2025 Rookie Profiles: Running Backs Tier 4
The final part of the Rookie RB Profile Series - Tier 4.
We continue forward with tier 4 of the RB group. These guys are more of the long shots to have a role, or may get some stronger draft capital but have glaring deficiencies in their profiles.
Also, this is the last of the RB profile series. Next article you see will be the top (tier 1 and 2) of the WR position.
TIER 4
RB14: Trevor Etienne
The Good: Etienne, the brother of Travis, was productive right from his freshman year putting up nearly 800 yards and 6 TDs. In his first 2 years at Florida, at just 18 and 19 years old respectively, Etienne put together some very strong efficiency. He clocked a very healthy 3.98 YACo/Att and 0.28 MTF/Att, along with a strong 10.5% breakaway run rate in these 2 seasons.
Etienne is an undersized yet speedy back that posted a 4.42 40-time, so the hope is that he could creative some explosives in the run game. While not the most efficient receiver, Etienne was solid in pass pro and also reeled in outrageous 62 of 63 targets in his college career. He should project as a reliable passing down back at the next level with these traits alone.
Etienne is an early-declare who was productive in all 3 years of his career, going against the toughest competition in the country in the SEC. He has an elite pedigree and is still just 20 years old. I struggle to rank him much lower than here with that in mind.
The Bad: Etienne’s efficiency plummeted in year 3 at Georgia, dropping down to 4.9 YPA, 3.43 YACo/Att, and just a 5.7% breakaway run rate. As an undersized back with speed, this lack of explosives was disappointing to see from Etienne.
Speaking of undersized, Etienne is just 5’9” and 198 pounds. He’s not only undersized, but his burst is fine yet not elite (66th percentile burst score) and he tested poorly in agility testing (shuttle/3-cone) at the combine. To be fair, he was able to force missed tackles at a relatively high rate, but this agility testing is relatively disappointing nonetheless. Etienne likely lacks the strength and size to take on a big workload and consistently trek through stronger NFL tacklers.
While Etienne was a reliable pass catcher, he also struggled to creative in the receiving game. He averaged a paltry career 7.0 yards/rec and 1.00 YPRR, with just 2 of his 51 receptions in his final 2 seasons going for 15 yards or more.
FF Summary: Etienne has a strong pedigree and boasts some solid career efficiency coming out of the SEC, but he feels somewhat capped from an upside perspective. He never crossed 1,000 total yards in a season, and saw his efficiency decline in his final year. His size and average/slightly above average athleticism will likely limit him to a 1B role at best. That being said, I do think he’s somewhat likely to find some sort of role early on in his career, which leaves me higher on him then consensus.
Etienne is a fine flier in both rookie drafts and the 20th round of pre-draft best ball, although I’m not overly excited to click him.
RB15: Jordan James
The Good: Jordan James was PFFs top graded rusher in 2023 behind Bucky Irving, and followed that up with a 7th-best-in-nation PFF rush grade in 2024. In 2023, as a true sophomore, he tallied 900 total yards and 12 total TDs on an outrageous 7.1 YPA. In this 2023 season, his underlying efficiency metrics were also stellar, with a 0.30 MTF/Att rate and over 4 YACo/Att.
He followed up this 2023 season with nearly 1,500 total yards and 15 TDs in 2024. While his efficiency dropped some, his 0.25 MTF/Att was still a solid mark.
While he was not a huge breakaway run threat, James gained 10+ yards on a very impressive 17.6% of his attempts in 2024. His success rate of 58.9% was the best of all RB prospects in this class, and his 0.24 EPA/Rush was 3rd behind only TreVeyon Henderson and RJ Harvey.
The Bad: James glaring issue is his lack of athleticism across the board, similar to his 2023 teammate Bucky Irving coming out of college. James posted just a 3.87 RAS, with a 46th percentile speed score and really poor explosion testing numbers. Combine this with him being undersized at 5’9.5” and 205 pounds, and you have a pretty concerning physical profile.
James also did not have great efficiency in his final season, despite the big raw numbers. His 3.18 YACo/att and 6.5 % breakaway run rate are pretty weak marks, while his 5.4 YPA is middling as well.
In the receiving game, James was nothing to get excited about either. His career 0.95 YPRR is a subpar mark, and his 0.21 MTF/Rec is a very weak number that makes me concerned about his ability to operate in space. He’s also pretty weak in pass pro, coming in bottom 3rd in this class in PFF pass block grade (43.9).
FF Summary: James is likely to be an early-to-mid day 3 pick at the latest. He posted some impressive counting stats in his sophomore and junior seasons before declaring for the draft early, but his strong efficiency as a sophomore was met with some decline in this past season. James similarly has some real athletic concerns, which will likely limit his upside at the next level.
James is very good at consistently churning out runs that gain yards, generated by his class-leading rushing success rate. He similarly was very good gaining 10+ yards, but sturggles to create real explosives due to his lacking speed and burst.
James has a chance to find an early down and short yardage role in a committee, although he seems more likely to start his career as an RB3. His production profile is fine to bet on in the last round of rookie drafts.