No, the running backs were selected in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, so it’s a challenge to determine which running backs will be the most effective as rookies.
In what was largely considered a “bad” running back class, the 2024 class as a whole featured a diverse collection of talented running backs who simply didn’t carry much hype into the Draft in April.
These are the five runners who will be most productive in the first year.
Honorable mention: Jonathan Brooks, Panthers
I wasn’t as high on Brooks as most others, but landing only behind Chuba Hubbard, who had over 900 yards in 2023 but averaged less than 4.0 yards per rush, is pretty favorable for the former Texas running back who saw his Last season in Austin was cut short due to a torn knee ligament.
There is a chance that Carolina will slow play Brooks early in his NFL career, due to the injury and the fact that he is only 21 years old, which bodes well for his long-term future with the Panthers. . I like Brooks. He didn’t love him as a prospect, and he’s running behind a retooled offensive line that may take a while to gel before he starts paving big lanes for Carolina’s ball carriers.
The Packers made one of the strangest running back decisions of the offseason, allowing Aaron Jones to leave in free agency, eventually signing with the Vikings, instead of paying Josh Jacobs two years after his 340-try season. and 1,653 yards (both led the league and coming on the heels of his 2023 in which he averaged 3.5 yards per rush. Now, Jacobs is just 26 years old and playing on a contract worth $14 million per year, you can write it in permanent marker like Green Bay. bring back to start the season.
However, I don’t think the money will make him the best permanent player in the Packers backfield in 2024. Lloyd is a weird guy. He’s one of the best running backs out there (he’s under 5’7″ and 220 pounds at the Combine), but interestingly, the former South Carolina and USC running back doesn’t have a game based on pure power. In fact, last year with the Trojans, his forced missed tackle rate was a whopping 40.8% on 115 carries. As the season progresses, watch as Lloyd begins to earn more of the carries in what should be a fantastic Packers offense.
4. Tyrone Tracy, Giants
In 2021, Tracy was a mediocre receiver at Iowa. Now he’s an exciting Day 3 pick at running back on a Giants team that has Devin Singletary as the primary running back heading into the 2024 season. Don’t get me wrong that phrase: I love Singletary. He was my RB1 in the class of 2019 and has quietly averaged 4.6 yards per carry in his NFL career to date with at least 150 carries in his first five pro seasons.
But I get that he’s not a true game-winner at this stage of his career, though he is coming off a 216-carry season in Houston in 2023. Tracy has the dynamic linear athleticism that Singletary doesn’t, as evidenced by his 4.48 speed and 40-inch vertical leap at the Combine in March. In fact, Tracy’s dynamic physical talent and Singletary’s lateral brilliance will make for a fun running back tandem in the GM’s backfield *if* the Giants can actually block for their running game.
Irving was one of those running backs (or prospects in general) who looked significantly more athletic on the field than his combine workout indicated. And while a 29.5-inch vertical at 5-9 and 192 pounds is concerning, he ran a very respectable 4.55 with a 1.54 10-yard split that put him in the 68th percentile at the position over the past 25 years at the combine.
And I love his resemblance to Rachaad White, Tampa Bay’s No. 1 running back. Instead of Irving acting as a genuine complement to White, he can step in to spell White and provide the same pass-catching specialty for Baker Mayfield and Co.
Not only was Irving easily one of the most elusive running backs in the 2024 class, but he was also a major stat compiler as a receiver with 87 catches for 712 yards and five touchdowns through the air in his final two seasons with the Ducks. So he can’t jump very high and is a bit smaller than teams have traditionally liked to have. Good. But it’s nearly impossible to corral Irving in space, and much like White in 2023, when he caught 64 passes, the rookie can be a useful pass-catching asset in Tampa Bay.
Taking Vidal in Round 6 was a very cautious, Ravens-style draft pick made by former Baltimore assistant general manager and current Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz.
Vidal didn’t have to be available at pick No. 181, given how brilliant he was at Troy and his pre-draft performance. On 869 carries for the Trojans, Vidal had a forced missed tackle rate just above 26%, impressive for such a high volume. In 2024, he forced 94 missed tackles on 295 carries: 31.8%.
He’s just under 5-8 and a compact 217 pounds with 4.46 speed and a 37.5-inch vertical burst that’s NFL-starter-caliber. He runs with outstanding vision between the tackles, necessary contact balance and deft lateral cutting skills. And, just quickly, off the top of your head, tell me who the starting veteran running back is with the Chargers now that Austin Ekeler is playing for the Commanders. Exactly. Vidal will win a lot of fantasy championships in 2024 as a late-round pick who puts together a fantastic rookie season in Los Angeles in a complex, run-heavy offense.
If you ask me, Benson was criminally underrated during the pre-draft process, and I’m guessing the reason is that he was never an undisputed workhorse at Florida State, which should have been a plus in his draft profile. Benson was never the 250-plus carry prodigy that was hyped like, say, Breece Hall was at Iowa State a few years ago. But of course, his subpar mileage is a positive for the NFL.
What can’t be debated about Benson is his ability to elude others. In his final 300 college carries, across those two seasons with the Seminoles, the Oregon Duck prior to his transfer forced 124 missed tackles, which equates to a forced missed tackle rate of 41.3%. Using Hall as a reference again, he forced 139 missed tackles in his last 531 carries in the Big 12.
Additionally, Benson has the size of a standout running back, standing at 6’3″ and 210 pounds, and he hits home runs at a speed of 4.39 seconds. He joins a Cardinals backfield led by underrated running back James Conner and not much else. As good as Conner was in Arizona last season (over 1,000 yards at 5.0 yards per drive), he is now 29 years old and has 1,125 NFL carries to his name. Benson is an incredibly balanced, reasonably powerful and deceptively fast upright runner who will be the most productive rookie in 2024.
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