I absolutely love this year’s running back class. If this was 2005, there might be six running backs taken in the first round. At the very least, I think there are five guys in this class who can step into an offense Week 1 and be the bell cow. There are a ton of guys with a specific skill set that will have them seeing the field early on in their careers. And, there’s a lot of guys on down the rankings who have the potential to develop into RB1s. It’s loaded – but the position is nowhere near as valuable as it was 15 years ago. Because of that, and because teams know they’ll be able to wait until the later rounds of the draft and still get a guy who can ball, I don’t expect that more than one running back will go in the first round. Nonetheless, I’m here to rank ’em today after I looked at my big board and realized that I accidentally watched and evaluated 23 running backs.
2023 NFL Draft: Top 10 Running Backs
1. Bijan Robinson, Texas – What box does Robinson NOT check? He is an absolute mutant when it comes to stop-start juice, change of direction, lateral quickness, speed, and acceleration. He can break tackles left and right. He’s a great receiver that can get out and run routes, where he also shows great concentration at the point of the catch. He’s good enough in pass protection, and plays with a deceptive sort of power, burst, strength, physicality, and balance. He hits the hole and plays Frogger, where his instincts show up and he makes quick cuts to easily navigate traffic. Robinson’s as close to spotless as I’ve seen in a while. He’s capable of being the focal point of whichever offense drafts him.
2. Zach Charbonnet, UCLA – I have liked Charbonnet ever since I saw him average 10.6 yards per carry as the Bruins took down #16 ranked LSU early in the 2021 season. He’s a shifty running back that plays with good balance, is difficult to bring down, and that allows him to navigate traffic well in space. He has good vision, and shows patience in waiting to hit the hole. When contacted, he keeps his feet moving to churn out those extra yards. He’s a great, reliable receiver in addition to being a tough runner. He’s unproven as a pass protector, and the traits may concern you from watching the tape, but he has a nice RAS (4th among RBs at the Scouting Combine), and honestly, we could just be overthinking this one. Chabonnet looks like a RB1 to me.
3. Tyjae Spears, Tulane – Burst, acceleration, and pure speed all come to mind when you watch Spears. But, it’s his versatility, patience, and vision that make him an intriguing prospect to me. Spears is great at finding the hole, and when he makes up his mind, he cuts clean, and he fuckin’ goes. His pass-catching potential is underrated – he has the talent to run routes (watch his touchdown catch against Houston). Tulane just didn’t give him a very nuanced route tree – he was mostly effective catching the ball on screens and wheel routes, but I see potential for more because of how naturally he uses his hands to catch the ball. They also ran a lot of wildcat with him. The Cotton Bowl against USC made for some great film. He had a whopping 205 yards and four touchdowns in the game, looked completely unafraid of the moment, picked up some major chunk yardage after finding the hole and getting into space, and showed some tough running, including a gutsy touchdown run.
4. Jahmyr Gibbs, Alabama – Pure splash. Pure burst. Pure play-maker. That’s what you’re getting with Gibbs. I think an offense that is willing to get creative with him could end up with one of the biggest offensive weapons in this draft class. He is quick to the edge, and when he can turn a corner on you, he can be GONE in a hurry. He shows elite deep speed with the ball in his hand – at times, it felt like the longer he ran, the faster he got. He’s reliable as a receiver, too. He’s the type of back that you just want to get the ball to in space. I don’t think he’s a particularly physical presence in between the tackles, and lapses in pass protection do limit his ceiling as an overall RB1 in the NFL. Like I said…it’s all about his fit and whether or not coaches are willing to work to his strengths.
5. Eric Gray, Oklahoma – Gray has franchise potential as a running back if he can iron out his issues in pass pro. He lost his fair share of pass pro reps to talented linebackers at the Reese’s Senior Bowl, but outside of that, he has as complete a game as any running back in this class. He’s more shifty than flat out fast, but he’s a guy who can make some magic happen in space with the ball in his hands. He runs with impact, and maybe that should be a concern given he isn’t exactly the biggest running back, but I see a play-maker with the ball in his hands. He rounds out my top five, and is in that conversation I mentioned early of “guys who could be RB1 starting Week 1.”
6. Devon Achane, Texas A&M – Achane offers tremendous value to a team that has an established yard-chewer at running back, and needs some blazing speed to complement it. He’s more ‘one trick pony’ than ‘complete running back,’ in my opinion, and it severely limits his ceiling as a RB1. I don’t mean it to sound so harsh, but Achane doesn’t offer a lot in the way of pass-catching, and while he is a willing and tough runner, I’m not sure he has the frame to sustain a decisive running style against NFL defenses. That said, I love the burst he plays with, how decisive he truly is…when he makes up his mind, man, he hits the lane and is gone with the blink of an eye. He has that lightning quick acceleration that allows him to take a mile if you give him an inch.
7. Roschon Johnson, Texas – Johnson was a ton of fun to watch down in Mobile during Senior Bowl week before he was injured and had to bow out of the activities. He is a powerful straight line runner who possesses good vision and contact balance. He has really good hands in the receiving game, and offers upside as a pass protector. He’s a really safe prospect that doesn’t have a lot of wear and tear on the frame after working behind Bijan Robinson. He’s not very elusive or jukey, but that’s my only real criticism of his game. He’s a perfect rotational back that can produce when called upon, but there are some physical traits here that give him a ceiling as a RB1.
8. Tank Bigsby, Auburn – I love the way Bigsby is built, and he looks like he’s certainly capable of handling a RB1 workload in the NFL. He is primarily a power runner that displays good burst and is quicker than he is outright fast. He makes good decisive cuts when he finds the hole, and you package this sort of frame and polish together to get a high-floor running back at the next level. The one thing I just couldn’t get over is how upright he runs with the ball in his hands…it wasn’t always an issue, but it looked like at times, his contact balance was a little wobbly and it allowed defenders to bring him down, or his footwork got a little tangled up.
9. DeWayne McBride, UAB – There’s a lot about McBride that screams “steady” and “solid” when you’re projecting him to the next level. His stat line at UAB in 2022 was ridiculous, and he looked like a man among boys against UAB’s schedule. He bounces off tackles, and plays with a steady balance and quick footwork that allows him to change direction quickly. He goes fishing with defenders sometimes – whether it’s looking guys off or varying his speed, in 1:1 situations, he can bait a defender to go one way as he goes another. There’s an element of power to his game that complements the balance and the technical proficiency well. But, I think he runs a little high, and while his athleticism and speed may look great on tape, I can’t imagine he’ll look that dominant against NFL competition (fuck, I hate being “level of competition” guy). He also caught two passes for all of 2022.
10. Kendre Miller, TCU – I don’t have much to say about Miller…he is ‘solid’ across the board. Good size. Good production. Good vision. Good change-of-direction capabilities. Good enough speed. Good balance. He checks a lot of boxes, and that gives him a high floor in the NFL. I’m not sure that he’s ‘elite’ in any one category, and that’s what limits his ceiling at the next level.
Best of the Rest
11. Chase Brown, Illinois
12. Cam Peoples, App State
13. Kenny McIntosh, Georgia
14. Evan Hull, Northwestern
15. Keaton Mitchell, ECU
16. Zach Evans, Ole Miss
17. Sean Tucker, Syracuse
18. Israel Abanikanda, Pitt
19. SaRodorick Thompson, Texas Tech
20. Mohamed Ibrahim, Minnesota
NFL Draft Top 10s
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley.
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