Cal Sports Report

ESPN Picks Cal's Jaydn Ott as Top Running Back in 2025 NFL Draft

ESPN analyst selects the top draft prospects at 11 positions, and Ott is the only one who played for a team with a losing record in 2023

Jake Curtis

Cal running back Jaydn Ott at the ACC Kickoff
Cal running back Jaydn Ott at the ACC Kickoff / Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports
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ESPN draft analyst Mike Miller posted a story on Friday of his picks for the best 2025 NFL draft prospects at 11 positions..

College football powerhouses Georgia, Michigan and Texas had candidates at several ;positions, but what was notewoorthy for Cal fans was his selection at the running back spot.

Miller's choice of the top running back in the 2025 NFL draft class was Cal junior Jaydn Ott. Of course, Cal fans would like Ott to stick around for a senior season with the Golden Bears in 2025. But that seems unlikely if Ott's 2024 season resembles his first two, when he rushed for 897 yards as a freshman and .1,315 yards as a sophomore. Players can enter the NFL draft after their third college season, and Ott said before his freshman season that his goal was to play in the NFL.

ESPN's Miller began his report on the running back position by saying Ohio State's Quinshon Judkins and Ott were vying for the top spot at the position, with this excerpt:

The 2025 running back class is one of the deeper groups in memory. The top of the list, for now, is led by Ott and Judkins, but there are challengers such as Ashton Jeanty (Boise State), Damien Martinez(Miami) and Donavan Edwards (Michigan) who will factor into the mix come April.

And Miller said this about Ott:

Ott is no slouch himself when it comes to power. At 6 feet and 210 pounds, he packs a punch, but it's his open-field speed and electric agility that gets scouts excited.

"Watch him run back that 99-yard kickoff against UCLA. He's patient, has great vision and this long stride that has him gliding past people. He's the real deal," an AFC South scout said.

Judkins is talented, and sharing carries with TreVeyon Henderson might be best for him long term, but this is Ott's opportunity to prove that he's the class's RB1 after his 1,305-yard breakout campaign last season. With Cal now in the ACC, he'll have plenty of chances to pop against the likes of Florida State, Miami and NC State, along with a nonconference game at Auburn. If he can match or better his 2023 production against tougher competition, Ott will take home RB1 honors.

My early pick for the top RB: Ott

And here is a video of Ott's kickoff return against UCLA, which was the first time he returned a kickoff as a collegiate player:

What is interesting about the selection of Ott is that he is the only one of the 11 choices that played on a team with a losing record in 2023. It's hard to get this kind of pro hype when your team doesn't win, but Ott has managed to do so.

Miller's 11 choices come from seven different colleges. Here are the 2023 records of those seven teams.

Michigan 15-0

Georgia 13-0

Texas 12-2

Missouri 11-2

LSU 10-3

Tennessee 9-4

Cal 6-7

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Jake Curtis

JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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