How often can we expect a top running back to touch the ball. Ian Allan pokes around the numbers, with both rushing attempts and catches.
I posted a factoid on running backs yesterday, showing average touches by running backs (and trying to answer the question if an increase in the use of the “running back by committee” approach is resulting in fewer touches for starting running backs.
A reader wanted to see the numbers with receptions included, which I thought was a good idea.
Here is an adjusted chart.
On this one, I’m showing the average number of touches by running backs who finished in the top-15 in number of handles. It includes both receptions and rushing attempts.
For this 20-year slice of NFL history, the four worst years for running backs have all come in the last five years.
Circling back to a concept I touched on earlier, notice that the average number of receptions for the top running backs hasn’t improved over the years. They’ve averaged 38 catches per season over the last three years. If you look back at the first four seasons of this century, running backs averaged 44, 47 54 and 48 receptions. Just top-15 backs, that is.
Back in 1995, the top-15 running backs averaged 42 receptions, which is more than any of the last three years.
So while passing has increased dramatically over the last 20 years, running backs aren’t getting in on that. I posted on early days showing that wide receivers haven’t changed much either. It’s really tight ends who are getting a lot more action than they did in the past.
Anyway, the running back chart. I’ve put the bottom-4 seasons in bold.
| AVERAGE TOUCHES BY TOP-15 RUNNING BACKS | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Rec | Run | Total | Rank |
| 1994 | 41 | 292 | 333 | 13th |
| 1995 | 42 | 307 | 349 | 9th |
| 1996 | 33 | 302 | 334 | 12th |
| 1997 | 33 | 301 | 335 | 11th |
| 1998 | 37 | 322 | 359 | 5th |
| 1999 | 43 | 298 | 341 | 10th |
| 2000 | 44 | 316 | 360 | 4th |
| 2001 | 47 | 302 | 350 | 7th |
| 2002 | 54 | 311 | 365 | 2nd |
| 2003 | 48 | 330 | 378 | 1st |
| 2004 | 39 | 310 | 349 | 8th |
| 2005 | 36 | 318 | 353 | 6th |
| 2006 | 46 | 314 | 360 | 3rd |
| 2007 | 39 | 285 | 324 | 16th |
| 2008 | 37 | 289 | 326 | 15th |
| 2009 | 41 | 277 | 318 | 18th |
| 2010 | 46 | 285 | 331 | 14th |
| 2011 | 38 | 270 | 307 | 20th |
| 2012 | 34 | 291 | 324 | 17th |
| 2013 | 41 | 269 | 310 | 19th |
--Ian Allan