NFL GM Says He Wouldn't Draft RB or TE in Top 10 as NFL Exec Hypes Jeanty, Warren

One of the reasons the 2025 NFL draft appears so difficult to predict is because some of the top players in the class don't play positions that usually generate a lot of attention high in the first round.

Speaking to The Athletic's Jeff Howe, one NFL general manager explained they would avoid using a top-10 pick on a running back or tight end.

"I wouldn’t take either (position) in the top 10," the GM said. "When is the last time a top-10 tight end really had a great career? And then you’ve got to pay them their second contract at the top of the market."

A different league executive told Howe that this draft has players at those positions who were often the best player on the field in college in Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty and Penn State tight end Tyler Warren.

"It’s a year-by-year and market-driven evaluation," the executive said. "In a year with average high-round depth at premium positions, just take the best player. All I know is every time I watched (Jeanty and Warren) specifically, they were the best players on the field."

B/R's NFL scouting department is projecting Jeanty and Warren will go back-to-back in its most recent mock draft. Jeanty is projected as the No. 10 pick to the Chicago Bears, followed by Warren going to the San Francisco 49ers at 11.

It's not an uncommon stance to suggest that running backs and tight ends are hard to get great value for when they are selected early in the draft.

Brock Bowers, who was picked just outside the top 10 last year at No. 12 overall, was such a surprise in part because tight ends don't make an impact right away. Mike Ditka's record for receiving yards by a rookie at the position stood for 63 years before Bowers came along.

Even tight ends who do play well early can have trouble sustaining that performance. Kyle Pitts, the No. 4 pick by the Atlanta Falcons in 2021, looked like a budding superstar after recording 1,026 receiving yards as a rookie. He has 1,625 yards in the past three seasons combined.

Running backs can certainly have a positive impact in the NFL right away, but longevity is one of the biggest problems for the position. Of the 16 players who ran for more than 1,000 yards last season, Derrick Henry and Aaron Jones were the only two in their age-30 or above season. Seven were playing on rookie contracts.

Saquon Barkley, arguably the most exciting player in the NFL during the 2024 season, was rarely able to help elevate the New York Giants to contender status during his seven years with them.

Barkley and Derrick Henry were two of the best free-agent acquisitions last offseason, but they also went to teams with excellent infrastructures. The Philadelphia Eagles have had one of the top offensive lines in the NFL for years. The Baltimore Ravens are led by arguably the best dual-threat quarterback the league has ever seen.

Every situation is unique and there's no one-size-fits-all metric to evaluate individual players. Scouting reports for Jeanty point out his talent level and skill set is just different than what we see from other highly-regarded running back prospects.

Warren has drawn comparisons to three-time Pro Bowler Greg Olsen, who was a first-round pick (No. 31 overall) by the Chicago Bears in 2007.

Both Jeanty and Warren seem likely to hear their names called very early in the first round of the 2025 NFL draft. Even if some of the opinions from around the league are divided on the value of their positions going that high, sometimes the smart move is betting on the most talented players to break through those positional stereotypes.