How explosive NFL offenses are impacting the league’s top running backs

NFL offenses continue to explode as the season nears the mid-way point. Through Week 6, there have been a total of 504 touchdowns and 4,489 points scored, both of which are the most in NFL history through the first six weeks of a season.

With offenses becoming more and more pass heavy, the running back position has evolved. It’s nearly a requirement for running backs to catch passes and become multi-dimensional players. Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley leads the league in touchdowns, nine of which have come on the ground and two through the air. Last season, Gurley had 13 rushing scores and six receiving scores, so while he’s on pace to far exceed his 2017 totals (both of which were career highs) he’s used to contributing in both the run game and as a receiver. Running backs account for seven of the top 12 touchdown leaders in the NFL so far this year and 11 of the top 20.

But other than running backs contributing as pass catchers, how is the position changing? Are 100+ yard performances harder to come by? Among the top 10 rushing performances since 1999, only three have happened in the last nine season. When considering the top 20 rushing performances in that span, seven have occurred since 2010.

We took a look at the number of 100+ yard rushing performances since 1956 to analyze how the position is changing, even while offenses score more points and yield more total yardage than ever before.

Adrian Peterson holds claim to eight of the top 100 performances (in terms of yards in a game) since 1999. And while there have been a total of 2,337 100+ yard performances since 1999, the average number of 100 yard games per week has been on the decline since about 2005.

Through six weeks this season, there have been 32 games featuring a 100+ yard rusher, putting the league on pace for an average of 5.33 such games per week. That’s slightly above the 2017 average (5.05), but below the averages from 2010-2016.

Kareem Hunt, Gurley and Le’Veon Bell were the NFL’s top three running backs (respectively) in terms of rushing yards in 2017.

So how does that compare to the top three running backs in 2002, for example?

In 2002, Ricky Williams (1,853 rushing yards), LaDanian Tomlinson (1,683 rushing yards), and Priest Holmes (1,615 rushing yards) were the NFL’s top three backs. They had considerably more rushing yards than 2017’s top trio. But while the 2017 group averaged 632.6 receiving yards and 3.6 touchdowns among them that season, the 2002 trio averaged 508 receiving yards and 1.6 receiving touchdowns that year.

Still, the 2002 top backs had more total yardage than the 2017 backs and the additional receiving yards from today’s backs still aren’t quite enough to match what running backs were able to achieve in past decades.

Gurley, Ezekiel Elliott, and Melvin Gordon are the rushing leaders through six weeks this season. Gurley has 623 rushing yards, nine rushing scores, 247 receiving yards, two receiving touchdowns and is on pace for 1,661 rushing yards, 659 receiving yards and an absurd 29 scores. Elliott has 586 rushing yards, three rushing scores, 166 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown. That extrapolates out to 1,562 rushing yards, 443 receiving yards and 11 scores. As for Gordon, he has 466 rushing yards, six rushing scores, 279 receiving yards, and three touchdowns through the air. That puts him on pace for 1,243 rushing yards, 744 receiving yards and 24 total scores.

The NFL is changing — it’s why Bell is sitting at home while trying to convince the Steelers he’s worth more than what a traditional running back is worth. There’s no clear picture of what’s better or worse: letting running backs have more control of the game, or allowing quarterbacks to let it rip. Though, it’s clear offenses are scoring more than ever, with help from running backs and enjoying immense success (sorry Titans, Bills, and Cardinals fans, that’s not so true for your offenses).

As NFL offenses evolve, so too is the running back position.