Rating NFL’s prime 5 rookie RBs of 2022 by anticipated manufacturing: Backs on the most effective offenses will thrive


No first-round working backs doesn’t suggest the 2022 rookie class of working backs was down, it simply signifies the league has smartened on the place the place’s real worth is within the draft. There have been six ball carriers picked on Day 2 with various dimension, velocity, and working kinds. 

These are the 5 working backs who’ll be best in Yr 1. 

In fantasy soccer, you need to draft backs who’re a part of high-quality offenses, even when they’re aren’t apparent feature-back roles. That is exactly the reasoning why Prepare dinner’s on this checklist. The Payments have certainly one of soccer’s most enjoyable, explosive assaults. That may result in Buffalo taking part in with leads within the second half usually and for as many mouths as there are to feed, Prepare dinner’s 4.42 velocity out of the backfield will add a brand new part for Josh Allen

And Prepare dinner’s part-receiver, part-back, with silky-soft arms and expertise working routes within the slot and the perimeter. Prepare dinner will not be a high-volume sort, however count on performs to be tailor-made for him in new OC Ken Dorsey’s recreation plan. Buffalo’s offensive line is stable too. And it is not like defenses will really feel comfy loading the field in opposition to the Payments. Final yr, Devin Singletary noticed a loaded field on just below 14% of his runs, the eighth-lowest price amongst qualifying backs.

The Texans offensive line just isn’t nice — repeat evaluation from the previous decade, mainly — however Pierce finds himself in a stellar alternative to be the No. 1 again proper out of faculty. The veterans in entrance of him are Rex Burkhead and Marlon Mack. Positive, they’re each proficient runners, however neither of their reputations ought to set up them as fortified, unpassable-on-the-depth-chart options of the offense. 

And Pierce is among the most unusual backs I’ve scouted, at 5-10 and 218 kilos with lightning fast toes paired with an old-school energy again method to coping with contact. He compelled a missed deal with on 39% of his runs in 2022, the third-highest determine within the class, a lot greater than the likes of Ken Walker and Breece Corridor. If the Texans offensive line was higher, he’d be greater on this checklist. Pierce will not hit many long-gainers, however he’ll profit from what’s blocked for him usually. 

Spiller’s one other again with loads of expertise round him who I like to be a significant producer in Yr 1. He was my RB1 within the 2022 draft class, because of probably the most well-rounded recreation of any again I evaluated. He examined poorly, however I trusted the tape with him. Over the previous three seasons at Texas A&M, Spiller averaged 5.5 yards per keep on over 500 carries and caught a minimum of 20 passes every year. 

Positive, there’s Austin Ekeler standing in his approach of main contributions, however do not be stunned if Ekeler transitions to extra of a receiver position in 2022. At 6-foot and 217 kilos with ample between-the-tackles expertise, count on Spiller to slowly however absolutely turn out to be the primary inside working menace within the Chargers potent assault. Like many renovation tasks, the Chargers’ offensive line development has taken longer than anticipated, however Rashawn Slater, Corey Linsley, and first-round choose Zion Johnson will routinely transfer front-seven gamers in 2022. 

Sure, Playoff Lenny stays on the Buccaneers roster, however hold tabs on White as the subsequent marquee contributor out of the backfield in a Tom Brady offense. Why’s that? Two causes. White’s a extremely succesful athletic specimen and he was born to be an asset within the cross recreation. Because the bell cow in Arizona State’s offense final season, White averaged 5.5 yards per keep on 182 rushes caught 43 passes at a beefy 10.6 yards-per-grab common, and he solely had three drops. In brief, White thrives in house — which isn’t Fournette’s forte. 

Based mostly on his dimension and athleticism, White’s measurements and mix exercise was 94.2% much like Deebo Samuel when he entered the league in 2019, and White has a comparable pinball fashion with the ball in his arms. Plus, he is taking part in in one of many league’s most dynamic offenses with an elite offensive line.

1. Breece Corridor, Jets

Corridor has the entire, feature-back ability set. No doubting that. It was clear to see over the previous three years at Iowa State, when he averaged over 1,300 yards at proper round 5.5 yards per tote. He is decisive, runs with high quality imaginative and prescient, has requisite elusiveness for a much bigger, thicker again, and possesses low-key spectacular lengthy velocity. Corridor had 22 runs of 15-plus yards in 2022, the seventh-most within the draft class.

In New York, Corridor will assume No. 1 again duties from the leap. The Jets offensive line is not a congealed, top-end unit but, however it’s on the rise. The guard state of affairs — Laken Tomlinson and promising second-year professional Alijah Vera-Tucker — can be on the transfer usually, plowing lanes for Corridor between the tackles and on outdoors pitches. On what needs to be an improved offense altogether, Corridor would be the best rookie runner. 



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