The 5 Best Running Backs In 2021 NFL Draft

The running back class has three especially strong prospects plus two others who are likely to be good. The high end of this year’s running back class might be as good a three-player group as the running back position has seen in recent years. It’s not a case in which there is only one home-run-level running back and then a bunch of lesser players.

Najee Harris, Alabama

Travis Etienne and Javonte Williams are great NFL prospects, so let’s not downgrade them. However, Najee Harris is better. Etienne is a great straightforward runner and Javonte Williams is slippery, but Harris might be the complete package. If you watched Alabama play Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff semifinals, you saw Harris hurdle a Notre Dame defender in a spectacular display of athleticism. Harris is smooth yet lethal. He can make defenders miss, but he can also drive right through them. Harris knows when to dance around and wait for a block to unfold, but he is also great at going straight ahead and getting six yards when that is the most any running back could have gained on a specific carry. Harris is worth taking late in the first round, even though many draft experts say it’s never worth it to take a running back that early.

Travis Etienne, Clemson

The other elite back in this class is Etienne, who stayed for a fourth season at Clemson and has fully polished skills. Clemson remained a national powerhouse because Etienne was a supremely dependable back in fourth-and-short and third and two situations. He could always be counted on to get tough yards. He could catch passes. He could run between the tackles or outside them. Etienne is very rugged – he doesn’t go down easily and his leg drive keeps the pile moving when a lot of bodies surround him and try to drag him down. The main concern is that by playing another year of college, he will have absorbed more of a pounding, but for at least the first five years of his NFL career, he is going to be a very productive player.

Javonte Williams, North Carolina

The North Carolina offense was a lot of fun last season, and no player was more fun than Williams. He has elite speed in open space. He can separate from defenders. He can catch passes out of the backfield and crucially make the first defender miss, which is a must at the NFL level. Williams could also run between the tackles. He has a clear talent for being able to bounce off the first tackle and get many added yards after contact. He is shifty but also sturdy. He brings a lot of different qualities to a football team and an offense. His versatility is going to make him an important third-down player. He will be very useful and could thrive if he lands with a team which has a great offensive coordinator or head coach.

Michael Carter, North Carolina

Carter got overshadowed by Javonte Williams at North Carolina, but one really good product of working in a crowded backfield with another high-profile running back is that Carter did not receive a physical pounding. Because he and Williams split carries and touches for the Tar Heels, Carter is going to be physically fresh. Running backs have a limited shelf life, and it’s less about whether they are seniors or juniors, or whether they are 22 years old or 21. The main thing to look for with a running back is how much wear and tear he has endured to a given point in his playing career. Carter has not absorbed a lot of bumps and bruises. For that reason alone – not even referring to his actual talents, which are considerable – Carter will be an attractive prospect when the draft arrives.

Kenneth Gainwell, Memphis

The recent success of running back Darrell Henderson with the Los Angeles Rams will let NFL evaluators know that Memphis turns out good professional running backs. Gainwell might have fared well in the draft without Henderson’s example, but the reality of a school having a proven track record at a specific position is definitely going to sustain and elevate Gainwell’s place on the draft board. Teams are going to take him seriously, and one team is going to fall in love with him relatively early in the draft.