Rivals Rankings Week: Breaking down the 2025 running backs
With the full 2025 Rivals250 being unveiled Tuesday, it's now time to dive into the position rankings. The offensive position rankings are being released today, and up next are the running backs.
LATEST 2025 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Pro-Style QBs | Dual-Threat QBs | RBs | All-Purpose RBs | WRs | TEs | OG | OT
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RIVALS RANKINGS WEEK
Sunday: Who should be No. 1?
Monday: Five-Star Countdown
Tuesday: New 2025 Rivals250 revealed | Gorney's thoughts | Ten players on the rise
Wednesday: New offensive position rankings | QB rankings breakdown | RB rankings breakdown | WR/TE rankings breakdown | OL rankings breakdown | Five teams that should be pleased
Thursday: New defensive position rankings
Friday: New state rankings
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No. 1 at the position: Jordon Davison
The Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei prospect was the star running back at one of the top programs in the country as a sophomore – and it might only get better from here.
Davison is a unique talent who mixes power running ability with outstanding vision, patience and balance to get enough yards for the first down or break big runs down the field. He had 170 carries this past season for 1,514 yards and 17 touchdowns in the toughest high school league in America.
And he’s expected to have two more high school seasons left. Davison has all the tools of the best running backs out there and he continues to develop physically with basically the perfect size for what NFL teams are looking for – and having that this early is extra impressive.
Ohio State has been the team pegged to Davison the longest, but Oregon is making a serious push. He plans to visit Clemson and Florida soon and he could return to Alabama as USC and others stay in the picture, too.
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Two teams to watch: Alabama, Texas A&M
Any way you slice it, Alabama and Texas A&M have a very good chance to load up with talented running backs in the 2025 class.
The Crimson Tide are pursuing Jordon Davison and in-state standout Alvin Henderson. They are also after one of the top players in Georgia in Ousmane Kromah and maybe the next big thing at Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas in Byron Louis. Another target is emerging talent Akylin Dear from Quitman, Miss. That’s just the start, too, as Alabama will surely be involved with others along the way and as the dominoes fall.
The same could be said for the Aggies. Four-star Deondrae Riden from Desoto, Texas, and No. 1 all-purpose back Tory Blaylock out of Humble (Texas) Atascocita are definitely interested in Texas A&M. The Aggies are also pursuing Kromah and others, including Harlem Berry, although pulling him from LSU might be tough.
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Three players in the spotlight: Harlem Berry, Alvin Henderson, Jabree Coleman
Could it be as easy as LSU going over to Metairie (La.) St. Martin’s Episcopal and picking one of the best running backs in the 2025 class in Berry? That might be the case, as the Tigers are definitely one of the early frontrunners for the four-star standout who rushed for 1,494 yards and 29 touchdowns on just 99 carries last season. Berry is an incredible talent and LSU usually does not allow those guys to leave the state.
Henderson is maybe the most prolific, high-profile running back in the country after going for 2,636 yards and 47 touchdowns on 195 touchdowns last season, which are just incredible numbers for a sophomore. The Crimson Tide probably have the edge but Auburn, Clemson, Miami, USC and many others are involved early.
Georgia is already loading up in the 2025 class and one of four early commits is Coleman, who picked the Bulldogs over many others in July before his sophomore season. At Philadelphia Imhotep Charter, Coleman rushed for more than 1,000 yards and 11 touchdowns, and while Georgia will go after other running backs as well, Penn State and other local teams will try to flip Coleman. It’s at least worth watching.