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Dan Fornek takes a look at early fantasy football best ball sleepers at the running back position for 2025. Which RBs should you target for your team?
The NFL Draft is now in the rearview. Training camps are roughly three months away. The 2025 NFL season will be here before we know it.
For the die-hard fantasy managers, best ball drafts have been going since the 2024 regular season ended. There is a considerable amount of risk in drafting this early, but the value rewards can be massive if you hit on a player who survives the offseason without competition or a rookie who drops into a prime landing spot.
All the players listed below can be considered sleeper running backs at their current ADP on Underdog Fantasy. For this article, a “sleeper” will be regarded as any player not going in the first 10 rounds of ADP. Check them out below.
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Tyjae Spears, Tennessee Titans
ADP: 138.2, RB40
Tyjae Spears initially received hype after the 2023 season when it was clear the Titans were moving on from Derrick Henry. Unfortunately, the signing of Tony Pollard signaled he was going to be trapped in a timeshare once again.
A litany of injuries (concussions, ankle, and hamstring) led to just 12 games played, and a dip in efficiency (3.7 yards per carry after averaging 4.5 as a rookie) led to a slight step back in Spears’ second season.
That said, Spears did provide a reason to believe in his ability to produce in fantasy at the end of his second season. From Weeks 15 to 17, Spears logged his only three games with a snap share above 50 percent. During that stretch, he averaged 11.3 carries and 4.0 receptions per game for 67.0 all-purpose yards and scored four touchdowns.
That three-game stretch (two of which were with a shared backfield with Pollard) gave Spears three straight RB1 finishes, including an RB5 finish in Week 15 (24.2 points) in half-PPR scoring.
Tyjae Spears with no ACL and arthritis is more atheltic than 90% of the world. Holy cow… what a run. pic.twitter.com/x7oTAGyDR1
— Ted Nguyen (@FB_FilmAnalysis) August 20, 2023
Tennessee invested in its offensive line in free agency by adding Dan Moore Jr. to play left tackle and Kevin Zeitler to play right guard. It is a near-certainty that the team will also upgrade the quarterback position by drafting Miami’s Cameron Ward with the first overall pick. This offense should be better in 2025.
Spears will once again be stuck in a timeshare, but he will have a weekly role and has the burst to make the most of it. If Pollard happened to get injured, he would be on the weekly RB1 radar due to a thin depth chart behind him.
Jordan Mason, Minnesota Vikings
ADP: 138.4, RB41
The Vikings made sure to re-sign Aaron Jones after he posted an excellent season in 2024 (255 carries for 1,138 yards and five rushing touchdowns with 51 receptions for 408 yards and two receiving touchdowns). However, it was just the second time in Jones’ career that he played more than 15 games, and the third time he had a snap share above 58 percent.
The Vikings tried not to lean on him too heavily, trading for Cam Akers before Week 7 to spell Jones. From Weeks 9 to 18, Akers logged a 26 percent snap share, averaging 6.4 carries and 1.1 targets per game.
This offseason, the Vikings traded for Jordan Mason to serve as their complementary back. Mason is no stranger to being a backup behind a three-down running back, but he showed that he can handle a workload if given a chance. From Weeks 1 to 7 this season, Jones averaged 18.3 carries, 95.3 rushing yards, and scored three rushing touchdowns. He also had 10 receptions for 86 yards.
it’s been awhile since the Vikings had a big, dynamic running back like Jordan Mason pic.twitter.com/sPByNoGYgO
— Krauser (@Krauserrific) March 16, 2025
Mason was the RB17 in half-PPR leagues during this stretch (13.8) and was the RB9 in overall scoring (96.3). He had three top-10 scoring weeks, including two top-5 finishes.
The Vikings will lean on Mason to spell Jones in 2025, and given Jones’ injury history, there is an excellent chance that Mason gets a stretch of games as the lead back once again. He’s the perfect boom-or-bust RB3 or RB4 for a best ball roster that can provide scoring weeks at some point this season.
Trey Benson, Arizona Cardinals
ADP: 143.5, RB42
Trey Benson delivered an underwhelming rookie season (63 carries for 291 yards and one touchdown with six receptions for 59 yards) in 13 games. Benson logged just two games with double-digit carries and only one game above a 28 percent snap share due to James Conner’s healthy 2024 season.
Still, there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic about Benson heading into 2025.
Early in the season, Trey Benson was regularly bouncing around in the backfield looking for a big play.
Yesterday, he remembered he's a big dude and just started taking defenders head-on in the gaps. Much more decisive running, and a lot of yards after contact. pic.twitter.com/itWFSakNAL
— Dave Kluge (@DaveKluge) November 12, 2024
2024 was just the second time since 2018 that Conner played more than 13 games. The veteran running back has a lengthy injury history and isn’t a stranger to missing stretches. Arizona’s coaching staff has also come out this offseason in support of Benson, stating that it believes it has “two number-one backs.”
Time will tell whether that is coach speak or not, but at the very least, Benson has value as the RB2 behind a running back who tends to get injured. The Cardinals are also unlikely to invest heavily in the position this season after investing a third-round pick in Benson in 2024.
Benson will start the year as a backup with an ambiguous role in Arizona’s backfield but should see an increased workload as a change-of-pace back in his second season. He could easily pay off his RB42 price tag if Conner were to go down for any period.
RJ Harvey, Denver Broncos
ADP: 170.4, RB55
This rookie running back class is loaded with talent, but most people’s attention is being focused on the names at the top (Ashton Jeanty, Omarion Hampton, TreVeyon Henderson, and Quinshon Judkins). That is allowing some of the secondary backs to fly under the radar.
One rookie who is an excellent value at this point is the University of Central Florida’s RJ Harvey.
UCF RB RJ Harvey may be as quick as RB in the class, but what makes him special to me is his physicality. The dude knows how to finish a run 🚜
Has some shades of Bucky Irving from his time at Oregon. pic.twitter.com/4FuRhPHflw
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) February 13, 2025
Over his last two collegiate seasons, Harvey amassed 458 carries for 2,993 yards and 38 rushing touchdowns while adding 39 receptions for 505 yards and four receiving touchdowns. Harvey measured in at 5-foot-8, 205 pounds at the combine before running a 4.40 40-yard dash.
The advanced metrics are even more impressive. Harvey was second to Jeanty in rushing attempts that went 10+ yards (54) and 15+ yards (32). He was third in the class in breakaway rushing yards (827) and posted a respectable 1.39 yards per route run as a pass-catcher.
Harvey is currently being drafted as the RB55 in best ball drafts but that will change now that he landed with the Denver Broncos in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft. Harvey immediately becomes the most explosive component in this backfield running behind one of the best offensive lines in the NFL. He will get plenty of opportunities to make plays in space with his speed.
Harvey's ADP will climb dramatically now that we know he is in Denver's backfield, but it shouldn't get out of control given Sean Payton's history of rotating running backs. He should remain a value as long as he continues to be selected in
Will Shipley, Philadelphia Eagles
ADP: 224.7, RB68
The Eagles drafted Will Shipley in the fourth round of the 2024 NFL Draft. Shipley didn’t see the field much on offense (30 carries for 82 yards and four receptions for 35 yards), making most of his impact on special teams while playing behind Saquon Barkley and Kenneth Gainwell.
Gainwell left the Eagles in free agency this offseason, opening an opportunity for Shipley to earn a bigger role behind Barkley in 2025. The veteran logged a 26 percent snap share with the Eagles last season while handling 75 carries and 22 targets.
Shipley was a three-down workhorse during his three seasons at Clemson, amassing 526 carries and 85 receptions for 3,349 all-purpose yards and 33 total touchdowns. There were glimpses of that skill set in limited reps during his first season.
Will Shipley takes off for 57 yards!
📺: #WASvsPHI on FOX
📱: Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/Lj5OBe3vAM— NFL (@NFL) January 26, 2025
Barkley will be the unquestioned lead back for Philadelphia again in 2025, but Shipley figures to be the first man up if he misses any time due to injury. The only other running back on Philadelphia’s roster with NFL experience is former Packer AJ Dillon.
Make no mistake, Shipley will be a zero for most weeks in your best ball lineup. However, he could have an amazing upside should Barkley miss time with injury. He is a last-round pick in best ball with tantalizing upside, especially if the Eagles don’t add to the running back room during the NFL Draft.
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