NFL Draft prospects: Ranking running backs heading into the 2023 NFL Draft

The 2023 NFL Draft will be held from Thursday, April 27 through Saturday, April 29 in Kansas City, MO. The first round will be held on Thursday, Friday will cover the second and third rounds, and then the remainder of the draft will be wrapped up on Saturday.

There seems to never be a shortage of talented running backs in each draft and we’ve got a talented group with this class. Teams have steered away from using a first round pick on tailbacks in recent years, but we could see one or possibly two get selected on Day 1.

Likely first player off the board

Texas’ Bijan Robinson is the undisputed top running back prospect in this class and will be the first one taken off the board. Posting back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons with the Longhorns, the 5’11”, 215 pound phenom has the combination of speed, power, anticipation, and good footwork that will make him a three-down running back right out the gate as a rookie. Robinson is regarded as one of the 10 best overall prospects in this draft class and could possibly crack the top 10 depending on which franchise wants to make him the featured back in their offense.

Biggest names

Behind Robinson, Alabama’s Jahmyr Gibbs will most likely be the second running back off the board and there’s a chance he could sneak into the end of the first round. Gibbs was a jack-of-all-trades in college and excelled at catching passes out of the backfield.

There are a host of other running backs that could hear their names called in either the second or third rounds for Day 2. Those names include UCLA’s Zach Charbonnet, Texas A&M’s Devon Achane, Ole Miss’ Zach Evans, Auburn’s Tank Bigsby, and Tulane’s Tyjae Spears.

Sleepers

A number of later-round selections that could prove to be draft steals include Robinson’s backup at Texas Roschon Johnson, Illinois’ Chase Brown, Kansas State’s Deuce Vaughn, and TCU’s Kendre Miller.