Barry Sanders Award
Fantastic Fantasy Running Back
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Caleb Hawkins, North Texas (2025)
Fantasy Points: 334 (30.4 FPPG)
2. Jeremiyah Love, Notre Dame
3. Emmett Johnson, Nebraska
The running back position during the 2025 CFF draft cycle started in a bleak state. The turnover at the position, between draft-bound players and transfers, left the CFF community a little work ranking players. In fact, of the top 12 from 2024, zero running backs returned to their respective teams, and only three of the top 24 did so. In drafts, the position got thin very quickly. Even after all that, once the season started, the known commodities suffered a rash of injuries. Of the top 12 running backs in drafts, seven missed at least three games, and while Demond Claiborne and Bryson Washington are labeled as playing 12 games, they were far less than 100% for a good chunk of their games. The only top-12 RB whose value returned was Jeremiah Love (more on him in a minute).
It was a brutal year for the top of the position, but the CFF game does not forsake us, and this year, a new class of elite options rose. A lot of these guys were available in the mid-late rounds and were big payoffs if a CFF coach took the risk. Guys like Cameron Cook, Kewan Lacy, and Kaytron Allen come to mind. However, the No. 1 RB in all of CFF was a complete unknown freshman coming into the season and took the entire CFF community by storm.
With that, the winner of the 2025 Barry Sanders Award is Caleb Hawkins, the freshman running back out of North Texas. Hawkins took the game by storm, but in reality, his performances were Hurricane Katrina-level destruction across leagues. Hawkins finished the season, outperforming the second-place RB by 25 FPs, and that is with him doing very little of note in the first three games while the staff eased him onto the field. From Week 4 onwards, Hawkins averaged 35.4 FPPG in complete PPR formats. There is only one CFF RB in recent memory who beats that insane pace, and that was Ashton Jeanty last year.
In nine games as the full-time starter for North Texas, Hawkins finished in the top 12 of weekly CFF RBs in seven of those games. In the playoffs, he was a league MVP in every sense, scoring 30-plus FPs in all three rounds. The crazy part about Hawkins was how hard it was to foresee his breakout. There wasn’t a lot of pre-season buzz coming out of North Texas camp reports. Coach Eric Morris has exclusively run committee approaches in recent years, and when Hawkins popped early in the season, many, including myself, dismissed it, as we’d seen Morris' backs pop big games before only to fade the following weeks. But that didn’t happen, and those who hesitated on Hawkins would massively pay the price.
If it weren’t for Hawkins, the winner of this year’s Barry Sanders award would almost assuredly be awarded to the runner-up, Jeremiyah Love. As mentioned at the start of this section, the RB position this year was decimated by injuries. Love was the lone man left standing, running across the field, avoiding bombs, claiming his fellow RB soldiers like he was in 1917. Because of his ability to stay healthy, the Notre Dame runner was the definition of a consistent starter for CFF this year, scoring 18-plus FPs in 10 of his 12 games, and his only disappointments came in the first and last weeks of the season.
Notre Dame’s schedule gave Love weekly matchups where he could feast constantly, and he took every bit of the advantage. Some questioned Love as a first-round pick in CFF leagues before the season, citing his reliance on efficiency rather than volume. After all, he hit 1,000 yards in the regular season in 2024, but it came on only 141 attempts, a far less than desirable volume. However, the possibility we should always leave room for when we see running backs give that kind of performance is “Okay, but what if he did get more volume but managed to keep that efficiency?” because that’s precisely what happened with Love. He got 58 more carries in 2025 during the regular season than he did in 2024, and his efficiency only dropped 0.5 yards per carry, leaving him with a still-elite 6.9 yards per carry, allowing him to almost eclipse 1,400 yards.
In third place for the Barry Sanders award is Emmett Johnson, Nebraska. Third place was a battle among Johnson, Jacksonville State’s Cook, and Mississippi’s Lacy, but looking at the data, it’s easy to see what gave Johnson the edge. After Dana Holgerson took over as Nebraska’s offensive coordinator in 2024, Johnsom started to see elite usage, and that continued into 2025, allowing the Cornhuskers’ playmaker to finish as CFF RB3.
Many CFF prognosticators predicted before the start of the campaign that Johnson’s receiving usage would be a significant factor in his fantasy production and that he could even lead the country in targets at the position. While he came in fourth in targets, Johnson’s receiving work was huge. Johnson saw 31.9% of his points scored this year come from his receiving production, easily the highest among the top 12 RBs. This allowed Johnson to be one of the safest floor running backs of the year, scoring under 15 FPs only once on the season. Unfortunately, Johnson is another who seems locked into the NFL draft and will be dearly missed by the CFF community.
by Jared Palmgren
Photo courtesy of Mean Green Sports
Ashton Jeanty, Boise State (2024)
Fantasy Points: 431 (35.9 FPPG)
2. RJ Harvey, UCF
3. Cameron Skattebo, Arizona State
It’s no surprise to see Ashton Jeanty win the Barry Sanders Award as the top running back in college fantasy football. Jeanty was widely regarded as the No. 1 overall CFF player in preseason drafts following his stellar performance as a sophomore in 2023. He delivered with 2,288 rushing yards, an average of 191 per game, and scored 28 rushing touchdowns during the regular season, all of which led the nation. Though not nearly as productive as a receiver as he was last season, Jeanty also contributed 102 yards and one touchdown on 18 catches, boosting his final point total to 416 in half-point PPR leagues and 431 in full-point PPR, both best for a running back since former Boise State Bronco Jeremy McNichols in 2016. Jeanty was incredibly consistent as well, reaching at least 20 points in 11 of 12 games, hitting 30 or more FPs eight times, and twice surpassing the 50-point mark in September, including a 64.6-point performance in Week 1 against Georgia Southern. Simply put, Jeanty was the best running back in the country from start to finish. Our panel made it unanimous.
There was a healthy debate in the CFF community about RJ Harvey’s preseason value with the transfer portal additions of fellow running back Peny Boone and run-heavy quarterback KJ Jefferson joining the Knights. Harvey drafters and owners need not worry, as the senior started strong with three consecutive games with at least 100 rushing yards and multiple touchdowns. Though held under the century mark in three games mid-season, Harvey carried a heavy workload to six-straight 100-yard games, all with at least one score, to finish. Harvey was even more productive than Jeanty in the playoffs, hitting 27 FPs or more in each of his final three games. He finished the season with 1,577 rushing yards and 22 scores on 232 attempts, an average of 6.8 ypc. He also chipped in with 20 receptions for 267 yards and three scores.
Depending on your overall-scoring method, and because he missed the game against Harvey’s UCF squad due to injury, Cam Skattebo may have finished behind other super-productive running backs like Kaleb Johnson from Iowa and North Carolina’s Omarion Hampton in total fantasy points. But with an average of 28.5 FPPG in half-point PPR scoring, and 34.4 points or more in three of his final four contests, Skattebo helped many teams make a late push for the playoffs, and thanks to back-to-back three-TD performances in the semifinals and finals, potentially land a championship. One of the most important pieces on one of the most improved teams in the country, Skattebo ran for 1,398 yards and 17 touchdowns for the Sun Devils and added 468 yards and two scores on 35 receptions. All three ball carriers posted memorable CFF campaigns in 2024.
by Nicholas Ian Allen
Ollie Gordon, Oklahoma State (2023)
Fantasy Points: 377 (26.9 FPPG)
2. Ashton Jeanty, Boise State
3. RJ Harvey, UCF
Hailing from Barry Sanders’ alma mater, Oklahoma State All-American Ollie Gordon was the unanimous selection for this year’s award. Gordon amassed 1,580 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns, highlighted by a 51.6-point, five-TD performance against BYU in college fantasy football’s championship week. Due to the consistent level of production from the position under head coach Mike Gundy and play-caller Kasey Dunn, the CFF community had high hopes for Gordon entering 2023. However, after totaling 19 carries for 109 rushing yards and two touchdowns in three non-conference games to open the campaign, the sophomore looked like a bust. Patient owners were rewarded with one of the most remarkable turnarounds in recent memory.
Gordon ran for at least 136 yards in eight of his final nine regular-season games, including a pair of epic October rushing performances of 282 yards and four touchdowns against West Virginia and 271 yards and two scores against Cincinnati. A productive pass-catcher as well, Gordon totaled 33 receptions for 272 yards and one score, which came in a six-catch, 116-yard game against Kansas in which he also ran for 168 yards with a rushing touchdown. In all, Gordon finished with 377 FPs, hitting 41 or more five times, including twice during the CFF playoffs.
Had Ashton Jeanty not been sidelined by injury in November, he might have surpassed Gordon on the leaderboard. The Boise State sophomore opened the season with five consecutive 30-point fantasy performances in September, hitting 40 FPs or more twice in that span, and then reached a high point with 48.4 against Colorado State on Oct. 14. Healthy again in time for championship week, Jeanty posted 39.5 FPs in the regular season finale against Air Force. In 10 games, Jeanty ran for 1,109 yards and 13 touchdowns. He also proved to be one of the most productive receiving running backs in the country with 37 catches for 537 yards and five scores. Jeanty finished with 310 fantasy points, second only to Gordon.
RJ Harvey finished the 2023 season sixth among running backs in overall points with 278, and though he never reached the highest weekly point totals of Gordon or Jeanty, consistency was key. The senior ran for 1,296 yards and 16 touchdowns and added 17 receptions for 231 yards and another score. He never failed to reach double-digit FPs and was at his best in the pivotal Week 10-11 stretch—posting 36.1 and 38.6 FPs respectively—in which many CFF teams were making a final push for a playoff spot or making a run to the semifinals.
by Nicholas Ian Allen
Bijan Robinson, Texas (2022)
Fantasy Points: 328 (27.3 FPPG)
2. Mohamed Ibrahim, Minnesota & DeWayne McBride, UAB
3. Chase Brown, Illinois
A surefire first-rounder in preseason drafts, Texas running back Bijan Robinson lived up to expectations with the best all-around season of any player at the position in 2022. In full-PPR leagues, Robinson finished as the FBS leader among running backs with 328 FPs, more than 30 ahead of No. 2 Israel Abanikanda from Pitt. His fantasy points also led in half-point PPR scoring formats. Robinson finished his junior season with 1,580 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns while averaging 6.1 ypc. He also caught 19 passes for 314 yards and two scores. The Longhorns' runner scored 31.1 FPs against Oklahoma State on Oct. 22 and 32.3 versus Kansas State on Nov. 5, likely propelling many CFF teams into the playoffs or a first-round bye. Though he was held to a paltry 2.9 FPs against TCU on Nov. 12, which may have negatively impacted some first-round playoff matchups, he bounced back with an incredible 48.3 FPs against Kansas in the semifinals. He followed with 29.9 FPs against Baylor in the CFF finals.
Minnesota’s Mohamed Ibrahim and UAB’s DeWayne McBride shared the runner-up spot in our voting. Ibrahim returned from a significant 2021 injury to run for 1,594 yards and 19 touchdowns in the regular season. He surpassed the 100-yard rushing mark in each of the first 10 games and twice ran for more than 200, including a career-high 263 yards against Iowa in the Week 12 semifinal.
McBride led the nation with 155.7 RYPG and averaged an eye-popping 7.35 ypc, which ranked No. 7 on the FBS leaderboard among players with at least 40 attempts. Like Ibrahim, he missed a game, but unlike the Golden Gophers’ top running back, McBride saved his best for last with 272 rushing yards and one touchdown in the final week of the season (his third 200-yard performance of the year) that surely helped lead many CFF owners to championships. Though McBride was an early-round pick in preseason drafts, CFF owners may have found some value in Ibrahim, given his injury history.
Another value pick, Illinois junior Chase Brown was slowed by injury late in the season but still ran for 1,643 yards and scored 10 rushing touchdowns in a breakthrough campaign. Brown ran for at least 100 yards in each of his first nine games and gutted out 140 yards and two touchdowns on Nov. 19 against Michigan, likely benefitting CFF fanatics brave enough to start him in semifinal matchups against the stingy Wolverines’ defense. Brown was also a weapon as a receiver, logging 27 receptions (at least one in each game) for 240 yards and three scores.
by Nicholas Ian Allen
Breece Hall, Iowa State (2021)
Fantasy Points: 351 (29.3 FPPG)
2. Tyler Badie, Missouri
3. Lew Nichols, III, Central Michigan
The illustrious Barry Sanders Award was given to the rightful winner: Iowa State’s Breece Hall. The Cyclones’ game-breaker narrowly lost the award in 2020, coming up only two points shy of Alabama’s Najee Harris. Rather than wallow in sorrow at his second-place finish, Hall put forth yet another fantastic stat line in 2021, finishing with 1,766 scrimmage yards and 23 touchdowns. Hall was a model of consistency, scoring over 16 FPs in every game of the season. That’s the floor that he established, but he routinely went over that mark—he accumulated greater than 25 FPs in over half his games. If a CFF fanatic made it to the championship game and had Hall on the roster, there’s a good chance they came away victorious after Hall erupted for 281 total yards and four scores. Great players come through when it matters most, and Hall certainly aced that test. It’s been par for the course for Cyclones' star, who would go down as a first-ballot CFF Hall of Famer if there were such a thing.
Missouri’s Tyler Badie finished closely behind in second place after narrowly edging Hall in total FPs and FPPG. He burst onto the scene in a much-needed way for the Tigers, accumulating over 1,900 yards from scrimmage and 18 touchdowns as the sole creator on the offense. He was especially valuable in PPR formats with 54 receptions on the season. Not bad for someone who wasn’t drafted anywhere near the first couple of rounds of CFF drafts.
Lew Nichols of Central Michigan finished third according to the panelists. He was likely on a very high percentage of championship rosters after finishing the season on a hot stretch of epic proportions. From October 9 on, Nichols racked up 1,497 total yards and 14 touchdowns over his last seven games of the season, averaging a blistering 213.9 yards and two touchdowns per game. The fewest fantasy points he scored in the second half of the season was 28.3—it’s a hot streak that will go down in CFF history.
by JD Yonke
Photo by Jeff Spour
Najee Harris, Alabama (2020)
Fantasy Points: 412 (31.6 FPPG)
2. Breece Hall, Iowa State
3. Javonte Williams, UNC & Jaret Patterson, Buffalo
In 2020, my Barry Sanders vote goes to a player who not only carried fantasy teams to titles, but also his Cyclones to the Big 12 Title Game. Breece Hall finished the regular season with the most rushing yards nationally (1,573) and finished in the top three in FPs (313), FPPG (24.1), and rushing touchdowns (21). Najee Harris, who finished the year among the country’s best statistical ball carriers, narrowly edges out Hall in the voting. The Crimson Tide's runner scampered for 1,466 yards and 26 scores while securing 43 passes for 425 yards and four touchdowns. Even so, based on preseason ADP and the comparison of talent around the two players, Hall gets the edge over Harris in my analysis.
by Justin Heisey
Chuba Hubbard, Oklahoma State (2019)
Fantasy Points: 376 (28.9 FPPG)
2. Jonathan Taylor, Wisconsin
3. Kenneth Gainwell, Memphis
The Barry Sanders Award has always gone to the most impactful fantasy running back in all of college fantasy football. Although Chuba Hubbard has the most FPs of any running back, it was Kenneth Gainwell who ascended to the top of the depth chart for the Memphis Tigers and became a weekly CFF stud off the waiver wire. He finished fourth nationally in yards from scrimmage (2,069), third in receptions (51) for a running back, and ended among the top ten in FPPG (21.6) at the position. Gainwell was the dynasty addition of the year and is undoubtedly my 2019 Barry Sanders Award winner. Yet, the panel voted for Chuba Hubbard, who rushed for over 2,000 yards and scored 21 times, while adding 23 receptions for 198 yards.
by Justin Heisey
Darrell Henderson, Memphis (2018)
Fantasy Points: 389 (29.9 FPPG)
2. Eno Benjamin, Arizona State
3. John Taylor, Wisconsin
The Barry Sanders Award for the best fantasy running back certainly gives a huge name for the winner to live up to. The Oklahoma State Heisman winner still holds single-season records for average rushing yards per game, rushing yards, and rushing touchdowns. In 2018, the running back selected to win this prestigious award is none other than Memphis’ Darrell Henderson. The Tigers' playmaker blew up this season after being drafted later than the fourth round in most leagues. Henderson racked up the second-most all-purpose yards (1,915), fifth-most yards per carry (8.74), and second-most rushing touchdowns (17) this season. Incredibly, Henderson’s touches were far fewer than those of other prominent backs like Jonathan Taylor and Eno Benjamin, who had well over 250 carries, while Henderson only received 174.
by Justin Heisey
Photo courtesy of Matthew Smith and gotigersgo.com
Rashaad Penny, San Diego State (2017)
Fantasy Points: 411 (31.6 FPPG)
2. Devin Singletary, Florida Atlantic
3. Kerryon Johnson, Auburn
There was only one runner to top 2,000 rushing yards during the regular season. That man was Rashaad Penny, the winner of the third-annual Barry Sanders Award. Most fantasy owners knew the upside potential of the San Diego State ball carrier had after past performances by Donnel Pumphrey in the same system. And Penny is looking to break both of Pumphrey's single-season school records with one last ride on the schedule. (He did establish the school record with 2,248 yards). His second-round CFF ADP was certainly earned in his lone season as the feature back for the Aztecs.
Devin Singletary comes in second for the fantasy running back of the year, but finished No. 1 overall in FPs as a seventh-round draft pick. A CFF fanatic who took the 1,632-yard and 26-touchdown rusher anywhere outside of the first three rounds struck gold in the Owls' ball carrier, and at 333 FPs (non-PPR), he even put most quarterbacks to shame.
Going into the conference championships, Auburn is the hottest team in the nation, and its 1,200-yard rusher Kerryon Johnson is a huge reason for it. Most CFF coaches selected Johnson incredibly late in drafts, and rarely does a late-round back become the fifth-highest scoring runner in fantasy. Outside of the Clemson and Arkansas games, he never scored under 20 FPs, including the Iron Bowl, in which he ran for over 100 yards and even passed for a touchdown.
by Justin Heisey
Photo courtesy of San Diego State Athletics
Jeremy McNichols, Boise State (2016)
Fantasy Points: 479 (36.8 FPPG)
2. D’Onta Foreman, Texas
3. Donnel Pumphrey, San Diego State
After rushing for over 1,500 yards in each of the last two seasons, Donnell Pumphrey finished second in the FBS in rushing this fall and nearly eclipsed the fabled 2,000-yard mark. The 5-9 senior has been a model of consistency for the Aztecs, going over 100 yards in 9 of 12 games, highlighted by 300 total yards and three touchdowns against California in September. Pumphrey earned my vote as the top CFF ball carrier: He concluded the campaign with 1,908 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns. The panel disagreed with my selection for the Barry Sanders Award. Both Jeremy McNichols, who dashed for 1,709 rushing yards and 23 touchdowns, and D'Onta Foreman, who ran for over 2,000 yards and 15 scores, finished ahead of Pumphrey in the voting.
by Jim Weber
Derrick Henry, Alabama (2015)
Fantasy Points: 410 (FPPG 27.3)
2. Jeremy McNichols, Boise State
3. Dalvin Cook, Florida State, Royce Freeman, Oregon, Ezekiel Elliot, Ohio State & Tyler Ervin, San Jose State
Alabama’s Derrick Henry was undisputedly the top running back in all of college football and seems like a near lock—pending his SEC Championship performance—to become the Heisman Trophy recipient this season. With no proven backup behind him, Henry was forced to carry the rushing load for the Tide this year, finishing second in the country in carries with 295. That said, Henry got better as the campaign went along, with three 200-yard rushing performances in the last month of the season, and four times in the final six games. Even if Henry didn’t top 100 yards in a game, he was still able to manage finding the end zone at least once in all 12 games he played. His 22 rushing touchdowns led the country. Henry is nothing like Barry Sanders in terms of running style, but he is more than worthy of the first Barry Sanders Award.
by Mike Bainbridge
Photo courtesy of Heisman.com
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