blocking. In 2024, he had the second-most pass-blocking snaps behind Kyren Williams and received the sixth-highest PFF grade in that department.

If nothing else, we know that the new Cowboys head coach, Brian Schottenheimer, wants to play a running back who can protect Dak Prescott. Last season, with Schottenheimer as the offensive coordinator, Rico Dowdle had the 16th-highest opportunity share (68.8%) among running backs due in large part to his ability in protection.

Dowdle had the ninth-highest pass-blocking grade in 2024, just a few spots below Williams, who now comes to Dallas fully healthy and ready to offer up his services as one of Prescott's primary protectors.

At a minimum, that should keep him on the field for at least 50% of the snaps in 2025. If he can get back to being an elite runner like he was pre-knee injury, there's runway for a whole lot more.

LIKE ROTOBALLER?

CLICK HERE, ENTER ROTOBALLER.COM, THEN CHECK THE BOX

More Fantasy Football Analysis