Top Running Back Breakout Candidates for 2025 Fantasy Football Drafts: RB1 Projections and Outlooks

Top running back candidates for 2025 fantasy football drafts with RB1 projections. Early season player outlooks: Travis Etienne Jr., Tyrone Tracy Jr., and RJ Harvey.

There's plenty of change in the 12 players that finish the season as "RB1s" every season. It makes sense because running back is a position that depends heavily on factors out of the control of the back in question, such as offensive line play, being traded to other teams, injuries, and the like.

The injury part is huge, considering that it's such a brutal position to play. But even broader things like the overall state of the offense are very important. Defenses play a role as well, as they can often enable teams to run the ball heavily, giving their lead back more opportunities to shine.

Let's take all (or at least most) of these factors, and others, into consideration and break down 2025's sneakiest candidates to finish in the top 12 of running back scoring in fantasy football.

Travis Etienne Jr., RB, Jacksonville Jaguars

It's written on his jersey, so it has to happen, right? Well, it definitely didn't last season, but that shouldn't discourage you from drafting him this season. It wasn't long ago that he was a prized possession of Dynasty fantasy managers, and after finishing as the overall RB3 in 2023, it seemed that he was a safe pick in the early rounds of redraft leagues as well.

That didn't come to pass, but it's not all his fault. He dealt with hamstring injury issues and problems with his team's offensive overall. The offensive line didn't play well and didn't open up many holes for him to run through. And both the offensive coordinator and head coach of the team were let go, largely due to the fact that the play-calling was absolutely horrendous.

This is some FILTH from Liam Coen

Blast Motion to Kickout the Edge + Influence Wham on the Nose 🥵 pic.twitter.com/gTRLV8dYM5

— Coach Dan Casey (@CoachDanCasey) December 2, 2024

Now, ETN has a new head coach, Liam Coen, who just engineered the NFL's best running back production of any team in 2024. Other teams technically had more rushing yards, but this was due to quarterbacks like Lamar Jackson and Jalen Hurts gobbling up yards on the ground.

No team had better run schemes than Coen's Buccaneers, and now, the Jags will benefit massively. Both Etienne and backup Tank Bigsby are talented backs, but the former is the better pass-catcher, and in PPR leagues, that's massively important.

Travis Etienne with a CLUTCH catch and run to get within field goal range 🙌pic.twitter.com/xON2fnjGFB

— Jaguars Nation (@JaguarsNationCP) December 5, 2023

Even if he's not top-5 back in the league material, he's still talented enough to succeed in a good offense. And that's something you should be comfortable betting on. There are some offensive minds that are so good at what they do that you should simply follow them around wherever they go in the league and pick up players from their teams.

RJ Harvey, RB, Boise State Broncos

For starters, there's not a ton of reason to put Boise State Broncos running back Ashton Jeanty here -- although he's a rookie and has a clear path to finishing as a top-12 RB this season, he's not "sneaky", considering that he nearly broke Barry Sanders' college rushing record, finished second in Heisman Trophy voting, and is regarded as a generational RB prospect.

But landing spot is important. Landing spot is crucial. Landing spot is everything. And if UCF Knights running back RJ Harvey, who will enter the league with the 2025 NFL Draft, lands on a good team, his ceiling is astronomically high, even in his first year.

Give me @UCF_Football RB RJ Harvey on my football team any day. Great vision, makes guys miss and shows excellent contact balance.

With a better OL he'd be getting a whole lot more attention this draft cycle. pic.twitter.com/Km5rNQNm6X

— Glenn Naughton (@JetsPicks) February 19, 2025

Harvey was simply remarkable in 2023 and 2024. Yet the NFL Draft community consistently whiffs on backs who didn't have great offensive lines, instead focusing on those that had great blocking, like Iowa RB Kaleb Johnson, who's easily the most overrated RB in this year's cycle. Harvey impossibly managed to average over six yards per carry in his last two seasons despite very poor run-blocking.

He has a monstrous blend of elusiveness, great decision-making skills, acceleration, top speed, lateral agility, and burst that will make him a nightmare at the next level if he lands in a good situation. The icing on the cake is that he's a great pass-catcher as well.

UCF running back RJ Harvey showing off his receiving skills out of the backfield with the speed to take it the distance pic.twitter.com/kGtIspIaA3

— Clarknado (@Clarknadeaux) February 16, 2025

There isn't a ton of tape, but he's a hugely underrated route runner as well and has good hands. Dump-offs, check-downs, and wheel routes should be absolute money for him. He's one of the biggest sleeper candidates, and you should draft him in 100 percent of your redraft leagues because his ADP is simply not very high. You can probably snag him around the 7th or 8th round in 12-team leagues.

His upside is tremendous, and you'll be making a serious mistake if you let him slip through your fingers.

EDIT: Harvey ran a 4.40-second 40-yard-dash, logged a 38-inch vertical jump and a 10-foot-7-inch broad jump. These are excellent testing numbers, and should mildly push up his ADP. He will still be worth drafting in all leagues. 

Tyrone Tracy Jr., RB, New York Giants

Tracy showcased explosiveness, long speed, elusiveness, and uncommonly good pass-catching ability in his rookie season with the New York Giants. It was only his second year playing the RB position at all, as he converted from wide receiver to back before his 2023 season in college, and there was a lot working against him.

For starters, the offensive line played very poorly, as it collapsed when left tackle Andrew Thomas went down with a season-ending injury. There was also turmoil at the quarterback position, as QB Daniel Jones was benched and eventually let go by the Giants. And the offense as a whole wasn't very productive.

Been watching Tyrone Tracy film and he reminds me of a mix of Ahmad Bradshaw and Wayne Gallman pic.twitter.com/4ijUYOhn7z

— Brody (@ItsGiantsSzn) January 9, 2025

And yet sometimes, whenever possible, Tracy simply put the team on his back. He wasn't utilized enough in the passing game, so he has much more PPR upside than he displayed. Head coach Brian Daboll should get him more involved with more targets if he wants to keep his job past the 2025 season.

There's still probably plenty of room for growth for Tracy, who took over the starting job from RB Devin Singletary quickly and never gave it back. And if the offense doesn't completely collapse next season, he could finish within the top-10, as he should be given plenty of volume.

Tyrone Tracy Jr. read the defense/his blocks and quickly put his foot in the ground for a 12-yard gain. pic.twitter.com/MRSnp5Zr2d

— Nick Falato (@nickfalato) December 16, 2024

A rising tide lifts all boats, and if the Giants select a quarterback that ends up playing better than Jones (not a tall task, really), then Tracy could be a direct beneficiary and prove it with better efficiency and production. And there's not much competition in the backfield to take away volume from him, so he'll likely be a workhorse RB.

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