6 Crowded Fantasy Football Backfields To Avoid: Potential Running Back Draft Busts (2025)

Mitchell's analyzes the fantasy football bust candidates at running back due to crowded backfields. Avoid these RB committees in 2025 fantasy football drafts: Cowboys, Patriots, Panthers, Browns, Jaguars, and Chiefs.

Acquiring a strong bellcow running back is one of the best ways to win your fantasy league. But in the modern NFL, workhorse RBs are few and far between.

Most backfields are committees. Still, some teams, like the Detroit Lions, can produce two starting-caliber fantasy running backs. Many backfields are difficult to predict, however. While you can find value by betting on rookies and up-and-coming backup running backs, not every sleeper candidate pans out.

Some teams just have too many running backs or no backs good enough to trust. I am steering clear of running backs on the following six teams in 2025.

Editor's Note: Identify fantasy football draft busts, overvalued ADPs, and key players to avoid so you can draft with confidence this season.

Fantasy Football Backfields to Avoid - Dallas Cowboys

The Dallas Cowboys have nearly an all-new running back room as Deuce Vaughn is the only returning back from last season. In his two seasons, he has only had 40 carries for 110 yards and no touchdowns on the ground or in the air.

The Cowboys filled their RB room with mediocre veterans on cheap deals and late-round rookies. Javonte Williams, the presumed starter, had a strong rookie season for the Denver Broncos in 2021 before injuries sapped his strength.

Williams hasn’t had a 100-yard game since December 5, 2021. He was held to under t0 yards four times last season.

 

Miles Sanders put up numbers for four seasons in Philadelphia, but a complete drop off in production after moving to Carolina proved his success was a product of the Eagles’ system. After producing a 53.9% success rate and averaging 5.0 yards per attempt in the City of Brotherly Love, those numbers cratered to a 41.8% success rate and 3.5 yards per attempt in the Queen City.

Jaydon Blue and Phil Mafah are potential sleeper candidates, but the chances of a Day 3 rookie RB finishing as a fantasy starter are slim to none.

Fantasy Football Backfields to Avoid - New England Patriots

The Patriots drafted Ohio State running back TreVeyon Henderson early in the second round. In his senior year, Henderson ran for 825 yards on 119 attempts, an average of 6.9 yards per carry, and graded as an 89.6 rusher. His 78.5 PFF receiving grade was higher than that of comparable running backs. While he is an attractive dynasty option, it is unclear if he will be a workhorse in his rookie season.

Rhamondre Stevenson is still a talented running back in an up-and-coming offense. He’s able to handle a high volume of carries. Last season, he had five games with 20 or more carries.

After inking an extension worth $36 million last year, Stevenson is locked in with the Patriots through at least 2026. Josh McDaniels, who presided as offensive coordinator in Stevenson’s rookie year, returns as OC.

Antonio Gibson is only 27 years old and averaged 4.5 yards per carry last season on 120 carries while adding 206 yards on 23 catches. While not a fantasy asset, his continued presence, especially as a solid pass catcher, will limit the upside of Henderson and Stevenson.

Fantasy Football Backfields to Avoid - Carolina Panthers

Chuba Hubbard took over the Panthers’ starting job by default because first-round rookie Jonathon Brooks tore his ACL again, and Sanders offered no competition.

 

However, the Panthers drafted Trevor Etienne and added Rico Dowdle in free agency. Dowdle ran for 1,079 yards on 235 carries as a Dallas Cowboy last season.

In his career, he has averaged 4.4 yards per attempt and has a success rate of 51.7%, respectable numbers. Dowdle’s PFF offensive grade of 73.9 was within two points of Hubbard’s (75.4).

The Panthers had to give Hubbard 250 carries last season because they had no other options. Hubbard performed at an above-average level, but he’s not leaps and bounds ahead of Dowdle. If the Panthers use their new running backs to lighten the load on Hubbard, he will likely be held to below 1,000 yards and single-digit touchdowns.

Fantasy Football Backfields to Avoid - Cleveland Browns

The Browns drafted Quinshon Judkins early in the second round and Dylan Sampson in the fourth round of the 2025 NFL Draft. Both had strong college careers and optimistic projections entering the draft.

Judkins was ranked No. 54 on the NFL Mock Draft Database’s consolidated big board, which averaged hundreds of analyst’s mock drafts, while Sampson was ranked No. 90.

Judkins was arrested on charges of domestic violence and was absent and unsigned at the start of the Browns’ training camp. The uncertainty over whether and when he will be on the field raises Sampson’s stock. If Judkins were out of the picture, Sampson would still have to deal with competition or carry splits involving Jerome Ford and Pierre Strong Jr.

Ford averaged 5.4 yards per attempt last season and achieved an 80.3 PFF rushing grade, suggesting he can produce when given the opportunities. Browns coach Kevin Stefanski has shown a tendency to rely on committees, even during Nick Chubb's years.

Fantasy Football Backfields to Avoid - Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jaguars hired a new head coach, Liam Coen, and a new general manager, James Gladstone, this offseason, so they hold no loyalty to either of the mediocre running backs, Travis Etienne or Tank Bigsby.

Since his strong rookie campaign in 2022, Etienne has looked worse. His yardage, yards per carry, and PFF rushing grade have declined in each subsequent season.

 

With Bigsby looking as good or better than Etienne, Etienne began to lose carries. He had single-digit carries in five games. Coen and Gladstone have added three rookies: Bhayshul Tuten (fourth round), LeQuint Allen Jr. (seventh round), and Ja'Quinden Jackson (undrafted).

While Allen and Jackson are unlikely to provide strong competition, the new regime’s focus on stocking the RB room speaks to their disappointment with the state of the veterans.

Fantasy Football Backfields to Avoid - Kansas City Chiefs

Isiah Pacheco has been a fantasy football success story ever since he overtook Clyde Edwards-Helaire to become the Chiefs’ starting running back for most of 2022, his rookie season. As a rookie, Pacheco averaged 4.9 yards per carry on a team with an MVP quarterback and a strong offensive line that led the league in scoring and yardage.

Pacheco is a fierce runner, and he earned his success, but there are reasons he was a seventh-round pick. As the Chiefs’ offensive ecosystem has become worse, Pacheco’s production has slipped.

Last season, Pacheco averaged 4.0 yards per carry in his first two games before fracturing his fibula. When he returned, he wasn’t the same, averaging just 3.6 yards per attempt and losing carries to Kareem Hunt.

Pacheco will likely be better after being a full year removed from his injury, and I am willing to draft him with caution. However, I also worry about the Chiefs’ other RB options. In fantasy football, backup running backs are usually worth rostering as potential flex plays or handcuffs.

But with Hunt returning, Elijah Mitchell signing in free agency, and Brashard Smith being drafted, I am avoiding the Chiefs’ backup running backs completely.

Andy Reid drafted and coached Hunt for his first two seasons. He will continue to keep utilizing Hunt.

 

Mitchell has averaged 4.7 yards per carry when he is on the field—albeit, he’s not on the field for long. Smith ran for 1,332 yards and 14 touchdowns on 235 carries and added another 327 yards and four touchdowns as a receiver against ACC competition at SMU.

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