Fantasy Football Rankings 2021: Top rookie running backs
By Drew DeLuca
Fantasy football rankings of the best incoming rookie running backs for the 2021 season
After breaking down the 2021 rookie quarterback crop a few weeks ago, we’re back to offer an iteration for the running back position for fantasy football. This time of year, we’re usually sifting through second-hand reports from media, school and team sources, and placing little weight on Pro Days, which are generally set up to allow prospects to showcase their skills in overly optimistic settings that lack objectivity and direct comparison to peers at their positions.
Unfortunately, thanks to a limited college football schedule featuring little to no interconference interaction, analysts lack the usual amount of well-qualified analytics and film to break down this year’s prospects. With no combine to further aid efforts to evaluate growth, measurables, and contextual on-field tendencies and capabilities, second-hand reports and Pro Days are playing a larger than usual role in the evaluation process.
With the above in mind, our rankings for running backs in the 2021 NFL Draft class begins with a list of honorable mentions who didn’t make the cut. These players offer potential value to fantasy football managers if they land in the right situations, and most have generated at least a faint buzz in the scouting community at one point or another in their college careers.
Fantasy Football Rookie Running Back Rankings: Honorable Mentions
Every year, injuries to incumbent starters and impressive training camps open doors for a number of unheralded running backs, who rise from the dregs of depth charts and find their way into fantasy football lineups everywhere.
It doesn’t happen often, but some players, like inexplicable Pro Bowl snub James Robinson, were entirely overlooked in the NFL Draft. Others, like Myles Gaskin (Round 7, 2019), Aaron Jones (Round 5, 2017), Jordan Howard (Round 5, 2016), and Jay Ajayi (Round 5, 2015) were Day 3 sleepers who helped grind out championship seasons for countless fantasy football managers.
We’ve done our homework to help those in dynasty and deep keeper leagues identify potential late round gems who could skyrocket in value in the right offense. We start with Demetric Felton, a 5-8, 189-pound running back out of UCLA, who has been linked to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Felton offers a diverse skill set that could help him log significant playing time in such a situation, as Tom Brady has been kind to the fantasy football value of pass-catching backs in past years, namely James White. A skilled kick and punt returner who was productive out of the backfield, Felton is a sneaky option in the late rounds of their dynasty or keeper PPR leagues, especially those that award points for return yards and touchdowns.
Another under-the-radar running back we’re watching is Rhamondre Stevenson, a 6-0, 246-pound bruiser from Oklahoma. A competent pass blocker who’s effective as an early-down runner, he can catch passes out of the backfield, but runs a 4.63 and lacks the electric burst to become a true playmaker in space. He could be very productive if he commandeers a goal line role, and therefore should be on the radar of fantasy football managers in half-PPR and standard keeper and dynasty leagues.
Buffalo’s Jaret Patterson (5-7, 195) caught our eye with a 409-yard, eight-touchdown effort against Kent State in November. Yes, you read that right, and no, it wasn’t a video game: on film, he absolutely has “it.” Patterson, who racked up 3,884 rushing yards and 52 touchdowns in just three years at Buffalo, measured an inch or so shorter than expected, yet he turned a few heads at his Pro Day by running a 4.52 in the 40, faster than most scouts anticipated.
Others we’re watching include Louisville’s Javian Hawkins, Louisiana-Lafayette’s Elijah Mitchell, and Elijah Dotson from Sacramento State. While we can forsee a meaningful complimentary role in the right set of circumstances for anyone in this trio, we prefer Hawkins at this time.
Virginia Tech’s Khalil Herbert bench pressed an impressive 22 reps in his Pro Day workout, and breezed through the three-cone in an impressive 6.96 seconds. He was very productive in a full season of play in 2020, flashing receiving skills, impressive contact balance, and impressive pass blocking acumen, as described in the breakdown below:
Another who just barely missed the cut is Mississippi State’s Kylin Hill, who also posted 22 reps in the bench press, along with a 4.51-second 40-yard dash during his own Pro Day. Of all the backs listed on this page, Hill is most likely to leap up our rankings after the NFL Draft, thanks to a three-down skill set that’s increasingly harder to find as running backs become more and more specialized to fit scheme needs in both the college and pro ranks.