- Kenneth Walker III leads the pack: The Seattle Seahawks running back carried the ball 300 times for 1,480 yards, 971 of which came after contact with 9 touchdowns and 86 missed tackles forced, culminating in a league-leading 91.5 rushing grade.
- De'Vone Achane isn't far behind: The Miami Dolphins running back's 91.0 rushing grade trailed only Walker as he ran for 1,373 yards on 241 carries with eight touchdowns while forcing 50 missed tackles.
- 2026 NFL Draft season is here: Try the best-in-class PFF Mock Draft Simulator and learn about 2026's top prospects while trading and drafting for your favorite NFL team.
Estimated reading time: 12 minutes
While running backs' general value have diminished over the years, they still carry plenty of value to many offenses around the league. For this list, we’re going to look at the 20 highest-graded running backs from the 2025 season, postseason included. To qualify for this list, a back must have played at least 200 offensive snaps.
1. Kenneth Walker III, Seattle Seahawks: 91.4
Walker capped off a magical season at running back with the position’s first Super Bowl MVP in almost 30 years. On the year, Walker carried the ball 300 times for 1,480 yards, 971 of which came after contact with 9 touchdowns and 86 missed tackles forced, culminating in a league-leading 91.5 rushing grade.
2. De’Von Achane, Miami Dolphins: 89.6
It was a season from hell for the Dolphins, but one of the few bright spots was Achane, whose 91.0 rushing grade trailed only Walker as he ran for 1,373 yards on 241 carries with eight touchdowns while forcing 50 missed tackles. Achane only fumbled once all season, back in Week 4 against the New York Jets, which a teammate was able to recover. In fact, in his three-year NFL career, Achane has only fumbled twice.
3. Bijan Robinson, Atlanta Falcons: 86.7
The Falcons’ offense went through their third-year running back Robinson for good reason. Robinson completed his second consecutive year with rushing grades and receiving grades over 80.0 (83.4 and 88.1, respectively). On the year, Robinson carried the ball 297 times for 1,520 yards, 1,172 coming after contact, with seven touchdowns. As a receiver, Robinson caught 81 of his 102 targets for 832 yards and another four scores.
4. Zach Charbonnet, Seattle Seahawks: 86.6
Charbonnet makes two Seahawks among the top four running backs of the 2025 season, and while he was unable to make an impact in the Super Bowl due to injury, the former second-rounder out of UCLA was as good a complementary back as a team could ask for. His 90.5 rushing grade ranked third while adding 752 yards on the ground on 190 carries. In Charbonnet’s three NFL seasons, he has yet to fumble even once.
5. Josh Jacobs, Green Bay Packers: 86.4
Despite missing two games, Jacobs still managed to rush for 1,000 yards for the sixth time in his seven-year career (a reminder we are including postseason statistics in these totals). Despite his lengthy career, Jacobs managed to register a career-high 89.5 receiving grade, barely eclipsing the 89.2 figure he posted last year. In fact, before joining Green Bay ahead of the 2024 season, Jacobs had never had a receiving grade higher than 64.8.
6. Jahmyr Gibbs, Detroit Lions: 86.1
The 2023 running back class is shaping up to be one of the all-timers, as Gibbs is the fourth member of that class to be featured in these rankings already. Gibbs ran for 1,249 yards and 13 scores despite only rushing for 100 yards in three games and another where he only ran for two due to injury. Gibbs was also an elite receiver, posting a 90.3 receiving grade where he caught 77 of his 93 targets for 616 yards and five scores.
7. Kyren Williams, Los Angeles Rams: 85.2
Williams never really had a dominant rushing performance on the season, as he never rushed for more than 110 yards in a game and only finished with one other 100-yard performance. However, he rushed for 1,485 yards on 312 carries thanks to his remarkable consistency, as he only rushed for under 50 yards in a game twice while posting a rushing grade sub-60.0 just once (Week 5 against the San Francisco 49ers, which was also the only game where he didn’t force a missed tackle).
8. Breece Hall, New York Jets: 84.0
The Jets’ offense was abysmal in 2025, ranking 29th in EPA per play and 31st in offensive PFF grade. Despite this, the Jets at least ranked in the middle of the pack in PFF rushing grade at 79.6, thanks to Breece Hall‘s efforts. Hall rushed for 1,090 yards despite only carrying the ball more than 20 times in a game three times, never more than 22.
9. D’Andre Swift, Chicago Bears: 83.4
The Ben Johnson addition to the Bears’ coaching staff did wonders for Swift’s career, as he set career highs across the board in rushing yards (1,234), yards after contact (754), rushing touchdowns (10), rushing first downs (66), missed tackles forced (45), explosive runs (33) and rushing grade (88.2).
10. James Cook, Buffalo Bills: 81.1
How does a man who rushed for 1,817 yards, 1,067 of which came after contact, 12 touchdowns and 76 first downs in addition to forcing 66 missed tackles only come in 10th amongst the league’s running backs? The answer is simple: Cook put the ball on the ground seven times, losing four of them. If we eliminate those seven fumbles, Cook’s grade jumps to 90.1, which would rank second on this list.
11. Jaylen Warren, Pittsburgh Steelers: 81.0
Warren finally took over as the lead back in Pittsburgh and delivered on the more consistent playing time, rushing for over 1,000 yards for the first time in his four-year career while adding six touchdowns on the ground. Warren was also an accomplished pass blocker in 2025, as he had 11 different games with a pass blocking grade over 70.0. In fact, among players to qualify for this list, Warren’s 72.0 pass-blocking grade trailed only Tyler Badie’s 80.9 grade amongst running backs, and Warren played more than double Badie’s snaps.
12. Rachaad White, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 80.9
Bucky Irving may get more of the shine in the Buccaneers’ backfield, but thanks to a midseason injury, Rachaad White was able to step up and keep Tampa Bay’s ground game afloat. White only ran for 592 yards, the second-lowest total of his career on the fewest total career carries, but he made the most of them, as he set a new career high in missed tackles forced per attempt at 0.19, highest first down percentage at 27.2% and didn’t fumble a single time.
13. Cameron Skattebo, New York Giants: 80.5
Skattebo was one of the early-season darlings of the league, as his tough and gritty play style immediately endeared him to fans. A midseason ankle injury cut his rookie season short, but he may have been a Rookie of the Year finalist if he managed to stay healthy. Prior to the injury, Skattebo had carried the ball 107 times for 425 yards and five scores while adding 24 catches for 207 yards and another two scores as a receiver. Skattebo earn 80.0-plus grades both as a rusher and a receiver, though he’ll need to improve his pass blocking, as his 11.6 pass-blocking grade ranked dead last amongst the 67 running backs to qualify for this list.
14. Derrick Henry, Baltimore Ravens: 80.4
Despite being 31 years old and approaching 3,000 carries in his NFL career, Henry continues to rank amongst the best running backs in the league despite 2025 being his worst-graded season in the last four years. On 309 attempts, Henry ran for 1,606 yards and 16 touchdowns, going over 100 yards eight times this season, including in each of his last four games. However, Henry only forced 44 missed tackles, exactly half of what he was able to produce the year prior.
15. Jonathan Taylor, Indianapolis Colts: 78.6
Taylor got off to a white-hot start to the 2025 season and was looking like the frontrunner for Offensive Player of the Year and even had a little bit of MVP buzz. Through Week 10, Taylor rushed for 1,153 yards and 15 touchdowns, including four games where he scored three times for a 90.0 PFF rushing grade. However, Taylor’s decline in the second half of the season coincided with his team’s collapse, as he never eclipsed 100 yards on the ground for the rest of the season following his dominant Week 10 performance while only scoring three more times. On the whole, though, Taylor had a season most backs would kill for in 2025, carrying the ball 334 times for 1625 yards and 18 scores.
16. Blake Corum, Los Angeles Rams: 78.5
After being a non-factor for much of his rookie season, Corum saw a major role increase in 2025, nearly tripling his snap totals in a relief role. Corum was very efficient as a runner despite a lack of opportunities, carrying the ball 175 times for 876 yards and six scores, while 28% of his rushes resulted in either first downs or touchdowns. He has yet to fumble once in his NFL career.
17. Omarion Hampton, Los Angeles Chargers: 77.3
Hampton missed a good chunk of the season due to an ankle injury that still lingered even after he had returned. However, the rookie first-rounder out of North Carolina still managed to put on a show when he was on the field, carrying the ball 133 times for 583 yards despite running behind an offensive line that was hampered by injuries. Hampton was also effective as a receiver, catching 33 of his 35 targets for 192 yards and a score. Like fellow rookie Skattebo, though, Hampton will need to clean up his pass blocking, as only Skattebo had a worse pass-blocking grade than Hampton’s 16.3 mark. In fact, Hampton only had a pass-blocking grade above 50.0 once all season, and that came in the wild-card round, where he was only asked to pass block once.
T-18. Rhamondre Stevenson, New England Patriots: 77.2
After a slow start to the season that included three fumbles in his first four games, Stevenson was a big part of the Patriots’ run to their first AFC championship in seven years. In fact, after the fumbling issues in the first four weeks, Stevenson didn’t fumble for the rest of the season. While Stevenson ran the ball for 830 yards and seven scores while sharing a backfield with Offensive Rookie of the Year finalist TreVeyon Henderson, his skills as a pass blocker made him as valuable as he became. Stevenson was one of just five running backs asked to pass block at least 100 times (only Kyren Williams and Javonte Williams were in pass protection more than Stevenson’s 112 such snaps), and his 69.9 pass-blocking grade was the best of the bunch and fifth amongst all qualifying backs.
T-18. Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco 49ers: 77.2
This is likely the entry that’s going to get J.J. Watt mad at us again, but it comes with a bit of a caveat. McCaffrey was the only back to exceed 1,000 offensive snaps this season (Kyren Williams played the next-most at 900 snaps) but wasn’t overly impressive as a runner. Despite rushing for 1,300 yards, they came on 342 carries (3.8 yards per carry) for a 67.4 rushing grade. The rushing grade and yards per carry figures are each the lowest since his rookie year in 2017. However, McCaffrey continued to be an elite receiver, catching 114 passes for 1,035 yards and nine scores while earning a 91.7 receiving grade. That receiving grade led all qualifying running backs and was McCaffrey’s fourth season with a receiving grade over 90.0.
20. J.K. Dobbins, Denver Broncos: 76.8
Dobbins was lost for the year with a foot injury after Week 10, so he missed the Broncos’ run to an AFC Championship game appearance; however, prior to that, he was on pace to have a career year. Dobbins carried the ball 158 times for 782 yards and four scores with an 80.8 rushing grade. In fact, Dobbins only had a rushing grade sub-60.0 once all season and never below 50.0. Dobbins also hasn’t fumbled since 2022 and has never lost a fumble in his NFL career.
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