3 Late Round Running Backs To Draft In 2025 Fantasy Football

Forbes

21-05-2025

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - OCTOBER 10: Jordan Mason #24 of the San Francisco 49ers carries the ball ... More against the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field on October 10, 2024 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by)
With the summer fast approaching, we're getting close to the 2025 fantasy football season. Today, we're going to look at three running backs who would be great late round targets for your 2025 fantasy football drafts.
You can either use this information to draft best ball teams right away or just to get familiar with some of these outlooks. Two of the players on this list are rookies and one of them was traded this past year.
The ADP we'll be using is from Underdog Fantasy, which uses a half-PPR format. That said, there's plenty of analysis to be done, so let's dive right into it.
Jordan Mason had his breakout year with the San Francisco 49ers when Christian McCaffrey went down in 2024. With McCaffrey going down, Mason saw his previous career high in carries (43) increased dramatically to 153.
With those touches, Mason was able to run for 789 yards on 5.2 YPC. This kind of production gave Mason three games above 15 points last season.
It's worth noting that the Minnesota Vikings went out of their way to trade for Mason, showing that they clearly value him in the offense. While Aaron Jones is still on the team and he had a great 2024 season, at 30 years old, there's a risk of injury.
Expect Mason to be used to help conserve Jones while also having upside to have spike weeks if Jones goes down.
It wouldn't surprise me if Jaydon Blue was the outright starter for the Dallas Cowboys in 2025. With Rico Dowdle out the door, the Cowboys running back room is wide open.
Although many speculated the Dallas Cowboys would draft a running back early in the draft, Blue was the first running back they selected and that was in round five. Although Blue didn't put up great numbers in college, he showed great flashes on film.
The only players that Blue has to compete with right now are Javonte Williams and Miles Sanders. Williams was a great prospect coming out of college, but after suffering a torn ACL and LCL tear, he hasn't had more than 3.8 YPC since 2023.
Sanders is 28 years old and has struggled heavily since leaving the Philadelphia Eagles. In the last two seasons, Sanders hasn't had more than 3.8 YPC as well.
The Cowboys are typically a good offense who give their players more opportunity by running 64.9 plays per game. Getting the starting running back in that offense is great value as the RB40.
PISCATAWAY, NEW JERSEY - NOVEMBER 23: Kyle Monangai #5 of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights runs with the ... More ball while Alex Bray #11 of the Illinois Fighting Illini looks to tackle him during the second half at SHI Stadium on November 23, 2024 in Piscataway, New Jersey. (Photo by)
Staying on the trend of rookies, Kyle Monangai is a deep sleeper. Monangai isn't even going to be drafted in most leagues, so you should be able to get him as your last pick in ESPN or Yahoo leagues.
Monangai was a 7th round draft pick for the Chicago Bears, but he's in a similar situation to Blue. D'Andre Swift was extremely inefficient last year with 3.8 YPC and many speculated that the Bears would take a running back early. Monangai ended up being the only running back they selected.
Monangai has an easy path to take over the Bears backfield, and they project to be a great offense. With Caleb Williams, Rome Odunze, DJ Moore, Luther Burden, Colston Loveland and quite a few offensive line additions, the Bears should be scoring a ton of points next year.
Although Monangai wasn't drafted very early in the NFL and doesn't have a super high ceiling, he's a bruiser. On tape, it's clear that Monangai runs defenders over, and that was shown by his 1,279-yard rushing season at Rutgers.
With how late you're able to draft Monangai, he should be a target for 2025 fantasy football.