NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - NFL Daily 32: Ranking the Best Running Backs

Episode Date: May 29, 2026

Gregg Rosenthal and Ollie Connolly give you their top 32 running backs heading into the 2026 season. Find out who comes in at first place, where players like Jahmyr Gibbs, Christian McCaffrey, Bijan Robinson rank, who just makes the list and is left off the NFL Daily 32: Running Backs Rankings entirely! NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. It's a tough sport. It's not for everybody. You've got to be a little sick to love this game. And we've got some sickos. Welcome to NFL Daily, where running backs have always mattered. Yes, this is another NFL Daily 32 ranking the positions across the NFL. Today is the running back show.

I'm Greg Rosenthal in Los Angeles talking to Ali Connolly in Manchester. I don't know if you heard the news. but running backs, they matter again. They're back. The running game is back. It's bag. We'll put all the big bodies on the field. We're running the ball a whole bunch.

Those guys have to pass protect every once in a while. It's a huge moment. I like the narrative, too, that like just so well, you know, because it was like 10% different seven years ago that like the running game was somehow inconsequential. The running game has always mattered. I know, especially near and dear to your hurt. I love the running game.

And we said this during the draft season. you go look at the recent history of the guys taking the top 10. It's all the best plays of the position by a substantive difference compared to effectively every other position on the field, quarterback. You can go back and forth on so the league has got a really good idea, I think, about who the best running back side. I do feel like it's the purest distillation of just ball, just the guy who carries it the best.

I think in my head, I think of Bill Campbell and Barry Sanders and all the great players to carry the ball. It just feels like beautiful pure football. Yeah, it's, you know, I watch the youth flag. It's like, yeah, the best player is the running back. It's the same thing as when you were playing with your friends, like whoever can run the ball the best. So I'm looking forward to this one.

We are defining this one through 32 as the running backs we would want to have for this season. So it's not for one play. It's not for one game. It's not a lifetime achievement award. Sometimes a heavy workload works against running backs wanting for 2026. Rookies are eligible. and since I threw Ollie off his game

by not understanding the time zone difference and giving him the wrong time and now he's had to scramble to the computer, I will be generous enough to give you the first overall pick. I do appreciate that. I'm going to take Bejan Robinson from the Falcons. I think it's a top two and it's a flip of a coin of who you prefer

with the top spot. I just think Bejan is the best all-round player in ball. I think if you go skill by skill of what matters at a position, there is no one who does the things he does better, running, receiving, blocking even even as a lead blocker in the run game, he's exceptional. Forcing mistackles,

yak both as a runner and receivers. And I think the idea of backs who can move all around the formation create some of these schematic mismatches is a grossly overstated element of the game, particularly when you go through the draft profile. But when you do find the one, or sometimes the two,

every now and then there's three in the league, it is life transformative for an offense. And I think he's been in some pretty tough situations in Atlanta and yet still is just the best pure player at the position. Yeah, and the workload that he had last year, Tyler Alger was still there, and yet he was targeted on the highest percentage of routes of any running back from the slot or, you know, or when they line him out wide, like the highest percentage. So that's quantity. But it's also, he's the guy who lines up the most.

So, like, he has the most opportunities and he's out there the most. It's not the most effective play in football, but it was the most effective play for them. Like, I don't think that was the smartest way to build an entire offense, but he ends up with 79 catches for 820 yards. I actually think, like, his overall season was slept on a little bit. It was the second most yards from scrimmage. And I do think this is a position where just, in a good old-fashioned yards,

like matter a little more than when you were talking about passing yards. It was the second-most yards from scrimmage since the Adrian Peterson 2012. The only one that was better was McCaffrey, 7. years ago. And yeah, you mentioned the yak, whether it's as a receiver or as a, you know, runner. He's right there at the top of the league. So just like high percentage and him not like not falling off in terms of his snap to snap. I mean, he was great late in the season. I think just, I think, I don't know if it's a tier of one, but to me he was the easy one. Yeah, I think him and Gibbs is pretty close. I do think the how Robinson is used. I think Gibbs could be used more in that way. The

the line's just up not to do that with the design and our offense. But he's the one where when these backs move around the formation, only him, McCaffrey, I think, cause true panic in the defense. Whereas with everyone else, it's like, it's fun. Particularly when you talk about the college profile, how he goes to the slot, he shuffles all the way to the perimeter. I think defense is a pretty comfortable, particularly they've got a corner out there saying, well, we'd rather just, we'd be more intimidated if the number three receivers out there.

Bejan is the one where you see absolute panic and a ton of communication, a ton of breakdowns. And he just runs routes like a true receiver. And there's just so few guys who can do that. Yeah, I love the way he sets up like the second guy. He's not even worried about the first guy, but the way that he often sets up the second defender that he's going to make miss, there's a play in the Rams game.

And this is not an example of that, but he was so good in that game where, you know, Byron Young is just on his back in the back field. And he's falling off of Bijan, and he does fall off him because Bijan's just so strong. And then Bejohn literally puts his hand in the ground and changes direction so fast, think it was spates and one of their cornerbacks, that he just dust them and goes the other way.

I mean, it's just everything in one run. He can do it all, which is why, you know, I had him as a solid one, but it's good to hear that my number two pick was in your top tier. It was easy to go with Jemir Gibbs, who just provides that outrageous flexibility, the outrageous explosiveness. NextGen had a stat that on runs where he was not contacted behind the. the line of scrimmage. He averaged 8.5 yards per carry. Basically, if you did not hit him in the backfield, and he actually did take a lot of big losses last year compared to like the year before, but that was, I think, more of the offensive line thing. He just busts you. And he hits top speeds like 22 miles an hour faster and more than anyone in the NGS era. Like he gets to contact

faster. He's just there. I like how quiet his feet are too. And the plays where they're not open, Olly. Or to me, they're just, they're just like, you can almost see the feet asking a question, and then they get the answer, and then he just explodes. And yeah, there's no one quite like him. I guess Bajon Robinson is quite like him, but what a player, Jimmy Gibbs? He is quite like him. I do think Gibbs' is stop-star acceleration as in like a different stratosphere. It feels like something different to what we've seen before. When you're mentioning there, some of the patient runs where you get to really see the explosiveness, where he's waiting and waiting on once he goes,

he just erases tackling angles. I think safeties, particularly when you see them coming down to fill, just cannot quite believe that they think they're the best athlete on the field, and this guy just pulls away from them, they can't even get close to him. You mentioned some of the mild power figures. It's just we haven't quite seen someone, I think, with that level of second, third degree burst,

and then the stop start, the initial jet is just unlike anything else in the league. Yeah, and in terms of total. production 5,000 yards in three seasons was around 1900. Like when he does the option route, I don't even know what you call that route, but when he does the option route where he just goes out into the flat and then cuts back inside against a linebacker, it's, it's over. It's unstoppable. And I would say with the Lions, for all the excellence of Ben Johnson and then when

Dan Campbell got back involved in the offense last season, I still think there's meat on the bones with him. I think both as a receiver, I think it may be altering some element to the offense that they can be a little bit rudimentary, I would say, that they have all the creativity and the motion, the movement, and that's all the mechanics and how they get him to get that free space where he's not getting hit in the backfield. I think they could possibly do more. I think part of Drew Petzing's job coming in is going to be, we want to keep the total volume of touches, right where Dan Camel had it when he took over where it ballooned by seven targets per game

as a receiver, more overall touches across the board. But can we do it in some more creative ways? And it doesn't have to be gimmickery and motion and movement. Just can we alter some of the mechanic slightly in the blocking game to get him some free running starts. Because you mentioned, if he hits the hole and he's free, we're getting eight yards no matter what, and most likely we're getting a bigger chunk than that. Yeah, the revelation for him coming into league, for me, at least, was just how much stronger he was than I expected. And like that, that can't be lost here. Not as many yards after contact last year as, as even the year before per carry, but just for the total package, his strength is also awesome. I'm curious. I have no idea where you're going

three. I think you got some good options. But like you've mentioned, a team. tier break. So who do you take as the third back? Yeah, I have four guys here that I'm struggling to choose between. I think I'm still going to go with Christy McCaffrey. I understand he's carried a crazy workload. And last year, with all the injuries around the 90s, it was just like, we're just going to put it on McCaffrey. He'll take us home.

And he wasn't as efficient. I actually thought there was some decline as a pure runner. But as a receiver, he still remains the most impactful of all of these guys. I think Bejohn structurally gives you a little bit more, but McCaffrey's just a straightaway receiver. He is a slot receiver playing in the backfield a lot of the time. And there's been a little bit of slippage there, but I still think that he's going to, if everyone else is healthy and they've got more the receiving threat with Mike Evans, that this season he'll be just as productive as he's being in the past. Yeah, I hope the decline in his running, like, was, you know, partly on the

workload that they gave him, which was just enormous. I mean, who else could have done what he did last year? I don't think anyone. So he was so valuable to that team. But I do think a next-gen stat, which points out a little of what you're talking about, is, you know, he was very high in terms of forcing mistackles. I think the most of anyone, like cumulatively. But the yards that he would average gain when he forces a mistackle was the second lowest in the league. And so there just weren't the explosives. There were a lot of turning fours into sixes and threes or negative ones into fives, like that sort of running. But you didn't see quite as much on the ground.

ground. Then again, you know, talking about him on the ground is only, you know, half, if even that much of his value. I mean, he had 102 catches and they built the whole plane out of him. And he, and he held it up and they were one of the best offenses in the league. Yeah, I mean, I think last season, he saw more light boxes than he seen his entire career. It was just so evident. Everyone's like, we don't respect the passing game. We know Kyle Shannon's unbelievable, but sometimes it's Mac Jones and it's Brock Purdy again. We don't believe in the receiving core. We'll just give Christy McAfrey six yards and we'll sit in it and we'll be comfortable with that. And he just didn't punish that the way he has done throughout. It's great. You would think, we got a numbers of

advantage. We got Christy McCaffrey in the backfield. This has a chance to rip off some huge chunk plays. And it was really, it was more grinding. He was stopping his feet a lot more. And then even the top end speed if you go by the NGS data has steadily dropped off over the last two seasons. But I do think that if everything around him is a little bit better. And he is to me more of a, if he makes one guy miss, then you get the 25-yard burst as opposed to it being the three or the four. And if it's a light box. You've got guys deeper on the defensive side. So then you've got to make three guys missed to really get a huge shot. So I think that the additions around him will allow him to unlock some more the season. So I had him in the same tier as as you, but I had him fifth just because

look, he's led the league in touches three times. And one of them was last year. The other two times, you know, he got hurt right after. He has had five like first ballot Hall of Fame type seasons. He's played, this is going to be his 10th season. The other. four years, you know, we're marred by injury. So that's just the slightest of slight concerns to take them a little lower for me beyond these next two guys that I'm going to choose between. I'm not even sure who I'm going forth. The only different thing for me, I think, was the receiving side. You do get that with some of the other top guys. I think James Cook. I think Devon A. Eachan has got some of that in his game, too, but it is a different level

with McCaffrey. Okay, maybe I'm giving away too much here, but I'm debating between Cook and a different guy who's never played in the league, Jeremiah Love. And then when push comes to shove with me on the clock, I'm going to lean what I know better and what Patrick Claibon answered as our question on the Would You Rather episode earlier this week. I will take James Cook. He led the NFL in carries last year, which is a slight concern. Also, like, led in rush yards over-expected,

and even per carry was second in the NFL in yards over-expected. So it's a great marriage of scheme and the runner. And yet I think he would fit in just about every scheme because he gets more than what's blocked. He's, I think, very good as a receiver, but they have Ty Johnson and they have a good backup situation. Even, you know, Ray Davis is in there a little bit. And so you don't use him as much, but I think they could use him more.

So I do think he's a complete back. I just think he's smooth. He is right smack in the middle of his prime, where his athleticism is peaking. but I think he's a smart runner and I just feel very safe with James Cook as my next back on the list. Yeah, I think he's the most aesthetically pleasing runner

in the entire league. I love the bobbing, weaving, gathering speed type stuff where at times it doesn't always look he's going at top speed but guys just can't get anywhere near him. I'm glad that on the YouTube show we showed the Browns run to open up the James Cook montage day. I think that is the one way you see

hellacious defensive players just be completely thrown off by how quick you can kind of climb through the gears and I agree with you on the receiving set I think he's the best pure wheel route runner in the league and he came from college as that was the that was the forte it's like he's going to be receiving back

we're not sure if he can carry the ball between the tackles we're going to have to do some jet sweep stuff and some pitch stuff and get him to the perimeter and he's just turned himself into a guy I think you can hit all these explosives and all the home runs but then he's happy to grind out the dirty yards as well so he to me is you're just a, just as comfortable with third and two game on the line. We know we've got Josh Allen,

but we feel good with James Cook running behind our offensive line, or we can slip him out the backfield, or we can do something more creative with him. I do think he's more of an essential point of an offense, and it's just that he's been slightly boxed in with how the bills used. If he played somewhere else, I think there'll be even more on the menu. And yet, you know, the way they use him did lead to him leading the league in rushing.

He gets second team all pro in a season where there was just monster running back season. So he gets that over Gibbs, and they've used him well, and, you know, it's been exciting. I loved his brother, Dalvin Cook, and to think that James Cook has become as good or better, maybe now at his peak is just an awesome running back dynasty. All right, who do you got for number five? I'm going to take Devon A. Chan from the Dolphins.

I really think he's become a complete back, and he's not just the burner that he once was, or he was when he first came into the league. You look at the yards, he averages after contact now, 4.40 yards last season, still leading the league in explosive play rate from the line of scrimmage. I know the guy who just eliminates angles

and while still being willing to run behind his pads and stick his nose in there in a way that he just was, I thought quite averse to contact early in his career because he thought in three plays time I'll get another little pitch to the outside and maybe I can take that to the house. Whereas now he really is willing to throw his nose in there and then you see some of the stuff in the passing game

which is the most exciting part to me. There's the Dolphins tradeaway Jailon Waddle. I think it's going to become a bigger part of the portfolio with him. He's running a ton of vertical release stuff from the backfield now. That's slimed down a lot across the league as the league has kind of evolved to get the heavier tight end stuff to run the ball more. We're seeing less vertical releases from running backs than we did do the previous few seasons. He still is the guy who I think is just an absolute weapon flying down the field, whether it's from out of the backfield or shuffle to the slot. Yeah, there aren't many running backs

that can just take over a game. Obviously, the guys who are getting taken right now are in that group, but maybe even more than a James Cook. Like in that Bill's game where the Dolphins went, really in that, you know, I thought I hallucinated this, but the Dolphins had a four-game winning streak last season. Like, Tobani H.N. took over

those games. He is so good, not just at big plays, but when he has someone, just that little cutback that he does in the open field, that's like the second or third man that he makes miss, he just does it so naturally he leads the league in yards per carry.

which is still a stat, you know, it's worth checking out, like, pointing a second, I believe, in yards after, you know, forcing missed tackles. And it'll be interesting to see him without Mike McDaniel. The dolphins weren't worried about giving him that big contract without McDaniel again coming off a shoulder surgery, which he's supposed to be ready for camp four. And so I get that pick, like a little lower in terms of success rate. That doesn't bother you stylistically, though, does it? No, none the slightest. because I think that ties so much more to the quality of the offensive line than it does the pure runner.

And he had some nightmarish sinkholes on that line last year. They had to completely coach around. They found the way to make it successful. I am concerned about Bobby Sloick taking over the offense. And this is being a wide zone 2018 style of offense, which I just don't think maximizes him or the offensive line at all. You want Patrick's Paul in space, Aaron Brewer in space. That's how you want it to roll. And then you've got the little quick guy rolling him behind, the big.

lumbering fellows out in front. That's where their offense, I think, is at their best way. He hits the most home run shot. So that is the one thing that gave me some pause, but I think you'd just be foolish to kind of turn yourself into this really mundane offense when you have that offensive line in that back. No doubt. And we are trying to draft these running backs devoid of context, which is, you know, why I'm happy to take Jeremiah Love here. I'm glad I took Cook and we went with the veterans first. But I am so excited to watch this. kid at the next level. I feel like, you know, everyone was in on Jeremiah Love.

The debate was kind of, well, is he the best prospect since Peterson or is like this is pretty common or since Bejon, you know, to me, just the explosiveness, the size, speed, strength, I'm a dummy is just off the charts. Like, I don't know if I've seen a prospect quite that crazy in terms of that, maybe since Peterson. Does he have all the subtleties? Is he going to be able to adapt in the receiving game? Like as seamlessly as a block or all that stuff? Will he fit with Arizona? That's not the concern for this exercise. Running back is a position. You can come and you can be an impact player right away for this season. Like there's at least a chance. It's on the board, Ollie, that he's like a

top three or four running back as a rookie, right? Oh yeah. Oh, yeah. He's such an electric talent. I've said this to see before, but I really think was you watch with the highlight really. It looks like Reggie Bush and he weighs four pounds more. And so we can do a lot of the dirty stuff between the tackles. He can thump in there. He did play on a pitch count and Notre Dame and I'm interested to see what the pitch count will look like in Arizona. Will he have to come off the field on passing down? That's a great strength of his is he's a pretty solid route running.

He's really explosive from transition, catch to run and then just turning into a runner and being able to make guys miss. But I do question just the general route tree, some of the past pro stuff. He's really willing, but it's difficult, I think, for for rookies to come up and survive on pass pro in the league. Really, only McCaffrey and Zichol Elliott have been like A plus pass pro guys from the second they stepped into the league. It's a pretty tall bar decline to then get the snap counts you need to be able to be that productive. But that's what the great ones do, even in the most recent history of the league. About the last 10 years, the guy is taken right at the top of the draft stepping in their outstanding from day one.

I see no reason why Jeremiah Love wouldn't be. And like Bajon, he's got Tyler Algear to take some of the. carries away. Unless they trade away, Tyler Algear, before he even takes a snap for them. I saw someone ask, has that happened? Like in recent NFL history, someone signs a contract and then they're traded before.

And the Teddy Bridgewater Jets was brought up as a situation. It can happen if they wanted to go with James Connor, I guess, as the backup. And I don't think they'll do that. I think they'll keep Alger. I don't know if Love would have been in. Was he in that tier for you? He was not in that

Tiff me. I respect the veterans too much. You're probably correct, but I just didn't want to do it to some guys. I did feel bad about some of the greats that I'm leaving on the table, but it's an unforgiving position and that's why I did weigh the workload that some of

these guys have had and bumped love up. Who do you have seventh overall? I have Jonathan Taylor, which is probably an overdraft based on you talking about workload. I think the thing that I love about Taylor is his improvement in the passing game. The effort is a block has become absolutely outstanding. It used to really wax and Wayne, I thought with him.

He used to, when he was having really good games, he'd be really invest in the past pro side. Fortune last season, he had a really good game every time he stepped in the field, so he was getting after it every single rep. I still think there is more that they can do with him in the passing game, and I'm excited to see in year two with similar pieces if they try and expand that slightly. It's a lot of check and release stuff with him as a receiver, and I do think that there's work they can do there with him. It may be more of a McCaffrey-style role shuffling around the formation slightly so. But as a pure runner, I just don't know who has got as good vision,

this good second level juice, who's got as good wiggle. It's just hard to find anyone out there who's as good a pure one-track runner. No, I think you can make the argument that he was underdrafted here. I kept bumping him up. He's a little higher on my list, but he was still below. Like, I think you can argue he could go as high as three, which makes sense he would be in your tier. Because, look, there was a point last year, Ali,

that he had more yards after, contact, then every runner in the league except for two had period. And that was like week 12. That was basically the Daniel Jones healthy section of the season. And the thing I love about him, and he has really settled in and steadily, I think, improved. He's always been an electric runner. But he really showed up last season, and he was a different player in the passing game. He was no longer a negative. He was a better receiver. He was better, especially in the blocking game, where they trusted him to stay on the field. So guys can develop five, six years into their career.

And yeah, if any, like, I just, he's one of the safer picks, I think you can make. If anything, I feel like we might have underrated him a little bit. I think taking him after Jeremiah Love is insulting after last season. But there is a real chance for aggression. It was such a perfect ecosystem last season. And even the past pros, if they're ahead of the chain so often because he's so excellent, that he's just not in his compromised positions, as he has been previously in his crib,

it's third and medium, third and long over and over again. Will that sustain? I'm not so sure. And even the passing game stuff, like I mentioned, it's just a lot of check and release stuff to the flat. It's not more of the expansive type stuff, which I do think that player is in there. James Cook has done a lot of that similar work,

but I wait to see. I think Stuyken's pretty laser-focused on what the scheme looks like. Well, you talk about disrespectful. I mean, Daycon Barclay is still sitting there pretty deep into the draft, not coming off a great season. There's another name I know it's intriguing to you that's available.

I will take Sequin now just to avoid all the Eagles fans who are unhappy their lives. Look, he was hit behind the line of scrimmage 132 times last year. That's outrageous. He only had one explosive in all those plays, though,

and I do think that points out, you know, he did warm up late, and yet he did feel a little more victim to being dependent on the offensive line, maybe more than most. I think it's a good sign that he warmed up late in the season. I thought he played his best ball later. But if I'm talking about workload, yeah, he had 136 fewer touches a year ago. Like, that's the good news.

Ali, the bad news is he still had 350 and still, you know, he has the most touches in the last two years combined. Like, if you just care about EPA, which doesn't really make sense to me as a rushing stat. It's more of a team stat. It is the second worst, you know, yardage or mark in the entire league. Like, he's just, he's stuffed, you know, it was a team-wide thing, but you do have to worry that if he's losing a little juice or that he needed to take warm up. I'm saying a lot of negative things, and yet he's still Saquan Barkley. And I do think he could have a little bit of a bounce back season. And he doesn't need to bounce back that far to be worthy of taking in the

top ten here. No, I agree with you. He's the guy of this group, I think, who has the most chance to jump into the top two or three and have us look like complete bozo at the end of the season like, why did we just pass on Sequin Bargley? It was such a shit show all of last season. They were tipping plays constantly and they had about seven plays in the offense. It was Sequin to the left. It was Sequin to a specific designated target point was about 55% of his carries. I mean, from the same formation, it made absolutely no sense.

So that has to clean up slightly. I did think that he looked, I couldn't tell if he was hurt or carrying some kind of injury throughout good stretch of the season because he did look. slower, there wasn't quite the same kind of burst, and he's got this unbelievable ability to kind of hop hop in two quick cuts that just make guys evaporate the picture for a lot of players. Last season was a lot of just the one cut, and it wasn't quite the same level of travel that he had in the year when he just went absolutely mayhem on the league. So, but you did see, as you mentioned down the stretch, I thought he had a little bit more juice down there. Even the

the one you're talking about where he gets hit in the backfield that he rips off the explosive, he gets hit at the mesh point against the commander's spins out of it, it's a spin move, and it's one of the all-time Sequin runs. So I think that player is still in there. It's just, will it have to be more of a pitch count? And he's always been really offensive line and scheme dependent more so than I think the reputation carries. It's just when it's the right offensive line,

when it's the right scheme. He's one of the best backs we've seen. Yeah, and if I'm going to knock him for the touches, just think projecting forward. You also have to give him credit for the durability. The last four seasons has been excellent. I mean, he had a heavy, heavy workload in 22, 25. three and really since he came off, you know, that awful injury that he had.

All right, Sequin is off the board. I'm getting, well, I won't guess. Who's your picket number nine? I'm going to take Kenneth Walker the third. Oh, okay. Now who I was guessing. This to me, I think, is the most exciting player to team addition in all of three agency. Just an explosive play waiting to happen.

The chiefs have been crying out for so long to really augment their run game. Got to play more on the center. got to get some explosives in the wrong game and he's just an explosive play waiting to happen. I think he's the one guy who's not in the consistently held up in the elite tier, even by his own staff, who's splitting time with Zach Charbonnet,

and I understand he's the Super Bowl MVP. But outside of that tier, he's the one who gives you those kind of tingly feelings of Bejean and Gibbs, I would say. Fair. I mean, I'll think about that game as an example of how Kenneth Walker doesn't always run, because he was so decisive,

Like he beat the Patriots to the outside on the very first play of the game. I could picture it so clearly in my mind right now. And that happened quite a bit in that game. He ran up the middle a lot. He did not hesitate. There's a crazy stat from NextGen that he takes the longest to get to the line of scrimmage of anyone in the next gen stats era. Like he can kind of see that. Like he'll go literally go backwards sometimes.

He takes a while to make. maybe make the decision, sometimes two more, that he also travels more to get to the line of scrimmage, I think it was, than anyone in the next gen stats era. And yet, like, when he makes it go and the creativity, there are a few better. And so it's higher than I would have had him, because I like a little more, like, metronomic predictability out of my running backs. I like the boring guys sometimes. But just in terms of pure juice and excitement, he's there. I think there'll be some more bored in this season, though. I think if you, you look at the rest of the chief's running back room, he's going to have to do some of the

it's third and two. We're going to have to slam it behind Creed Humphrey and go get the two yards and you can't be dancing around. You are going to get me on my soapbox. We do have an epidemic at these guys who believe that Leveon Bell and no one can ever play the position ever again, like Leveon Bell. Walk is maybe the closest and has so much more sudden burst than Leveon even had. You just picture him when they're running all that patient stuff and it's read out, read out, wait for the lineback to commit. once he shows one way you fire the other way, which is the style he prefers to play,

and you're doing that behind Creed Humphrey-Smith, and Kingsley-Suea, who, if nothing else, can drive people off the ball. I think it's going to be a pretty lethal season. You've put me in a tough spot. I really don't know who to take 10th. I kept, you know, you're saying I'm playing mental games, getting you to the draft spot a little earlier than you expected.

Were you playing mental games with me when you said, quote, the Kyron Williams explosive run cut-up tape is the most fun I've had in weeks watching that. Are you trying to make me take Kyron Williams early? Is this too early for Kyron Williams? What do you think? I would be all in if I was ever allowed to run a team, which would be even more of a disaster than Mayak and Gruden. I fully accept that. I would be doing the dirtiest tricks. I'd be leaking everything to rap. All of my guys I'd bring in my building would be a complete Fugazi. So it's plausible. Maybe I should just leave him for you.

But on my final board, he's the next one. I'm sticking to my board. What the heck? It'll pain you to do it. Kyron Williams is off the board ahead of some really talented, big name players. He was sixth in mistackle, force yards. And like I said, I do like the consistent players. In terms of guys who had over 80, 100 carries, I believe my cutoff was, second in success rate.

he's always in the top five and like rushing over expected. You just know what you are getting. You aren't getting the explosive plays as much. But the fact that they gave him that contract, the fact that you know exactly where he's going, and it is an aesthetically pleasing game to me watching Kyron Williams run. I can live without that. If he's good enough for Sean McVeigh to give that contract to,

he's good enough for me at number 10. Yeah, I went through, as you said, the explosive could-up reel this afternoon, and it is absolutely outrageous. I never gave him enough credit for the level of intellect, the spatial awareness, the general vision. I think if you're just putting together,

we live in a league of the duo run now, right? With the two big doubles coming inside and you've got to try and rip it out the back door, that's the idea for the back. You know when it's the best players in the league traditionally with the best runners of that stuff. It's James Cook. That's the number one guy on the board.

Karen Williams might be the second best guy at what is the staple run diet now of the league. Just the way the patience and the fluidity the degree of travel he has on the cuts, it really is incredible. And then once he gets the second level, the vision and the wiggle and the burst, he is such an unbelievable back,

and I just never gave him enough credit. In my head, he's always reminded me of James White from the Patriots dynasty. And he really gets after impasse protection, barely ever makes a mistake, even though there's some kind of size mismatches, and he's elusive and he can catch the ball,

and he's like a solid scheme fit. I just think you could plop him in any offense in the league right now and he would still have the same amount of production. Yeah, that's part of it. There's a couple people where I might be kicking myself. It's like a little higher ceiling or different things I like about them. But I'm a little like you. If it was my team, this is where I'd have them.

I mean, that's what that's, that is why I put him next on the list. So I have to be true to that. He really has the, he isn't as explosive as the great ones, but he has all kind of the under the hood tools of the great ones. And I think the thing that stands out to me the most when you watch the cut up of the runs is the understanding of the tempo of what he's trying to do.

Is he just modulates his tempo and then he makes guys with a crazy rate. He's always matching the blocking mechanics. It's the stuff that is really, really tricky when you get the great players coming from collagen to the pro, someone like Jeremiah Love. It's such a mechanical game in the pros. The run schemes are so precise

on when you're supposed to hit certain spots in the line of scrimmings. his feel for what they're doing is unreal. So, Ali mentioned, you know, the most fun he's had was watching this cut up of his explosive just five or six minutes. He lovingly cut that down to a few minutes. So this is our advertisement. This is for NFL Plus, for NFL Pro, that Ali made this cut up from his NFL Pro.

And you can check it out on YouTube with the vertical vision and just the stiff arms and just the making people miss in the open field. Kairn Williams, that's great stuff. We will take a quick break. That is our top 10 running backs. Eric Henry has not been drafted. Some other great runners have been drafted. I'm very curious how the end of this draft is going to go

because it just feels like a grab bag after the top 20 or 22 or so runners. We'll be back in a few minutes. This May, IHeart Radio celebrates Asian Heritage Month. Discover powerful stories, vibrant cultures, and unforgettable music. From inspiring podcasts to playlist that span east, south, southeast, and West Asian artists. The voices shaping our world.

Listen now on the free IHard Radio app. And at iHardio.ca. Back on NFL Daily. Ollie's in the comments last week and points out this one on YouTube. I like this. Someone wrote, this was fun. I don't really care about the rank. rankings, but I enjoy a Brit and a mass.

Just talking ball and building up the best pass rushers out there. Fun stuff. Yeah, that is what I love about this NFL Daily 32 series. It gives us, you know, a chance to just talk for two minutes about, I don't know, Chase Brown or someone that could be coming up soon in these rankings, whoever it might be. Might have given away my board a little bit. You may have given it away. I'm going to take Derek Henry off the board.

I'm not going to allow the disrespect to continue. I understand that if you look through some of the advanced metrics, there is a drop to kind of career low levels with some of the things where he's always been the master in, whether it's the mistackle rate, misforced tackles at the second level, which is really where he does his devastating work. It's still, they're still outrageous figures

compared to the rest of the league. It's just, oh, he fell from being a first ballot Hall of Fame to being, I don't know, a second go-around, Hall of Fame type productive player. So I still believe in Derek Henry. At some point the decline will come. I'm never going to allow myself to live in a world where I pre-project that Derek Henry decline.

I just don't want to view football that way. Well, I have been living in that world, and it's been a horrible world. I've been wrong. It's outrageous. This man is 32 years old. Remember when people were saying, who's going to be the next running back to make the Hall of Fame?

There's going to be no one in this generation. I mean, this guy has got over 1,500 yards five times. including last season. And you mentioned some of the advanced metrics. Fair enough. Like he's not a guy who's like ranking high in the mistackle rates or anything. But he still finished last year

fourth in mistackles' fourth yards. Like yardage after forcing a mistackle. Because when he does break a tackle, he still goes for a long one. And he was really hurt by Lamar Jackson not being out there. The numbers when he was back in the lineup late in the season with Lamar Jackson

we're back to peak Derek Henry. So a little like Sequin, he warmed up late. And honestly, I'm regretting how late he went in this draft already. And even last season, Lamar in the lineup, Lamar at the lineup, he's not quite as slippery as he was a couple of years ago. The long speed isn't quite the same, but he's still just as tough to tackle as anyone to league. And that is the name of running the ball.

Can you get the guy on the ground or not? And still, I just think that that's not going to erode. I don't think in such a short space of time. So, you know, he's not helping on pass. downs or else if we're just, if we made this a, like, who'd you just need for one carry or who do you just need on a first and 10 run? Like, that's, Derek Henry would be ranking higher. Almost all the runners that we're picking are versatile every down guys. Henry never really improved or has been used. Also, he's not a great player on Madden. Pumbles a lot, you know,

it's a little bit of a factor. It's partly the passing down thing, but he's like not great on Madden. I dig him a little for that. All right. I will. go Chase Brown next. I talked him up as one of the more underrated players in the league. I mean, he's not that for fantasy, but I think just in terms of a complete back, almost in the same category of Kyron Williams in a different way to me, but I like the way that he uses tempo. I like the consistency. I like that he steadily improved each and every season. I think this is the absolute right year to have Chase Brown. You are right smack in his absolute peak of his powers mentally, like down the stretch, he's fifth in the league in yards from scrimmage.

I think he's shown that he can handle a bigger workload. Like, he's not Derek Henry, but he's a pretty good inside runner. And so Chase Brown to me is just an all-around complete back. Could he have a James Cook, you know, 20-25 type season in him? I think it's possible. And so Chase Brown is my pick at number 12. I love that pick. I'm frustrated that you took him before me.

One thing I do a lot about Chase Brown, if you just watch the stance, he has the very similar stance to Ashton Genty. It is the most nonchalon pre-snap setup in all of football. And with Ashton Jenty, you get it. This is one of the greatest running backs in the history college football. He's drafted high in the first round.

Chase Brown's like, he's out there. He thinks he's on that level. I admire that about that guy. And there are just no knocks. If you said, okay, what's the demerit? It's really hard to find with Chase Brown. I think the only major concern, I think, is in Pass, bro. They take him off the field pretty consistently

when he is on the field. And he brings you the receiving threat, So you've got to have some past pro chops to be able to stay on there as the receiving threat. It's pretty putrid. Although P-Rang was also pretty brutal last season. So that I think still needs work. And I think he's willing,

it's just the eyes and the vision and where he's supposed to be is just all over the place. But as a runner, I think he plays with the perfect blend of decisiveness and patience. And that's just the thing I'm always looking forward. You tip too far. One way you start either outrunning or underrunning

the mechanics. And then when you see it, can you rip it? And I think he's just, he's just got the knack for what the balance should look like. Yeah, and it's interesting you say that about like identifying the blitzers, because one of the things, and I did go back, we could spend all week of our lives, like prepping for the show. And I do prep a lot. I wish I could watch more tape of everyone, but I did watch a decent amount of Chase Brown.

And I thought he was really good identifying, like, where, on run plays, where the pressure was going to come from, like what the defense was going to do, and how to adapt to it, and he's got some great spin moves. Just a really smart, fun player, I think could have his best season coming up. Who do you got for number 13? Oh, it's a loaded board here.

Trying to figure out, do I want to take that player or not? I'll take Breece Hall. I think the short area of quickness and vision, he's a really slick runner, and he's got, I think, great second effort runs, which he is required to do an awful lot. Great strength for a guy who is not built like Derek Henry. I think his feel for kind of navigating through traffic is one that the higher in the league

that he doesn't, I don't think have the same sudden burst when the ball is shoved into the gut. He doesn't quite rip off the ball the same way that some of the really elite backs do, but he glides through the line of scrimmage. And we've talked about this before. Wes always used to say something that I always come back to, which is the guys who kind of climb through the line with a cut, but they're still gathering speed as they go. They just play quicker than they would ever time or than they look like when they initially get the ball.

And he to me is that kind of really breezy, wide zone cut runner, where we dropped him on the Broncos with Alex Gibbs back in the day. He'd probably set the all-time rushing record. And I love those style of rushes. Yeah, he's always left me a little unmoved. Why is that? What is my shortcoming that I'm missing on Breesaw? I had him ranked right around here.

It's not different. But it just hasn't given me the tingleys, as you would say. Probably, yeah, probably the top end speed. He doesn't have like the jolting cuts, I think. It is really more of a smoothness thing. But even when you watch him against the Browns, he made four defenders, four defenders on one player, by the way. Jets offense, 2025.

That's how it went down. Twice in one game, four defenders had a shot on Bruce Halling, made a miss with one move. So he really can make guys miss. It's just, I don't think, quite as sudden and as spicy as some of the more explosive backs in the league. Yeah, he ranks, like, very high for next gen on rush yards over-expected, but not as high in, like, forcing missed tackles. It might be the way they're measuring it, too,

in terms of not being as obvious. But yeah, he's been in tough situations, as he's alluded to. And the juice was definitely back for him last year. That's one thing. Like when Breeze Hall has the juice, it's obvious. I'm going to Marry in Hampton next. I'm betting on the improvement. All these eyebrows go up, but I feel good about it.

He's got to improve a little bit on inside runs, which is not what you would expect out of such a big guy. But the combination, Ollie, of running something. someone over and running for a 50 yard play. Like, that's not always my type. And yet, I just feel like if anyone can have that sort of profile, Derek Henry Light, I think he could do it. The numbers were incredible.

I mean, he got hit in the backfield a ton. He was in the top five in terms of getting hit in the backfield. And yet he had a ton of explosives, had a high success rate. Like, his EPA was very high for running back, like made people miss. And so when he was out there, he was really, really dynamic. The problem is the injuries and, you know, in the open field, he's not a guy that's got to have a lot of wiggle, but I don't think he needs it with, with everything else he has. He is supremely talented. I love them coming out of college. I was not in love with the

rookie tape. And that's stripping away the environment. I understand the charge of offensive linesings, a little bit of a prehistoric run game offense. And I'll buy into Tyler Biatish and a new from Mike McDaniel system can unlock all the potential. But even if you just go through all the run stuff, it's not just, hey, the charges getting mold up front, the guy has no chance. He makes a lot of bad decisions. And he constantly drops his eyes

before he even gets the line of scrimmage. So to me, when I went through the early portion of the season, he looked way more explosive than he did throughout the season. He didn't look quite as explosive as kind of a size, speed, weight type player as he did in college. And then he was playing, I thought, a little bit timid. Now, that could just be uncomfortable.

with the offense. That could be, hey, the guys in front of me stink and I'm getting pasted every single time I carry the ball. This isn't fun. I can't wait till next season when my McDaniel and Talon be out of show up and my tackles are back. I'll give it a full go then. But I was left feeling pretty hollow, particularly going back through the film and digging through Trent and Seifer, who's to blame for which failed rep. I just had it logged down as Omar and Hampton way more than I thought when I was kind of watching rolling through the season. It's good to hear you. You liked them coming out of college. I do think You know, maybe that's a rookie thing.

I know great running backs adapt quickly, but he's landing now in what should be a pretty ideal situation. We're not drafting for the Mike McDaniel situation. But yeah, I hope some of those things. Also, the flashes were there. The flashes were absolutely there. I'm cherry picking a little bit because it's like literally just the first month of the season. But that was enough that I was just like, oh, okay. I'm not letting him fall too far.

I'll say this, too. he has won the single best reps of the season in pass pro. He stands one-on-one against Zach Allen, who has about 70 pounds on him, and he doesn't just hold up. He drills Zach Allen to the floor. So the rest of it, complete nightmare fuel, had no idea what was going on. But that is all you really need to see in the rookie. Like, well, he stand up against the guy, 70 pounds heavy,

and then won the old pros in the NFL defensive tackle and take him on in the face. Hampton will do that. Yeah, I do worry about him seeking out contact, him taking huge hits that I think was a problem even in his running style. Not everyone can be Derek Henry. And so is he going to have to find a way to avoid some of those monster collisions? Not really. You can't do that as a big running back.

All right, you're up with number 15. I'm going to take Ashton Genty. I'm actually surprised that he's still on the board here. I thought I'd be way lower on him than you would be. Another rookie way, I just felt like he was really slow to process everything. Now, obviously, he didn't have any time at all to be able to process anything. he was hitting the backfield at an astronomical rate, led the league in stuff rate. I do think the development as a receiver is the key thing with him.

The numbers ballooned late from the year with him as a receiver. And I think there's so much more potential in there as a pass catcher than was even on display when they were trying to get him rolling late last season. If you go through just some of the figures, 72% of his targets or just routes run, where you've got a flat route, so just leaking out to the flat, or some kind of screen. And the screen tape is like Madden 12 halfback slip screen. It's the most mundane, unimaginative style of let's get the ball to our best player possible. And if you go through all the really high-level backs we've already drafted,

it's just a chasm of difference between that being kind of the route distribution. That's more in the mold of someone like a Zach Charbonnet of that type of player. Then it is the really great backs you can move all around the formation. And I think he's got that potentially as a receiver. if you go back to Boise State, he didn't do any of that stuff in the final year, the huge season. But the year before, he was a really dynamic receiving threat. And so I think that is where we could maybe see him unlock what is the very obvious size speed potential. Yeah.

And maybe I'm being unfair to him. It's an expectations thing that the expectations were so high. And I was sort of on the corner that, yes, he was hit in the backfield, like an outrageous amount, the first six, seven weeks of the season, especially. and yeah, it was a terrible situation, obviously. But I was always in the camp of like, yeah, but I feel like I would see it a little more from Genty. And I just didn't see it as much as, you know, look,

I just took Hampton and I might regret that ahead of him. But I felt like I saw it more with Hampton even in the brief time that he was out there healthy. I'd agree with that. I've also been on the corner that it's just really easy to say everything else was a disaster. It's nothing to do with him. if you just go through play by play,

there are plenty where the stop, start quicks just on an NFL speed. I mean, you can go through the data and see that he is ranking really low in what, in just time to arrive to the line of scrimmage, what's happening further down the field when he does break through, that it isn't at that level.

He was the guy I thought who if anyone could replicate the output of Derek Henry, the kind of different body type, it will be Ashton Gentie. And something I've learned from going through the Gentile is you will go broke chasing the next Derek Cameron. This is never going to happen again. It's a wanted career situation.

Be grateful you got to. to cover the guy. It's just not going to happen again. And look, he got better late in the season. If you want to feel good about Genti, go watch the Texans tape where he had that big catch, but he also was very consistent as a runner against one of the best, if not the best defenses in the league. It did get better late. But I think this is about where he deserved to go. I don't feel bad about that. We're going to stay with the 2025 rookies, and I'm going to go Travion Henderson next. not exactly like my favorite style.

Like I said, I like the Kyron. I like the consistency, and he was the ultimate boom or bust player last year, Trayvon Henderson. But one thing I like, which absolutely showed up in the stats, was he was outstanding inside the tackles. I mean, he just was a great power runner. And, like, when he made you miss, he made it count. There was that stat that I had in terms of, like, average yard. when you do make someone miss in terms of a miss tackle.

Like Trayvon Henderson was top five in the NFL. So that explosiveness is incredible. I think he just runs hard, which is something you can't exactly teach. And I like in terms of taking him here that what was supposed to be one of his biggest strength, which was in pass protection. He looked great in college was a big negative last year. And he seemed to be swimming mentally. You would think that's going to be something that really improves.

And then he becomes more of a complete back. I really hope so. It's one of the most fun college players of the last decade to study, all three facets of the game, running, receiving, and protecting. I just thought he was pretty frazzled for much of last season. So he's getting by on the between the tackle stuff or the famous spillout run against the books

where he kind of hits the line, spins out, there's nowhere he is, then goes down the field and has to look to the silent and no one to slide down or not. It all felt really indecisive, like everything was happening too quickly for him, and yet he's still just quicker than everyone on the field. So if you can get a crease, if you can find some kind of angle, he can really make it count.

I do hope things slowed down for him in the second season. If he can earn the trust to survive on passing down, which I think is still an open question, then this will be a pretty big bargain, I think, in this. Yeah, he's kind of a, he's a boomer bust guy. Like, look, if we're projecting a little bit, if we were talking about last season, I would be like the Patriots. I would put, like, by the end of the season, like, it was all remandre when it really, mattered and there's other veteran backs that were about to take that I think were more

trustworthy than Henderson was last season and yet I like I said we're projecting a little forward and I like him here all right who do you got I'm gonna take Travis Achen from the Saints some of the most ridiculous cuts and stop stop speed in the league forces a crazy amount of mistackles I think they just look at the Saints and I know it's kind of separating the player out but they need to dramatically rework that red zone offense in general. The best way to be, I think, is to get a guy with unbelievable stop, start quick so you can make someone miss even when you blow the play up by design. Just a play I really admire, I'm a slightly worried about the projection of being stripped out

the Liam Cohen offense because he is a little bit boom-bust. He is, I think, more of a one-track runner than a read-it-out and then plant and fire, which is what his kind of skills suggests he would be is like a read-it, read it, read it, and then explode. I think he's just better, but in a straight line. So I'm a little bit unsure about that with the Saints particularly, but he has all the juice in the world. And so at this stage of the draft, I think it's pretty good value.

And his numbers have been remarkably consistent. In three of his four seasons, he has at least 1,39 yards. He couldn't get one more yard last year. So I could have just said an even 1,400. And I think he's become more complete in being able to handle, like the inside runs and everything. and I do think he's a better player than he was.

Excuse me, as a rookie. Something bothers me a little bit about that Liam Cohen maybe didn't like love him. I don't know. There was always this vibe that Liam Cohen didn't love him. Why do you think that was? It's just got to be trustworthiness. That you just don't always know what you're getting. That you're such a creature and you're up till, you know, three in the morning

and you're not going to the kids dance recitals. And the point is to hit it through the B gap at this tempo and the guy's doing his own thing. always more cool with the artists, particularly that position. I'm good with it. It's like we're here to chase home run shots. I don't really care about the four yards. So someone like Travis H. and I think will always appeal to me more than guys who's like livelihoods are on the line. Yeah. And I think that could be like a very high ceiling saints offensive line if they can stay healthy and a good running game. So it could be a good situation. Again, they've got to stay

healthy. It is now time for the offseason ride along presented by Toyota. And I'm picking between two guys who I wanted to push up the board. Two of two of my favorites. And I'm just going to do it. If you look at Remandre Stevenson's profile, like last season, and granted his career has been up and down. I mean, especially his receiving, but in general, his like under the hood statistical profile would tell you like he's a top 10 runner.

He is top 10 in rush yards over-expected. He's top 10 in receiving yards over-expected. He led the NFL among running backs in EPA per target. Now there are a couple like big plays in there, but even if you strip that out, it's pretty high. He also had like the deepest yards per target of any running back and still had the highest catch percentage. And so you put that all into the mix,

and I just think he has a remarkably reliable pair of hands and was a great just bailout moment for Drake May during big plays. And look, he makes people miss. There aren't a ton of explosives or like jaw-dropping, you know, mistackles force plays. But when he's not fumbling the ball, there's a reason they gave him that money. The problem is it's been a little bit of an every other year thing for Remandre. And yet, I'm still betting on that just 20-25 Remondry is going to return for me.

And he can be prone to the fumbleitis, I think, which is where the up and down years come as he fumbles too much, they throw him off the field. But when he's on the field, I can agree with you more. He has one of the most fun running styles, I think, in the league. He's a real, like, rumble the way Henry is where you just kind of can't quite tell how quick he's going, he climbs through the line, there's kind of one stiff arm and then guys are just bouncing off him.

And then for someone of that style, which is like a between-the-tackles, powerful runner, with some breakaway speed, I think, when he's on the perimeter, to be one of the best vertical threat running backs in the league, even just the figures are ahead of guys like Bijan, like Jameer Gibbs,

the guys who are really electric. It almost doesn't make much sense, but the wheel route stuff, the seam route stuff, I mean, he is a remarkable route runner, which I just don't think you would expect in the profile, And part of why they drafted Henderson was like, we want to get more juice in the passing game out of the backfield.

And they found it more so in Stevenson. So you say you're going to go broke chasing the next Derek Henry. I think since you retired, all I've been doing is just looking for the next Frank Gore. That's my platonic ideal of a running back. And Ramandre is not that. But he is a great weapon in the receiving game. He is a complete guy who can turn a two into a four, I think pretty reliable. inside like a small area.

He's a complete guy. He is not Frank Gore, but he's the closest maybe I can get at this point in the draft. So I love him. And that was the off-season ride-along presented by Toyota. Because when people are the destination, your ride is important. Learn more at Toyota.com and find the vehicle that fits your people.

All right. I'm going to take Giovante Williams from the Cowboys. I love a rugged powerback. He is not dynamic. He's a between-the-tackles-thumbus. and guys, I think, just bounce often. And the legs keep churning. And there are some, I think, explosive runs last season

where you do see him get to a second or third year, but he is in there, I think, to just thump it between the tackles. And I was really impressed going back through his film and the past pro stuff. And it is not easy stuff. It's a pretty sophisticated, like maximalist past pro scheme. They have everything available to them at all times.

Dack changes it constantly. It's just a lot to try and sort through. And there are a few guys who, I mentioned before with Hampton, standing the A-gap, and we kind of bust the protections, a defensive tackle on the back. It's just not the way it's drawn up.

That happened to the Cowboys a bunch last season because they were changing the line so much. They had so much pre-snap communication. And the guy left to stand up against these big boys was Giovante Williams, and no one stoned those guys to the same degree he did. Blind spot in my evaluation is the pass pro. You know, I have a general feel.

Who's good, who's bad, this or that. All these, like, I feel. like a running back past protection maven obsessed it's almost all you care about and so uh no that it's great context of like why some of these guys would be higher next gen has a crazy stat which i wish i had i had written down a little more in depth but it's essentially a way to measure efficiency and giovante williams ranked number one in the way that that he ran for the fewest yards to get the most amount of yards so because

basically like you were talking about as a straight ahead runner and I think these were on inside runs that like there was the least amount of extra movement of like the total amount of yards that he traveled on the football field. Yeah. It was that he had the highest percentage of actual yards. There is no shooting out the back door or wiggle. It is a straight direct line. Throw your head onto the goalpost. If someone gets in your way, you run through them. There are a bunch of big runs which is just him running through arm tackles. The guys just try to. to reach out to him. They're trying to get off a blog. He's just really, really tough to bring down. And yeah, he is a getting the ball in the back field. We run through the A and B gap and throw your

nose onto the wall, the back of the end zone there. And he just takes it and does it. It's why running back is such a great position. I always think of Bomani Jones talking about when we were at the running backs don't matter peak of like, you're not going to tell me that running backs aren't cool. It's the coolest thing about football. And it is. Like they all express themselves in different ways. and even if financially they weren't like it's still cool. And there's so many different styles. You're going Giovante Williams 19. I'm going Jalen Warren 20.

They could not be any more different. There's so many different ways to be effective in the NFL. Warren and Remandre were the two guys that I was like, I'll probably end up having them in this draft because they're just two of my favorites in different ways. Warren, you know, the numbers do back it up. Like he led the entire NFL in percentage of runs where he made someone miss,

like in terms of a miss tackle, just happened. And you always wanted to see him, at least I did, with more volume. And he got that last year. And he still was just as effective. He's very good in the receiving game. He was third in receiving yards, over-expected. He's what, you know, you would call in the NBA, like, he's a bucket. You know?

He's Anthony Simons, bring him off the bench, and he's just going to get 20 points for you in like 15 minutes. It's not always going to be amazing, but he's a bucket. He was one of the only reliable bucket getters for the Steelers last year. They tried to build a lot of the plane out of him, Rogers and Arthur Smith did together. And I think he's a grittier runner than that style of player traditionally is. I think he is willing to kind of do some of the dirty work

between the tackles. He also has some of the best highlights of the season where, if you remember, he leapt a charge as defender in the open field. I can't remember exactly who that was. And then spent the next five weeks trying to replicate the highlight moment and yet doesn't quite get the elevation

you would expect to pull off the sequon and just throws his nut sack into the chest of Tyrick Stevenson and DJ Turner, week after week. It's like, we get a jailing unit once. It was cool. Let's put that on the shelf. Let's get back to running the ball. He absolutely runs like a guy who is thinking about the film room session where he can just

be like, did you see that? I think in his head, he's thinking about the podium from NFL films when he comes out to the Hall of Fame and it's all this leaping and spinning. I love that. I love the confidence. And it really has worked. He's had kind of an incredible career arc for where he was. and just the way that they've used them.

And yeah, he's not, I don't think he should be a guy that has 350 touches, but we're getting into the part of the draft where it can be guys who are sharing things and especially his value on passing downs. I loved him here. All right, let's take one more break. It's funny. We both had similar notes about like how there's a little bit of a cliff at some point. At least on my list, we haven't gotten there quite yet, but we are close.

I'm curious who are the final 12 running backs in this draft. I'm Luke Wilson. Join me each week for Film Never Lies. Since retiring from the NFL, I've had a lot of my mind, and now I've got my own show. So if you're tired of lazy takes, if you want honest conversations, join us each week. Film Never Lies available on all TSN platforms in the IHeartRadio app. Back on NFL Daily, wrapping up the week, exactly how I'd want to. Talking running backs.

Talking about, like, you know, part-time running backs, who can step up? We're up to number 21 on the list. Ali, who do you got? I'm going to take Quinn Sean Judkins from the Browns. I know that he's returning from a pretty bad injury. It's the same injury as Cam Scataboo, I guess. I just don't think the metrics do justice to what his rookie season was. I think we've spoken before about just the degree of violence that he runs with.

You just don't normally see out of rookie running backs. And if he was healthy, would you have taken... him over O'Marron Hampton, or do you dislike the juicy upside with Hampton? No, I think I would take Judkins, yeah. I said I had two more guys before just got to a group of players that I like in different ways, but could almost go in any order. And Judkins is one of those two, and the ultimate, like, you got to trust your eyes and not some of the numbers guy last year was Judkins.

The numbers weren't terrible, but some of the next-gen stuff isn't great, but just, he looks special to me like I would just off what I saw like I liked him better than Gentie I liked him better than Treveon Henderson I liked him better than Hampton And another play who's excellent in Passpro

if he can get onto the field To be on those passing downs So if he just played with a passable offensive line I think he would have had a completely monstrous Rookie season unfortunately he did not And in the end he actually got hit behind the line of scrimmage more than Gentie Like it was it was that bad

Like as bad as the numbers were for Gentie Jenkins ended up passing him in terms of just like a brutal condition. And I like that he's out there at OTAs. There's some optimism that he could be ready for the start of the season. That was a really serious injury, and yet we're just talking about 2026,

and that knocked him down, but I'm glad you provided that context. All right, my other guy in this tier, before I get to just kind of like the, hey, why not? Tony Pollard's just underrated. I can't let him be disrespected anymore. He has 1,250,

between 1,400 yards from scrimmage, for four straight seasons. So he's been very consistent in terms of the production. I think he, in Tennessee, has developed into just the ultimate, like, professional. He runs so damn hard.

He is tougher than he was when he entered the league. I want to give him credit for kind of building that armor up. It is a brutal position. And I think last year, his inside running, and there's a lot,

like, it was really good. Like, and it wasn't always the right, like, chance and you just knew what you're getting. He's obviously a guy that that can make a big play and make people miss in the receiving game and he did some of that. Maybe he's slowed down like the slightest bit, but just a really good back who's been asked to do too much on a terrible offense, but I don't want to punish him too much for that. And even he has slowed down slightly, I think he's become more scheme independent to make up for that. So the, you know, it's the first time

in his career radio last season. He's been a kind of under center between the town. Huckles, Thumper, and played really, really well. And he kind of is the pivot mark of, like, we think we could do slightly better, but it's kind of a reach to try and do bets. Like, do we draft Jeremiah Love? They had that on the table, potentially. They could have moved up for Jeremiah Love or whatever. But it's like, if you have Tony Pollard, you just feel comfortable. It's like, we'll address that down the line. We have Tony Pard. And I think for this season in particular, it's a really nice fit with Brian Dable. I still do love Tony Pallas or run from the gun guy, tons of vision to be able to see what's going on, make someone miss the first.

level and then rocket out of there. But he did prove last year he can be, I think, just a more dependable between the tackles guy. I just love guys with career arcs where they improve, they change. And that's part of my affection for him. Because if you had told me his first year or two that he'd kind of develop into this kind of run, and just so many times watching their games

are just taking them out. Just, man, he's tough as hell. And he was not that guy, and he kind of became that guy throughout his career. So it ended up being a good signing, one of the few that the Titans have made. for the agency over the last few years. This is where the draft really starts

getting interesting to me. Who do you got at 23? I'm going to take Bucky Irving. I understand there's the injuries, there's a shoulder, the foot, there's off-season surgery. When he played last season, was not as productive.

But his year with Liam Cohen, he looked like one of the most electric backs in all of football. And so I think that player is still in there. Maybe it's just being knocked out of him really quickly, but I think there's a potential for a bounce back to at least be that kind of home run hitting threat.

And on this list, if you told me who would leap to like 10 and just reminded you, oh, it was a down year and it was circumstances, the offense wasn't designed very well, there was injury concerns. I think Bukki-Eaven would be one of those guys. Well, you said you like the artistic type runners. I mean, Bucky Irving's like, he's Picasso out here. I mean, he's like all art, no, like, logic sometimes. And I think you can end up with some rough seasons maybe like last season.

and that was partly an injury. He is a smaller player, but there's no one quite like Bucky Irving, so I get it. I get it. I'm struggling here. Like there's the veteran guys who you know what you're getting,

and then there's the guys that make you feel something. And Bachel Tutin is that guy for me at 24. I don't care. He's got the juice. He's got the juice. His stats last year were crazy. I don't know what... Actually, I'm going to ask you what you think this stat means,

because it's not reflected, in Etienne's numbers. But running behind that Jaguar's offensive line, Tutin had almost exclusively had yards after contact. There was 301 of his 307 yards were after contact. By far the highest rate of anyone in the league. He still had like a high success rate and like made people miss.

A lot of missed tackles. I don't know what that means about him, but to me he does pass that eye test. And I think he can do a lot more. the Jaguar thinks so too. I think he can do a lot more. If you pull up like the 10 best runs this season, it's the most like exciting moment you've ever had in your life. I do think that he is really boom-bust. He outruns his, the mechanics and like the blocking assignments as much as any young back in the league. I think he really tries to be to invent it for his own good and thinks he's

playing on Saturdays again. He's by far the best athlete on the field. He's a pretty damn good athlete and he can get away with it more than the most people can. So I, go back and fall with him where I really do see the sizzle. I see the flashes. Maybe I look like a buffoon in a couple of years where he's one of the 10 best guys in the league and he's having like an A-chan type output. But the guys who overrun stuff, it's hard for them to kind of tempo down. Yes. And see, in my mind, I'm looking at him. I'm just like he would rank really high in the run hard rankings, which is a skill. I think running hard is a skill. You kind of need that out of a young running back. Like he better be running hard. But

he's really running hard. A lot of juice there. So we'll see if this pick ends up ridiculous. Because it went over some much more trustworthy veterans, but decided to take him off the board. Who you got at 25? Well, if we're just going with our hearts. I'm just going to throw my list down and take Kyle Menungai.

I don't care anymore. I adore him Anungai, me and Mrs. Menongai, the two biggest fans of Kyle's game. Downhill, powerful runner, moves the pile. Unbelievably smart and pass bro. Just as good as you'll ever see a rookie step, League understanding where he's supposed to be with some pretty tricky assignments.

So I think that will get him more and more time on the field. And if you just watch the Bengals game, he does have more juice. And I think the reputation is giving credit for, which is, oh, he's the seventh round guy. He came in. He played between the tackles. Then Swift was on the field. He gives them a little bit more acceleration off the snap. I think my own guy's got some second level juice that if he can get some more playing time,

we'll be able to see some more of. He was in my top 32. when he got to the line of scrimmage very quickly, I believe, or when he got to the line of scrimmage, his miles per hour were somehow top five in the league. So that kind of speed. Talk about running hard. That speaks to what you were talking about.

That one game where Swift was gone or maybe it was just one, but he had that game against the Bengals where he showed he could kind of be a primary back. Granted, it was against the Bengals, but he had 170-6 yards. It's not going to make you miss in the open field. Is it rude to not have taken Swift? Should we just take Swift back to back here? I think this is where I had. I actually had them slightly higher,

and then I just started picking, like, my beloved as you would say, because Swiss's never been my type of guy, and yet the argument for him is Ben Johnson backs him. I mean, he had him in two spots. They didn't kick him off the team last year. He ends up having outrageous numbers last year. He has the best numbers of anyone left, like cumulatively, but also per snap.

He had the second highest success rate of any running back out outside the tackles. You know, he's right at the top of the league in terms of, you know, yards before he gets contacted because he's not going to break a lot of contact. And that's the scheme and that's the system. But he's also a guy who fits that type of system well because of the juice he had. And I think he was more consistent last year than he's ever been. And I think it has been a slight just improvement the last two seasons, really, where you can

now kind of convince yourself, okay, he's settling in, maybe not like Tony Pollard exactly. but kind of settling into a more predictable portion of his career. Yeah, I agree with that. I had him higher on my list, and I recognize he's more talented than Calamunga. I just prefer Cala Menunga's style and his overall impact on the game. I thought with Swift last year what really stood out was he was just less dancey. Even with the Lions,

he would really dance behind the line of scrimmage, trying to find the perfect opening. I just thought he ran with way more intent, way more downhill burst last season, playing behind a really good line and a really good interior. So I don't see any reason why that would drop off. I think the drafts could have gone differently for them and then they could have possibly replaced him last year or this year.

But he had a big salary and it didn't happen in the draft last year and then they decided to keep him. And he still paid pretty high. And it's like actually no, kind of like you were mentioning with Pollard. They're like, we don't need to replace DeAndre Swift. Like we can have one of the best offenses in the league with DeAndre Swift as our leading rusher. So I think that that is worth something.

All right. Next up for you. stage of the draft. Do I do it? Well, now it's more like I just want to make sure some of these guys get drafted, and I think there's too many of my guys left, so it's going to be painful who gets left off. I'll take Judarian Price

for the Seahawks. He's going to be the lead ball carrier for them this season. I liked parts of his film in college. He's not, wasn't an every down player in college, but I do think he's got the juice to be a difference maker from the get-go. And so if you think back to last year's rookie class

and saying, okay, I just see special stuff without some of the rookies. Quinshan Jenkins, we mentioned. It just looks different. It looks a little bit special. I think Geron Price could have those flashes as a rookie. That totally makes sense to me. He's a more higher ceiling guy.

Like none of the veterans that I have left are like that. They're more just guys I want to, for the most part, give some love to. Like the total opposite is actually who I'm going to take next is Jordan Mason. Jordan Mason's underrated. You know, sometimes you need a back that you need four yards

and you block like three and a half, he's got to get you four and a half. You know, and he always ranks really high and miss tackles force, was third in the league last year, like in terms of per snap. To me, he's underrated. I like that they used them a little more

as a receiver. I didn't see any particular reason why that couldn't be the case unless he'd tell me he's horrible at blocking and he was better. And I like that there was kind of a one-to-one comparison with him and Aaron Jones and eyeball test and watching it. As much as I love Aaron Jones, I actually think that the numbers indicate Jordan Mason

was the better option compared to him a year ago. And to me, he's just kind of like a perfect respectable back to have on your team. He is perfectly respectable. I think it's a good pick. I know the rugged runner. I do like the rugged runners. He's, I think, more limited than some of the other backs. You mentioned some of the past pros of even the specific.

runs they use him on. It's like we're just going to use these six. That's where we think you're best. But his underlying metrics are always outstanding. So I think I don't see any reason why that would decline. That's a nice way of saying you wouldn't have taken him. All right, you're up next. Let's go with, I'll take David Montgomery. Yes, please. I don't want him to not get drafted. I am a little bit worried about a 29-year-old who's absolved that much punishment. He's changing teams to a team who's probably going to absorb even more punishment than he's dealt with before. But I just think back to the night

against the Ravens when Jumea Gibbs was out and he still showed to me that that was a starting caliber, heavy touch type back who can impact the game in multiple ways. And so I don't think he's even the most talented back on the Texans roster, but he is, as you say, a guy who you know what you're getting. A little Woody Marks

loves. I was thinking is Woody Mark's going to slide into the 32. We'll see. I wanted to make sure Montgomery or get drafted too. And he is someone I went back to watch some. And you know what? Like the numbers aren't incredible. His metrics are just close to average,

basically, in everything, which makes sense. But I don't think you can really evaluate what he adds to the team. First of all, as far as I can tell, like he's great in pass, bro. He is a versatile back. The ruggedness that he plays with. And I thought last year when I went back looking for a lack of juice, I was like, no, I think he still has a pretty good amount of juice.

And so I get why the Texans wanted him, at least for the low price, essentially, that they got him. So he's going to carry out all your assignments. I feel good about that. I want to go now with someone a little higher ceiling. Let's go to the guy that the Rams, you know, trusted and leaned on a little bit in the NFC championship game when they needed a little extra juice. I mean, Blake Corum, in terms of success rate, in terms of the high rate of explosives per run, was quite high. look, when the chips were down and they needed to try to get to the Super Bowl,

them trusting him as much as they did and him delivering mattered a lot to me. And so Quorum was one I wanted to just kind of make sure sneaks into the end of this draft because I think he's going to get better and better. Like the total touches are going to be limited because of Kyron, but I do think, I mean, they know how to spot him.

They have a type, Ollie, and they know how to find him. They do small but stout and tough to tackle, I think is the type. and they use them in different ways where Karen is a little bit more balanced, I would say. But in terms of the design of runs, they really do use Blake Quorum as more of the throwback Shaw McVeigh offense, all the wide zone stuff is where they bring him in. That is a three-reed type situation for a back, and I've been through the Rams offense last season. I found one misread all season for a back in Blake Corum.

That is just so impossible to do so. I think the smarts the next level, he's really shifty once he kind of climbs into the line of scrimmage and guys can't really see him. he just kind of can hesitate in the hole and then fire out of there. It's got the second gear and the third gear, as you mentioned. So I would not be at all surprised if as much as I like Karim Williams, that they would start having more of a share of the carries. There's so many backs I want to get drafted.

And we'll give a little quick honorable mention. But there's really two that I just wanted to give them the honor. There's only two spots left. Will Ali take one of my two backs? I'm rooting for you to do so so that they make the list. We'll find out. I know, there's so many backs I want to take, but I had a, um, uh, what was a bit of a bit of a lukewarm, getting towards hot, take, which is, I'm going to take Chris Rodriguez from the Jax.

Wow, that's fun. I think the interest from that staff is real in him having a ton more carries than anyone expects. He was actually with Liam Cohen when he was first the Kentucky OC. He is a doubles and single downhill grinding thumber. We just mentioned with Bay Shaltouten. That's more of the artist. He's a little bit out there.

Rodriguez is your meat and potatoes. We know what's happening. I've spent all night designing this stuff. Let's just get the ball downhill. And so I think Rodriguez, who got real money from the Jags, I think is going to be an actual feature part of their game. And if you go back through the commander's film, it's really, really impressive.

So I can see why they were so interesting in bringing him over. He is someone and they love analytics at the Jaguars. I'm not surprised if some of their numbers for him turned back really excellent because he is someone with the next gen numbers, whether it's rush yards per carry, whether it's success rate, just like a relatively complete back who excelled in a lot of different numbers. And so actually it does make sense that he goes here. So I have two like third downish e.

I have a lot of third downbacks. The two that I wanted to get taken here were Rashad White and Kenny Gainwell, who I just feel are both underrated. I'm going to give the team MVP, Kenny Gainwell, the honor of being our 30-second runner. I mean, there's only so many guys this late in the draft who was literally named team MVP on a team with many future Hall of Famers,

including a four-time MVP and a former defensive player of the year. And yet, who was the MVP of the team last year? It was Kenny Gainwell. There's only so many guys who was the primary ball carrier on an offense that scored over 30 points against the Chiefs in the Super Bowl? Like that's worth something.

They were counting on Kenny Gainwell in that game too. And he's a little better athletically, I think that people realize he actually had the fastest speed when he reached the line of scrimmage of any player in the NFL last season. So decisive.

He had the most targets because that's all Aaron Rogers knew how to do. Just a damn good player. No matter how good you think he is, he's always even like a little bit better and he keeps getting better. And so he's someone I just kind of wanted to give some flowers to at number 32. He's a damn good player.

He probably should have gotten higher than this. Honestly, I took a swing on Judarian price. I think you should comfortably be above that. My concern for him in terms of projection into 2026 is a lot of the production last season was in the passing game. And that is this Aaron Rogers, I don't want to get hit. What's the release valve? Let's get the ball to Kenny game. Well, Bacon Mayfield don't play that game.

Baker Mayfield will stand in. And so will you limit some of the receiving chops? Yeah, and his yards from scrimmage in general, I thought it would be nice to have some players like this who are role players. I mean, that's an important part of being a running back. If he goes back to, he's a 6 to 800 yards from scrimmage type of player, he, to me, is one of the best and most valuable in that role.

Who are some other role player type backs, like a Rashad White, who didn't make the list for you that you want to give some love to? Role player Kamani Vidal is a protecting back, outstanding, Who else didn't make my list? Are they role players? The one that hurts me the most is J.K. Dobbins. How well he ran through the first 10 weeks this season

and then another injury. And same with Zach Sharbonny. I really wanted to get them on, but just the injury concerns, I think, helped me back from taking them. Yeah, Tyler Al Juer is a guy who's always high in breaking tackle, just a big, tough guy. You kind of know what you're getting.

Rashad White, I had, for whatever reason, much higher on my actual rankings and then he didn't get ranked. I mean, he is a converted receiver, a running back who's actually good at receiving, who's excellent at blocking, and literally led the NFL in success rate for runners that had over 80 carries last year. And you are comparing him to Bucky Irving and even Sean Tucker,

and like his numbers per carry, per everything, were much better last year. So I think he had the best season of his career, he timed it well going into free agency. He is an asset. Like push comes to shove. Like, it's him or Gainwell? Like, I don't know if it was my team who I really take.

I just wanted to give Gainwell some love because I have affection to him. But Rashad White is absolutely valuable NFL player. I think he's a good indication of how running back salaries have gone up a little bit, where now you're actually paying these role players, like reasonable salaries as they should get, because I think he's a good one. The other guys I would mention you probably may feel dumb, leaving off the list projected lift

one would be R.J. Harvey with the Broncos. His tape, I thought, was really, really poor last season. It's a guy I really like coming out of the draft. And you can see,

I think, in them drafting Jonah Coleman trying to just bring more insurance policies into the building that they went through and like this is pretty brutal. But he still has

legit speed and he's a really good perimeter runner. So if they can maybe rework the offense slightly, I think he could have a big breakout. That'd be one.

Woody Marks would be another one. I'd just say, I'd buy into one. Woody Marks more than I think the most. I understand why they brought Montgomery and they wanted some more reliability, but I just think Marks has explosive play potential that should see him on the field ball.

Yeah, on my actual list, Dobbins was 33, Marx was 34, and yeah, you know, for all the people looking for the big names out there, Rico Dowdle didn't get drafted. Bill Kroski Merritt, I mean, a lot of juice, could be fun.

You know, yeah, Rico and Chuba Harvard, the Panthers' backs didn't quite get taken. Scataboo's coming off of an injury, which didn't help. And then I thought you were going to give some shout. I just wrote him down because he's one of my favorite role play. Like Ty Johnson is great at what he does. I'm not going to take him on this ranking, but just want to give Ty Johnson some love.

Ollie, it was fun. This is one of my favorite things we do every week. The fans have been enjoying it. NFL Daily 32. We will be back next week. I believe we're going to do some GMs with their friend Jordan Rodriguez. So that'll be fun. Get the torches out.

I know you were ready. I have the hottest of hottest takes. If people want to see NFL daily turn into first take for an afternoon, that will be the show to download. I would like that too. All right, let's hit the music. We will be back on Monday. Me and Shuk will be doing a news roundup after the weekend. We've got about three weeks left of OTAs in mini-camp season, and then we all just take a little break.

But we're not there yet. We've got some rankings to do. We will see you on Monday with Shub. This is an IHeart podcast, guaranteed human.