2024 NFL Draft: Top 10 RBs features a group of solid if unspectacular options
With the 2024 NFL Draft approaching, let's take a look at each individual position's rankings. Here's a look at the top 10 running backs.
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1. Trey Benson, Florida State
The only running back in my top 50, Benson has had injuries in his career, but has been able to stay on the field over the past two seasons in a split backfield and show off his explosive play ability and balance.
Benson has good size and ran a 4.39 40 at the combine, something that is reflected with the home runs he hit in college. Ideally, he’d be with another back to eat some touches, but Benson has good vision, footwork and big-play ability, and shows off good hands in his limited exposure as a pass-catcher. If a team is OK with his medical history, he can be an instant impact type of player.
2. Audric Estime, Notre Dame
Estime was part of a running back rotation at Notre Dame. When given extended run, he showed off tantalizing big-play ability with tight footwork in a good-sized frame. Estime is a bit of a finesse back in a bigger body, but still consistently runs through contact and shows off good feel and tempo for when to plant his foot and get north through the hole. His timed speed (4.7s 40 at the combine, but sub-4.6 at his pro day) doesn’t match his play speed.
3. Jonathon Brooks, Texas
Brooks has adequate size and is coming off an ACL injury, but he is a smooth athlete with good vision, balance, hands and could be a strong part of a 1-2 punch at the next level.
4. Braelon Allen, Wisconsin
Allen is young with good size, light feet and solid vision. He does not have home run speed, but he's more than the Wisconsin stereotype of lumbering, oversized tailback. He will have to show more in the passing game, but has good hands and projects as a player who can eat touches in the backfield.
5. Blake Corum, Michigan
Corum doesn’t have ideal height, but he has a stout build and is a strong runner between the tackles with tempo and vision that are best used in gap scheme runs. He doesn’t have a ton of receiving production and has some tread on his tires, but Corum does a great job maximizing what is blocked for him and tested quite well.
6. Bucky Irving, Oregon
Irving is undersized and just an adequate athlete, but he knows how to set up his runs and keep hitting singles and doubles with his good vision and footwork. There are similarities, down to the underwhelming testing, to Kyren Williams.
7. MarShawn Lloyd, USC
Lloyd has a steady style that doesn’t have a ton of fat to it. He plays with a good base and shows the ability and burst to make one cut and get going. His vision is just OK, and there are times when you wish he would throttle forward a bit earlier. Overall Lloyd looks like a solid three-down back who can contribute in different schemes.
8. Ray Davis, Kentucky
Davis isn’t tall but has a good build and is a smooth rusher. He can consistently take what’s being blocked for him and knows when to plant his foot and start working forward on a run. He's also a steady contributor in the pass game. He is not explosive and is more of a singles hitter, which limits his upside, but he can be a nice member of a committee.
9. Will Shipley, Clemson
A back with real three-down potential as a rusher and receiver, with some kick return ability thrown in. Shipley has adequate size with good burst and quickness and will run with a real edge and toughness. He is a decisive runner between the tackles, but lacks the play strength to match his competitiveness to consistently run through contact and it keeps him from picking up extra yards. I like him as a solid contributor in a committee who can play on every down with a chance to be a team’s kick returner, too.
10. Jaylen Wright, Tennessee
Wright has good size and speed for days and has plenty of gas left in the tank because of his limited touches in college, but has inconsistent vision, average agility and doesn’t know how to always properly use his pace, which makes him a boom-bust type of back. He can take any touch the distance and has the size and enough receiving ability for three-down potential, but will have to continue to work on his patience and pass protection to make himself a more consistent player.
