2025 Rookie Profile: RB Cam Skattebo (Fantasy Football)
Cam Skattebo was born and raised just north of Sacramento, California, and attended Rio Linda High School in Rio Linda. Head coach Jack Garceau coached Skattebo the three years he played varsity, and he knew from the word go that he had something special. “He just dominated, no matter what. It was never a question of who the best guy was on the field,” said Garceau. “From the very beginning since we knew him as a kid, he just always has been something different, especially physically.” Skattebo ran for over 3500 yards in his junior year and had 42 TDs, leading his school to the Division 5-AA state championship.
Editors Note: This article is part of our Rookie Profile series going on until the 2025 NFL Draft. For more on each rookie, check out Andy, Mike, and Jason’s exclusive rookie rankings and production profiles found only in the Dynasty Pass, part of the UDK+ for 2025.
College Production Profile
Even with such a tremendous high school performance, this unranked recruit, per 247sports, was offered a scholarship from only one Division I program, so it was off down the road to play for the Sacramento State Hornets. He graduated high school in 2020 and lost that year of college football to COVID, but jumped right in and started to make a statement for the Hornets during the 2021 season.
Skattebo spent two years at Sacramento State and, in his second year there, rushed for almost 1400 yards. He was named Big Sky Offensive Player of the Year, first-team all-Big Sky, and an FCS All-American. Perhaps partially due to the departure of Head Coach Troy Taylor to coach Stanford, Skattebo entered the transfer portal after his 2022 season. And just like that, he headed to Tempe, Arizona, to become a Sun Devil.
Skattebo was a relative unknown starting the 2023 season at Arizona State, but he quickly made his presence known. He managed just over 1000 all-purpose yards from scrimmage on an ASU team that finished 3-9. He was clearly the RB1 on the team with 164 attempts, over 100 more than anyone else on the squad. He also had the third most receptions.
Skattebo was integral to the turnaround that took place at ASU in the 2024 season – they ended the year 11-3. They were, in my Sun Devil alumni view, one very questionable call away from the College Football Semifinal, narrowly losing the Peach Bowl to Texas. Skattebo won the offensive MVP of the game, making it the first time in 26 years that a player on the losing team won that award, and set the ASU single-season record for TDs from scrimmage. He finished fifth in the Heisman voting.
Skattebo was ASU’s offense in 2024. He had a 43% dominator ranking, with a 21% share of team receptions per game to boot.
Measurables
| Age | Height | Weight | Vertical | Broad | Breakout Age |
| 23.1 | 5’10” | 219 | 39.5″ | 10’3″ | 20.6 |
Skattebo only participated in two drills at the NFL Combine: the vertical and broad jumps. He does have a slightly higher breakout age than desirable at 20.6 – the NFL RB1 college average is 20. However, Skattebo did lose a year of playing to COVID in 2020, so this number might not be as important as it was for previous classes.
What’s On Tape
Games Viewed: USC (2023), Mississippi St. (2024), BYU (2024), Utah (2024), Iowa St. (2024), Texas (2024)
1. The man loves contact. No, he seriously loves contact.
When Skattebo gets the ball, someone might as well turn up the song “Wrecking Ball” on the sidelines because he runs into defenders like it is going out of style. However, running into defenders rarely means that the play is over for Skattebo, as he had the second most total missed tackles forced by any FBS RB in PFF College history since 2014. The only player better? Ashton Jeanty. Skattebo’s balance and lower center of gravity allow him to zig and zig, leaving tacklers almost falling flat on their faces, as he has a great ability to allow plays to develop.
You can see his incredible contact balance in this 2024 game against Mississippi State, in which he broke 12 tackles and finished with 262 yards.
But it is what Skattebo does after making contact that makes him so exciting to watch. At 5’10”, he is slightly smaller than the ideal RB size, but he keeps those legs churning until past when the whistle blows. He has the fourth most yards after contact in his draft class, behind Ashton Jeanty, Omarion Hampton, and Kaleb Johnson. He manages to stay on his feet no matter the hit and always falls forward, grabbing extra yards.
There is some concern whether Skattebo is slowly taking time off his career with every lineman he runs into. There is no quit in this guy, and perhaps he might want to find a tiny bit of quit in himself in the NFL to elongate his career. Skattebo also has had ten fumbles over the last three years, so there is some concern about ball security – every time he runs into someone, there is a chance the ball will be punched out.
The one intriguing thing to ponder is the offensive line that Skattebo was running behind. According to PFF, the ASU offensive line had the 96th-worst grade for run blocking in 2024. That ain’t great, Bob. So, riddle me this: could Cam Skattebo be even better? Put that man behind even a competent line, and perhaps he won’t have to run into as many defenders; possibly, the holes will just be there for him. Just look at the difference between Saquon Barkley running behind a Giants’ line and Saquon Barkley running behind an Eagles’ line. As Jason says, don’t hear what I’m not saying – I am not ready to crown Skattebo as the next Barkley-level RB, but seeing what is possible excites me.
Cam Skattebo Big 12 Championship game has to be in contention for non-Ashton Jeanty RB performance of the year pic.twitter.com/r49lNUsFSS
— James Foster (@NoFlagsFilm) February 11, 2025
2. Solid receiving upside.
We talk repeatedly about how valuable a pass-catching RB is in fantasy football, and boy, will Skattebo be valuable. He has the second most receiving yards among RBs in his draft class, with 468, just shy of LaQuint Allen’s 484. But the efficiency of his pass-catching is something to really write home about. Skattebo averaged 13.4 yards per reception, catching 87.5% of the 40 passes thrown his way.
He is truly talented at catching passes by running actual routes, where we often see RBs getting quick dump-offs. Combined with his strong contact balance, this leads to a fantasy football manager’s dream.
There are only three FBS RBs with over 1700 rushing yards in at least one season and over 550 receiving yards in at least one season during college. Christian McCaffrey, Ashton Jeanty, and Cam Skattebo.
3. A jack of all trades.
Want to get a few yards on the ground and move the chains? Perhaps you want your RB to run a route to catch the football and gain yards after the catch? Oh wait, maybe you want your RB to be the guy on a trick play and throw the football for a TD. What if I told you you could have all this and more with Cam Skattebo? I already mentioned his ability to break tackles, gain yards after the catch, and his receiving upside, but Skattebo has additional “joker-esque” talents. While at Sacramento State, he threw a TD and returned an on-side kick for a score. In 2023, he connected on six passes for 130 yards, threw a TD, and kicked eight punts for 338 yards. In his final game as a Sun Devil at the 2025 Peach Bowl against Texas, he had 284 all-purpose yards from scrimmage – we’re talking rushing, receiving, and passing.
CAM SKATTEBO WITH THE 42-YARD TD PASS ON FOURTH DOWN 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/CksEs2NL4K
— ESPN (@espn) January 1, 2025
What’s Not On Tape
1. No top-end speed.
Skattebo will not beat you with his speed. He will not leave a defender in the dust purely by outrunning him. He will beat the defenders through his patience and contact balance, and that might be enough for him to succeed in the NFL. Remember that Skattebo ran behind the 96th worst-ranked offensive line at ASU according to PFF grades, and he still got the job done. Give him a slightly better line, and the need for top-end speed starts to decrease.
Skattebo did not run at the NFL Combine, probably due to a combination of being on one of the teams that played later in the collegiate playoff season and the fact that he knew he would not have a time that would aid him come draft day. It was assumed that he would run at his Pro Day, a joint venture with other Big 12 schools, but he opted out and will do a private workout at ASU instead.
2. Not the most explosive.
Looking at PFF’s explosive stat, the number of runs over ten yards, Skattebo is tied for tenth in his draft class with 38. His explosiveness isn’t horrible, but he does lack the ability to quickly accelerate out of contact. This raises concern about larger and stronger NFL defenders. Skattebo was able to shake defenders off in college, even though he was not the most explosive, but he might have a more challenging time doing this in the pros.
But all is not lost. We did see Skattebo demonstrate some explosiveness at the Combine, testing and excelling in the broad and vertical jumps. He had the third-best score in the vertical jump and clocked a 10’3” in the broad jump, which put him in the 93rd percentile for the vertical and 77th for the broad.
3. The ability to give it all and will put the team on his back.
Very rarely do you see a man give every last ounce of what he has for his team. Cam Skattebo is that guy. In the game against Texas that ultimately ended in a double overtime loss, the Sun Devils were down by 16 points at one point in the fourth quarter. The broadcast showed Skattebo visibly struggling on the bench. They reported that he was trying to get more fluids in after “vomiting profusely” on the sideline.
“Vomiting profusely” is not a great status update for Cam Skattebo pic.twitter.com/um2d0dbhVJ
— CJ Fogler 🫡 (@cjzero) January 1, 2025
Unwilling to let a little vomit get him down, like me after getting sick on Space Mountain in late 2007, Skattebo re-entered the game. He led one of the best comebacks ever, throwing a TD pass, rushing for a TD, and then connecting on a two-point conversion. You cannot teach dedication and drive like that.
He is dependable when you need to move the chains or get a score, converting 78% of his third-and-short situations in 2024.
29 carries for 141 yards.
7 receptions for 86 yards.
1 pass for 42 yards.
3 total touchdowns.Cam Skattebo put the team on his back today. pic.twitter.com/KwzBnnrOpC
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) January 1, 2025
Fantasy Outlook
With the abundance of solid RBs in this draft, we could see NFL teams playing a game of chicken when it comes to drafting. Why reach for an RB early when there are so many? Because of this, draft capital might be a bit more fluid this year for RBs. On NFLMockdraftdatabase.com, Skattebo is frequently mocked to go in the third round, possibly to the Bears or the Steelers; however, I would not be surprised if he came off the board earlier. In February, Bucky Brooks said this about Skattebo; “As a rugged runner with outstanding strength, power, balance, and body control, Cam Skattebo is ideally suited to operate as a featured runner in a downhill system. Though he can add a dimension as a soft-handed pass catcher with underrated playmaking ability in space, the Arizona State standout is a throwback type built for the NFL’s running back renaissance.”
I see Skattebo as a perfect part of an RB duo, similar to a David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs situation. Pair his pass-catching ability with the dependability of a three-down back, and a team could create an ebb and flow that would be tough to beat. With Ben Johnson moving to Chicago and the beefing up of the offensive line, Skattebo could fit in perfectly in the Windy City.
When it comes to drafting him to your fantasy team, I think Skattebo is the perfect guy to take a shot on in your rookie drafts in dynasty. As previously mentioned, the receiving upside is a huge bonus, and he has shown the ability to have massive games.