Factoid
Running back isn’t the position is used to be. That’s the theory, anyway. More teams are going the committee approach, and the full-time workhorse back has gone the way of the dinosaur.
But whenever I look at the numbers, it doesn’t really come out that way.
Here’s another take on that topic. Three separate charts showing the No. 10, 15 and 20 running backs from the last 20 years.
If every team 20 years ago was trying to go with one, workhorse-type back, then we would see better numbers from the middle-of-the-pack running backs, right? More of them would be getting more touches, yards and touchdowns.
But that’s not the case.
Look at the first chart. It shows the No. 10 running backs for each year. The worst of these backs come from the early ‘90s. The backs from 2008 and 2010 both finished in the top 5 in production.
The chart for the No. 15 backs is almost identical. Again, both 2008 and 2010 finished in the top 5 out of these 21 seasons.
For the No. 20 backs, look at the last four years (the last four backs listed) and compare them to the other four-year blocks – most notably in the ‘90s. The big dropoff simply hasn’t occurred.
These chart appear in a more graphically appealing format at our Facebook page.
10th-most productive running backs, 1991-2011
Pts Year
158.1 1991 Kevin Mack (Clev.)
194.8 1992 Herschel Walker (Phil.)
162.4 1993 Terry Kirby (Mia.)
170.9 1994 Edgar Bennett (G.B.)
206.9 1995 Harvey Williams (Rai.)
188.8 1996 Jamal Anderson (Atl.)
192.6 1997 Jamal Anderson (Atl.)
202.0 1998 Barry Sanders (Det.)
192.7 1999 Duce Staley (Phil.)
238.9 2000 Charlie Garner (S.F.)
195.7 2001 Stephen Davis (Wash.)
228.0 2002 Eddie George (Tenn.)
221.1 2003 Edgerrin James (Ind.)
205.5 2004 Brian Westbrook (Phil.)
200.6 2005 Mike Anderson (Den.)
191.5 2006 Deuce McAllister (N.O.)
184.6 2007 Edgerrin James (Ariz.)
217.8 2008 Brian Westbrook (Phil.)
197.8 2009 Steven Jackson (St.L.)
217.6 2010 Michael Turner (Atl.)
187.5 2011 Michael Bush (Oak.)
15th-most productive running backs, 1991-2011
Pts Year
137.0 1991 Rod Bernstine (S.D.)
147.7 1992 Mark Higgs (Mia.)
157.4 1993 Ronald Moore (Ariz.)
155.8 1994 Rodney Hampton (NYG)
182.3 1995 Bernie Parmalee (Mia.)
164.0 1996 Marcus Allen (K.C.)
174.8 1997 Raymont Harris (Chi.)
168.8 1998 Priest Holmes (Balt.)
172.8 1999 Mike Alstott (T.B.)
209.5 2000 Warrick Dunn (T.B.)
168.2 2001 Lamar Smith (Mia.)
207.0 2002 Duce Staley (Phil.)
186.2 2003 Domanick Davis (Hou.)
193.9 2004 Warrick Dunn (Atl.)
172.0 2005 Willie Parker (Pitt.)
181.0 2006 Marion Barber (Dall.)
164.4 2007 LenDale White (Tenn.)
187.6 2008 Marshawn Lynch (Buff.)
172.2 2009 Cedric Benson (Cin.)
187.3 2010 BenJarvus Green-Ellis (N.E.)
172.7 2011 Matt Forte (Chi.)
20th-most productive running backs, 1991-2011
Pts Year
126.8 1991 Vince Workman (G.B.)
119.7 1992 Johnny Johnson (Phoe.)
128.2 1993 Keith Byars (Mia.)
149.8 1994 Marcus Allen (K.C.)
148.5 1995 Mario Bates (N.O.)
134.4 1996 Raymont Harris (Chi.)
146.7 1997 Natrone Means (S.D.)
145.5 1998 Jerome Bettis (Pitt.)
144.1 1999 Errict Rhett (T.B.)
182.2 2000 Emmitt Smith (Dall.)
147.0 2001 Duce Staley (Phil.)
184.4 2002 Warrick Dunn (T.B.)
164.3 2003 Rudi Johnson (Cin.)
174.9 2004 Fred Taylor (Jac.)
159.8 2005 Chris Brown (Tenn.)
173.6 2006 Edgerrin James (Ariz.)
154.5 2007 Chester Taylor (Minn.)
168.5 2008 LeRon McClain (Balt.)
157.5 2009 Pierre Thomas (N.O.)
160.5 2010 Frank Gore (S.F.)
160.6 2011 Ahmad Bradshaw (NYG)
—Ian Allan
- Comments [4]
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Posted by Moishe Steigmann | Jul. 16 at 10:51 AM
Thanks for these numbers, Ian. More interesting for me, though, would be to see the point differential between the #1, #5, #10, #15 and #20 RBs from each of those years. These numbers are only relative year-to-year. The question is whether the emergence of the RBBC increases the differential from the top RBs to the middle and lesser ones. Thanks!
Posted by BEN HOGEVOLL | Jul. 16 at 12:13 PM
Ian, On the same subject sort of,Matt Forte just a hour ago recevied a good long term contract.Will you move him up your rankings?I realize Bush will share some of the load but my thinking is Forte will show up in camp on time and maybe perform better than if he was on the one year tag the bears had on him.
Posted by IAN ALLAN | Jul. 16 at 01:56 PM
@Ben: Yes. I believe I'll move Forte up some now that his contract issue is behind him. I still, however, envision Bush being the goal-line back for that team.
Posted by Michael Picciano | Jul. 17 at 05:18 PM
Still on Forte. I'm glad he signed. I can protect one RB from last yr for this season. Forte or Demarco Murray? My gut says Forte.