Fantasy Rookie RB Panic Meter: Ashton Jeanty, Omarion Hampton, TreVeyon Henderson, more

Griffin Missant

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Fantasy Rookie RB Panic Meter: Ashton Jeanty, Omarion Hampton, TreVeyon Henderson, more image

As is the case most seasons coming into draft season, the hype surrounding the rookie running backs was palpable. This hype only grew as camp went on and preseason football started. Their stock began to rise rapidly due to all this coverage, and many managers were eager to get one of these back on their squad. 

Fast forward to Week 3 of the NFL season, and we've done a complete 180. If you drafted one of these rookie RBs this year for fantasy football, there's no doubt you've been more than disappointed. 

The season is long, and just because these players have not panned out quite yet, it does not mean they won't. It needs to be prefaced that you should not trade any of these rookies after just two weeks unless the return is undeniably greater in value. 

Here is the full report on every notable rookie running back, where things have gone wrong, and what the panic meter is (Low, Medium, or High) for the rest of the season. 

FANTASY WEEK 3 RANKINGS: QB | ​​RB | WR | TE | D/ST | PK | ​​Half-PPR Cheat Sheet

Will these fantasy rookie running backs turn things around?

Ashton Jeanty, Las Vegas Raiders

It's fitting to start with Aston Jeanty, the rookie who climbed his way to the Round one/two turn in draft season. Jeanty's highest finish came in Week 1, where he was able to land at RB24 after he snuck into the end zone for a touchdown. 

The more notable aspect of Week 1 was the volume and snap share that Jeanty was being given. Jeanty played in 86% of the snaps for the Raiders offense in Week 1. However, in Week 2, this dropped by a whopping 30%. 

Zamir White tripled his snaps from 9 to 21, and weirdly enough, Dylan Laube was given a ton of the receiving work from the RB position. If the Raiders don't value Jeanty as an every-down back who gets the receiving work, not only is his ceiling capped, but there's just no way you get back the value you drafted him with.

Now, the positives: Jeanty has looked good when given the ball. He's strong and explosive; we've already seen him run some defenders over in the NFL.

He's also voiced his desire for more touches, but the offensive coordinator, Chip Kelly, did not seem to share that same idea. Kelly claimed that they're confident in White and Laube as well. This is not what you want to hear if you are a Jeanty manager. 

↔️ Ashton Jeanty Panic Meter: Medium 

FANTASY LINEUP TIPS: Week 3 Start-Sit | Week 3 Sleepers | Week 3 Busts | Week 3 Waiver Wire

Omarion Hampton, Los Angeles Chargers

There are not a lot of good things surrounding Omarion Hampton at the moment. After Week 1, Hampton owners did not love what they saw in the fantasy department, but the workload was awesome. However, after Week 2, there are a lot of nerves. 

Following a fumbled handoff (that Justin Herbert was credited for), Najee Harris essentially closed the game out for the Chargers on MNF. Hampton saw his snap share decrease by 18% and was out-touched by Harris. When Hampton did see his opportunities, there was hardly anything he could do. The Chargers' offensive line has struggled to create lanes for him to explode in. 

We knew that Harris would cut into Hampton's overall volume, but we did not know the volume in general would be so low. The Chargers' leaning into this air raid attack was not on my bingo card coming into 2025.

The run-heavy approach we saw last year is what made a guy like Hampton so fascinating. Without that, there's not going to be a whole lot of confidence starting him moving forward, unless something drastic changes (I still would not trade him). 

⚠️ Omarion Hampton Panic Meter: High

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TreVeyon Henderson, New England Patriots

TreVeyon Henderson easily got the most hype coming out of the offseason. We saw his draft price skyrocket abruptly after he made some plays in the preseason. 

While this hype was warranted, we, as a fantasy community, completely ignored the fact that Rhamondre Stevenson was there. Just by looking at the first two weeks of the season, we can see that Stevenson is the RB1 in this offense. But this doesn't mean Henderson won't be able to find his role this season.

In fact, that big play to Stevenson in the Week 2 game was designed for Henderson, according to head coach Mike Vrabel. 

The reason the snap share dropped in Week 2 for Henderson was his struggle in pass protection. This was a strange thing for him to struggle with, as it was one of his strongest traits coming out of Ohio State. We can hope this was just an off game, and he'll be able to earn the trust of the staff back. 

Henderson finished as the RB25 in Week 1 with no touchdowns; it was just pure work. The Patriots' offense does not have a great WR corps, and because of it, the RBs get a lot of that work. Henderson is going to be fine due to the fact that he is such a great receiving back. 

⬇️ TreVeyon Henderson Panic Meter: Low 

RJ Harvey, Denver Broncos

There is not a ton to worry about when it comes to RJ Harvey, but there is one big thing that should concern a lot of people. 

Harvey was never going to be the every-down back; this was especially true when the Broncos brought in J.K. Dobbins. But the upside came with the receiving ability of Harvey mixed into a Sean Payton offense. 

The glaring issue is that Harvey has not been involved in the passing game at all. Through the first two weeks, Harvey has been targeted just 3 times by Bo Nix. The strange part is, the receiving work is not going to Dobbins, either, who just has 4 targets. It's going to Tyler Badie, who has 8 total targets through two games. 

Combine this with the fact that Dobbins is the RB1 in this offense at the moment, and there is not a whole lot of reason to be starting Harvey in fantasy. Payton has claimed that Harvey is important to them and a key piece to their success. We can hope this means more volume in the future.

↔️ RJ Harvey Panic Meter: Medium

Quinshon Judkins, Cleveland Browns  

Whatever is the opposite of panic is how you should feel about having Quishon Judkins on your fantasy team. Judkins, who had not dealt with the off-the-field issues, would've been taken higher than Henderson and Harvey. 

Instead, you got a major discount on an RB who is clearly the best back on his team. It just took one game, with limited snaps, mind you, for the Browns to name Judkins the RB1 on the depth chart. 

In his Week 2 debut, Judkins rushed 10 times for 61 yards and caught all three of his targets for 10. Again, this was on a limited snap share, and now he is the starter.

Judkins is about to boom; unfortunately, it might be delayed due to a tough matchup with the Green Bay Packers in Week 3.

🧘‍♂️ Quinshon Judkins Panic Meter: None 

Other notable rookie RBs

Cam Skattebo, New York Giants: Skattebo might have just won over the RB1 spot on this Giants team. He went much lower than the other rookies and should pay back his value. There is no panic on Skattebo. 

Kaleb Johnson, Pittsburgh Steelers: There is not a rookie RB on this list that warrants more panic than Johnson. He's not even the RB2 on his team, and he's on the special teams unit as of Week 2. The panic is higher than high; it's enormous.

Jacory "Bill" Croskey-Merritt, Washington Commanders: Seemingly out of nowhere, the hype for "Bill" grew rampant towards the end of the offseason. Now, "Bill" finds himself as the lead back in one of the best offenses in football. There is zero panic for "Bill," just the upside. 

Griffin Missant

Griffin Missant joined The Sporting News in 2025 as a fantasy football intern. He graduated from Grand Valley State University, where he covered the Lakers football program. He has also worked for Sleeper and the Fantasy Trade Room. He has played fantasy for over a decade, and has been passionate about fantasy football ever since.