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Factoid

Best running backs, last five years

AFC East has been weak at position

Last week I ran an item on Buffalo running backs, showing how they haven't had an elite fantasy performer at the position in the last five years (also known as the Josh Allen era). They're not the only team that's underperformed in this regard.

There was a question as to whether any other team had a less impactful running back the past five years than Buffalo, whose top performer was Devin Singletary. He was 89th overall (in PPR scoring) across those seasons.

Turns out there is one team who had a lower-performing player. And also that the AFC East as a whole has been remarkably bad at producing top running backs in those seasons.

The one team that was worse than Buffalo is the Houston Texans. Their best PPR back the last five years is David Johnson, who was the 21st-best fantasy back in 2020, and checked in at 111th overall since 2018.

Two other teams that were nearly as bad as Buffalo are the Jets and Dolphins. LeVeon Bell (2019) and Kenyan Drake (2018) were those teams' best backs the last five years, finishing slightly higher in the overall rankings than Singletary. The AFC's fourth team, the Patriots, was the only team to put a running back in the top 60 overall, and fittingly it's a guy best known for his receiving rather than his running. James White rushed for only 425 yards in 2018, but he caught 87 passes and scored 12 TDs, finishing 7th at the position that season. Receiving production and PPR scoring count for a lot.

Table shows each team's best fantasy back in the last five seasons, sorted by their overall ranking. (Their ranking at the position in those big seasons is also shown.) Two guys (Christian McCaffrey and Leonard Fournette) were the best backs for two different teams in that time period. McCaffrey started the year for Carolina, but played a majority of the season in San Francisco, and would have made this list even if I removed his Panthers stats. San Francico's 2nd-best back in those years was 2019 Raheem Mostert.

BEST FANTASY BACKS BY TEAM, 2018-2022
YearPlayerRunNoRecTDPPRRkOv
2019Christian McCaffrey, Car.1387116100519471.211
2018Saquon Barkley, NYG13079172115385.823
2022Austin Ekeler, LAC91510772218378.714
2020Alvin Kamara, N.O.9328375621377.815
2021Jonathan Taylor, Ind.18114036020377.116
2018Todd Gurley, LAR12515958021374.137
2022Christian McCaffrey, S.F.11398574113356.728
2020Dalvin Cook, Min.15574436117343.8211
2020Derrick Henry, Ten.20271911417337.1312
2018Ezekiel Elliott, Dall.1434775679331.1513
2022Josh Jacobs, L.V.16535340012330.3314
2019Aaron Jones, G.B.10844947419318.8215
2021Najee Harris, Pitt.12007446710300.7319
2021Joe Mixon, Cin.12054231416289.9422
2022Nick Chubb, Cle.15252723913283.4625
2018James White, N.E.4258775112276.6726
2020David Montgomery, Chi.10705443810266.8428
2019Leonard Fournette, Jac.1152765223261.4729
2021James Conner, Ariz.7523737518257.7532
2021Leonard Fournette, T.B.8126945410255.6633
2019Mark Ingram, Balt.10182624715246.51042
2019Chris Carson, Sea.1230372669240.61246
2021Antonio Gibson, Was.10374229410237.1849
2021Cordarrelle Patterson, Atl.6185254811234.61052
2018Kareem Hunt, K.C.8242637814230.21255
2022Jamaal Williams, Det.1066127317229.91257
2018Phillip Lindsay, Den.10373524110222.81362
2022Miles Sanders, Phil.1269207811220.71563
2019LeVeon Bell, NYJ789664614217.01668
2018Kenyan Drake, Mia.535534779208.21476
2021Devin Singletary, Buff.870402288197.82089
2020David Johnson, Hou.691333148181.521111

--Andy Richardson

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