A Few Good NFL Running Backs

Storyline: While stud RBs still exist in the NFL, true ‘bell cow’ backs–guys who can carry a team’s rushing game year after year–are a rare breed.

Marcus Allen (Photo courtesy paddymaherg.blogspot.com)

Running back has always been my favorite position in football. It started with Marcus Allen. Marcus seemed to glide through defenders as he took angles that befuddled would-be tacklers. They were left reaching for air.

Then came the raw power and speed of Bo Jackson. Bo could run right through a linebacker and speed past a cornerback–often on the same play. I flirted with Barry Sanders for a decade, watching him juke-out entire defenses with his otherworldly moves.

I love me a great running back…all the way from Walter Payton to Adrian Peterson. Maybe that’s because toting the rock is football in its most basic form. “See, I’m going to take this football and see how far I can get while you try and stop me by any means necessary.” That’s the essence of playground football.

The fans can have their ‘Pretty Boy’ QBs and Prima Donna WRs, always crying about being open. Give me the workman, like a RB, just searching for a sliver of daylight behind a wall of human flesh and pads.

That’s why it’s so disheartening to me that true ‘bell cow’ running backs have nearly become a dying breed in the NFL. The passing game has continued to grow ever since Bill Walsh introduced the West Coast offense. The higher completion percentages–with the ability to get bigger chunks of yardage–revolutionized the passing game in the late 70s and early 80s. Increased passing, plus several other factors, led to the demise of the ‘all-world’ RB.

To get a fix on the issue I took a look at the Top Ten players in rushing attempts over the past decade to see what if ‘bell cows’ were still left in the league and to learn if any trends surfaced. In my analysis I used a total of 300 rushing attempts per season, which seemed like a good and reasonable benchmark. That’s still less than 19 rushing attempts per game over 16-game season. Nineteen carries was probably a nice half for a bull like Earl Campbell, but we are living in a new NFL era.

See the table presented at the end of this article.

Marshawn Lynch (Photo courtesy Fox Sports)

In 2005 and 2006, all ten of the rushing attempt leaders had over 300 carries. Those two years are not outliers, either. They aren’t listed in my chart, but in each of the previous five years of the decade 9 RBs logged 300 carries. A top-notch lead back was going to get the ball 300 times a year–a fact throughout most of NFL history.

But, since 2006, the number of backs with 300 carries a season has continued to dwindle. Three of the last four years have seen only two running backs (each year) carry the ball that much. Everyone thinks of Marshawn Lynch as one of the ‘bell cows’ left in the league, but he has hit the 300 carry mark only twice in the last four years: 315 attempts in 2012 and 301 in 2013.

‘Beast Mode’ has nothing on Larry Johnson of the Chiefs, who in 2006, snatched the pigskin from his QB a whopping 416 times. The story of Larry Johnson might also explain why we see so few running backs getting the ball with that much frequency. Sure, the league is passing more than ever, but a lead dog in the backfield still has the opportunity for a high volume of carries. However, here’s the thing: Do you want to have your lead dog getting punished that much each season as defenders continue to get bigger and faster?

Larry Johnson (Photo ourtesy dunk360.com)

Larry Johnson was a true bell cow carrying the rock 336 times in 2005. He followed that up with a monster effort of 416 carriers in 2006. LJ’s career then tailed off after that–mainly because of multiple injuries and a loss of burst that top-notch runners need. LJ never had over 200 carries again. He was out of the league after 2011.

Similar stories can be attributed to plenty of running backs, who ran hot for a few years and then cashed-out because they couldn’t physically hold up anymore. Maurice Jones-Drew and Michael Turner are examples.

MJD had a three-year window (2009-’11) when he averaged 318 attempts and 1,440 yards per season. But he was never the same after hurting his foot in 2012. He retired after the 2014 season. Turner averaged 337 attempts and 1,470 yards from 2008-2011 (played only partially in 2009). But in 2012 he seemed to lose any sort of burst. That was Turner’s last year in the NFL.

It seems that NFL teams have had a choice to make with their RBs: either run your ‘bell cow’ into the ground until his wheels fall off or lessen the star’s carries and move to a ‘committee approach’ in the backfield. It seems that most teams have chosen the latter option.

Adrian Peterson (Photo courtesy Pioneer Press)

It will be interesting to see how carries and careers play out over the next decade. You can see from the chart the volatility associated with even the top RBs. Consider this: not one of the attempts-leader from 2005 is still in the league. And only Adrian Peterson and Matt Forte are consistent performers from 2008…just 6 years ago. Perhaps the lesson is this: by dividing-up carries among young studs, like Eddie Lacy and Le’Veon Bell, NFL careers can stretch over ten years.

Yes, I’m glad to say there are still stud RBs, but true ‘bell cow’ backs–guys who can carry a team’s rushing game year after year–are a rare breed. Only a few players qualify as consistent forces over the past five years: Adrian Peterson, Arian Foster, Chris Johnson and Marshawn Lynch. But, even then, NOT EVEN ONE of those backs has averaged over 300 carries per season over the past half-decade. Plus, it looks like only Peterson and Lynch are solid bets to put up good numbers in 2015. While there will always be great running plays and backs in the NFL, the days of the truly great back–a player who imposes his will on the defense–may be over…at least on a consistent, week-to-week and year-to-year basis.

Emmitt Smith (Photo courtesy thecurtisinitiative.com

Emmitt Smith is the career rushing leader, but he’s rarely citied as the best back ever. But you have to give the man credit for being there every week. Number 22 averaged 312 carries and 1,320 yards per season over his 13-year Dallas Cowboy career. That’s one hell of a bell cow for you!  How about that Cowboy!

Now for all the numbers….