Consensus board vs. draft day: the full RB class, charted.
The Steal
Matthew Dayes was ranked RB15 on the consensus board (#161 overall) but lasted until pick 252, where the Cleveland Browns took him in Round 7. A 91-spot fall, the largest gap between consensus and draft day of any RB in the class. Behind him, Dalvin Cook (+29) and Jeremy McNichols (+29) also outlasted their rankings.
The Conviction Pick
The Chicago Bears took Tarik Cohen at pick 119, 125 spots ahead of his #244 consensus rank. That's the league's strongest disagreement with the public board at the position. Teams showed similar conviction on Joe Williams (82 spots) and Aaron Jones (53 spots).
The Cliff
After Christian McCaffrey went at pick 8, the next RB didn't come off the board for 33 picks. That's the sharpest drop in the class.
The Spend
Teams spent 29 picks on RB, 4 of them in the first two rounds. That's above the position's average of 21.1 since 2018.
The Bet
The Jacksonville Jaguars spent more draft capital on RB than any other club: picks 4 and 240, 40% of their total draft investment.
The One Who Slipped
Corey Clement, ranked #164 on the consensus board, went undrafted through all 253 picks.
| Pick | Player | Pos Rank | Consensus | Δ | School | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Leonard Fournette | RB1 | #9 | −5 | LSU | Jacksonville |
| 8 | Christian McCaffrey | RB3 | #13 | −5 | Stanford | Carolina |
| 41 | Dalvin Cook | RB2 | #12 | +29 | Florida State | Minnesota |
| 48 | Joe Mixon | RB4 | #48 | 0 | Oklahoma | Cincinnati |
| 67 | Alvin Kamara | RB5 | #56 | +11 | Tennessee | New Orleans |
| 86 | Kareem Hunt | RB8 | #95 | −9 | Toledo | Kansas City |
| 89 | D'Onta Foreman | RB6 | #80 | +9 | Texas | Houston |
| 105 | James Conner | RB13 | #134 | −29 | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh |
| 114 | Samaje Perine | RB7 | #92 | +22 | Oklahoma | Washington |
| 119 | Tarik Cohen | RB23 | #244 | −125 | North Carolina A&T | Chicago |
| 121 | Joe Williams | RB20 | #203 | −82 | Utah | San Francisco |
| 132 | Donnel Pumphrey | RB17 | #172 | −40 | San Diego State | Philadelphia |
| 134 | Jamaal Williams | RB11 | #120 | +14 | BYU | Green Bay |
| 140 | Wayne Gallman | RB10 | #117 | +23 | Clemson | NY Giants |
| 143 | Marlon Mack | RB9 | #115 | +28 | South Florida | Indianapolis |
| 156 | Brian Hill | RB14 | #141 | +15 | Wyoming | Atlanta |
| 162 | Jeremy McNichols | RB12 | #133 | +29 | Boise State | Tampa Bay |
| 179 | T.J. Logan | RB18 | #174 | +5 | North Carolina | Arizona |
| 182 | Aaron Jones | RB22 | #235 | −53 | Texas-El Paso | Green Bay |
| 188 | Elijah McGuire | RB19 | #187 | +1 | Louisiana | NY Jets |
| 192 | Alexander Armah | RB | — | — | West Georgia | Carolina |
| 203 | De'Angelo Henderson | RB28 | #270 | −67 | Coastal Carolina | Denver |
| 206 | Sam Rogers | RB25 | #251 | −45 | Virginia Tech | LA Rams |
| 238 | Devante Mays | RB | — | — | Utah State | Green Bay |
| 240 | Marquez Williams | RB | — | — | Miami | Jacksonville |
| 241 | Khalfani Muhammad | RB | — | — | California | Tennessee |
| 242 | Elijah Hood | RB26 | #261 | −19 | North Carolina | Las Vegas |
| 249 | Christopher Carson | RB | — | — | Oklahoma State | Seattle |
| 252 | Matthew Dayes | RB15 | #161 | +91 | North Carolina State | Cleveland |
| Undrafted (UDFA) | ||||||
| — | Corey Clement | RB16 | #164 | — | Wisconsin | — |
| — | De'Veon Smith | RB21 | #227 | — | Michigan | — |
| — | Dare Ogunbowale | RB24 | #250 | — | Wisconsin | — |
| — | Freddie Stevenson | RB27 | #264 | — | Florida State | — |
| — | Devine Redding | RB29 | #297 | — | Indiana | — |
| — | Justin Davis | RB30 | #299 | — | USC | — |
| — | Anthony Firkser | RB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Austin Ekeler | RB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Emmanuel Holder | RB | — | — | — | — |
| — | I'Tavius Mathers | RB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Jahad Thomas | RB | — | — | Temple | — |
| — | Joe Yearby | RB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Lenard Tillery | RB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Oluwadare Ogunbowale | RB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Prescott Line | RB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Rushel Shell | RB | — | — | West Virginia | — |
| — | Shock Linwood | RB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Stanley Williams | RB | — | — | Kentucky | — |
| — | Taquan Mizzell | RB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Tarean Folston | RB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Tion Green | RB | — | — | — | — |
| — | William Stanback | RB | — | — | — | — |
Pre-draft projections are from the Wide Left Consensus Big Board compiled by Arif Hasan, an aggregation of published analyst boards.