• Jonah Coleman delivers in all situations, along with Jeremiyah Love: While Love is no surprise, Coleman makes an argument to be valued higher than his current RB5 standing in consensus mock drafts.
• Mike Washington Jr. fails to stand out in any specific strategy: While Washington has flown up NFL draft boards, there are some concerns about his performance compared to his peers.
• Unlock your edge with PFF+: Access Premium Stats, dominate fantasy with in-season tools and projections and make smarter bets with the new PFF Player Prop Tool. Get 25% off your PFF+ annual subscription with code PFFFANTASYPODCAST25.

Estimated reading time: 8 minutes

The 2026 NFL Draft gets closer by the day, and there can never be enough data to pore over when evaluating prospects. Beginning with the running backs, this piece will focus on how the top prospects in this year’s draft performed in key situations, helping us better understand their usage and production in college.

We will focus on a lot of metrics that are not readily available through PFF Premium Stats to give an exclusive, in-depth breakdown. Here are some things to keep in mind:

• Career attempts are how many carries each running back had in the specific situations highlighted.
• Rushing grade is each running back’s PFF rushing grade from within each specific situation.
• Yards per carry is how many rushing yards each running back totaled divided by their number of carries in each specific situation.
• 1DTD rate is the number of times a running back delivered a first down or touchdown on their attempts within each specific situation.
• Explosive run rate is the number of times a running back ran for 10 or more yards on a play in each specific situation.
• Stuffed run rate is the number of times a running back was tackled at or behind the line of scrimmage within each specific situation.

Overall career rushing numbers

Starting with the basics, this is an overview of how each running back performed in typical metrics across all situations during their college career.

Jeremiyah Love is the consensus RB1 in this class for good reason, as he shows well across the board, including a class-leading rushing grade (96.3) and yards per carry average (6.6) among backs with at least 100 carries. He’ll appear near the top of many of the situations that are included in this breakdown, helping solidify his profile as an elite running back prospect.

Washington’s Jonah Coleman is often considered the RB2 in this year’s class and his overall career rushing metrics tend to back that up. He comes in just behind Love in terms of career rushing grade (96.2) and has no real red flags in the collected metrics for this breakdown.

Penn State currently boasts two potential backs to be drafted among the top-120 players in this year’s draft, Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen. While Singleton has the higher projected draft capital, Allen owns slightly better rushing metrics for his career on the biggest career workload from this class.

Career numbers versus stacked boxes (eight-plus defenders)

Here, we highlight the prospects who performed well when the defense was playing to defend the run. These top players produced positive outcomes despite facing a situation less conducive to success.

The Penn State backs, Allen and Singleton, have faced the most stacked boxes from this year’s class and have performed relatively well in those situations, as Allen stood out with a top-10 stuffed run rate (16.7%) and explosive run rate (11.7%).

Jonah Coleman has some of the most impressive rushing metrics against stacked boxes in this year’s class, ranking top-five in rushing grade (90.6), first-down-plus-touchdown rate (40.5%) and explosive run rate (13.7%) among backs with at least 100 carries in those situations.

Career zone run concept numbers

Inside and outside-zone runs are the most common rushing concepts in the NFL, so being able to understand those schemes and deliver on them is going to be important early in these running backs’ NFL careers.

Nebraska’s Emmett Johnson is an expected top-five pick at his position in this year’s draft, though he hasn’t graded out particularly well in zone concept runs, which could limit his success at the next level in a zone-heavy system. There is a significant difference between his success rate in gap-scheme concepts, as he’s much better in that regard, so he could be a more scheme-reliant fit at the next level.

Jonah Coleman owns the highest career rushing grade from zone concept runs, though he is closer to average in that regard in gap-scheme runs. As a potential top-three pick at the position in this class, he’ll ideally fit in any scheme, though it’s worth noting that a more gap-heavy run scheme might not be ideal for his efficiency.

Career gap-scheme run concepts

Counter and power runs are the most common gap-scheme rushing concepts in the NFL and are quite different from typical zone runs in that there is at least one pulling blocker to follow toward the point of attack. This often means running backs will have to show patience and know how to take advantage of the holes that their offensive linemen create.

Jadarian Price has found more success from zone run concepts, averaging the best yards per carry (6.9) mark behind only Jeremiyah Love (min. 100 carries), though his efficiency in gap-scheme runs is not as ideal. Price’s 4.5 yards per carry ranks out of the top 35 backs in this class, creating at least some trepidation about him fitting into any offensive system at the next level.

Career goal-to-go numbers

Goal-to-go situations are key for fantasy managers, as this is where the majority of rushing touchdowns come from. The offense’s ability to get into these situations is a big contributing factor, as well as the team’s choice of who to deploy. Nonetheless, generally, how the running back performs in these opportunities is particularly telling regarding their usage going forward.

The Penn State running backs, Allen and Singleton, once again stand out together as they both rank among the top five at the position in career goal-to-go carries and have found significant success in those situations. The two combined for 28 rushing touchdowns in 2025 alone, thanks to strong efficiency and high-end usage around the goal line.

Career early-down (first and second) numbers

First and second downs are where most rushing attempts come, so it’s also going to be important to identify those who have the most success on those key rushing downs.

Mike Washington Jr. has flown up draft boards recently after a strong showing at the NFL combine, though a lot of his metrics coming out of college are less-than-ideal. He has yet to stand out in any particular category, and that includes his work on early downs. Despite a heavy workload of 480 carries, he comes in ranked well below average in terms of rushing grade, which has been the norm for almost all categories.

Career fourth quarter and overtime numbers

How running backs perform in late-game situations can also be a key part of understanding who they are as a prospect. These numbers remove any “garbage time” situations where one team has put the game out of reach. Instead, focus on closer late-game situations to get a sense of which backs still have the stamina to deliver strong numbers and make the biggest difference for their respective offenses.

Love and Coleman remain strong into the latter stages of games, with Coleman even maintaining his average yards per carry from early downs while his explosive run rate improved. Based on a lot of the data alone that has been covered throughout this piece, Love and Coleman certainly feel like a cut above the rest, though Coleman has dropped to fifth in the consensus mock draft boards.

Career receiving numbers

Lastly, receiving usage and production will be key for any running back class, as success in this area of their game can lead to a larger chance of earning an every-down role.

Love’s usage as a runner combined with his work as a receiver is unparalleled in this class, which only further backs his ranking as the consensus RB1 this year. Love owns top-five marks in this class in target rate (20%), yards per route run (1.60), and first-down-plus-touchdown rate (8.9%), which is very encouraging for his potential at the next level, regardless of landing spot.

Mike Washington Jr. stands out here with a red flag again, as he has a lot of experience as a receiver, though his 44.9 career receiving grade is one of the worst in this entire class. NFL teams and fantasy managers may fall in love with the speed and athleticism, but it’s worth noting that there are concerns in his data profile for him potentially translating to the next level.