Windy City Gridiron
The RB class is elite this year. Here are Bryan’s takes on the top ten, who he would compare their running styles to, and if he thinks they’re a fit for Chicago.
In what many are considering one of the greatest draft classes for running backs of all time, if not THE greatest, I have already caught slack for not including guys like DJ Giddens, Dylan Sampson, Damien Martinez, Brashard Smith, LeQuint Allen, etc., in this top 10. I get it. They are each studs and have a better-than-decent chance to make an impact in the league. Some pundits are even projecting as many as 10 starters will come from this class. But one name undeniably, unequivocally, consistently and universally stands above the rest. One name that has not once been disputed as the top RB.
Ashton Jeanty.
What excites me most about the well-traveled every-down back is how his game has evolved. As a true sophomore, Jeanty was on my radar as more of a 3rd down/receiving/scat-back type of player. With 43 catches, 569 yards, and 5 TDs through the air. This was in addition to his 220 rushing attempts for 1,347 yards and 14 TDs on the ground, of course. Come to find out, Jeanty played some slot receiver in high school, so it makes perfect sense why Boise State leaned on him so much in the passing game early on in his career.
And then 2024 happened.
We have all heard by now how epic of a run Jeanty had en route to being narrowly edged out for the Heisman Trophy, but here are just a few eye-opening numbers that I have since learned.
You read that last one right. He had more yards the last two seasons after contact than all but 3 RBs in the country. That is insane. Jeanty was met at or behind the line of scrimmage 347 times at Boise State, and he gained 1,487 yards on those runs, resulting in 1,099 yards gained, which made him the first RB ever to top 1k yards on runs where he was met at or behind the line of scrimmage. Courtesy of Jacob Gibbs @jagibbs_23.
Much is said about the subpar conference Boise State plays in. Certainly, the Mountain West conference is not known for its blue-chip talent on defense. The other side of that coin is that it’s also not full of talent on the offensive side, either. Not a single offensive player on Boise State, other than Jeanty, was invited to the combine. The teams of the other top RBs on my list (Ohio State, North Carolina, and Iowa) have a combined 8 other offensive players who were invited to the combine other than the RBs. Be it a road-grading blocker or a weapon softening the defense in the run game, additional threats only help lessen the load of the running back. Jeanty had no such support and will not only be the first RB taken,...
