Breece Hall and the Fantasy Football RBs Most Likely to Bounce Back in 2025

The running back position is arguably the ficklest in football. It's certainly the case in fantasy football where the top scorers change on a yearly basis, proven veterans can see their production fall off a cliff seemingly overnight, and unheralded rookies come out of nowhere to put up league-winning performances.

And another shakeup is sure to be in store for the 2025 fantasy season.

While stars such as Saquon Barkley, Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs appear poised to continue dominating leagues and are being drafted early due to these lofty expectations, there are several backs who failed to reach their projections last year and are now being selected far later.

However, these underperforming options could end up being some of the best value picks of a fantasy draft.

Whether they received a much-needed change of scenery, recovered from injury or simply look ready for a return to form following a down year, there are five backs who stick out for their high chances of having a bounce-back 2025 campaign.

Read on for a look at these comeback candidates and the reasons why they have such a great chance to outperform their average draft position.

Fantasy points and rankings courtesy of FantasyPros.com using PPR data. ADP data courtesy of FantasyFootballCalculator.com.

Trey Benson, Arizona Cardinals

AP Photo/Abbie Parr

2025 ADP: 225

2024 ADP: 113

Trey Benson was one of the most promising rookies in the 2024 draft class, but he didn't live up to the hype last year.

Despite coming off the board relatively in both the NFL and fantasy drafts, the 22-year-old never made much of an impact in his first professional campaign. He was stuck behind veteran James Conner on the depth chart, an issue compounded by the longtime veteran turning in a career-best season.

While Benson was never expected to take the reins immediately, he profiled as a seamless replacement for Conner should the starter go down with what seemed to be an inevitable injury.

The two-time Pro Bowler had missed multiple contests in each of his seven prior NFL seasons, but he managed to stay healthy enough to participate in a career-high 16 games and finish as fantasy's RB11.

Benson had injury woes of his own last year, missing the final three games with an ankle issue. Although he only saw the field for 17 percent of the offensive snaps last year, he displayed flashes of brilliance in his limited opportunities. These included back-to-back top-25 RB finishes between Weeks 9-10, promising showings that could become far more common sights in 2025.

With his second training camp on the horizon, Benson will have an opportunity to prove to the coaching staff that he deserves more playing time and a chance to equally split time with the 30-year-old Conner.

There's little in the way of competition for backfield touches outside the top two options here, either, with Emari Demercado and DeeJay Dallas set to battle for what is likely to be a sparingly called upon third-string role.

Considering his upside and potential, shrewd managers should have no issues ignoring Benson's forgettable rookie season and instead look capitalize on his late-round availability. He's the ideal low-risk, high-reward handcuff who is one injury away from being a focal point in the Arizona offense.

Nick Chubb, Houston Texans

AP Photo/Ashley Landis

2025 ADP: 230

2024 ADP: 68

Nick Chubb may have looked like a shell of his former perennial Pro Bowl self in eight games with the Cleveland Browns last season, but he’ll be nearly two years removed from a devastating knee injury when he takes the field for the Houston Texans at the start of the 2025 campaign.

It's worth noting the 29-year-old logged just 107 touches in 2024. It was a major step down in usage rate after he amassed a minimum of 206 touches and as many as 334 over each of his first five NFL seasons.

That low workload, coupled with another long offseason to heal up both the knee and foot ailment that caused him to miss the final three weeks of 2024, should do wonders for him.

It certainly doesn't hurt that Chubb has a new running mate in Joe Mixon, a fellow high-mileage back who could benefit mutually from a reduction in playing time going forward.

Mixon was rejuvenated by his move to Houston in 2024. Despite missing three games with injury, he earned the second Pro Bowl nod of his eight-year NFL career by putting up 1,325 yards and 12 touchdowns on 281 touches. He finished as fantasy's RB17, returning decent value on his ADP of 37.  

While the 28-year-old is likely to remain the starter after producing well on a 62 percent snap share in 2024, it wouldn't be surprising to see his snap count drop now there is a more a capable weapon like Chubb to share the backfield with.

The Texans are banking heavily on the Mixon-Chubb platoon to carry their rushing offense in 2025. The two grizzled veterans have little in the way of competition for playing time, with the underwhelming Dameon Pierce and fourth-round rookie Woody Marks being the only other backs in the mix.

Given his lowly ADP, Chubb getting even 35-40 percent of the offensive snaps in Houston's offense should result in him vastly outperforming expectations in 2025.  

Travis Etienne Jr., Jacksonville Jaguars

2025 ADP: 103

2024 ADP: 18

Travis Etienne Jr. had a brilliant start to his career but fell off hard in 2024. After missing his entire rookie year with injury, the Jacksonville Jaguars star went on to eclipse the 1,400-yard from scrimmage mark in back-to-back seasons.

Given that history, it was rather surprising that the 26-year-old failed to even come close to delivering a decent return on his 2024 ADP of 18.

Etienne posted career lows in carries (150), rushing yardage (558), rushing touchdowns (2) and receiving yardage (254) last year. His 130.2 fantasy points were a massive drop-off from the 282.4 he put up the prior year, a mark that made him the RB3 and a top-20 point producer in 2023.

His career is now at a crossroads. The regime that selected the Clemson product on Day 1 of the 2021 draft has been replaced by head coach Liam Coen and general manager James Gladstone.

The new pairing has no ties to Etienne, meaning he needs to prove himself to these decision-makers if he's going to retain a meaningful role in the Jacksonville offense.

It seems he has already begun to make a strong first impression on his new coaching staff. During OTAs, Coen told reporters that the back has done "everything we've asked him to do and more" in both the running and passing game. The coach also denied that the team was trying to trade him.

As helpful as a strong training camp will be for Etienne's chances of a successful 2025 season, the incumbent starter stands to benefit regardless from a notable lack of depth at his position.

Jacksonville's only major backfield addition this offseason was Bhayshul Tuten, a dynamic but turnover-prone player who fumbled nine times in his final two collegiate seasons and continued to struggle with ball security during minicamp.

Even if Etienne ends up splitting more time with Tank Bigsby (2024's RB36), he will still be in fine position to succeed thanks to the scheme Coen is installing.

During Coen’s final season as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator, the running back platoon of Bucky Irving (RB13) and Rachaad White (RB22) combined to put up a hefty 444 fantasy points.

It’s not outlandish to expect a similar timeshare in Jacksonville, one that could see both Bigsby and Etienne shine, as the coaching staff works to leverage each of the veteran back's unique talents.

Breece Hall, New York Jets

AP Photo/Adam Hunger

2025 ADP: 36

2024 ADP: 2

Breece Hall was one of the biggest disappointments of the 2024 fantasy football season. After coming into the campaign as the consensus No. 2 overall pick, the New York Jets running back vastly underwhelmed by finishing the year as the RB16.

The 24-year-old totaled just 1,359 yards and eight touchdowns on 266 touches, resulting in a disappointing 240.9 fantasy points on the season—a mark that tied him with Jerry Jeudy as fantasy's No. 46 overall scorer.

Hall's pedestrian stat line reflected Gang Green's abysmal offense across the board. The team failed to find a spark with Aaron Rodgers finally at the helm, resulting in New York slogging through a trying 5-12 campaign while ranking in the bottom 10 of the league in both total and scoring offense.

With Rodgers out of the picture and a regime change that resulted in Aaron Glenn taking over as head coach, Hall has an opportunity to start fresh and reassert himself as a go-to weapon.

The Jets need Hall to step up more than ever after opting to bring Justin Fields in as Rodgers' replacement. The polarizing signal-caller leaves a lot to be desired as a passer, but a lacking arm didn't stop Hall from thriving alongside former New York quarterback Zach Wilson.

In 2022, Hall was averaging 16.4 fantasy points per game and was the RB7 over the first seven weeks before an ACL tear cut his breakout rookie season short.

After returning to the field in time to start the 2023 season, he shook off a relatively slow start to put up 290.5 fantasy points—making him the No. 14 overall scorer and second-most prolific RB behind Christian McCaffrey that year.

Hall managed to accomplish those impressive 2023 numbers despite playing just 61 percent of the Jets' offensive snaps. An increase to 72 percent last year clearly didn't benefit the dynamic playmaker, so sharing time with sophomore backups Braelon Allen and Isaiah Davis—two players Glenn indicated could see the field more in 2025—shouldn't set the starter back much at all.

Hall is likely to post a top-five finish in 2025 and appears to be an incredible value at his current draft position. Expect the Jets to lean heavily on him as both a rusher and receiver this coming season, especially if Fields remains under center and limits the team's downfield passing potential.

Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco 49ers

AP Photo/Jeff Chiu

2025 ADP: 9

2024 ADP: 1

Christian McCaffrey burned fantasy managers badly last year to the point that many may opt against taking him even in the back half of the first round in 2025.

It's understandable given the San Francisco 49ers star was a consensus, slam-dunk No. 1 overall pick on the heels of his incredible 2023 efforts.

Following a season in which he put up over 100 fantasy points more than the next highest-scoring RB, the 29-year-old went on to miss the entire first half of 2024 and participated in just four contests before going on the IR for the rest of the campaign.

It's tough to blame managers who may be skeptical about taking McCaffrey early again following that, but those who are willing to roll the dice should be rewarded handsomely.

Despite not coming off the board until No. 9 overall on average, the three-time Pro Bowler still has all the tools to regain RB1 status during the upcoming season.

He remains the clear-cut preferred option in San Francisco's backfield, even more so following a trade that sent last year's breakout backup Jordan Mason to the Minnesota Vikings.

While Isaac Guerendo showed flashes of potential during a handful of starts late in his 2024 rookie season, the fourth-rounder only finished the year with a meager 94.2 fantasy points. Fifth-round rookie Jordan James, the only other notable back on the Niners' roster, would need to have a truly impressive training camp to cut into a healthy McCaffrey's workload.

The Niners indicated their intention to continue running their offense through McCaffrey during his limited availability in 2024. He earned a whopping 43 of the 50 totes given to San Francisco running backs during the three full games he was healthy for between Weeks 10-12, a stretch in which he also generated 16 targets.

With that history of production, promising usage rate and lack of viable competition for looks, McCaffrey is primed for an epic bounce-back campaign.

Although it's no guarantee his body will hold up to the the rigors of a long NFL season, the 49ers star should have no issues turning back into a true fantasy league winner if he remains healthy.