2023 NFL DRAFT: TOP 5 RUNNING BACKS

BY ADAM GREENE

If you’re a running back entering the NFL, you have a real problem. First, there are a ton of you coming out of every level of the NCAA each season, so there’s a glut of talent. Secondly, the position is just not as valued in the league as it once was. The last running back taken No. 1 overall was Ki-Jana Carter back in 1995.

It’s still possible for a running back to go in the first round, but it didn’t happen last season. In this year’s draft, we have one guy who could sneak in there, but I feel like the “run,” if you’ll forgive the pun, won’t start until the top of the second.

This is my Top Five based on my own eyeball criteria. Guys like DeWayne McBride (UAB), Zach Evans (Ole Miss), Eric Gray (Oklahoma), Sean Tucker (Syracuse) and Zach Charbonnet (UCLA) all look about the same to me, NFL capable, but mid-rounders at best. I mean, Isiah Pacheco was a seventh rounder last year, so that’s still not too shabby.

5. ROSCHON JOHNSON, TEXAS

2022: 6-2, 223 pounds, 93 carries, 554 yards, five touchdowns, 14 receptions, 128 receiving yards, one receiving touchdown

Johnson benefited from being the RB2 on Texas’ ground attack, but that didn’t keep him from making multiple highlight plays and getting himself atop plenty of running back draft boards. No one in the NCAA hurdled more guys on the football field than Johnson and the fact that Bijan Robinson took the lion’s share of the carries should only work in his favor. It means he’s not got the wear and tear on him that his backfield mate (who’s coming up on the list) has on him. I like that he always seems to be moving forward, he’s got some solid hip movements and while no running back in the modern NFL will have a lasting career, he definitely looks as if he’s ready to step on the field as a rookie and be a real contributor. He has never averaged less than 5.2 yards per carry in his college career. His only knock is that he wasn’t used much as a receiver, but the Longhorns just don’t do that.

4. TANK BIGSBY, AUBURN

2022: 6-0, 208 pounds, 179 carries, 970 yards, 10 rushing touchdowns, 30 receptions, 180 yards

When you see that 1990s fashion is starting to come back, it’s too bad the NFL isn’t falling in line for a guy like Tank Bigsby because, if he was coming out in the draft in 1992, he would have been a Top 5 pick. This is exactly what the stud running backs of that era all looked like, played like and helped teams like the Denver Broncos and Dallas Cowboys win championships. He’s a grinder, delivers a hit and is tough to bring down. He’s a throwback, like Derrick Henry, and, like Henry, probably a second round pick. But that doesn’t mean he won’t be terrific in the right offence. And he’s helped by the fact that the Tigers liked to use him as a receiver out of the backfield.

3. BIJAN ROBINSON, TEXAS

2022: 6-0, 215 pounds, 256 carries, 1,560 yards, 18 touchdowns, 19 receptions, 314 receiving yards, two receiving touchdowns

Our lone workhorse running back makes the list at No. 3 as the guy who averaged 6.1 yards a carry, in spite of carrying the ball 258 times over 12 games, will enter the draft and, at worst, enjoy a solid 5-6 year NFL career with the right team. Like Bigsby, Robinson is a throwback runner. A guy that would probably go in the Top Three of the 1994 NFL Draft. He’s ok out of the backfield as a receiver, but Texas doesn’t like to do that. What I do like is his vision early. He finds the hole and hits it. He doesn’t try to get cute with his feet. I don’t see a second gear on the film like the two guys I’ve ranked above him and hate (for his sake) the load he had to carry as a junior last season for the Longhorns. But, again, like Bigsby, this is the throwback NFL prototype and, if you run that kind of offense (like they do in New England, San Francisco and Miami, he’d easily slide into the rotation, if not take over as starter by midseason.

2. DEVON ACHANE, TEXAS A&M

2022: 5-9, 185 pounds, 196 carries, 1,102 yards, eight touchdowns, 36 receptions, 196 receiving yards, three receiving touchdowns

My only concern with Achane is his size. Other than that, he looks like the total package to me. He’s a guy that can explode out of his cuts and embarrass defenders. In the passing game, he’s a tremendous receiver and a danger to take it to the house every time he touches it. His ability to slow down and set up cuts and blocks is rare at any level and he’s played in a pro style attack with the Aggies where’s had to face off against SEC opponents for the last three seasons, two as the primary back. You’d like to see about 15 more pounds on him, but would hate to see him sacrifice any elusiveness or speed. He looks like a solid second round pick to me.

1. JAHMYR GIBBS, ALABAMA

2022: 5-11, 200 pounds, 151 carries, 926 yards, seven touchdowns, 44 catches, 444 receiving yards, three receiving touchdowns

In my first mock draft I have no running backs gong in the first round, but if one could sneak in there, it’s Gibbs. His highlight tape makes me downright giddy. If I was going to build the perfect running back from the ground up, he’d look a lot like Gibbs, because Gibbs, looks a whole lot like Todd Gurley without the injury history. Gurley, for two seasons, was the best running back on the planet and Gibbs has a similar skillset. His movement, body control and ability to weave through traffic are rare at any level. His ability to catch the ball can keep him on the field on all three downs and he’s played with and against the best players in college football last season. He also, because Alabama is so loaded, wasn’t overworked and averaged just 12.5 carries a game in 2022. The plastic wrap is practically still on him. If I could pick any running back from any team in the NFL right now, it’d be the Jacksonville Jaguars Travis Etienne for his similar abilities to run, be evasive and catch the ball as a receiver. I think Gibbs will be better.

Follow Adam Greene on Twitter @TheFirstMan.

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