2022 NFL Draft: Taking a look at the RBs this year and in past 10 drafts

The biggest question with running backs in the 2022 NFL Draft doesn’t seem to be how many (if any) go in the first round; rather; it’s whether more than four will go in the first three rounds.

There certainly is no one standout at the position available in this draft. Still, there has been at least one running back in the first round in every draft since 2014, and that streak could be broken this year.

We have produced a consensus top five at the position in this draft using the rankings of draft analysts Dane Brugler of The Athletic and Lance Zierlein of NFL.com as well as the ESPN consensus (from among analysts Mel Kiper, Todd McShay, Matt Miller and Jason Reid). We also take a look at the position in the past 10 drafts.

This part 2 of an eight-part draft series leading into the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft, which is Thursday, April 28 in Las Vegas. (And given some of the horrendous picks that everyone knows will be made, there will be a bunch of GMs two and three years from now wishing that some picks made in Vegas had stayed in Vegas.) We looked at quarterbacks on Wednesday, with wide receivers and tight ends coming Friday, offensive tackles Saturday, interior offensive linemen Sunday, defensive linemen Monday, linebackers Tuesday and defensive backs next Wednesday.

As a refresher, here are the underclassmen who are available in the draft. And if you want to look into the recruiting rankings of those taken in the past few drafts, you can have fun with the On3 NFL Draft by Stars database.

Consensus top 5 in this draft

1. Breece Hall, Iowa State

The skinny: On3 Consensus four-star prospect, from Wichita (Kan.) Northwest, in the 2019 recruiting class. Hall led the nation with 1,572 rushing yards in 2020 and was eighth with 1,472 in 2021. He is the second-leading rusher in Iowa State history (3,941 yards), behind two-time 2,000-yard rusher Troy Davis, and is the Cyclones’ career leader with 50 rushing TDs. No Iowa State player has gone in the first round since RB George Amundson to the Houston Oilers in 1973, and only two Cyclones have gone as early as the second round since 1979.

2. Kenneth Walker III, Michigan State

The skinny: On3 Consensus three-star prospect, from Arlington (Tenn.) High, in the 2019 recruiting class. Walker rushed for exactly 579 in each of his first two seasons at Wake Forest before transferring to Michigan State for the 2021 campaign. He led Power 5 (and was second nationally) with 1,636 yards in ’21, a figure that is fourth on Michigan State’s single-season list.

3. Isaiah Spiller, Texas A&M

The skinny: On3 Consensus four-star prospect, from Klein (Texas) Collins, in the 2019 recruiting class. Spiller was a two-time 1,000-yard rusher in his three-season Aggies career and was just 54 yards short of 1,000 as a freshman in 2019. He is the seventh-leading rusher in school history (2,993 yards).

4. James Cook, Georgia

The skinny: On3 Consensus four-star prospect, from Miami Northwestern, in the 2018 recruiting class. Cook, the younger brother of Minnesota Vikings star Dalvin Cook, never was the lead back at Georgia; instead, he always split carries in a deep backfield. He rushed for a total of 1,503 yards in four seasons; there have been five seasons in which a Georgia back rushed for more yards. But Cook’s relative lack of use (he had 230 career carries) is appealing to NFL teams; plus, he has a burst and is a good receiver, with 67 career receptions.

5. Dameon Pierce, Florida

The skinny: On3 Consensus four-star prospect, from Bainbridge (Ga.) High, in the 2018 recruiting class. As with Cook, part of Pierce’s NFL appeal is that he has a lot of tread left on the tires; he had 329 career carries for 1,806 yards at Florida. (As a comparison, Walker had 263 carries and Hall 253 in 2021 alone.) Pierce is a tough between-the-tackles runner and has shown some receiving ability.

First-rounders in past 10 drafts

+ There have been 15 running backs selected in the first round in the past 10 drafts.

+ Four of those were On3 Consensus five-star recruits: Trent Richardson (2009 class), Leonard Fournette and Sony Michel (both from the 2014 class) and Najee Harris (2017 class).

+ The other 11 were ranked thusly: Saquon Barkley, Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Ezekiel Elliott, Travis Etienne, Melvin Gordon, Todd Gurley, Josh Jacobs, Christian McCaffrey and David Wilson were On3 Consensus four-star prospects, and Rashaad Penny was a three-star recruit. Doug Martin was an unranked prospect in the 2007 class.

+ The conference breakdown of the 15: Seven were from the SEC; three from the Big Ten; two each from the ACC and Mountain West; and one from the Pac-12. (The most recent first-round running back from the Big 12? Oklahoma’s Adrian Peterson in 2007.)

+ Six running backs have been selected in the top 10.

+ Only once in the past 10 drafts have two running backs gone in the top 10: In 2017, Fournette went fourth to Jacksonville and McCaffrey went eighth to Carolina.

+ Twice in the past 10 drafts, in 2012 and ’18, three running backs have gone in the first round. Two were first-rounders in 2015, ’17 and ’21 and there were single running backs selected in 2016, ’19 and ’20. There were no first-rounders in 2013 and ’14.

+ More than half of those who went in the first round (eight of the 15) were selected 24^th or later in the round.

+ Alabama has had three first-round running backs in the past 10 drafts, while Georgia and LSU have had two each.

Total RBs taken in past 10 drafts

+ There have been 226 running backs selected in the past 10 drafts, with a high of 30 in 2017 and a low of 16 in 2020.

+ There have been as many selected in the seventh round in the past four drafts (15) as have gone in the first round in the past 10 drafts.

+ Almost 70 percent (.695) of the 226 running backs selected in the past 10 drafts were taken on the third day (fourth through seventh rounds).

+ Alabama has had 10 running backs selected in the past 10 drafts, the most of any school.

+ There have been as many running backs drafted from UTEP as from Texas (one each).

+ Other surprisingly low totals: TCU and Virginia with none, Michigan and Penn State two each and USC with three. As a comparison, Vanderbilt has had two, FAU and Louisiana have had three each, San Diego State has had four and Utah State has had five.

The 5-star running backs

We looked at the five-star running backs in the 2009-19 recruiting classes (those in the ’09 class were eligible for the first time in the 2012 draft and those in the ’19 class are eligible for this draft).

+ There were 44 five-star running backs in those 11 classes: four in 2009, five in 2010, six in 2011, five in 2012, four in 2013, seven in ’14, two in 2015, one in 2016, three in ’17, four in ’18 and three in ’19.

+ Two five-star running backs from 2019 (LSU’s John Emery and Alabama’s Trey Sanders), two from 2018 (Boston College’s Jaelen Gill and Florida’s Lorenzo Lingard) and one from 2017 (Marshall’s Khalan Laborn) will be playing this fall. The last three transferred from their original schools.

+ We mentioned the four first-rounders earlier. Another 20 former five-stars have been drafted. From the 2009 class: Christine Michael (second round) and Bryce Brown (seventh). From 2010: Marcus Lattimore (fourth), Lache Seastrunk (sixth) and Spencer Ware (sixth). From 2011: De’Anthony Thomas (fourth) and Karlos Williams (fifth). From 2012: T.J. Yeldon (second), Duke Johnson (third) and Keith Marshall (seventh). From 2013: Derrick Henry (second) and Kelvin Taylor (sixth). From 2014: Bo Scarbrough (seventh), Dalvin Cook (second), Joe Mixon (second) and Nick Chubb (second). From 2015: Kerryon Johnson (second) and Damien Harris (third). From 2016: Miles Sanders (second). From 2017: Cam Akers (second).

+ The 12 five-star running backs who have completed their eligibility and weren’t drafted: Jamaal Berry from the 2009 class; Dylan Baxter and Michael Dyer from the 2010 class; Malcolm Brown, Isaiah Crowell, Dee Hart and James Wilder from the 2011 class; Johnathan Gray and Trey Williams from 2012; Keith Ford and Thomas Tyner from 2013; and Jalen Hurd from 2014 (he moved to wide receiver for his senior season in college).

+ Former five-star running backs Zamir White (2018 class) and Jerrion Ealy (2019) are in this draft. Finally, we’re not sure what has happened to Ricky Slade (2018); he transferred from Penn State to Old Dominion after the 2019 season, but is not listed on the ODU roster nor is he listed in the transfer portal.