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Should you draft Tahj Brooks or DJ Giddens in 2025 dynasty fantasy football rookie drafts? Luke DeMarcus breaks down the profiles and landing spots for Brooks and Giddens.
With the 2025 draft rumored to be one of the most notorious running back classes the NFL has seen in a long time, it makes things exciting no matter where your draft picks are in your rookie drafts.
Everyone will undoubtedly be searching for this year's Bucky Irving and Tyrone Tracy Jr. to impact their team despite finding them as a third- or fourth-round gem.
Could Kansas State's DJ Giddens or Texas Tech's Tahj Brooks potentially fit this mold? With tremendous talent ahead of both on the depth chart, let's see who has the highest likelihood of delivering high-quality dynasty value.
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Tahj Brooks Draft Capital, Landing Spot, and Fantasy Football Outlook
With the 17th pick in the sixth round of the 2025 draft, the Cincinnati Bengals selected Brooks. Brooks immortalized himself in the Texas Tech record books by setting several records during his career there. With 4,557 career yards at Texas Tech, Brooks became the all-time leading rusher for the Red Raiders and was the first to ever have multiple 1,500 rushing-yard seasons in a career there.
Brooks dominated consistently while also setting a record with 23 100-yard rushing games, 19 of which came in his final two seasons. While the production sounds attractive, one downside is that he also set a record for rush attempts with 879 after deciding to be a super senior at Texas Tech in 2024, despite a breakout season in 2023.
Brooks just turned 23 on May 13. These could be reasons he slid to the sixth round of the NFL Draft, mixed with concerns about his acceleration and size. All things considered, Cincinnati was one of the best places Brooks could’ve possibly landed.
Last year, Chase Brown had a breakout season after sharing the backfield with Zack Moss before he suffered a neck injury in Week 8 that shut him down for the season. This forced Brown into a workhorse role, which wasn't the Bengals’ goal coming into the season.
At 229 lbs, Brooks will have the chance to win the 1B job and fill the power back role vacated by Zack Moss. Last year, Brown had 28 carries within the 10-yard line, and 13 out of the 28 carries were within the 5-yard line.
While Brown scored six out of his seven total rushing touchdowns from these opportunities, Brooks could prove himself to be the better goal-line back and earn that value. NFL scouts notably compared Brooks' tape to Devin Singletary, Royce Freeman, and Le'Veon Bell.
Are we overlooking Tahj Brooks in the 2025 Draft? 🤔
- 5'10", 230 lbs
- Elusive runner
- Two seasons with 1,500+ yards
- 96 forced missed tackles in 2023
- 100+ rush yards in 19/24 games the last two years
pic.twitter.com/gXRdETxrOw— SleeperCFB (@SleeperCFB) March 16, 2025
With Brooks going as late as the fourth round in most rookie drafts, this is a sneaky dart throw with standalone value and the potential to erupt into a must-start running back if Brown were to miss any time.
It’s crucial to remember that this draft is stacked with running backs, especially when you note that Brooks was selected in the sixth round despite being a two-time semifinalist for the Doak Walker Award (best RB in college).
If we see Brooks running like this near the goal line, he will be a steal at this price, pushing Taylor to keep his true power back on the field in goal-line situations.
DJ Giddens Draft Capital, Landing Spot, and Fantasy Football Outlook
With the 14th pick in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, the Indianapolis Colts selected Giddens. In the draft, 14 out of the 24 running backs invited to the NFL Combine ran 40-yard dash times of 4.49 seconds or faster. While Brooks wasn’t one of these backs (4.52), Giddens ran a 4.43, which likely played a part in his higher draft selection.
Giddens had a prolific workhorse career while starting during his sophomore and junior seasons, averaging 239 touches between those two years. Giddens' 5.9 yards per carry ranked second in school history while tallying back-to-back seasons with over 1,000 rush yards before opting into the draft as an early breakout.
Reminder that Colts Rookie RB DJ Giddens is REALLY good.
In 2024 - Giddens had:
1,343 Rushing Yards
258 Receiving Yards
8 TouchdownsA PERFECT complement to Jonathan Taylor.
pic.twitter.com/gVRs0CfWHJ— SleeperNFL (@SleeperNFL) May 26, 2025
With Giddens’ blazing speed and the Colts running a run-heavy offense due to recent incompetent quarterback play, he is a league-winning upside stash if he can beat out a muddied depth chart behind Jonathan Taylor, including Khalil Herbert and Tyler Goodson. Backing up Taylor is tough, as there isn’t much room for a 1B in that backfield due to Taylor’s raw talent.
However, Taylor has caught a few spells of the injury bug due to lingering ankle issues since 2022, and if that is the case again in 2025, Giddens could certainly surge to the top for early down work.
As the Colts look to rebuild into a playoff team and reestablish a top NFL offense, their running back spot is likely the least of their worry. Taylor is still signed with the team through the 2026 season, meaning the path for Giddens to reach the top of the depth chart might be a longer wait than most would hope for.
If you have Taylor already, he is an easy pick with a current third-round (30th overall) selection in rookie drafts as a handcuff that can stay a part of your taxi squad until needed. Outside of that, it’s most likely that he, unfortunately, will not be a league winner with such a high-paid dominant runner in Taylor ahead of him. Also, Giddens drew NFL comparisons to James Conner and Chuba Hubbard.
Should I Draft DJ Giddens or Tahj Brooks in Fantasy Football?
In today’s NFL backfields, it’s becoming more common to see a “thunder and lightning” tandem similar to that of the Detroit Lions’ “Sonic and Knuckles” in Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery. The perks of this approach are typically helping maintain a healthier backfield while presenting a dual threat for the defense when both backs are in the formation.
When Taylor started the season with Brown and Moss as their preferred tandem, there was controversy amongst the fantasy community over who would be the more dominant back. Although Brown’s talent can’t be ignored after last season, Brooks has a much more realistic path to usurping fantasy points from Brown in that prolific Bengals offense.
Giddens gouging Taylor for any of his touches on a poor Colts offense doesn’t seem realistic, with Taylor having the second-highest snap share percentage in the league behind only Kyren Williams. With Brown only having a 65% snap share -- only to be higher due to the Moss injury -- Brooks will have a more realistic shot at earning an Irving opportunity than Giddens, with room for touches this year.
Although the current census has Giddens being drafted higher, maybe you can flip the script and trade back in the draft for a couple of late-round fliers to get Brooks plus one to double your odds of hitting. If he’s on your waiver wire after the draft, congratulations, you can pick him up as a free upside stash.
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