De'Von Achane, Ashton Jeanty, Christian McCaffrey - Who Should I Draft in 2025 Fantasy Football?

John Johnson's fantasy football draft analysis for De'Von Achane, Ashton Jeanty, and Christian McCaffrey. His fantasy football outlooks for top fantasy running backs.

Miami Dolphins running back De'Von Achane, Las Vegas Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty, and San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey are three polarizing RBs who are likely giving fantasy managers plenty of pause ahead of the 2025 NFL season.

There's no doubt that all three are projected to have good seasons this year, but each carries with him a substantial risk for different reasons. But right now, in redraft leagues, the second round is the most common landing spot for all three of these players.

While it's likely that in some leagues, people with strong beliefs in one of these players will reach for them, that's less common. Still, your selection in the second round is ideally a player you want to give you elite production all year, so let's break down each of these three backs and provide a verdict on whether they're worth drafting at their ADPs.

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Should You Draft De'Von Achane?

In Achane's case, he wasn't as elite a rusher last year. After the departure of elite run-blocking offensive linemen in 2023, the Dolphins were a much less effective rushing team in 2024. Offensive guard Robert Hunt, now with the Carolina Panthers, and center Connor Williams, who has since retired, are both no longer with the team.

The result was that RB Raheem Mostert, who was the overall RB2 in 2023, was so irrelevant that he got benched. Meanwhile, Achane's rushing average was a mediocre 4.5 yards per carry. While he's still extremely explosive, he relies heavily on receptions to be fantasy-relevant.

Devon Achane actually accelerates through curvilinear movement instead of slight deceleration, which is insane. Reaches next gear WHILE redirecting his body. So rare. That’s Chris Johnson ability!

If he gets a lane, he’s GONE 😤 💨
pic.twitter.com/CDDNexWQ8b

— Jeff Mueller, PT, DPT (@jmthrivept) August 19, 2023

The question isn't about Achane's skill. It's whether the run-blocking will improve, and if so, by how much. It's also worth debating whether he'll get as many targets as he did in 2024. Achane was second in the NFL in targets with 5.1 per game, only behind Saints RB Alvin Kamara.

In games where Dolphins starting QB Tua Tagovailoa played, he had even more -- 5.7 per game. Miami's offense stopped throwing the ball downfield so much and heavily utilized the short passing game, much to the chagrin of fantasy managers of WRs Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle.

DEVON ACHANE TO THE HOUSE!!!!!

RB1!!!!#GoFins pic.twitter.com/4ISmCyu3q0

— Brady Hamilton (@BradyH_216) December 23, 2024

The thing is that Achane's so dangerous with the ball in his hands after the catch and when he breaks through the offensive line, that it wouldn't make much sense to target him less. Defenses that faced the Dolphins last season were more than happy to sell out to stop the deep passes.

This opened things up massively for Achane and tight end Jonnu Smith. And now that both are serious threats, it's possible defenses take a bit of a compromise. Still, it's hard to imagine they want to give up 80-yard passing touchdowns to Hill and Waddle.

Overall, I'm a bit lukewarm about Achane in the second round. He's probably fine in PPR, but there's plenty of risk. I don't expect the Dolphins' OL situation to improve, especially with the retirement of OT Terron Armstead. And the interior offensive line isn't anything special.

Tua Tagovailoa (14) to Devon Achane (9)
Miami Dolphins
14 yards
pic.twitter.com/A3bwdzdPoW

— NFL Touchdown Videos (@NFLTDsVideos) November 29, 2024

I'd avoid him in non-PPR leagues, but in full-PPR leagues, he's a fine pick. If you need a running back in the middle of the second round, he's a fine choice.

Should You Draft Ashton Jeanty?

The risks for Jeanty are even more obvious. He's on the Raiders, a team that's been poor on offense for years now. Las Vegas has made the NFL playoffs just two times since 2003, and regularly ranks in the bottom half of the league in total offense. Last year was particularly ugly.

Its run game wasn't very good last year, though that was largely due to the terrible ineffectiveness of RBs Zamir White and Alexander Mattison. Sincere McCormick had a few nice games, and Ameer Abdullah put up some impressive PPR numbers, but as a rushing team, it was the worst in the league in yards per carry.

And that was by a wide margin. It stands to reason that its run-blocking wasn't great, though -- it was 22nd in the league in ESPN's run block win rate metric. While it has made some additions to the offensive line and hired a new coaching staff, it's hard to change things like that for the better overnight.

The Raiders have the worst run game in the NFL and the issues aren't all on the OL pic.twitter.com/WuJTCCmqLF

— Ted Nguyen (@FB_FilmAnalysis) September 25, 2024

I will say that there's a chance for it to be at least average or solid. Regarding Jeanty, who is who we're here to talk about anyway, he's a rookie, and I'm not sure people are considering how risky it is to draft a first-year player in the second round of redraft leagues.

Last year's absolute debacle of Arizona Cardinals WR Marvin Harrison Jr.'s performance wasn't enough, and fantasy managers are back for more. While running backs typically translate better to the NFL, it's important to note that at his current ADP, he's being selected over quite a few proven players with great production history, even recently.

Ashton Jeanty in his 14 Games last season:

➖397 Touches
➖2,739 Yards
➖30 TD’s

He looks like an absolute TANK at his Pro Day..

I genuinely believe that Jeanty could go as early as 5th overall to the Jaguars and he would STILL be a value

A true blue chip type of prospect man pic.twitter.com/GvmYE3CkXe

— Austin Abbott (@AustinAbbottFF) March 28, 2025

The hype around him is utterly astronomical. But drafting a rookie close to his ceiling is a scary prospect. The problem is that there are just too many variables. Very few were predicting Harrison to have such a poor season in 2024, yet it happened.

Imagine if Jeanty eclipses 1,000 yards rushing, logs over 400 yards as a pass-catcher, and scores nine touchdowns. That would be a solid season for a rookie. Many claim that he will eclipse this, but we simply do not know.

It would be a pretty good year to get over 1,500 all-purpose yards and nearly 10 TDs, right? Well, that's what Arizona Cardinals running back James Conner did last season, and you can get him in the fifth round. Sure, he's 30 years old now, but didn't we just see Derrick Henry have an elite season at age 30?

Ashton Jeanty already truck sticking defenders out here. Just refuses to ever go down on first contact. pic.twitter.com/o665SGy3Mq

— Bobby Football (@Rob__Paul) November 10, 2024

Getting carried away by hype can help you lose sight of the fact that well-established players who have a history of good production in good offenses, or at least the offense they're in, are somehow drafted below their ceiling, while players we don't know much about are drafted higher.

I don't think Jeanty is worth the risk in the second round. He had a monster season in 2024, but that was in the Mountain West Conference. The NFL provides a big step up in competition, and he's joining a team that's been mostly bad for a decade with a new coaching staff and quarterback.

Should You Draft Christian McCaffrey?

The issue with CMC is simple. His injury issues are now the major talking point regarding his fantasy football value. He's now missed the majority of three seasons in his eight-year career due to a litany of issues, and he has a concerning injury history.

It especially doesn't help that his head coach, Kyle Shanahan, lies through his teeth as much as possible about his players' injuries. And he's one of the worst coaches in the league at letting his players play through injury, which has led to them being one of the most injured teams overall year after year.

Christian McCaffrey

My Ranking: RB3
ADP: RB8

Fantasy Season Finishes
- 2018: RB2
- 2019: RB1
- 2020: Injured
- 2021: Injured
- 2022: RB2
- 2023: RB1
- 2024: Injured
- 2025: 🤔

Fully Healthy & Unaffected by NFL Draft.

4.0+ Yards/Attempt Last Year.

pic.twitter.com/nshOKmT9td https://t.co/jlb1tq4P9V

— Joe Orrico (@JoeOrricoFF) May 9, 2025

Still, there's no doubt that when he's on the field, he's electric. And Shanahan's mismanagement of his players' health is good for fantasy managers -- when that player is healthy enough to play. When CMC is on the field, he gets hammered with touches. His body takes a beating, but so does anyone who's playing against him in fantasy.

McCaffrey's role is one that fantasy managers drool over for their RBs, and that's unlikely to change. When he's on the field, he will be the focal point of the offense. His 2024 games were disappointing, but he likely wasn't anywhere near his normal game shape due to his injuries.

Bilateral Achilles tendinitis is a scary thing. However, he returned from that injury, and his PCL sprain was an unfortunate contact injury when his knee banged against the ground. These things happen. The upside for CMC is that he won people leagues in four out of his five healthy seasons -- every year except in his rookie campaign.

49ers offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak said Christian McCaffrey “looks awesome” and yeah, he plans to get him the ball: pic.twitter.com/gwK8wfnyfN

— Vic Tafur (@VicTafur) May 8, 2025

Were it not for the injuries, we'd likely be talking about McCaffrey as a future Hall of Fame player. He's that good. And anyway, when he was out, didn't we see rookie RB Isaac Guerendo, basically previously completely unknown, put up monster games in his first contests as an NFL player?

So, just draft CMC in the second round and pick up Guerendo in the later rounds as a handcuff. As soon as CMC gets hurt, you can slot in Guerendo, and you're likely to immediately have an RB2. There's not a ton of risk to that. Both could get hurt, but still.

A lot of the time, the answers to questions we have are pretty boring. Reality can be bland. The exciting rookie getting outperformed by the proven NFL stud is a reality that will bore a lot of people, but it's pretty likely. And CMC should have a huge year if he can stay healthy.

Verdict

Don't draft Jeanty at his ADP. It's too risky, and the ridiculous level of hype has driven his value up too far. Take CMC at any point in the second round. In the late second round, take Achane if CMC is gone.

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