With value of running backs increasing, Ashton Jeanty and deep position group hope to cash in

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Heisman Trophy runner-up Ashton Jeanty noticed running back values declining just as his college career started to take off.

Then he watched the resurgence of free agent acquisitions Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry and Josh Jacobs and realized things were back on the upswing — just as Jeanty was becoming a marquee name in college football.

The timing couldn't be better for Jeanty and a stacked crop of running backs at the annual NFL scouting combine. Suddenly, Jeanty is considered a possible top-15 pick in one of the strongest position groups.

“I think there was a period of time where there was just kind of a low (in value) at the position,” Jeanty said. “But those guys, they've been doing special deals and showing if you have a special player at running back, it can really enhance your offense.”

There's little doubt a workhorse back or even a strong backfield tandem can propel a team into an immediate playoff or Super Bowl contender.

But the conventional wisdom lately has been avoiding hefty investments at the position.

Since 2020, only five backs were first-round draft picks and only four went in the top 30.

The same philosophy held true in free agency. Last year, the New York Giants, Tennessee Titans and Las Vegas Raiders each let their top rushers walk away and, perhaps not surprisingly, each team earned top-six picks in April's draft.

Barkley, meanwhile, topped the 2,000-yard mark and won a Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles while Henry and Jacobs led their new teams, Baltimore and Green Bay, back to the playoffs.

Will those results benefit a position group that seemingly has a fit for every team?

Jeanty certainly hopes so after rushing for 2,601 yards and falling 27 yards short of Barry Sanders' Football Bowl Subdivision single-season record as well as falling just short to receiver-cornerback Travis Hunter in the closest Heisman Trophy race since 2009.

"There’s a need for a lot of teams at running back, whenever they feel necessary to draft one,” Jeanty said.

This year's position group is deep, versatile and seems to have something for everyone.

Jeanty, for instance, finished last season with nearly 2,000 yards after contact with Boise State.

Cam Skattebo led Arizona State to a CFP playoff berth by rushing for more than 1,700 yards and catching 45 passes for another 600.

“It's pretty simple, I'm physical," Skattebo said. “People don't think I'm as fast as I am, which I am fast, but I like to punish defenders because they don't like to do that for four quarters.”

Dylan Sampson does more than score touchdowns, but he did break Tennessee's single-season school record, a mark that had stood nearly a century.

And TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins both possess rare power-speed combinations as Ohio State found out in its national championship-winning season. Together they gave the Buckeyes arguably the FBS' best backfield tandem.

“The best part of my game is my breakaway speed," said Henderson, who plans to run the 40-yard dash in Saturday's workouts featuring quarterbacks and receivers in addition to backs. “The area of the game I’m looking to highlight is my pass protection. I feel like that shows what type of player you are.”

Jeanty still feels like he has something to prove, too — that he's a better receiver than he had a chance to demonstrate at Boise State.

Each is likely to find an NFL home, though it's unclear where they may land and whether anyone can climb high enough on draft boards to join Jeanty as a first-round selection.

But after this past season, Jeanty thinks NFL teams could be rewarded, maybe handsomely, if they're willing to take a chance.

“You can see the value of running backs is definitely going back up, so definitely coming in at the perfect time,” Jeanty said. “It's not just him (Barkley), all the guys are doing exception things in the NFL. And right here, in my draft class, there are a lot of great backs as well."

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL

Ohio State running back Quinshon Judkins speaks during a press conference at the NFL football scouting combine Friday, Feb. 28, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Arizona State running back Cam Skattebo speaks during a press conference at the NFL football scouting combine Friday, Feb. 28, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Ohio State running back TreVeyon Henderson speaks during a press conference at the NFL football scouting combine Friday, Feb. 28, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty speaks during a press conference at the NFL football scouting combine Friday, Feb. 28, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty speaks during a press conference at the NFL football scouting combine Friday, Feb. 28, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — The party of Kosovo 's Prime Minister Albin Kurti won an early parliamentary election Sunday in the Balkan country by a clear margin, near-complete preliminary results showed.

The Vetevendosje, or Self-Determination, party won nearly 50% of the ballots, far ahead of the opposition Democratic Party of Kosovo with 21%, and the Democratic League of Kosovo with nearly 14%, the state election, authorities said after some 96% of the ballots were counted.

The snap ballot on Sunday was scheduled after the Self-Determination party failed to form a government despite also winning the most votes in a Feb. 9 election (is this correct?).

It was not immediately clear whether the Self-Determination party has won 61 seats in the 120-member parliament to be able to rule alone.

The previous postelection stalemate marked the first time Kosovo could not form a government since it declared independence from Serbia in 2008 following a 1998-99 war that ended in a NATO intervention.

Kosovo has not approved a budget for next year, sparking concern over the already poor economy in the country of 2 million people.

Lawmakers also are set to elect a new president in March as current President Vjosa Osmani’s mandate expires in early April. If this fails too, another snap election must be held.

After voting Sunday, Kurti urged Kosovo’s 1.9 million voters to turn out in large numbers to grant “more legitimacy for our institutions.”

“Once the election result is known, we will do our best to constitute a new parliament as soon as possible and to proceed with the election of the new government,” he said.

Turnout was at around 44%, according to the state election authorities.

According to Kosovo’s election laws, 20 parliamentary seats are automatically assigned to ethnic Serb representatives and other minority parties.

Opposition parties have accused Kurti of authoritarianism and of alienating Kosovo’s U.S. and European Union allies since he came to power in 2021.

Lumir Abdixhiku from the Democratic League of Kosovo urged voters to “move away from the gloom, the deadlock and the division that has accompanied us for these years.”

A former political prisoner during Serbia’s rule in Kosovo, the 50-year-old Kurti has taken a tough stand in talks mediated by the European Union on normalizing relations with Belgrade. In response, the EU and the United States imposed punitive measures.

Kurti has promised to buy military equipment to boost security.

Ilmi Deliu, a 71-year-old pensioner from the capital, Pristina, said he hoped the election will bring a change or “we will end up in an abyss.”

“Young people no longer want to live here,” he said.

Tensions with restive ethnic Serbs in the north exploded in clashes in 2023 when scores of NATO-led peacekeepers were injured. In a positive step, ethnic Serb mayors this month took power peacefully there after a municipal vote.

Kurti has also agreed to accept third-country migrants deported from the United States as part of tough anti-immigration measures by the administration of President Donald Trump. One migrant has arrived so far, authorities have told The Associated Press.

Kosovo has one of the poorest economies in Europe. It is one of the six Western Balkan countries striving to eventually join the EU, but both Kosovo and Serbia have been told they must first normalize relations.

A man folds his ballot prior to voting in early parliamentary election in Kosovo's capital Pristina, Sunday Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)

A couple cast their votes in early parliamentary election in Kosovo's capital Pristina, Sunday Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)

Voters fill their ballots behind voting booths for early parliamentary election in Kosovo's capital Pristina, Sunday Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)

Kosovo's acting prime minister and leader of VeteVendosje political party Albin Kurti casts his ballot in Kosovo's capital Pristina, Sunday Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)

Supporters of Belgrade-backed Srpska Lista prepare to go at a polling station and cast their ballots in an early parliamentary election in the northern Serb-dominated part of ethnically divided town of Mitrovica, Kosovo, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Bojan Slavkovic)

A voter arrives at a polling station in an early parliamentary election in the northern Serb-dominated part of ethnically divided town of Mitrovica, Kosovo, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Bojan Slavkovic)

A voter prepares her ballot at a polling station in an early parliamentary election in the northern Serb-dominated part of ethnically divided town of Mitrovica, Kosovo, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Bojan Slavkovic)

People walk past a giant banner of the leader of VV (Selfdetermination) political party Albin Kurti, in the capital Pristina on Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)

People waiting in the iluminated bus station with banners of LDK (Democratic League of Kosovo) leader Lumir Abdixhiku in capital Pristina on Thursday, Dec. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)