It’s been a rough start for the running back position. Lots of lousy games – even for the game’s best backs.
Christian McCaffrey has averaged 3.1 yards per carry in two of his three. Ashton Jeanty doesn’t look like he should have been selected with a top-10 pick. Neither Saquon Barkley nor Josh Jacobs has averaged more than 4 yards per carry in a game. Chase Brown hasn’t even averaged 3.0 yet. Kenneth Walker has been held under 2.5 in two of his starts.
If you walked out of your draft for two or three of those guys, it probably was with a big, confident smile, thinking you were set at the position. Now, not so much.
Many of these runners, of course, will get things figured out. Running the ball involves timing between the offensive line and running backs. That’s hard to put together early in the season, particularly considering the limitations of the preseason nowadays. Things will pick up for many of these backs.
But it’s been pretty ugly.
Three weeks in, running backs have finished with double-digit carries 96 times. Over half of those backs averaged under 3.7 yards per carry. Over a quarter of those runners averaged under 3 yards per attempt.
| BACKS AVERAGING LESS THAN 3.7 YPA | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Opp | Result | Att | Yds | Avg | TD |
| Chase Brown, Cin. | at Min. | L, 10-48 | 10 | 3 | .30 | 0 |
| Zach Charbonnet, Sea. | at Pitt. | W, 31-17 | 15 | 10 | .67 | 0 |
| Josh Jacobs, G.B. | at Cle. | L, 10-13 | 16 | 30 | 1.88 | 0 |
| Ashton Jeanty, L.V. | at N.E. | W, 20-13 | 19 | 38 | 2.00 | 1 |
| Bijan Robinson, Atl. | T.B. | L, 20-23 | 12 | 24 | 2.00 | 0 |
| Kenneth Walker, Sea. | S.F. | L, 13-17 | 10 | 20 | 2.00 | 0 |
| Chase Brown, Cin. | at Cle. | W, 17-16 | 21 | 43 | 2.05 | 1 |
| Derrick Henry, Balt. | Cle. | W, 41-17 | 11 | 23 | 2.09 | 0 |
| Isiah Pacheco, K.C. | Phil. | L, 17-20 | 10 | 22 | 2.20 | 0 |
| David Montgomery, Det. | at G.B. | L, 13-27 | 11 | 25 | 2.27 | 0 |
| Alvin Kamara, N.O. | at Sea. | L, 13-44 | 18 | 42 | 2.33 | 0 |
| Kenneth Walker, Sea. | N.O. | W, 44-13 | 16 | 38 | 2.38 | 2 |
| Tyrone Tracy, NYG | at Was. | L, 6-21 | 10 | 24 | 2.40 | 0 |
| Tyler Allgeier, Atl. | T.B. | L, 20-23 | 10 | 24 | 2.40 | 0 |
| Dylan Sampson, Cle. | Cin. | L, 16-17 | 12 | 29 | 2.42 | 0 |
| D'Andre Swift, Chi. | Dall. | W, 31-14 | 13 | 33 | 2.54 | 0 |
| TreVeyon Henderson, N.E. | Pitt. | L, 14-21 | 11 | 28 | 2.55 | 0 |
| Saquon Barkley, Phil. | LAR | W, 33-26 | 18 | 46 | 2.56 | 0 |
| Jaylen Warren, Pitt. | at N.E. | W, 21-14 | 18 | 47 | 2.61 | 0 |
| Bucky Irving, T.B. | NYJ | W, 29-27 | 25 | 66 | 2.64 | 0 |
| Bucky Irving, T.B. | at Atl. | W, 23-20 | 14 | 37 | 2.64 | 0 |
| George Holani, Sea. | N.O. | W, 44-13 | 10 | 27 | 2.70 | 0 |
| De'Von Achane, Mia. | N.E. | L, 27-33 | 11 | 30 | 2.73 | 0 |
| Tony Pollard, Ten. | Ind. | L, 20-41 | 16 | 45 | 2.81 | 1 |
| Breece Hall, NYJ | Buff. | L, 10-30 | 10 | 29 | 2.90 | 0 |
| Chase Brown, Cin. | Jac. | W, 31-27 | 16 | 47 | 2.94 | 0 |
| Rico Dowdle, Car. | Atl. | W, 30-0 | 10 | 30 | 3.00 | 1 |
| Christian McCaffrey, S.F. | Ari. | W, 16-15 | 17 | 52 | 3.06 | 0 |
| James Conner, Ari. | Car. | W, 27-22 | 11 | 34 | 3.09 | 1 |
| D'Andre Swift, Chi. | Min. | L, 24-27 | 17 | 53 | 3.12 | 0 |
| Christian McCaffrey, S.F. | at Sea. | W, 17-13 | 22 | 69 | 3.14 | 0 |
| Omarion Hampton, LAC | K.C. | W, 27-21 | 15 | 48 | 3.20 | 0 |
| James Conner, Ari. | at N.O. | W, 20-13 | 12 | 39 | 3.25 | 0 |
| Tony Pollard, Ten. | at Den. | L, 12-20 | 18 | 60 | 3.33 | 0 |
| Saquon Barkley, Phil. | Dall. | W, 24-20 | 18 | 60 | 3.33 | 1 |
| Jaylen Warren, Pitt. | at NYJ | W, 34-32 | 11 | 37 | 3.36 | 0 |
| James Cook, Buff. | Balt. | W, 41-40 | 13 | 44 | 3.38 | 1 |
| Kareem Hunt, K.C. | at NYG | W, 22-9 | 10 | 34 | 3.40 | 1 |
| DJ Giddens, Ind. | Mia. | W, 33-8 | 12 | 41 | 3.42 | 0 |
| Jaylen Warren, Pitt. | Sea. | L, 17-31 | 14 | 48 | 3.43 | 0 |
| Josh Jacobs, G.B. | Det. | W, 27-13 | 19 | 66 | 3.47 | 1 |
| Travis Etienne, Jac. | Hou. | W, 17-10 | 16 | 56 | 3.50 | 1 |
| Chris Rodriguez, Was. | L.V. | W, 41-24 | 11 | 39 | 3.55 | 0 |
| Chuba Hubbard, Car. | at Jac. | L, 10-26 | 16 | 57 | 3.56 | 0 |
| Nick Chubb, Hou. | T.B. | L, 19-20 | 12 | 43 | 3.58 | 1 |
| Javonte Williams, Dall. | at Phil. | L, 20-24 | 15 | 54 | 3.60 | 2 |
| Josh Jacobs, G.B. | Was. | W, 27-18 | 23 | 84 | 3.65 | 1 |
| Kyren Williams, LAR | Hou. | W, 14-9 | 18 | 66 | 3.67 | 1 |
| Omarion Hampton, LAC | Den. | W, 23-20 | 19 | 70 | 3.68 | 1 |
—Ian Allan