4 NFL RBs in Best Position for Breakout Season in 2024
The running back position is the least stable of any in the modern NFL. According to sports researcher Christina Gough, an RB has the shortest career on average, meaning there is constant turnover and new faces filtering through the league.
Long gone are the days of lead backs handling three-down duties every week for the same team for years and years. That system has largely been replaced by platoons and time shares and rotations that see young players take over for veterans in the blink of an eye. Proven backs unceremoniously change hands on budget free-agent deals every offseason, and even the top rookies at the position are rarely selected on Day 1 of the draft anymore.
Despite this, running backs still find a way to distinguish themselves as stars who help their respective teams win games. While their window to shine may be short, there is often plenty of opportunity to break out and take on a major role due to injuries and ineffectiveness ahead of them on the depth chart.
With that in mind, let's highlight some unheralded young backs who appear poised to put themselves on the map in 2024.
Tyrone Tracy Jr., New York Giants
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The New York Giants have a potential sleeper star on their hands in rookie running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. The fifth-round draft pick already looks like the second-best option in Big Blue's backfield and has a clear path toward some significant playing time.
While the New York offense will look different following the free-agency departure of Saquon Barkley, it would be a surprise if the team's heavy emphasis on the ground attack changes in 2024. The G-Men ranked in the top half of the league in run play percentage during both of Brian Daboll's seasons at the helm, and the head coach should continue to lean on the backfield to augment polarizing quarterback Daniel Jones, especially while the signal-caller gets back up to speed after a lengthy injury layoff.
The Giants came to terms with veteran Devin Singletary to help make up a good portion of the hefty workload vacated by Barkley, but Tracy figures to be in the mix as a change-of-pace option. Tracy may have opened the offseason behind Eric Gray on the depth chart, but he already usurped the little-utilized 2023 fifth-round pick for first-team reps during minicamp and has strong potential to beat out Gray for the No. 2 role in training camp.
One of the main advantages Tracy has is his pass-catching talents, which rate as the best of any back on Big Blue's current roster.
Tracy notably spent four seasons working as a wide receiver while at Iowa—racking up 66 receptions for 871 yards and five touchdowns in that span—before joining Purdue and converting to the running back position. While he wasn't utilized too often as a pass-catcher with the Boilermakers, he still augmented his 113 carries (which he took for 716 yards and eight touchdowns) with 19 receptions for 132 yards last year.
Factor in quality pass-blocking abilities, athleticism and versatility, and you have an intriguing first-year prospect who could quickly carve out a big role for a Giants offense that has sorely lacked playmakers outside of Barkley in recent seasons.
Zamir White, Las Vegas Raiders
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It's readily apparent that the Las Vegas Raiders trust and believe in Zamir White. Despite an uneventful rookie season and only seeing sporadic work for a vast majority of his sophomore campaign, White displayed enough during a four-game stint as a starter that the franchise planned around him becoming its top running back in 2024.
With incumbent starter Josh Jacobs allowed to walk in free agency and no notable replacements being tapped on the open market or through the draft, a path was cleared for White to become the No. 1 option in Vegas' backfield. While that decision is risky, it will be unquestionably correct if White continues performing at the same level he displayed during the final month of the 2023 season.
Between Weeks 15 and 18, White rushed 84 times for 397 yards and a touchdown. Extrapolated over a full 17-game season, the back would have led the league with 1,687 yards on 357 totes.
While it's unlikely that the 24-year-old will see that sort of volume in 2024, he should get plenty of run within an offense likely to be helmed by journeyman signal-caller Gardner Minshew II. White should see the lion's share of work too, given he'll be competing against underwhelming backup options such as rookie sixth-rounder Dylan Laube and veterans Alexander Mattison and Ameer Abdullah.
White is no longer a stranger to carrying an offense. He was instrumental in Vegas' upset victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 16 last season, rushing 22 times for 145 yards in a contest where quarterback Aidan O'Connell failed to complete a single pass over the final three quarters.
The Raiders' decision to bring Luke Getsy aboard as offensive coordinator also works in White's favor. Getsy previously held the same role for the Chicago Bears during the 2022-23 seasons, a stretch in which his side never ranked below No. 2 in rushing yards per game and led the league with a whopping 1,092 carries over that two-year span.
Expect to see plenty of White in 2024 as he cements his place among the league's upper echelon of running backs, capping off one of the most unexpected rises in recent history.
Trey Benson, Arizona Cardinals
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The Arizona Cardinals secured one of the most dynamic skill-position players in the 2024 NFL draft when they selected Trey Benson near the top of Round 3. While he wasn't the first RB off the board—Jonathon Brooks earned that distinction when he went midway through Round 2—Benson is poised to have the finest campaign of any first-year back.
Although he has the size, skill and athleticism to be one of the league's rare three-down backs, Benson isn't likely to open the 2024 season as a starter. He's more likely to start his career in a prominent depth role behind veteran James Conner, who is coming off the first 1,000-yard rushing performance of his seven-year NFL career.
Even with Conner penciled in as the starter and likely to continue accounting for plenty of volume after notching 235 touches in 2023, Benson should get plenty of opportunities to show out.
Arizona has lacked a quality change-of-pace option behind its bruising starter and allocated a total of 131 carries across an underwhelming collection of backups in Emari Demercado, Michael Carter, Keontay Ingram, Damien Williams and Tony Jones last year. Almost all those totes should now be heading Benson's way as the team works to bring the rookie up to speed and prepare him to take over as the top option.
Benson can also carve out a major role as the team's primary pass-catching back. Conner led the backfield in targets last year, but only caught 27 passes for a pedestrian 165 yards and two scores. Although Benson wasn't a major part of the passing offense in college—he reeled in 20 passes for 227 yards and a score during his final season at Florida State—he profiles as a confident, capable option in that area and should get plenty of receiving volume from the jump.
At worst, Benson projects to be one of the league's best backups who can put up strong numbers between spelling Conner and handling receiving work. If the starter goes down with injury or fades in skill—well within the realm of possibility given Conner has missed four games in each of the last two seasons and is entering an age-29 campaign—Benson could break out as a true superstar.
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Kimani Vidal, Los Angeles Chargers
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The Los Angeles Chargers seem to have one of the biggest steals of the 2024 NFL draft on their hands in running back Kimani Vidal. While he didn't come off the board until the sixth round, the Troy product should wind up playing a key role for the Bolts as a rookie.
Vidal will be opening his career as Los Angeles' No. 3 back, but there will be plenty of opportunity for him to rapidly ascend the depth chart. While the Chargers signed a pair of Baltimore Ravens cast-offs in J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards to handle the bulk of the backfield work, both veterans have their flaws and could be usurped by the Day 3 pick.
Dobbins has simply been unable to stay healthy during his NFL career. He's coming off an Achilles tear that kept him out all but the 2023 opener and has participated in a mere nine games since the 2021 campaign kicked off. Edwards has adequately filled in for Dobbins in the past—including amassing a career-high 13 rushing touchdowns last year—but is coming off his least efficient season and turned 29 back in April.
Given the limitations and advancing age of the backs ahead of him, Vidal should be ready to answer the call if either suffers an injury or a slip in skill. Vidal has all the tools to thrive at the next level and showed an immense amount of potential before entering the NFL, racking up over 4,000 yards and punching in 33 touchdowns during his tenure with the Trojans.
While Vidal isn't the biggest back at 5'8", 213 pounds, he showed he can handle the rigors of a heavy workload by rushing 781 times—more than any other back in the 2024 class—over his four collegiate seasons. He's also a quality pass-catcher, picking up 700 yards on 92 receptions in that same span.
L.A.'s scheme should heavily feature the run under new head coach Jim Harbaugh. During his previous NFL tenure with the San Francisco 49ers, Harbaugh's offenses ranked No. 30 in passing yards and No. 2 in rushing yards from 2011 to 2014.
With such a massive emphasis on the ground game, there should be enough touches for a third-string Vidal to still get in the mix each week. He has immense potential to break out as a star if he eventually becomes the Chargers' No. 1 or even No. 2 back.
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