Consensus board vs. draft day: the full RB class, charted.
The Steal
Bo Scarbrough was ranked RB14 on the consensus board (#156 overall) but lasted until pick 236, where the Dallas Cowboys took him in Round 7. A 80-spot fall, the largest gap between consensus and draft day of any RB in the class. Behind him, John Kelly (+69) and Jaylen Samuels (+54) also outlasted their rankings.
The Conviction Pick
The Arizona Cardinals took Chase Edmonds at pick 134, 106 spots ahead of his #240 consensus rank. That's the league's strongest disagreement with the public board at the position. Teams showed similar conviction on Ito Smith (100 spots) and Rashaad Penny (37 spots).
The Cliff
After Royce Freeman went at pick 71, the next RB didn't come off the board for 33 picks. That's the sharpest drop in the class.
The Spend
Teams spent 22 picks on RB, 7 of them in the first two rounds. That's above the position's average of 21.1 since 2018.
The Bet
The New York Giants spent more draft capital on RB than any other club: pick 2, 34% of their total draft investment.
The One Who Slipped
Josh Adams, ranked #160 on the consensus board, went undrafted through all 256 picks.
| Pick | Player | Pos Rank | Consensus | Δ | School | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Saquon Barkley | RB1 | #1 | +1 | Penn State | NY Giants |
| 27 | Rashaad Penny | RB7 | #64 | −37 | San Diego State | Seattle |
| 31 | Sony Michel | RB4 | #36 | −5 | Georgia | New England |
| 35 | Nick Chubb | RB5 | #39 | −4 | Georgia | Cleveland |
| 38 | Ronald Jones II | RB3 | #35 | +3 | USC | Tampa Bay |
| 43 | Kerryon Johnson | RB6 | #59 | −16 | Auburn | Detroit |
| 59 | Derrius Guice | RB2 | #14 | +45 | LSU | Washington |
| 71 | Royce Freeman | RB8 | #82 | −11 | Oregon | Denver |
| 104 | Nyheim Hines | RB9 | #101 | +3 | North Carolina State | Indianapolis |
| 112 | Mark Walton | RB12 | #118 | −6 | Miami | Cincinnati |
| 126 | Ito Smith | RB19 | #226 | −100 | Southern Miss | Atlanta |
| 131 | Kalen Ballage | RB13 | #123 | +8 | Arizona State | Miami |
| 134 | Chase Edmonds | RB22 | #240 | −106 | Fordham | Arizona |
| 165 | Jaylen Samuels | RB11 | #111 | +54 | North Carolina State | Pittsburgh |
| 169 | Jordan Wilkins | RB23 | #260 | −91 | Mississippi | Indianapolis |
| 176 | John Kelly | RB10 | #107 | +69 | Tennessee | LA Rams |
| 201 | Boston Scott | RB | — | — | Louisiana Tech | New Orleans |
| 204 | Trenton Cannon | RB | — | — | Virginia St. | NY Jets |
| 226 | David Williams | RB | — | — | Arkansas | Denver |
| 236 | Bo Scarbrough | RB14 | #156 | +80 | Alabama | Dallas |
| 237 | Nick Bawden | RB26 | #297 | −60 | San Diego State | Detroit |
| 251 | Justin Jackson | RB18 | #209 | +42 | Northwestern | LA Chargers |
| Undrafted (UDFA) | ||||||
| — | Josh Adams | RB15 | #160 | — | Notre Dame | — |
| — | Akrum Wadley | RB16 | #169 | — | Iowa | — |
| — | Dimitri Flowers | RB17 | #207 | — | Oklahoma | — |
| — | Darrel Williams | RB20 | #234 | — | LSU | — |
| — | Phillip Lindsay | RB21 | #235 | — | — | — |
| — | Roc Thomas | RB24 | #261 | — | Jacksonville State | — |
| — | Ryan Nall | RB25 | #262 | — | Oregon State | — |
| — | Chris Warren | RB | — | — | Texas | — |
| — | Dalyn Dawkins | RB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Demario Richard | RB | — | — | Arizona State | — |
| — | Dontrell Hilliard | RB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Jeff Wilson | RB | — | — | North Texas | — |
| — | Jordan Chunn | RB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Justin Crawford | RB | — | — | West Virginia | — |
| — | Kamryn Pettway | RB | — | — | Auburn | — |
| — | Khalid Hill | RB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Kyle Hicks | RB | — | — | TCU | — |
| — | Larry Rose III | RB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Lavon Coleman | RB | — | — | Washington | — |
| — | Martez Carter | RB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Mike Boone | RB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Ralph Webb | RB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Ryan Green | RB | — | — | — | — |
Pre-draft projections are from the Wide Left Consensus Big Board compiled by Arif Hasan, an aggregation of published analyst boards.