• Saquon Barkley, Josh Jacobs headline the free-agent class: That duo represents a pair of elite running backs in their prime. Neither player is older than 27, and each has demonstrated elite NFL play at various points in their career and is an every-down weapon.
• Any back could emerge as RB1 in the 2024 NFL Draft: From Texas' Jonathon Brooks to USC's MarShawn Lloyd, the running back class is difficult to decipher.
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Running back is still one of the most glamorous positions in the NFL, even as its value has plummeted in recent years. The market for the position has almost collapsed, and yet we still throw all of our focus on players who show up with impressive seasons.
Last year, Christian McCaffrey won Offensive Player of the Year, and names like De’Von Achane, Jahmyr Gibbs and Isiah Pacheco were constant points of discussion throughout the 2023 season.
So where will teams turn this offseason if they need an upgrade in their backfield or are simply looking to go in a new direction rather than commit to a big-money contract?
Best 2024 NFL Free Agents
- Saquon Barkley (No. 30 in PFF’s Free Agency Rankings)
- Josh Jacobs (31)
- Derrick Henry (32)
- Tony Pollard (56)
- Austin Ekeler (57)
- D’Andre Swift (104)
- J.K. Dobbins (129)
- Devin Singletary (130)
- Gus Edwards (131)
- AJ Dillon (134)
The 2024 NFL offseason is something of a referendum on the value of running backs in today’s game. The Giants didn't place the franchise tag on Saquon Barkley, so he will hit the open market, along with potentially Josh Jacobs from the Raiders.
That duo represents a pair of elite running backs in their prime. Neither player is older than 27, and each has demonstrated elite NFL play at various points in their career and is an every-down weapon.
The problem is each has also shown seasons where none of it mattered because the situation around them was bad enough that they simply couldn’t move the needle. In the past, each would have broken the bank, but it will be interesting to see what their contracts end up being this year.
Derrick Henry is a different case. Almost 30 years old, Henry is a walking red flag in terms of the perils of paying an NFL running back big money. He has more mileage on the clock than any other back in the league when you factor in his college and high school careers, and yet he has always been an exception in the NFL. Some team will likely pay him a solid contract for a couple of years and gamble that he will remain a unicorn to whom the “rules” simply don’t apply.
Tony Pollard and Austin Ekeler are both players coming off seasons that did not enhance their value, but can each be extremely an effective weapon and may represent an excellent buy-low opportunity.
Best 2024 NFL Draft Prospects
- Jonathon Brooks, Texas (PFF Big Board Rank: 55)
- Jaylen Wright, Tennessee (69)
- Trey Benson, Florida State (82)
- Blake Corum, Michigan (93)
- Bucky Irving, Oregon (106)
- Audric Estime, Notre Dame (113)
- Ray Davis, Kentucky (116)
- MarShawn Lloyd, USC (119)
- Will Shipley, Clemson (130)
- Braelon Allen, Wisconsin (134)
The narrative is that this running back class is a bad one. There is no Bijan Robinson or Jahmyr Gibbs in this year's group, and we likely won’t see a back come off the board until the second round at the earliest.
It is, however, a sneaky talented group and one that will likely surprise people once they step foot on an NFL field.
It would be easy to construct an argument that any one of half a dozen players is the best back in this class. There is very little consensus on who is the best. Jonathon Brooks from Texas is many people’s top player available, but he is coming off a serious knee injury and, for a position where teams expect instant impact, that alone might drop him below other players.
Jaylen Wright from Tennessee had an outstanding NFL Scouting Combine, running a 4.38-second 40-yard dash that saw him register an extremely impressive tracking speed after five yards. Wright’s explosiveness and burst are a perfect fit for the current trend in the NFL, which includes Gibbs, Achane, Raheem Mostert and Keaton Mitchell before injury all looking like impact playmakers.
Even going as far down the rankings as MarShawn Lloyd from USC reveals a player who could be the best back in the class. Lloyd averaged 7.1 yards per carry in USC’s offense last season, with almost four yards after contact per carry, but the question he has to answer is what that will look like detached from Lincoln Riley’s offense that generated him so much space at the line of scrimmage.
There may be no superstar prospect in this draft, but there are a lot of solid options who vary in style for any NFL offense that needs to get younger and cheaper at the position.
Best RBs Available Via Trade
- N/A
Running backs on the open market can’t even get what they consider fair deals for their services. No team is trading for one.
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