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John's running backs sleepers for 2025 fantasy football PPR leagues. Which running backs are PPR values for 2025 fantasy football drafts?
A running back who plays a big percentage of the snaps and catches a lot of passes can easily be a league-winner in fantasy football, especially in PPR formats. A catch counts for the same amount of points as a 10-yard rush does, and it's far easier to catch a football than it is to make a big gain on the ground.
For that reason, RBs like Miami Dolphins back De'Von Achane can become elite RB1s, largely buoyed by their prowess in the passing game. Even when they're on teams with poor run-blocking or bad offenses overall, the dump-offs and checkdowns they get are massively valuable.
They're a cheat code in PPR leagues, so you want to get as many as you can in drafts. And if you can find them in the later rounds, you could end up winning your league. So, let's break down a few sleeper RB picks who should have good pass-catching upside and who you should pick up in fantasy football drafts 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.
RB RJ Harvey
UCF Knights running back RJ Harvey is an incredibly underrated RB in the 2025 NFL Draft class. While there are plenty of players ranked above him, they make no difference in his ability to be a league-winning pick. His numbers in college were eye-popping, and his highlight reel shows that he possesses a complete skill set for a back at the next level.
All-American RJ Harvey 2024 Highlights pic.twitter.com/0QY29H5mhy
— UCF Football (@UCF_Football) December 16, 2024
His blend of vision, ideal size, burst, solid long speed, elusiveness, lateral agility, and RB Premonition are among some of the best for any prospect of any back in the last five years. Premonition (a term I just kind of made up) is a back's ability to sense what the defense is doing and carefully plan a course of action very quickly to set up defenders for failure and create extra yardage where there seemingly isn't any.
And he's a willing and able blocker, so he should get pass-protection reps immediately. That's good to keep him on the field more, which is crucial -- Harvey was extremely underutilized as a pass-catcher in his career. He has excellent hands and can run a variety of routes out of the backfield and from the formation as well.
There’s so much to like about @UCF_Football
RJ Harvey. Great production over the past two seasons. Shows good vision and patience to see holes open up, but can bounce outside and weave through traffic when the running lanes close.Not afraid of going right into the teeth of… pic.twitter.com/YNEuzyBPxA
— Jake Hefner (@JakeTHefner) February 24, 2025
The second play in the above clip showcases his fantastic hands. He can immediately be a workhorse at the next level, but even if he gets slapped into a committee, he can quickly become the quarterback's best friend. A safety-valve type player who can create yards after the catch and consistently catch even off-target passes thrown his way is very valuable.
And for his ADP, he's looking to be a big steal. He's the RB10 in this year's class, but he should easily be in the top five in a stacked group. He averaged over 6.3 yards per carry in his last two seasons despite huge volume, and regularly found the end zone despite being the only player defenses were overly concerned about.
He's a must-draft in all leagues, no matter the format or size, and has added potential in PPR leagues, especially if his new offense chooses to use him right. If you get sniped, do what you can to trade for him early. His breakout should come within the first few weeks of the season if he gets enough touches for it.
RB Brashard Smith
I am once again telling you that there is a severely underrated running back with league-winning potential in PPR formats in 2025. Since the community collectively learned nothing about New York Giants running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. after his rookie season, you have the chance to get a great RB who converted from a WR and has a serious upside in PPR leagues.
SMU Broncos running back Brashard Smith has top-tier explosiveness, change of direction ability, and acceleration, partly due to his time playing wide receiver. He's the closest player in this year's draft class to Miami Dolphins running back De'Von Achane. Think if Tracy and Achane's skills were combined.
Running back Brashard Smith (former WR) casually motioning out of the backfield to run a double move and put a defender on a poster.
Chess piece ♟️ #NFLDraft2025 pic.twitter.com/KG27l9sJrB
— Unnecessary Bluntness Owner/Coach/QB (@DuncOnDemand) February 25, 2025
Being able to run routes from the formation is an absolute cheat code for RBs in fantasy. It also signifies that the player can run patterns out of the backfield and catch plenty of screen and short passes and the like. Smith also displays enough burst and lateral agility to get carries out of the backfield, too.
He's undersized for an RB and still has some developing to do. But he's advanced enough that he can make an immediate impact as a RB1A on many teams. It may take some time for whoever drafts him to start utilizing him properly, though. And Tracy still had some developing to do when he entered the league, but it turned out nicely.
SMU RB Brashard Smith is dangerous with the ball. He is the perfect complementary RB to draft on day 2. pic.twitter.com/jmlUPsH2YZ
— Full-Time Dame 💰 (@DP_NFL) February 22, 2025
He has very quick feet and can reset both his body and feet very quickly to explode through creases in the defense. And his acceleration allows him to outrun linebackers and give defensive backs a serious problem. Even if he can't always hit home runs, he doesn't have to since he can rip off long gains consistently.
Smith's usage as a receiver will depend on who drafts him. Unfortunately, nepotism dictates that many teams still have positional coaches and offensive staff that fail to develop and use their players to their strengths, which can leave a lot of production on the table.
Still, you should draft him in all your leagues. If he's used right, he can also be a league-winner.
RB Tyrone Tracy Jr.
Speaking of Tracy, it turns out that Tracy, who also converted from a wide receiver to a running back, just like Smith, is a good player to draft in PPR leagues. He played very well as a pass-catcher in 2024, and were it not for the entire Giants offense collapsing, he likely would have had much better production.
That's an area in which the whole team can improve in 2025. Tracy stands to benefit the most from a quarterback who will actually throw the ball to him more, rather than sitting back in the pocket and just waiting for the sack to come, like Daniel Jones did.
The #Giants lone touchdown against the #Falcons.
Tyrone Tracy Jr. escaped coverage for a two-yard TD catch from Drew Lock.
Tracy did an excellent job rolling with Lock and tight-roping to the only seven points the Giants scored on Sunday. pic.twitter.com/v798o7CU3h
— Nick Falato (@nickfalato) December 23, 2024
Running backs who played WR have a huge advantage because even though they'd likely not make it as a wideout in the NFL, they get much easier matchups in coverage when running routes out of the backfield. And just in general, because the opposing team's best pass defenders are usually assigned to the wideouts. They'll be a lot more worried about wide receiver Malik Nabers than they will be about Tracy.
There's not much of a committee to worry about, either. Fellow Giants RB Devin Singletary handily lost his job to the rookie early in the season, and that didn't change. Even when Singletary was used in a complementary role, the outcomes of his touches were much worse than those of Tracy.
Tyrone Tracy is LEGIT pic.twitter.com/RS58eqlouQ
— Alex Wilson (@AlexWilsonESM) December 29, 2024
The former Purdue Boilermaker made plenty of impressive plays in the run game as well, and his elusivity (that's a word), acceleration, speed, and size combination are excellent for his position. I expect him to be used more in the passing game in 2025. If he's not, head coach Brian Daboll will likely be fired because the Giants' two best pass-catching options are Nabers and Tracy right now.
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