The college football season technically started yesterday, but if they’re gonna call it “week zero”, then I can publish my final “preseason” running back rankings for next spring’s draft class after games have started and you’re not allowed to say anything about it. So, that’s what this article is: a rundown of the guys I view as being at the top of the upcoming crop of draft-eligible runners prior to the start of their final collegiate seasons. For the most part, this list is presented in order of how good I think these players are, not necessarily presented in the order in which I would take them in a devy draft (I’m slightly low on TreVeyon Henderson, for example, but that doesn’t mean you should take all the guys I have ranked above him ahead of him in drafts, it just means he’s a relative fade and/or they are relatively good values), as are the rest of my devy running back rankings.

Without further ado:

I recently wrote an article about McClellan in which I concluded that he’s a quality outside zone runner who boasts some explosiveness and has shown flashes of three-down ability, but his relatively limited on-field resume means the 2023 season will be important for filling in the gaps of our understanding of his complete skillset. I could see myself moving him significantly up from his current RB11 ranking, and I could also see myself deciding that he’s just not that enticing of a prospect. I’ll be checking in on this one sometime in the first few weeks of the season.

Benson is one of the few guys in this group that I haven’t gotten around to watching film of so far (mostly because I haven’t been able to find much all-22 film of him), but he’s got good size, has enough in his route tree to hint at more pass-catching upside than his 13 career receptions would indicate, had solid rushing efficiency numbers last season, and is highly regarded by many in the devy and scouting spaces. Pro Football Focus has him as their early RB1 in next year’s draft class, and he forced a ridiculous 0.51 missed tackles per attempt a year ago, a mark that would smash the career numbers of every running back drafted in the PFF era. It’s entirely possible that I’m way too low on him right now.

All my homies love Miyan Williams. He’s probably never going to catch many passes and he will likely finish his college career without ever having entered a season as his team’s RB1, but he’s a tackle-breaking machine who posted some of the best rushing efficiency numbers of any runner in the country last season, even when compared to a stacked group of backfield teammates at Ohio State. Like other hard-charging runners with fire hydrant frames from recent years like Dameon Pierce and Josh Jacobs, Williams just feels like one of those guys who’ll end up being a more productive pro than he was an amateur.

A lack of available film means I haven’t studied Neal’s tape just yet, but back-to-back seasons with Box-Adjusted Efficiency Ratings above the 148% mark and Relative Success Rates above the 5% mark (thresholds that represent the 90th and 66th percentiles, respectively) combine with exciting athleticism to give him a spot on this list. Kansas isn’t the best place from which to launch a campaign for quality draft capital, but with the above points in his favor adding to the fact that he caught 21 passes last season and has been listed at 210 pounds since he was a freshman, and there are simply very few holes in Neal’s analytical profile.

Edwards is probably the best receiver of any back in the 2024 class, which -- when considered in tandem with his 6’1 and 210-pound frame -- gives him the same sort of hypothetical upside that we imagined with Rachaad White coming out of Arizona State. That’s certainly possible, but I do think the film and rushing efficiency data both point to Edwards’ being closer to the version of White that we saw as a rookie in the NFL as a quality pass-catcher but mediocre runner. Many hold him in higher regard than Blake Corum, the guy who Michigan coaches have opted to deploy as the RB1 ahead of him, but being a more versatile receiver does not necessarily make Edwards a better -- or even more complete -- player than his counterpart.

I have yet to do much work on Shipley, but he’s got a super solid profile: 210 pounds, 4.46 speed in the forty-yard dash, five-star pedigree, to-date marks in both BAE Rating and RSR right around the 60th percentile, a massive 38 receptions on 76th-percentile Route Diversity in 2022, and a Matt Waldman endorsement. There aren’t many nits to pick here, but there also just isn’t much in the numbers that gets me truly excited. I’m open to becoming a bigger fan, but Shipley strikes me as a good-but-not-great prospect right now.

I’ve come around on Henderson quite a bit, but I am still concerned that he’s more style than substance as both a player and fantasy asset. Marlon Mack feels like a realistic 40th percentile outcome based on how explosive he is, but he just doesn’t have the rushing or receiving resume to back up his status as a tier-one devy running back. Hopefully a healthy junior season will allow him to show his complete repertoire and secure quality draft capital, which would likely be as a top-three selection among 2024 runners.

Corum was cleared from his late-season knee injury back in July and says it feels “perfect”, a declaration I’m taking at slightly less than face value considering I believe Corum is the best pure runner in this class and probably the second-best overall running back yet have him ranked as RB4. If truly healthy, Corum will likely be a Heisman-contending runner on a National Championship-contending team for the second year in a row, an archetype of player that I don’t see the NFL letting fall to day three.

While I acknowledge the risk of being too far out over my skis here (and you absolutely don’t need to pull him up this far in drafts), I think Lloyd is a superstar just waiting to be unleashed at USC. I haven’t studied his film yet, but the numbers are ridiculous: 97th-percentile BAE Rating, 96th-percentile RSR, 98th-percentile MTF per attempt, 89th-percentile Route Diversity, 74th-percentile target RATE, dense frame at 5’9 and 210-pounds, and 4-star pedigree subdued only by injuries thus far in his career. He’s a beast.

I said above that a healthy Blake Corum is the best pure runner in this class, and Allen is the guy I’d consider the runner-up. His film blew me away, he’s posted insane and decent efficiency numbers, respectively, in his two college seasons, and -- as everyone knows -- he’s a size/speed freak who will be the youngest running back drafted in the last 15+ years if he declares this spring. He also feels like a lock for day two draft capital: there’s no way the NFL is going to overlook the 240-pound barely-not-a-teenager from a Wisconsin program that has a long history of producing stud running backs, especially after he destroys the Combine.

Sanders is not a perfect prospect and does not have a stranglehold on this RB1 spot, but he has decent film (I still need to watch more, but I’m confident saying that at least) to go with the best on-paper profile of any player in this class. He’s huge at 6’2 and 242 pounds, he posted a 91st-percentile BAE Rating and a 61st-percentile RSR while running for over 1400 yards in the SEC last season, and he’s a converted wide receiver who caught 28 passes a year ago.