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John breaks down fantasy football for J.K. Dobbins, Nick Chubb, and Cam Akers in 2025. Should you draft Dobbins, Chubb, or Akers? Read the fantasy football draft advice.
Denver Broncos running back J.K. Dobbins, Houston Texans running back Nick Chubb, and New Orleans Saints running back Cam Akers are three NFL backs who landed on new teams for the 2025 NFL season. Thus, their new situations warrant re-analysis of them as players in fantasy football.
While the three have had wildly different career arcs, all are considered to be in the later part of their careers. Though Dobbins is 26, Akers is 25, and Chubb is 29 years old, there is plenty of reason to think their best days are behind them.
Still, depending on the offense a player lands on, a running back going to a new team can open doors for them to put up better numbers than they ever have in their careers up to that point. It can also hinder them greatly, especially if they never get the roles to produce well. So, let's dive into fantasy football outlooks for all three of these backs!
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J.K. Dobbins Fantasy Football Outlook
There is a heavy anti-rookie bias among much of the fantasy football community. And with Dobbins prominently having been one of the best Zero RB targets in fantasy football in 2024, many believe that he will take over as the RB1 for the Broncos. Well, not that many people, I guess.
RJ Harvey's ADP hasn't fallen very far since Dobbins was signed. Perhaps people don't have as much confidence in Dobbins, by and large, as I expected. Which makes sense, considering that he just wasn't very good in 2024, other than in two games against terrible teams to start the season off.
J.K. Dobbins averaged 4 or less yards per carry in 8 of his 13 regular season games last year. He started off hot against two awful run defenses, then faded pretty hard. Then, he wasn't signed by a team until June. I still think RJ Harvey goes off in 2025. Dobbins is not great. pic.twitter.com/Xuicu0P7FX
— JohnJohn Analysis (@JohnJohnalytics) June 17, 2025
Dobbins is in a good situation for a running back, but he faces competition for touches in Harvey, a rookie who's my personal favorite to finish as an RB1 and be a league winner among first-year running backs in 2025. Dobbins also disappointed in the majority of his games last season.
After a hot start against two very bad run defenses, Dobbins averaged an abysmal 3.8 yards per carry in the rest of his games. That's probably why he was let go by the Chargers. I'd probably blame his absurdly bad injury history for his inefficiency, but I'm worried that the permanent damage he's suffered has been devastating.
• Broken Fibula.
• Torn ACL.
• Torn LCL.
• Torn Meniscus.
• Torn Hamstring.
• Torn Achilles.JK Dobbins never gave up.
He should be the NFL Comeback POY.— Sam Block (@theblockspot) November 18, 2024
While his story is inspiring, it won't inspire me to draft him in fantasy football. My favorite theory as to why Denver signed him is that it doesn't have a good pass-protecting running back. For all of Harvey's greatness (in my eyes), he's not a good pass-blocker. Neither are the team's other running backs.
Not that RBs Audric Estime or Jaleel McLaughlin deserve to see the field after the absolute disappointments of seasons they had in 2024. But Dobbins' presence in Denver makes perfect sense -- he's a somewhat serviceable back who can spend his final season(s) keeping Broncos QB Bo Nix clean and taking some light volume.
Not every NFL signing has to be relevant for fantasy football. Dobbins might be nice as a handcuff to Harvey, though. If Harvey gets hurt, Dobbins will be better than McLaughlin or Estime were, and that's worth something, at least.
Nick Chubb Fantasy Football Outlook
The Houston Texans decided to run their lead back, Joe Mixon, into the ground as much as possible last season. Former Texans OC Bobby Slowik erroneously thought that it would be a great idea to give Mixon the ball a billion times, even if he was inefficient in some games.
Slowik was fired and replaced with new OC Nick Caley, formerly the passing game coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams. It's safe to assume Caley wants a different approach here, especially considering how Mixon wore down as the season progressed.
Joe Mixon in his first 7 games:
-151 carries for 655 yards (4.33 YPC)Joe Mixon in his last 7 games:
-94 carries for 361 yards (3.8 YPC)Bobby Slowik: fired
Texans new OC: Rams passing game coordinator
Texans new signing: RB Nick Chubb
Fading Mixon at ADP pic.twitter.com/aKa6bYVOmD
— JohnJohn Analysis (@JohnJohnalytics) June 17, 2025
To assume that the signing of Chubb won't affect Mixon at all is pretty silly. Still, we're worried about Chubb here, and the biggest issue is that it's hard to accurately predict how "back" he'll be from the devastating knee injury that ended his 2023 season. In addition, he ended his 2024 year early with a broken foot.
Still, if he's even 80 percent of what he once was, he'll seriously challenge Mixon for best RB on the team next season. Mixon benefited from huge volume throughout his career, but has never been wildly efficient. The same can't be said for Chubb, who averages a career yards per carry of 5.1. That's elite.
730 seconds of Nick Chubb Highlights below 👇
— ♛ Shane • (@ShaneSheazy) June 16, 2025
Mixon has been run into the ground throughout his career so far. As the damage starts to build up in running backs' bodies, they become less able to handle massive workloads over time. This shouldn't be much of a surprise, and explains why a lot of backs have relatively short NFL careers.
Chubb working in a nearly even split with Mixon wouldn't be a huge surprise. Neither would Chubb having around 40 percent of the workload. In redraft leagues, though, that's not super valuable. It's hard to imagine Chubb being anything more than flex-worthy in deeper leagues.
Nick Chubb on his injuries:
“With what I did, it takes about 2 years to really get back. I’m over the hump. I was able to get a full year in.. now I’m feeling as good as I have been in a long time.” pic.twitter.com/etSOVYdlMA
— Houston Stressans (@TexansCommenter) June 17, 2025
The presence of Mixon limits Chubb to a role that isn't likely to be fantasy-relevant season-long. He should have a few spike weeks here and there, but unless he makes a miraculous recovery and returns to his old form, Mixon should still be good enough to demand at least half the backfield touches.
Mixon is slated to be paid at least $9 million this season in his contract, and that's significant money for a running back in this day and age. Chubb as a dart throw in deeper leagues is where he makes the most sense. But not much other than that.
Cam Akers Fantasy Football Outlook
I'm not sure exactly what to think of Akers in New Orleans, though none of my thoughts about him are particularly good. Akers will join RBs Alvin Kamara, a seasoned veteran, Kendre Miller, a third-year back who struggles to stay healthy, and Devin Neal, a rookie drafted in the sixth round of the 2025 NFL Draft.
Cam Akers analytics. https://t.co/d7pwnIidgs pic.twitter.com/x0lVgL48cg
— Jake Cardonick (@JakeCar120) June 13, 2025
Akers has been virtually a non-factor in fantasy football ever since he lost his starting job with the Los Angeles Rams in 2023 to Kyren Williams. Since then, he's bounced around teams like the Houston Texans and Minnesota Vikings. It's not hard to imagine why he hasn't played very well thus far.
For starters, he's torn both his Achilles tendons. Usually, injuries like that are death sentences to the careers of running backs. Virtually no RB has returned from such an injury to dominate in his next season. Or in any subsequent season, for that matter.
Breaking: Vikings RB Cam Akers is out for the season after tearing his Achilles on Sunday, head coach Kevin O'Connell announced. pic.twitter.com/sxXDbP07ab
— ESPN (@espn) November 6, 2023
It's tough to imagine Akers taking Kamara's job. While he could fight for the RB2 spot in the depth chart with Neal and Miller, even that could be an uphill battle. On tape and in training drills, Miller looks better than both Neal and Akers.
If Miller can stay healthy, he'll likely take over the RB2 job, with Neal slotting in as the RB3. That would be the spot Akers could compete for. Teams tend to retain four running backs on their rosters during the regular season and playoffs, and these four guys appear to be the group that will stick.
There is hardly any upside here at all unless there are multiple injuries to the other backs. And even then, the Saints offense looks like it might be one of the worst in the league in 2025, with a very poor offensive line, a quarterback with poor draft capital set to start, and a roster no other team could envy.
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