With the NFL Draft less than a month away, our College Football expert Thor Nystrom shares his official RB rankings. Read on for Thor’s player comps and analysis on the next crop of pro football running backs.
Thor Nystrom’s 2024 NFL Draft RB Rankings
6002/216 | RAS: 9.7
Player Comparison: DeMarco Murray
Trey Benson is the premier size/speed combination in this RB class, with 4.39 wheels at 216 pounds. Over the last two seasons at FSU, he proved to be a tackle-breaker and a solid receiver. He has the highest ceiling of any back in this class. But his evaluation also has a healthy amount of risk.
As a freshman at Oregon, Benson tore his ACL, MCL, lateral meniscus, medial meniscus and hamstring. He only played 14 snaps as a sophomore while returning from the injury. Benson then transferred to Florida State.
In his first year as a Seminole in 2022, Benson set the single-season Pro Football Focus (PFF) record for forced missed tackle rate, becoming the first collegiate RB in the PFF charting era with a forced missed tackle rate over 50%. Over the last two seasons, Benson ranked first out of 226 qualifiers in missed tackles forced per attempt. He was also 86th-percentile among RBs in missed tackles forced per reception.
Benson runs upright, like a sprinter. He doesn’t have the hip swivel to violently swerve at high speeds. For this reason, he doesn’t make many defenders miss in the open field. But Benson makes the first man miss in the hole with one-cut suddenness and can chug through arm-tackle attempts and keep his balance when jarred.
When he breaches the second level, watch out. Benson is a problem for smaller defenders in space — if you don’t go low to chop him down, he’ll lower his pads and turn into a speed-to-power wrecking ball. He was 96th-percentile in breakaway rate between 2022-2023.
Benson has shown exciting flashes as a receiver. You can line him up outside for a screen — Mike Norvell loves to do this with multi-purpose talents, and Benson proved to be one of those. He also has a knack for selling the play-action and quickly picking through garbage to get out into his route and make himself available to the quarterback. This skill will play up at the NFL level.
His tape features multiple examples of adjusting to the ball in the air and making the play. Benson has soft, reliable hands. He’s also a good pass-blocker, a rarity in this class, which should keep him on the field on passing downs.
The biggest issue I have with Benson is his vision and feel come and go. He can get tunnel-vision with his initial plan and miss opportunities to stick his foot in the dirt and jut into an alternate path that has opened, which has the effect of running him into contact prematurely.
This is an area of his game that has slowly improved from earlier in his career but it needs to keep getting better. For instance, I liked the instincts I saw of Benson denoting immediate pressure and immediately shifting to an alternate plan, often bouncing it outside.
However, there were also a myriad of instances of Benson doing so when it wasn’t necessary. In college, where he could outrun most defenders and barrel over smaller guys in space, this tendency didn’t come back to bite him — in fact, it was often rewarded. But the habit, if not addressed, will get him chewed out on NFL sidelines and eventually see him ceding touches to lesser-talented players.
Benson is not a perfect prospect. He has work to do. But he has the highest ceiling of any runner in this mediocre RB class, and is worthy of taking at some point in the latter half of the second round.
5104/210 | RAS: 9.8
Player Comparison: Tony Pollard
Jaylen Wright is a home-run hitter with speed and explosion for days. You cannot let him get out in space. Once there, his wheels will begin erasing defenders’ angles.
The speed Wright showed on the track in Indianapolis at the NFL Combine is all over his film. Wright was clocked at 22.2 miles per hour (MPH) on one run last year, the fastest of any collegiate running back. The former Feldman Freak Lister had 35 carries of 10+ yards on only 136 attempts — a tick over 25%.
In space, Wright is a problem. Fortunately, he has tools to help him get into it. That starts with his explosion from a stand-still. Over half of Wright’s total rushing yardage came on breakaways (designed runs that ended in 15+ yard gains). In sum, Wright ranked top-five in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) with a 7.4 yards per carry (YPC) mark.
Like many sprinter types, Wright is an upright runner, limiting his ability to string together change-of-direction combinations in space. However, he does a nice job pressing the issue with his speed, putting defenders to decisions and shaking them with a hard cut in space.
Wright doesn’t lose momentum off these cuts, which becomes a problem for back-end defenders who must drastically alter pursuit routes to account for his speed when his path alters. And, like Benson, another linear sprinter, Wright has good contact balance, particularly when hurdling down the field at high speeds. He bounces off glancing shots while keeping his feet. Wright posted a strong 132.2 elusive rating last season.
During last year’s breakout campaign, Wright improved by leaps and bounds in the passing game. He is still learning his feel for route-running and developing a smoothness for converting from a receiver to a runner. However, he displayed soft hands and an urgency to make himself available to the quarterback. He needs more work in this area but there is exciting untapped potential to develop.
Wright’s 2023 tape also showed strong improvement in pass-pro. Wright is a competitive player who doesn’t mind scrapping. He could become strong in this area with more work on his setup and technique.
Wright also did well in 2023 to address his fumbling problem. In 2022, Wright fumbled four times, which got his playing time cut. Last year, on an increased workload, he only fumbled once.
Wright comes out of Tennessee’s gimmicky spread offense and the standard caveats apply — he was in an ideal situation last year to leverage his strengths. It is easier to find space against light boxes, which is what he mostly saw.
He won’t be able to win with pure athleticism as often in the NFL as he did in the SEC. The instincts he has in space were not always apparent on inside concepts, where he could be swallowed up. He needs to work on improving his vision and plan in constricted spaces.
Wright enters the NFL fresher than most running backs in this class due to being a part of a committee at Tennessee. He only touched the ball 20 times in two collegiate games. It would probably be best to have him initially be part of a committee as he fleshes out his overall skillset.
Wright’s package of athleticism and all-purpose skillset give hope he could in short order develop into a long-term three-down back who generates explosive plays in both phases with regularity.
6003/216 | RAS: N/A
Player Comparison: Smaller Aaron Jones
Brooks spent his first two years on campus stuck behind Bijan Robinson and Roschon Johnson. Last summer, he beat out a pair of five-star prospects to win the RB1 role in Texas. Brooks proceeded to have his national coming out party, averaging over 140 scrimmage yards per game through the first 10 contests of the season.
Unfortunately, Brooks tore his ACL against TCU on November 11. That injury complicates his evaluation. Brooks enters the NFL with a 10-game sample of strong tape but without a pre-draft process.
Brooks has very good feet. His best trait is his slipperiness at his size. Brooks is capable of stringing together combinations of moves in space to evade defenders. He’s a smooth-moving glider.
Brooks punches the gas and reaches top speed very quickly when he sees his opening. He can capitalize on openings by threatening them instantaneously with his upfield explosion. Quicker than fast, Brooks is the type of runner who profiles to hit a bunch of doubles but not many dingers at the next level.
He typically makes good decisions behind the line but there are instances of Brooks pressing the issue prematurely instead of working with his offensive line to set up blocks.
Brooks has very good body control and can force off-angle and arm-tackle attempts he can run through. But he’s dead-to-rights on direct contact with form. Brooks weighed in at 216 pounds during the pre-draft process but was listed at 207 at Texas. I expect him to play at a weight closer to his Texas listing.
You’d like to see him be a bit more aggressive into contact, or plunge into the muck with leg drive more often to take the yards available to him instead of always hunting for that opening to exploit into the second level — sometimes those openings never develop and he’s swallowed up still searching for it.
Perhaps improvement will come in the instinct department with more experience. Remember, Brooks only started 10 full games in college. But, at present, this is an area of his game that might initially frustrate his NFL coaches as it will lead to drives getting behind the sticks too often for comfort at the NFL level.
Brooks is usable on passing downs but may not be a value-add early on. He has reliable, soft hands, but is not a dynamic receiver out of the backfield capable of running a full complement of routes. In pass-pro, Brooks has shown to be willing but needs work on his technique. He can get in trouble when he tries to lunge into pass-rushers coming downhill, leading to whiffing the target.
Brooks said earlier this month that he’s ahead of schedule in his recovery and will be ready for NFL training camp in late July. He’s a top-three back in this class but, in my opinion, he doesn’t offer the ceiling of the two runners ranked ahead of him.
5086/220 | RAS: 8.57
Player Comparison: Rashard Mendenhall
It wouldn’t surprise me if MarShawn Lloyd turned out to be this class’ best running back. It also wouldn’t surprise me if he ended his career outside the top 10 in rushing yards. My final grade on him is more splitting-the-baby than a true stand.
What I love: Tantalizing combination of make-you-miss and power. Changes directions suddenly and returns to top gear in a few steps. Runs mean. Thick lower body is a loaded spring that snaps arm tackle attempts. A fighter who doesn’t quit on a run until the whistle blows, fighting for extra yards until the end. Good balance — ricochets away from off-angle attempts and keeps trucking. Big-play threat with 4.4 wheels. Shows adequate patience approaching the line of scrimmage and is emphatic once he makes his decision. Has a good sense for cutback lanes.
What I’m unsure about: Lloyd’s passing game utility is theoretical. When we spoke to him at the Senior Bowl, Lloyd mentioned he wanted to show evaluators his receiving ability because his collegiate offenses didn’t use him as much as a receiver. He caught only 34 balls over his three active seasons. Lloyd did show flashes of receiving skill on tape but he simply wasn’t used enough in this phase to make a referendum either way. Lloyd succeeded in his aim to impress as a receiver in Mobile, creating separation in one-on-ones and catching everything thrown his way. Then again, those were not game conditions. Additionally, Lloyd’s pass-blocking utility remains an unknown. He was rarely asked to do it in college — less than 100 reps over three seasons — and was hit-and-miss in the small sample.
Areas of concern: Lloyd only touched the ball 325 times in college despite spending four years on campus. He was never the bell cow. Lloyd’s freshman year at South Carolina in 2020 was lost to a torn ACL. He was eased back as the RB3 behind Kevin Harris and ZaQuandre White the next year. White missed four games due to a quad contusion in 2022. Last season, he missed one game with an undisclosed injury and then opted out of the bowl game. It’s hard to project him as a three-down back when he’s never been one before and has durability concerns. As a runner, Lloyd needs to be coached out of a bad habit of excessive outside bouncing hunting for explosive runs. Lloyd’s lateral agility and long speed are both strong. Because of that, his prerogative is to swing from the heels. But he too often turns down singles — the available yards in front of him — trying to hit dingers. He also fumbles far too frequently, with eight career fumbles over 360 carries. Lloyd must button up his ball security.
Final word: Lloyd’s evaluation has a wide band of outcomes. If he stays healthy in the NFL, improves his ball security, hones his behind-the-line instincts and becomes the receiving threat he has flashed in small samples, he’ll be an NFL difference-maker. The more likely outcome is that he settles in as a low-level starter or strong complementary back. But there’s also bust potential if health and ball security are persistent issues at the next level.
5011/209 | RAS: 9.77
Player Comparison: Miles Sanders
For the first four years of Tyrone Tracy’s career, I watched every snap he took live. This was back when he was an Iowa Hawkeye wide receiver. He was an incredible athlete and a gifted playmaker who needed work as a route-runner. Still, after the 2021 NFL Draft, I said Tracy was a better pro prospect than fellow Iowa WRs Ihmir Smith-Marsette (Round 5) and Brandon Smith (top-15 UDFA bonus).
Tracy justifiably felt he wasn’t being used enough — and perhaps developed sufficiently — in Iowa’s pass-averse offense, so he transferred to Purdue. The Boilermakers had the inspired decision to shift Tracy to running back.
Tracy flashed in a platoon role for a bad Purdue team this past season, with an 88.0 PFF grade. Particularly impressive about Tracy’s tape — for a guy so new to the RB position — was his natural feel for running. His 163.5 elusive rating and 4.44 yards after contact per attempt were both the highest of my top 30 RBs in this class.
Tracy is a bouncy, juiced-up, wide-based slasher with better vision and instincts than expected. He runs with tempo and has a knack for timing cutbacks to free himself into open grass. These skills play as a returner.
Between that and his 4.48 wheels, Tracy piled up more explosive runs last year per carry than he had any business accruing on a dead-end Boilermaker outfit. Tracy has good core strength and consistently absorbs off-angle shots without losing momentum — that and his wide base lead to very good contact balance.
Here was the odd thing about the former receiver’s tape: While his rushing tape blew me away, his 2023 pass-catching tape was mostly a snooze-fest. That isn’t necessarily his fault. Purdue’s first-year staff had a risk-averse offense devoid of creativity. The vast majority of Tracy’s targets came on offshoots of the same play: Fake a hand-off one way and immediately throw a swing pass to Tracy in the other direction.
This comically straightforward concept hung Tracy out to dry, with flowing defenders in his wake immediately after he caught the ball. Most of Tracy’s other targets were under-duress dump-offs, which allowed him no more freedom. His NFL team would be wise to allow him to spread his wings more in this area.
Tracy enters the NFL as a 24-year-old sixth-year senior. While this theoretically caps his upside a bit, it also must be said that he has untapped upside at his new position and more tread on his tires than most prospects in this class — Tracy had only 259 scrimmage touches in college. In a down RB class lacking in upside, Tracy is a highly intriguing sleeper.
5076/205 | RAS: 8.24
Player Comparison: Devin Singletary
Blake Corum went ballistic for 1,463 rushing yards in 2022 despite tearing the meniscus in his left knee on Nov. 19 against Illinois. Were it not for that injury, he may have entered last year’s draft.
Corum handled an even bigger workload in 2023 but wasn’t as efficient, perhaps still feeling the after-effects of the injury, with his YPC dropping from 5.9 to 4.9. Still, he rushed for 1,245 yards and an incredible 27 TDs during Michigan’s title run.
Corum has a bowling ball build. And like the break of a spinning bowling ball, he has very good lateral agility. More skilled than physically gifted, Corum’s patience and vision almost always have him making the correct decision behind the line.
Though he categorically lacks long speed — he’ll get chased down from behind on the instances he reaches open field — Corum has a very quick accelerator he punches emphatically once he sees his opening. He has arm-tackle-breaking muscle in addition to evasive agility to make the first man miss.
He wasn’t used much as a receiver at Michigan the past two years. In instances he was, though, he was shown to be a reliable outlet receiver with soft hands who converts the looks he’s given. Better pass-blocker than you’d think at his size. More than willing to scrap, recognizes where the danger is coming from and gets wide and low in front of it. Larger defenders in the NFL will run him over but he’ll make them work for it.
Corum’s lack of elite attributes caps his upside but he’ll be a valued contributor early. He’s a high-floor, medium-ceiling prospect who figures to go in round three.
5077/213 | RAS: 8.81
Player Comparison: Jaylen Warren
Kimani Vidal is another prospect off the bowling-ball-build assembly line. He’s also a favorite of mine and one of my flagplants in this class. For a guy with nearly 90th-percentile athleticism and 4,000 rushing yards in the FBS, he’s criminally underrated.
Vidal has a battering-ram style, low to the ground and hard-charging. He packs a surprising amount of power into his sawed-off frame, particularly once he’s begun accelerating. Very good contact balance — Vidal bounces off off-angle attempts and continues upfield.
Comfortable running between the tackles despite his frame. Vidal faced myriad stacked boxes in college as opponents attempted to stop him. Does not have joystick agility in space but Vidal is shifty and bouncy in tight quarters and is tough to square up. Vidal’s combination of agility and power led to 92 broken tackles in 2023, second-most in the nation. Tackle-breaking machinations include a nasty stiff-arm in space.
Proved he could handle bell-cow usage with over 300 touches last season. A tough, assignment-sound pass-blocker. He’s also a decent receiver who had either 22 catches or 200 receiving yards in all four years on campus. Showed slick route-running chops at the Senior Bowl.
Vidal is an underrated back who, like his doppelganger Jaylen Warren, could form a fabulous combo back. Warren also finished No. 2 in the FBS in forced missed tackles in his final season in college.
6002/218 | RAS: 9.0
Player Comparison: Tyler Allgeier
Isaiah Davis was the tone-setting bell cow for South Dakota State’s dominant 15-0 FCS championship in 2023. Ludicrously productive — 4,461 yards and 49 TDs on 7.0 YPC over 45 games. Different sort of back than Pierre Strong, the last Jackrabbit back to get drafted. Davis is a one-cut power back with the agility to slalom around the line of scrimmage. Exceptional contact balance — barely phased by off-angle attempts. Smaller defenders slide off him like a cartoon. He broke 78 tackles last season and 73 in 2022. I admire Davis’ patient approach behind the line. This, along with his smooth movement and tackle-breaking power makes him an extremely efficient between-the-tackles and short-yardage runner. Davis lacks home-run speed and won’t provide an explosive element. As a receiver, he’s improved, but that area of his game needs more work. The same could be said for pass-pro, an area SDSU didn’t ask much of him in college. Davis’ meat-and-potatoes efficiency provides a reasonable floor. He could surprise in the NFL in the right situation.
6012/235 | RAS: N/A
Player Comparison: Rashad Jennings
Braelon Allen is a big back who may have missed his era. Played in two vastly different schemes in college — first, Wisconsin’s classic I-formation power-run scheme and then Phil Longo’s spread offense out of the shotgun. Appreciate his light feet for his size — he’s not a plodder. But he’s also, frustratingly, not a bulldozer-type who naturally leverages his size and power advantages. Too often, Allen gets cute and attempts to evade in the open field instead of taking the shortest path possible and running over smaller defenders in the open field. His upright style makes it easier in those scenarios to chop him down. My bigger issue is his vision. Allen doesn’t have a natural feel for finding space or following his blocks. Too often, he gets tunnel vision and misses a cutback lane or outright barrels into the back of a blocker. In the passing game he’s proven he can be a dump-off guy… but no more. He’ll corral the ball as the check-down guy and go down shortly thereafter. Disappointingly unreliable in pass-pro to this point. He’ll mix it up but becomes a flailing matador with a rickety base under him. It’s a little concerning he didn’t athletically test during the pre-draft process. Allen just turned 20, so more improvement may be coming.
6000/221 | RAS: 9.97
Player Comparison: C.J. Prosise
Size/speed freak who flashed some receiving chops in 2023. Never more than a complimentary platoon guy at Wisconsin and then Louisville. Though he also had great agility showings at the NFL Combine, Isaac Guerendo’s tape shows a north/south athlete looking for a runway to the end zone to sprint straight down when he gets the ball. I’d like to see more creativity with the ball in his hands to play up his natural athleticism. Intriguing sleeper with plenty of tread on his tires.
5090/192 | RAS: 2.13
Player Comparison: Theo Riddick
Efficient air back with very good feet. Slippery. Makes the first guy miss. Very good contact balance — a good form tackle is taking him down, but he ricochets away from off-angle attempts. Solid burst but categorically lacks long speed. Good receiver — will have to make his living there in the NFL. Terrible pass blocker — doesn’t have the frame for it. Bucky Irving overcame his lack of measurables in the Pac-12 to become one of college football’s best backs. Will he be the Kyren Williams exception? Or become part of the larger sample when it comes to small, unathletic backs at the next level?
5097/206 | RAS: 8.74
Player Comparison: Danny Woodhead
As a runner, Dylan Laube lacks the power to break tackles. At the next level, his speed and burst won’t be sufficient enough to make up for that. But, man, is he a smooth receiver. He gets into his routes quickly and has a fluidness to him along his path. Snaps off the breaking routes clean and with little advanced warning. Will threaten down the sidelines with haste on wheel routes if you aren’t careful. One differentiator between him and many other collegiate backs is Laube won’t break his momentum catching the ball if you lead him. He seems to accelerate through the catch process. Very good balance and body control. Laube will be a specialist in the NFL but he’s going to catch a metric ton of balls.
5113/221 | RAS: 6.52
Player Comparison: Benny Snell Jr.
Straightforward north-south power back. Audric Estime was extremely effective muscling between the tackles in Notre Dame’s power-run concepts, posting a 94.2 PFF grade last year. But even though he’s still only 20, I’m tepid on his NFL projection because he lacks speed and explosion (4.7 forty) and won’t be a factor on passing downs. His skill set, unfortunately, is replaceable at the next level.
5083/211 | RAS: N/A
Player Comparison: Ke’Shawn Vaughn
Bowling ball-back with some juice. Spent the beginning of his career as the bell cow on terrible Temple and Vanderbilt teams, consistently ganged up on. Has worked on his body since then and has more burst to show for it. Perhaps because of his formative years behind bad lines, Ray Davis has honed a strong field vision. At Kentucky, he was adept at hitting cut-back lanes into open grass and punching the gas. Does a nice job of following block progression to take at minimum what is given to him on any given play. A fighter on the field who is always contorting forward for the extra yard. He runs with his knees bent and a heavy leg churn, staying low to the ground and giving defenders a small surface area to hit. Davis has improved enough as a receiver that he could now be called decent in that area. He’s got work to do in pass-pro, however. Davis profiles as an RB2 at the next level.
5084/202 | RAS: 3.19
Player Comparison: Tyler Badie
Broke out in 2023 in a zone-heavy scheme that accentuated his strengths — vision and one-cut oomph. Nice tempo to his style. Patient to allow blocks to develop, urgent when the opportunity arises. Athletically-limited never-say-die grinder. Not going to hit any home runs in the NFL. Runs low to the ground and keeps his leg churning. Doesn’t have a ton of natural power and isn’t a bulldoze but breaks arm tackles and off-angle attempts. Agility is mediocre overall outside of the one-cut path changes. Cody Schrader’s receiving skill opened eyes at the Senior Bowl. Schrader could improve his odds of staying on the field if he brought the same junkyard dog attitude he does to running the ball into pass-pro. That aspect of his game needs work.
5110/206 | RAS: 9.68
Player Comparison: Eric Gray
A master-of-none type who will have to make it as a pass-catcher and special-teamer at the next level. Will Shipley tested well athletically at Clemson’s Pro Day, perhaps salvaging his stock after a down 2023 season. The issue with Shipley is that he doesn’t project to ever be his team’s best early-run runner. Also, he categorically cannot pass-block. For a player of that type, he needs to be an outstanding receiver — he hasn’t been, never breaching 1.00 yards per route run (YPRR) and dropping five balls the past two seasons.
5104/210 | RAS: 7.28
Player Comparison: Tashard Choice
Holds some intrigue as a back around threshold size with proven receiving utility who can break tackles. Michael Wiley was oft-injured in college and has a medical red flag on draft boards around the NFL. He’ll also have to answer why Arizona began slashing his touches during its breakout 2023 season.
5112/206 | RAS: N/A
Player Comparison: Zonovan Knight
Didn’t have the same bounce or burst in 2023 after missing most of the 2022 season to tend to a mental health issue. Over the past two seasons, Rasheen Ali has been a station-to-station back who gets what’s blocked for him, but not much more. Ali has never been much of a pass-blocker and he’s a mediocre receiver, so passing-down utility is severely limited. He fumbled five times and ran with less oomph in 2023, leading one to wonder how much efficiency he’ll provide in the low-value role he’s destined for. Further, after rupturing his biceps tendon at the Senior Bowl, Ali isn’t expected to be cleared to return to work out until some point this summer — the longer end of his timeline would essentially wipe out him being ready for training camp.
The Best of the Rest
19. Frank Gore Jr. (Southern Mississippi)
5075/201 | RAS: N/A
Player Comparison: Sincere McCormick
20. Dillon Johnson (Washington)
5115/217 | RAS: 5.72
Player Comparison: Rex Burkhead
21. Kendall Milton (Georgia)
6014/225 | RAS: 7.99
Player Comparison: Hassan Haskins
22. George Holani (Boise State)
5103/208 | RAS: 8.25
Player Comparison: Rico Dowdle
2024 NFL Mock Drafts
Here are a few early predictions for the 2024 NFL Draft. We’ll continue to add our 2024 NFL Mock Drafts leading up to the start of Round 1.
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | SoundCloud | iHeartRadio
