Backup Running Backs Are Flying Up Draft Boards

The calendar has almost flipped to June as we get closer to the 2025 NFL season. There are still a few months until seasonal fantasy drafts, but plenty of people are still drafting new teams in formats like best ball and dynasty.

Here at FTN Fantasy, we believe that it is never too early to start preparing for the fantasy season. Understanding the different ADPs of players throughout the summer helps us to understand who is gaining or losing value throughout the dog days of summer.

ADP for this article is pulled from Underdog Fantasy. They have a good sample size of drafts, but some of the ADP may not be reflective of your home leagues since it is a best ball platform that values stacking and aligning schedules between key pieces.

That said, check out the biggest risers and fallers since May 13 below.

Fantasy Football ADP Rumblings (5/29)

Risers

Justice Hill, RB, Baltimore Ravens

ADP: 186.0, RB55 (-13.6)

Ravens backup RB Justice Hill is the biggest riser over the last two weeks. Make no mistake, Derrick Henry will be the lead back in Baltimore’s offense and is going off the board at a reasonable price (RB6, pick 14.4) given the value of that role.

However, fantasy managers are now trying to figure out the handcuff to roster in that backfield. As a result, Hill’s ADP has climbed over a round.

The logic makes sense. Hill carved out a decent role for himself as a pass-catching back in 2024 (51 targets, 42 receptions, 383 receiving yards and three touchdowns) in relief of Henry. He even had a top-10 scoring week in Week 17 (19.7).

Hill will certainly be the frontrunner for those valuable touches again, but it is hard to imagine that he would completely take over the backfield if Henry were to be injured. Keaton Mitchell came back from his 2023 ACL injury and will be fully healthy in 2025. The team also has 2024 fifth-rounder Rasheen Ali on the depth chart.

Expect Hill’s role to be the same in 2025. His RB55 price tag is worth a shot, but it is hard to see an outcome where he gains a massive uptick in value regardless of Henry’s health.

Will Shipley, RB, Philadelphia Eagles

ADP: 181.9, RB54 (-13.0)

Will Shipley was seldom used as a rookie (30 carries for 82 yards and four receptions for 35 yards) but finds himself on a depth chart where his top competition for the RB2 role (Kenneth Gainwell) left in free agency.

Early drafts have caught on to the thin Eagles depth chart behind Saquon Barkley, with Shipley moving up 13 spots in ADP the last two weeks and landing as the RB54.

Like Hill, there should be no illusions regarding Shipley’s role in 2025. As long as Barkley is healthy, he will continue to dominate the snaps and touches in this backfield. However, Barkley is coming off a season where he handled a career-high 378 touches, plus another 104 in the postseason. That is a significant workload for any running back, much less one who is turning 28 with a history of injuries.

If Barkley were to go down, Shipley would be competing with A.J. Dillon for immediate touches. During his career at Clemson, Shipley established that he could be a three-down weapon for an offense willing to use him that way (526 carries for 2,747 yards and 31 touchdowns and 85 receptions for 602 yards and two receiving scores in three seasons).

The team thought enough of Shipley’s skillset that they were willing to let a veteran contributor like Gainwell walk in free agency without matching his paltry second contract (one year, $1.79 million). Anticipate his ADP continuing to rise throughout the summer.

Jaylen Wright, RB, Miami Dolphins

ADP: 175.4, RB53 (-12.4)

Jaylen Wright is another second-year running back rapidly rising after a subpar rookie season. Wright finished third on the team in carries (68) and rushing yards (249) without finding the end zone as a rookie. Wright couldn’t carve out a role even with Raheem Mostert (85 carries for 278 yards) missing four games.

Mostert is no longer with the team, which is leading fantasy managers to start pushing Wright up the board due to the lack of established competition in Miami. However, the Dolphins brought in running backs in free agency (Alexander Mattison) and the draft (Ollie Gordon II).

Neither Mattison nor Gordon has the explosive ability of Wright, but both offer the ability to cap Wright’s ceiling if De’Von Achane gets injured in 2025 by taking goal-line work. That, combined with Miami’s poor offensive line, makes it hard to trust Jaylen Wright as a big contributor next season.

As it currently stands, Wright is a fine player to take a shot on with his ADP at 175.4. Just be wary if he continues to climb the draft boards throughout the summer.

Darius Slayton, WR, New York Giants

AD: 193.6, WR80 (-8.2)

Death, taxes and Darius Slayton being a value in early fantasy drafts.

It feels like the Giants have been perpetually trying to upgrade Slayton on the field, but when his contract finally expired, the team moved quickly to re-sign him to a three-year, $36 million extension.

Over Slayton’s six-year career, he’s averaged 15.0 yards per reception. He’s also put together an average stat line of 77 targets, 43 receptions, 650 receiving yards and four touchdowns per season.

Since being drafted in 2019, Slayton has just one career season where he has finished lower than the WR55 in half-PPR scoring formats. That came during the 2021 season where he was limited to just 13 games.

Nobody is claiming that Slayton has WR1 upside. But he has greatly exceeded his ADP in five of his six career seasons and will be in an offense that has two quarterbacks (Jameis Winston and rookie Jaxson Dart) who can utilize his deep-threat ability.

Slayton is an intriguing wide receiver capable of boom-scoring weeks in the final rounds of your best ball drafts. However, he is not worth drafting in redraft or dynasty leagues given the inconsistent nature of his role.

Fallers

Elic Ayomanor, WR, Tennessee Titans

ADP: 206.2, WR87 (+14.1)

Elic Ayomanor was a popular “sleeper” rookie heading into the NFL draft, with plenty of people touting the Stanford product as a player who could emerge as a better professional than a college player. Ayomanor logged 125 receptions for 1,844 yards and 12 touchdowns over his last two seasons.

Unfortunately, the NFL did not have as much faith in Ayomanor’s ability to translate to the NFL level as social media did. Ayomanor was selected in the fourth round of the 2025 NFL draft by the Titans.

However, his recent fall back down draft boards (14.1 spots) might be a bit dramatic. For one, Ayomanor’s ADP never really got out of control. Even after the dip, he’s going off the board as the WR87.

There will be plenty of veteran competition in the receiver room between Calvin Ridley, Treylon Burks, Tyler Lockett and Van Jefferson. The team also drafted speed merchant Chimere Dike along with Ayomanor in the fourth round.

However, a Round 17 pick is hardly an expensive cost for a rookie in an offense starving for playmakers with a rookie quarterback. Ayomanor could carve out a role in an offense we are excited about going forward.

Jalen Tolbert, WR, Dallas Cowboys

ADP: 212.9, WR91 (+11.9)

People have been waiting for Jalen Tolbert to break out the 2022 third-round pick struggled to get traction in Dallas’s passing attack to start his career. In his first two seasons, Tolbert caught just 24 of 39 targets for 280 yards and two touchdowns in 25 games.

Tolbert finally got a chance to expand his role thanks to a Brandin Cooks injury in 2024. He was able to post a respectable 49 receptions on 79 targets for 610 yards and a team-leading seven touchdowns.

Early fantasy drafters weren’t big believers in Tolbert’s role in 2025, drafting the receiver as the 180th player until two weeks ago. However, things have started to shift now that the Cowboys have traded for George Pickens.

The Steelers’ offense has been one of the most run-heavy groups in the NFL during Pickens’ three professional seasons. However, he still averaged 98 targets, 58 receptions, 947 yards and four touchdowns per season. He has the size and speed to truly blossom in Dallas’s pass-heavy attack with the best quarterback he’s played with in his career.

The talent of Pickens and CeeDee Lamb makes Tolbert the third option in this offense at best, and the fourth (behind Jake Ferguson) at worst.

That said, getting a piece of the Dallas’ passing attack at the cheap, cheap price of WR91 is well worth the risk in the 18th round. He could have solid weeks and could see his role increase again if there are any injuries ahead of him on the depth chart.

Devin Neal, RB, New Orleans Saints

ADP: 196.2, RB61 (+13.0)

Devin Neal was another rookie who could have seen his ADP explode with good draft capital or a great landing spot. Unfortunately, he got neither. Since May 13, he’s seen his ADP fall to RB61, a full round (plus a pick) further down the board.

Neal was selected with a fourth-round pick in the 2025 draft by the New Orleans Saints. He is now buried behind Alvin Kamara in an offense that is in the middle of a rebuild.

However, the Saints have been looking for a complement to Kamara (especially in the run game) and Neal was a very proficient runner during his career with Kansas. Over his final three seasons with the Jayhawks, Neal averaged 201 carries for 1,212 yards (6.0 yards per carry) and 14 touchdowns per season.

More importantly, Neal is competing with often-injured Kendre Miller and Clyde Edwards-Helaire for the RB2 role with the Saints. Even with underwhelming draft capital, he’s in a position to have a role in his rookie season, which is pretty good considering his RB61 price tag.

Keenan Allen, WR, Free Agent

ADP: 185.4, WR77 (+8.6)

Keenan Allen’s ADP has fallen nearly nine spots in the past two weeks, which isn’t surprising considering he is still a free agent. That, combined with underwhelming production in his final season with the Bears (70 receptions for 744 yards and seven touchdowns), is surely causing the dip.

Even though Allen is past his prime, he has continued to show he can provide fantasy value, especially in the red zone. The veteran slot receiver has scored at least six receiving touchdowns in seven of his last eight seasons. The only season he didn’t (2022), he was limited to just 10 games. We are also just one year removed from Allen posting a 150-target season with the Chargers.

Since 2017, Allen has averaged 139 targets per season. He had 11 games with Chicago where he saw at least six targets, including five weeks with double-digit targets.

Allen’s ADP will continue to fall if he doesn’t have a team. However, there will be somebody who takes a chance on him to hold down the slot at some point this offseason. When that happens, his ADP will spike.

The veteran receiver can be drafted in the 15th round of fantasy drafts and has the chance to beat his modest price (WR77) if he’s on a roster for a full season.