Running backs definitely enjoyed a renaissance season in 2024, no question. It's impossible to argue otherwise. Multiple backs delivered historic numbers, with four players topping 1800 scrimmage yards. Saquon Barkley was cartoonishly productive.
If you want to declare that running backs have emphatically reclaimed their spot at the top of the positional hierarchy in fantasy, that's fair.
But on the other hand, the top-of-the-ranks running backs were also unusually healthy last season — Christian McCaffrey being a notable and disastrous exception. Nine of the top-10 backs in terms of ADP (and 13 of the top-15) actually managed to appear in at least 14 games. The upper tiers at RB weren't the usual minefield.
It's probably unwise to expect the same success rate from the early-round backs this year, however, so let's not drag ZeroRB to the trash just yet. Every player in the ranks at this position carries elevated injury risk.
ADP - Average Draft Position