The best running backs in the 2024 NFL Draft who are on absolutely nobody’s radar

Good running backs can be found anywhere, so let’s see if we can find a true deep cuts.

Running backs have a hard life. They tend to age poorly and, as a result, they tend to miss the big payday of a second contract. There also tends to be an ample supply of average-ish running backs available, and while you might not be able to randomly find a Barry Sanders, you can often find Dorsey Levens (5^th round) or Ryan Grant (undrafted) or Samkon Gado (undrafted) or James Starks (6^th round) or Aaron Jones (5^th round) without too much trouble. Heck, Ahman Green was a 3^rd rounder.

There are likely to be quite a few good, productive running backs in this class, with the NFL Mock Draft Database consensus board currently projecting 22 will be drafted, starting with Jonathan Brooks of Texas and finishing up with Georgia’s Kendall Milton. The Packers will likely take at least one.

But just how robust is the supply of good, young running backs? After all, if running backs truly “don’t matter,” as the popular saying goes, we should be able to find a few good ones who aren’t even sniffing draft boards, right? Guys you’ve never heard of, spend some time on the practice squad, and then randomly blow up one day when the starters get hurt. I’ve scoured the dregs of the eligible, and I am happy to report that I have two candidates worth looking at. I like both as NFL contributors, and one in particular I think can be very good. I remember watching Aaron Jones’ college tape many years ago and telling myself “You know what? This guy is just as good as Alvin Kamara.” I got that same kind of feeling, but let’s not start there, let’s start with:

Aidan Robbins – BYU

6-2, 237. 6.64 RAS

2023 Stats: 101 carries, 485 yards, 4.8 Y/C, 1 TD, 7 Rec, 33 yards
2022 Stats (UNLV): 209 carries, 1009 yards, 4.8 Y/C, 9 TDs, 23 Rec, 125 yards

The most striking thing about Robbins when you watch his tape is how lean he looks for a 237-pound man. Some of his closest RAS comps include Leonard Fournette, Peyton Hillis, and James Conner, and while he’s superficially the same size as all of them he’s a little narrower, and a little more upright. I think Conner is probably the best physical comp. The lack of volume at BYU is one reason he’s not on a ton of radars, but I also think he defies expectations. You expect a broad-shouldered Hillis-type.

What you get instead may be better. A lot of that 237 is in Robbins’ lower body, which is still more than capable of packing a punch, but unlike Hillis in particular, Robbins is adept at finishing off runs by hitting a would-be tackler at an angle and dragging, rather than hitting them head-on and pushing. The result is a back who nearly always finishes falling forward and is almost never stood up at the line.

Robbins does run slightly upright, but he’s an outstanding one-cut runner, and once he gets into his forward lean, linebackers have trouble bringing him down. He looks faster than his listed 4.6 40 time, and his 20-yard split is more indicative of what you get in the open field. Robbins has graceful, long strides, and he had no issues outrunning most non-DBs. He’s also an adequate receiver who dealt some real damage in the passing game while at UNLV two seasons ago.

Most importantly, while he saw limited action in a 50/50 backfield split with LJ Martin, he still averaged a hefty 4.8 yards per carry, exactly what he averaged in the Mountain West with UNLV the previous season. He put up impressive performances against Cal (14-84, 1 TD), Fresno State (26-144, 1 TD), SDSU (21-115), Oklahoma (22-182), and Oklahoma State (16-74).

Any team looking for a power back with exceptional vision should have him in for a visit after the draft. Dane Brugler has him as running back #35, and he will likely get some interest after the draft.

But let’s look deeper.

Chris Collier – Lock Haven

5-11, 203. 9.71 RAS

2023 Stats: 236 carries, 1393 yards, 5.9 Y/C, 12 TDs, 22 2 Red, 238 yards, 3 TDs

Lock Haven is a D2 school located in Pennsylvania, and as is the case with any athlete competing at the lower divisions, scouting them can be quite difficult, but let’s start with what we know. Collier is an exceptional athlete across the board, with elite marks in speed, explosion, and agility. He even put the bench press bar up 21 times. While he’s slightly on the small size, he’s not really small, with RAS comps like Chris Johnson, Reggie Bush, and Tevin Coleman, and even if he were to top out as a change of pace back, or a split time back along the lines of what Aaron Jones was, that would still be quite valuable.

I would urge you to watch this lovingly made highlight reel.

While you shouldn’t scout off of highlight reels, this one is well-done for its variety. Collier has nifty hands and looks like a natural receiver, even on downfield throws. He is a willing pass blocker as well, and while his technique may need a little work, there are some good reps here. More than anything, he’s an extremely patient runner, constantly waiting for his blocks to set up and exploding through the resulting hole. He has excellent balance and isn’t too quick to bounce outside when the middle is open.

More than anything, when I see someone like Collier boasting a high-9 RAS at a lower level, I need to see them dominate, and that is the box he checks most emphatically. There is another back in the “Best of the Rest” section of Dane Brugler’s Beast named Justin Strong, who attended Southern Illinois. Of those backs listed in the “Best of the Rest” section, only Strong has a better RAS than Collier at 9.96, but Strong simply wasn’t very impressive. In his best season (2021) he had 84 carries for 484 yards and 2 scores. College production isn’t everything, but a 9.96 RAS running back failing to reach “average” is very concerning. Collier did what he was supposed to do, and more.

I remember watching Christian Watson, when he was still at North Dakota State, go up against Northern Iowa and their 9.61 RAS receiver Isaiah Weston. Weston had a superficially good game, catching a few bombs and out-speeding everyone, but it was Watson who looked to be playing an entirely different sport. No one on the field moved like him, and he seemed to be able to break off big plays at will. The difference between Weston and Watson is what I look for, and I see some of that in Collier.

This is all quite speculative of course, and perhaps most importantly, I have no idea how old he is. It’s entirely possible that he’s an old man and that the jump to NFL competition will make him unplayable. But the athletic profile is fantastic, the soft skills seem to be there, and he’s even an unusually good dual threat as a pass-catcher. Dane Brugler has him as the 60^th running back, and he does not appear on the NFL Mock Draft Database consensus board at all, which ends with James Madison’s Ty Son Lawton as their final running back, and 592^nd ranked player overall.

I hope someone gives him a look.