With some of the NFL’s top backs missing time through suspension or injury and others simply struggling to get over the line of scrimmage, this season could see a monumental shift in the league’s elite running back stocks.
Adrian Peterson and Ray Rice are unlikely to play another snap this season, a high-ankle sprain has kept Jamaal Charles grounded since early in week two and LeSean McCoy, Matt Forte and Ryan Mathews have been surprisingly ineffectual through three games.
The running back position has become increasingly undervalued in the league, with college football providing a seemingly endless supply of plug-and-play backs who can lower their pads and rush for more than 1000 yards in a season.
But still a few stud running backs remain – players like Peterson, Charles and McCoy – who form the majority of a team’s offense and who can put a franchise on their back and literally rush them into the playoffs (see Peterson, 2012).
However, this year a myriad of on and off-field issues have meant that half of the top 10 backs in 2013 are either not in the line-up or battling for consistency.
Waiting in the wings are a trio of elusive sophomores who have not only been getting the job done on the ground, but have the speed and agility to gash teams in the passing game.
The Bengals’ Giovani Bernard, Steelers’ Le’Veon Bell and Arizona’s Andre Ellington are poised to scale the elite tailback precipice after each claiming the starting jobs following impressive rookie seasons in 2013.
The diminutive Bernard – drafted 37th overall out of North Carolina – caught the eye of the NFL with one of the runs of the 2013 season, a 35-yard scamper against the Miami Dolphins that was more like 140 yards as he reversed the course, broke tackles and set-up blocks before front-flipping into the end zone.
He finished the season with 695 yards on 170 carries and 514 yards in the air on 56 catches, as veteran BenJarvus Green-Ellis claimed the lion’s share of the workload.
But this year with Green-Ellis gone, and the starting job Bernard’s, he has already racked up 333 all-purpose yards and scored three touchdowns in three weeks.
The Bengals drafted the much bigger Jeremy Hill to compete as a back-up this year, but despite his size, Bernard continues to get the majority of goal-line work, showing the Bengals trust him in pivotal situations. Bernard is a stud running back and an all-purpose yards king and is on track to reach the upper echelon at the position within the next few years.
Those who watched Ellington play at Clemson may have questioned whether he would eventually make a good pro. He was a competent back, but played second fiddle to All-American receiver Sammy Watkins in the Tigers’ explosive offense. He flashed good speed and explosiveness, but overall lacked the size and power for an inside the tackles running back.
During the combine he was being compared to Jahvid Best, a lightning quick back out of California who lasted two seasons with the Lions before succumbing to continuing “post-concussive symptoms”.
But more than a season in and Ellington has proved he can take a big hit and bounce back to his feet. He has shown good patience in setting up blocks, can explode through a hole and has good hands to be an effective receiver in the flat.
Ellington was selected in the sixth round in 2013, undoubtedly one of the steals of the draft, and has been instrumental in moving the ball in the absence of Carson Palmer during the Cardinals surprising 3-0 start to the season.
At present, Ellington only gets between 16 and 20 touches a game, but if he remains healthy and holds onto the ball, he has the chance to be the man in the Arizona backfield for at least the next five years.
Steelers Le’Veon Bell might be the most impressive of the lot. His play this year garnered high praise from one of the all-time greats LaDainian Tomlinson this week who said he would take Bell over any running back in the league.
Bell leads all players with 461 yards from scrimmage after another dominant display against the Carolina Panthers and the NFL’s best front seven. He is already being recognised as a marquee name in the NFL’s tailback pecking order. It’s hard to argue with LT, the man knows a good back when he sees one.
Special mentions; Eddie Lacy, Montee Ball, Zac Stacy, Knile Davis.
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