Consensus board vs. draft day: the full RB class, charted.
The Steal
Eno Benjamin was ranked RB9 on the consensus board (#122 overall) but lasted until pick 222, where the Arizona Cardinals took him in Round 7. A 100-spot fall, the largest gap between consensus and draft day of any RB in the class. Behind him, J.K. Dobbins (+28) and Jonathan Taylor (+15) also outlasted their rankings.
The Conviction Pick
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers took Ke'Shawn Vaughn at pick 76, 67 spots ahead of his #143 consensus rank. That's the league's strongest disagreement with the public board at the position. Teams showed similar conviction on A.J. Dillon (51 spots) and DeeJay Dallas (45 spots).
The Cliff
After Jason Huntley went at pick 172, the next RB didn't come off the board for 50 picks. That's the sharpest drop in the class.
The Spend
Teams spent 17 picks on RB, 6 of them in the first two rounds. That's below the position's average of 21.1 since 2018.
The Bet
The Detroit Lions spent more draft capital on RB than any other club: picks 35 and 172, 24% of their total draft investment.
The One Who Slipped
James Robinson, ranked #211 on the consensus board, went undrafted through all 255 picks.
| Pick | Player | Pos Rank | Consensus | Δ | School | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 32 | Clyde Edwards-Helaire | RB4 | #44 | −12 | LSU | Kansas City |
| 35 | D'Andre Swift | RB1 | #22 | +13 | Georgia | Detroit |
| 41 | Jonathan Taylor | RB2 | #26 | +15 | Wisconsin | Indianapolis |
| 52 | Cam Akers | RB5 | #56 | −4 | Florida State | LA Rams |
| 55 | J.K. Dobbins | RB3 | #27 | +28 | Ohio State | Baltimore |
| 62 | A.J. Dillon | RB8 | #113 | −51 | Boston College | Green Bay |
| 76 | Ke'Shawn Vaughn | RB13 | #143 | −67 | Vanderbilt | Tampa Bay |
| 80 | Lynn Bowden Jr. | RB7 | #110 | −30 | Kentucky | Las Vegas |
| 86 | Zack Moss | RB6 | #76 | +10 | Utah | Buffalo |
| 93 | Darrynton Evans | RB10 | #125 | −32 | Appalachian State | Tennessee |
| 112 | Joshua Kelley | RB14 | #144 | −32 | UCLA | LA Chargers |
| 120 | La'Mical Perine | RB12 | #141 | −21 | Florida | NY Jets |
| 124 | Anthony McFarland Jr. | RB11 | #135 | −11 | Maryland | Pittsburgh |
| 144 | DeeJay Dallas | RB15 | #189 | −45 | Miami | Seattle |
| 172 | Jason Huntley | RB | — | — | New Mexico State | Detroit |
| 222 | Eno Benjamin | RB9 | #122 | +100 | Arizona State | Arizona |
| 245 | Raymond Calais | RB24 | #261 | −16 | Louisiana-Lafayette | Tampa Bay |
| Undrafted (UDFA) | ||||||
| — | James Robinson | RB16 | #211 | — | Illinois State | — |
| — | JaMycal Hasty | RB17 | #215 | — | Baylor | — |
| — | Michael Warren II | RB18 | #225 | — | — | — |
| — | Darius Anderson | RB19 | #234 | — | — | — |
| — | Javon Leake | RB20 | #240 | — | Maryland | — |
| — | J.J. Taylor | RB21 | #241 | — | Arizona | — |
| — | Rico Dowdle | RB22 | #254 | — | South Carolina | — |
| — | Salvon Ahmed | RB23 | #256 | — | Washington | — |
| — | LeVante Bellamy | RB25 | #262 | — | Western Michigan | — |
| — | Patrick Taylor | RB26 | #283 | — | Memphis | — |
| — | Benny LeMay | RB | — | — | Charlotte | — |
| — | Brian Herrien | RB | — | — | Georgia | — |
| — | Dre Brown | RB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Reggie Corbin | RB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Reggie Gilliam | RB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Scottie Phillips | RB | — | — | Mississippi | — |
| — | Sewo Olonilua | RB | — | — | TCU | — |
| — | Tavien Feaster | RB | — | — | — | — |
| — | Tony Jones Jr. | RB | — | — | Notre Dame | — |
Pre-draft projections are from the Wide Left Consensus Big Board compiled by Arif Hasan, an aggregation of published analyst boards.