David Hunter
What Makes a Good NFL Running Back?
With the dawn of the passing game arriving onto the NFL landscape and the bevy of pass catchers ranging from running backs who can split out as a wide receiver, slot receivers who can rack up five to seven catches a game, and tight ends who play like 6’4 or taller wide receivers, many in the NFL have proclaimed that the era of the pure running back is dead and buried outside of maybe Adrian Peterson in Minnesota.
For the past several seasons, the en vogue movement in the running back landscape has been to utilize a committee approach by cultivating several talented backs to deploy based on their strengths while trying to not only minimized their weaknesses but also help keep up the stamina of core backs. Sean Payton, head coach of the New Orleans Saints, is arguably the king of this tactic having employed Pierre Thomas, Mark Ingram, Darren Sproles, and Chris Ivory (now with the New York Jets) to varying degrees of success including their Super Bowl winning season in 2010. Another team with radical success has been the New England Patriots to the point that hardcore fans are almost in disbelief when they look up the statistics and see the Patriots finishing in the top twelve running the ball because they can use upwards of four to five running backs. Even this season they have employed Stevan Ridley, Shane Vereen, LeGarrette Blount, and Brandon Bolden.
Over the past several seasons, the running back by committee has been the factor for most offenses even if it’s to spell a breather to the main starting running back for just five to eight carries a game.
2008: 18 RBs had over 230 carries. 30 had over 170 carries.
2009: 13 RBs had over 230 carries. 30 had over 170 carries.
2010: 14 RBs had over 230 carries. 30 had over 170 carries.
2011: 14 RBs had over 230 carries. 24 had over 170 carries.
2012: 15 RBs had over 230 carries. 25 had over 170 carries.
The main star running back has not seen his carries get affected too much over the past several seasons but the biggest chipping effect has been the result of the third and even fourth running back on the depth chart now intruding on the number of carries by the perennial second running back. Even offensive coordinators have been using the term committee not as a negative but almost out of a necessity to get a positive ground game going, “We’ve always been a running back by committee bunch, so we’re going to continue to do that,” Indianapolis Colts Offensive Coordinator Pep Hamilton recently said for an article on ESPN.com.
Every single year, the biggest day for NFL executives and coaches in the offseason is the NFL Draft commonly held in April. Nearly every position is up for grabs and scrutinized and finetoothed over with a comb and nothing holds more true as for the running back position. Running back Trent Richardson was deemed a very obvious 1st Round selection and even ran for 930+ yards as a rookie but has mightily struggled with a 3.4 yard per carry on just 31 carries for the Colts since being acquired from the Cleveland Browns. Kevin Jones was a much ballyhooed pick for the Detroit Lions back in 2004 and after a productive rookie year he struggled with injuries and eventually his career ended in 2009.
On the flipside you wind up with late round selections such as Zac Stacy in St. Louis taken in the fifth round of this year’s draft and has run for over 600 yards while beating out Isaiah Pead, a second round selection just one year prior. Arian Foster went undrafted and exploded into a massive home run for the Houston Texans, same for running back Alfred Morris whom was a sixth round selection by Mike Shanahan and beat out higher regarded running backs such as Roy Helu taken in the fourth round a year prior.
With such constants in the running back position, it is easy to focus on getting your guy in the mid to later rounds and focusing on accentuating their strengths to provide a better all around ground game for your team. A lot of running backs in various draft classes have been labeled a committee back, which used to be a pretty damning evaluation praise back in the day but now in some ways helps boost up prospects who may be in the third to fifth round tier because coaches have gotten smarter about not needing a stud running back to carry the ball thirty five times a game to win. Pierre Thomas went undrafted and yet any New Orleans Saints fan will tell you he’s a dynamic linchpin to that ground game because he can run inside and is a very effective screen receiver. Mark Ingram has started to get involved as the downhill pounder while Darren Sproles is an electrifying player in space that forces defenses to treat him as a fourth or fifth wide receiver when he’s on the field. The Saints continue to find talent as they have recently gotten yet another possible gem in Khiry Robinson, undrafted out of West Texas A&M.
With all that out of the way, let us try and start diagnosing what key traits are necessary for a running back to not only succeed at the NFL level but be a viable success case down the road after the average life span of say three or four seasons when most running backs get shown the door whether it be due to ineffectiveness or an inability to stay healthy. We’ll be using possible prospects who may be available in the 2014 NFL Draft as case studies.
Key NFL Trait Number 1: Pass Protection
It doesn’t matter how good a running back you may be bouncing outside or between the tackles if you are not willing to get your nose dirty and smack a blitzer in the mouth to keep your millions of dollars worth of a quarterback upright to allow him a chance to make a big play with his arm.
We’ll use a good example from Bishop Sankey out of Washington.
At the 1:38 mark, Sankey does a good job of recognizing the blitzing linebacker coming up and steps up to meet him, as opposed to being passive and letting the linebacker into his lap and up against the quarterback. While not delivering quite a jolting blow to force the defender backwards, Sankey does a good job of getting his hands up and getting the defender occupied just long enough to allow the quarterback to evade the pressure and scramble outside of the pocket to make a positive throw down the field.
Blocking is not fancy to most fans watching the game but coaches and scouts would probably tell you that it is close to priority number one, especially when their team may be in the hunt for the Super Bowl with a pocket quarterback such as Peyton Manning or Tom Brady.
Key NFL Trait Number 2: Pass Catching
Many probably would not put this as the second trait for a running back but the ability to play all three downs in the NFL is a huge contributing factor to the success of a running back and if you are a capable pass blocker, you better be able to also catch the ball. Running backs who do not catch passes in college or struggle with drops at the NFL level eventually find themselves on the bench in passing situations or when the team is down and needs to throw to get themselves back in the game. Smart offensive coordinators will value this trait as it allows them a greater ability to mix and match against defensive coverages while even getting a running back in the backfield and another lined up outside at wide receiver.
Running Back Charles Sims out of West Virginia (transferring from Houston) will be highly valued for this ability despite being widely projected as a mid round selection.
At the 1:10 mark, Sims does a nice job faking the handoff take and getting through the crease of his offensive linemen. He makes a clean catch, turns upfield immediately, and does a great job following the blocking of his two lead offensive linemen by cutting towards the outside and forcing the inside defender’s path to come up against the two blockers thereby cutting him off from making a tackle. By bouncing towards the sideline and lowering his shoulder at the end of the run, Sims is able to pick up the first down for West Virginia.
Many of the best running backs were dual threat running backs and as the position evolves into more of a committee approach, the necessity for somebody who can corral the ball through the air is growing with importance along with the pass focused league strategy. By displaying dual threat capabilities, a mid round selection can work himself into being a core member of a running back stable as seen by players such as Andre Ellington in Arizona who was a sixth round selection in the 2013 Draft.
Key NFL Trait Number 3: Speed to the Hole/Vision
Many in the NFL, especially relating to quarterbacks and wide receivers, will remark that the windows are much smaller due to the increased speed and overall talent level from college and that also translates to the blocking and holes opened up for running backs. This in particular is a trait that Trent Richardson has struggled with as he is a great downhill runner but has struggled with having enough of a burst/acceleration to hit the hole immediately for a positive gain. Now I am not necessarily talking about the speed to outrace the defender forty yards but more the immediate acceleration needed to force a possible no gain into four or five yards instead. I’ll tie this to vision as well because once a running back makes their decision, they need to show little hesitancy after the fact. This is a large reason why the term ‘dancing in the hole’ has been remarked upon to various running backs because they either cannot decide quick enough or make their decision and struggle to accelerate fast enough afterwards.
For this we’ll use Lache Seastrunk out of Baylor and a game against Texas Tech from 2012.
At the 0:47 mark is a great example of both values coming to the forefront. Lache gets the handoff and sees the hole opening up to his right side between the RG and RT. The linebacker is coming downhill towards the left side, which allows Lache to utilize his burst to not only explode through the hole thanks to his visions but then keeps the linebacker from being able to make an effective play on him as well. By quickly deciding and hitting the hole full speed, Lache has enough to gain five yards before the first contact by a defender. At the NFL level, he may not have that big a hole but such decision making can allow him to get the yardage necessary for two to four yards that often are needed to keep drives going by resulting in shorter second and third downs.
The 1:15 mark is another good example where he hits the hole immediately despite a linebacker four yards deep ready to kill him as the linebacker has Lache dead to rights. Lache is already at the line of scrimmage when the linebacker gets sealed out of the play. Lache turns the play into a big seventeen yards gain as a result of making his decision and showing no hesitation in getting downhill.
The really good NFL running backs learn very quickly that there is no time to dance in the hole. You need to make a decision fast and get downhill for whatever you can get, even if it is a minimal gain as NFL linebackers and safeties are quick to get towards the hole and close those windows.
Key NFL Trait Number 4: You Can’t Teach Speed
NFL and deceased Al Davis love and loved to say that you cannot teach a player speed. This holds up true mostly for wide receivers and cornerbacks but the next best position to see this is the running back position. The preeminent example is probably Chris Johnson of the Tennessee Titans and while most speedy running backs struggle with the third trait (usually trying to bounce their runs outside as opposed to taking what they can get), speed still can rule the day when they find that little crease.
RB De’Anthony Thomas out of Oregon may be the fastest player in the 2014 NFL Draft and will likely be among the leaders in the forty yard dash.
The 0:56 mark is an example of how a running back with natural speed can completely explode past defenders and make big runs that most running backs simply cannot on speed alone. De’Anthony does a great job reading his blocker’s leverage, taking the outside route towards the sideline and then generating a touchdown run by utilizing speed to beat the pursuit and angle of both Virginia’s number 8 and number 21 to tip toe his way into the end zone.
Thomas’ draft stock may take a hit due to his size, listed at 5’9 170 pounds, but his speed is a rarity even in the NFL and if he can learn to utilize the vision necessary to hit the holes and take what is given without trying to hit the home run every run, he can be a very valuable chess piece for an offensive coordinator.
It seems like I may have stated the obvious in that good NFL running backs can pass protect, catch the ball, hit the hole quickly, and have enough speed but as the committee back term gets utilized more and more, every running back entering the NFL Draft will be finding themselves having to learn and develop such traits that they may have lacked or had undeveloped at the college level. Those who do grow into multifaceted backs will likely have solid careers and those are get stuck in the mud will likely see their careers cut short.
Credit to Patriots.com for feature image
