2023 NFL draft day 3 sleepers: Running Back

The 2023 NFL class is loaded at running, leaving plenty of solid options in later rounds. Here are the best on day three. 

The debate over running backs in the draft is always a fascinating one. Quite a few people believe selecting one in the early rounds is never a good idea. As the NFL becomes more of a passing league and speed is necessary at all positions, there’s a belief among some that the running back position is one of the least important positions in football in terms of needing a superstar.

There are two sides to this argument. First, look at the current NFL running backs. Keeping in mind that 14 teams make the playoffs, of the top 14 highest-paid backs in the league per USA Today, eight of them did not make a run for the Super Bowl in the 2022-23 season. It would have been nine had one (Christian McCaffrey) not been traded to a playoff team mid-season.

The flip argument to that is a team like the Buffalo Bills, who would have greatly benefited from a stronger run game over the season to take some of the pressure off Josh Allen.

In my opinion, there’s one running back that stands above the rest in the 2023 NFL draft and that’s Texas star Bijan Robinson. He doesn’t have many holes in his game: he can run, he can catch and he’s a good blocker. Robinson could be one of the best running back prospects of the last ten years.

Robinson isn’t alone in this class as a difference-maker at the position. UCLA’s Zach Charbonnet, DeWayne McBride of UAB, Chris Rodriguez of Kentucky, and Alabama’s Jahmyr Gibbs are all names to watch in the early rounds later this month. Who could rise and join those five in the ranks of draft prospects? Once again, we’ll save the best for last.