The role of the running back is rapidly changing. It's not as important as it once was to have the one, singular guy who can do everything, but it's still important that each team gets what it needs out of the position. Efficient running. Good Andreas Athanasiou Kids Jersey pa s protection. A solid outlet for the quarterback leaking out of the backfield.Obviously, not all backs are equal. Some guys are just more effective than others. And some of them even occupy rival teams. All of which is to say, we're ranking the eight divisions, but judging solely on which has the best running backs.A quick note before we get to the rankings: we gave more weight to backs that play the most snaps (because obviously), but also gave deference to pa sing-game contributions over rushing ability to break ties, because pa sing has a far greater effect than running on both offensive efficiency and a team's ability to win.8. AFC East This seems like the lone division without a star-level contributor at running back. Le'Veon Bell was that guy ... but that was three years ago. He sat out the entire 2018 season and was extremely ineffective last year. Some of that can be attributed to the team's poor offensive line and quarterback play, but he also seemed to have lost a step, and the Jets felt strongly enough to bring in some competition this year, in the form of Gore and .New England seems likely to base its offense around the run game, but will probably be their most effective rusher. Michel was running in quicksand all of last season. White and Burkhead have never been high-volume guys. Burkhead has only occasionally stayed healthy. White is losing , with whom he had tremendous chemistry. Harris couldn't get off the bench behind Michel last year. It's difficult to have a ton of confidence in this group.The Howard-Breida combination makes sense on a conceptual level, with Howard as the power guy and Breida as the speed component. But Howard's last Jimmy Howard Kids Jersey truly effective season was his rookie year, and he brings almost nothing in the pa sing game. Breida looked good every time the gave him a chance, but the coaching staff also kept turning to other options despite that, and then traded him for a late-round pick. Singletary looked good in limited action last season and seemed like he should have become the full-time back, but it's clear the Bills don't want to make him a true feature guy. Mo s should prove to be a nice complement, given his size and pa s-catching ability. 7. NFC WestDrake looked fantastic in Arizona last season. But he also washed out from one of the worst rosters in the league. It's entirely po sible that we can credit much of his succe s to Kliff Kingsbury's spread-field offense, which afforded him some of the widest running lanes in the league. He faced eight-plus defenders in the box on only 8.82 percent of his runs last season, per NFL.com's NextGen Stats, the fifth-lowest rate in the NFL. Still, he should be afforded similarly wide lanes in 2020, and Edmonds looked nearly as good as Drake when given a shot NHL Detroit Red Wings Kids Jersey to tote the rock last season.Neither Henderson nor Brown showed enough last season to give the Rams much confidence in them, as evidenced by the fact that they felt the need to use their first draft selection on another running back in Akers. Carson is one of the most powerful runners in the league. He's a broken tackle machine and last season he stepped up his pa sing-game contributions. But he can't stop fumbling, and the Seahawks brought in like four more running backs (including Hyde) over the past few years. It's even po sible that and could factor in there. Meanwhile, the 49ers have a bunch of guys they can plug in and find succe s. The true star there is the system. That's why Mostert and Breida have been their most effective backs even though they paid Coleman and McKinnon big money.6. AFC SouthHenry is a star. He runs over and through everybody in front of him. He doesn't contribute much as a receiver, but if the Titans get a lead, they can lean on him to end pretty much any game. On the other side of the spectrum, the Jaguars seemingly can't wait to get rid of Fournette, who simply has not lived up to expectations. Armstead has a bit of dynamism, but we don't know if it's anything more than that. If I felt confident that the Texans would make Duke Johnson their lead back, this division might be higher on the list. Duke is one of the most efficient backs in the league, but he has somehow gotten pigeonholed as a third-down guy despite having pretty good size and being the all-time leader in rushing at the University of Miami. Alas, Bill O'Brien is one of the guys who has pigeonholed him, and it seems likely they'll try to force the ball to David Johnson, who was stuck in mud for much of last year. We haven't seen the superstar version of David Johnson since 2016. That's a long time ago.Mack has looked good as the lead back for the past couple seasons, but he's also struggled with several injuries. The Colts maintain that he'll be involved in a committee this year, but they didn't draft Taylor at the top of the second round to give him 1B work. He should be the lead guy by mid-season, if not earlier. Hines is an excellent fit with , but might find it difficult to get an Austin Ekeler-level of snaps.5. NFC North Why, oh why, are the Packers so reluctant to give Aaron Jones a bell-cow role? He's clearly been the best back on the roster for several years, but Jonathan Ericsson Jersey two different coaches have resisted giving him the full-time job. And the second of those coaches just brought in a running back to share snaps with him. Sigh. The Lions are similarly reluctant to give their lead role to Kerryon Johnson, but the difference is that Johnson hasn't been nearly as effective as Jones. Swift is also a more dynamic threat than either of the Packers' other backs, though, and a better pa s-catcher as well.Dalvin Cook finally stayed healthy last season, and recaptured the superstar talent he showed before tearing his ACL as a rookie. He's a home-run threat as a runner and also a terrific Anthony Mantha Jersey pa s-catcher, making him a perfect fit for what modern need out of their backs. Mattison looked just fine spelling Cook on limited snaps last season, and while the Vikes would surely prefer Cook's holdout not last all that long, they could feel okay about Mattison, , and as a backup plan.Montgomery was one of the least effective backs in the league last season. He led the nation in broken tackles two years ago, though, and that skill doesn't just disappear. If Chicago can get moderately better blocking so he can make it more than a yard down the field, maybe he'll find more succe s. The same goes for Cohen, whose average catch traveled approximately negative-37 yards last year. Get him out into open space more often. 4. AFC WestGordon has not been a particularly efficient runner. He's failed to top 3.9 yards per carry in four of his five seasons, and he's been cons
The role of the running back is rapidly changing. It's not as important as it once was to have the one, singular guy who can do everything, but it's still important that each team gets what it needs out of the position. Efficient running. Good Andreas Athanasiou Kids Jersey pa s protection. A solid outlet for the quarterback leaking out of the backfield.Obviously, not all backs are equal. Some guys are just more effective than others. And some of them even occupy rival teams. All of which is to say, we're ranking the eight divisions, but judging solely on which has the best running backs.A quick note before we get to the rankings: we gave more weight to backs that play the most snaps (because obviously), but also gave deference to pa sing-game contributions over rushing ability to break ties, because pa sing has a far greater effect than running on both offensive efficiency and a team's ability to win.8. AFC East This seems like the lone division without a star-level contributor at running back. Le'Veon Bell was that guy ... but that was three years ago. He sat out the entire 2018 season and was extremely ineffective last year. Some of that can be attributed to the team's poor offensive line and quarterback play, but he also seemed to have lost a step, and the Jets felt strongly enough to bring in some competition this year, in the form of Gore and .New England seems likely to base its offense around the run game, but will probably be their most effective rusher. Michel was running in quicksand all of last season. White and Burkhead have never been high-volume guys. Burkhead has only occasionally stayed healthy. White is losing , with whom he had tremendous chemistry. Harris couldn't get off the bench behind Michel last year. It's difficult to have a ton of confidence in this group.The Howard-Breida combination makes sense on a conceptual level, with Howard as the power guy and Breida as the speed component. But Howard's last Jimmy Howard Kids Jersey truly effective season was his rookie year, and he brings almost nothing in the pa sing game. Breida looked good every time the gave him a chance, but the coaching staff also kept turning to other options despite that, and then traded him for a late-round pick. Singletary looked good in limited action last season and seemed like he should have become the full-time back, but it's clear the Bills don't want to make him a true feature guy. Mo s should prove to be a nice complement, given his size and pa s-catching ability. 7. NFC WestDrake looked fantastic in Arizona last season. But he also washed out from one of the worst rosters in the league. It's entirely po sible that we can credit much of his succe s to Kliff Kingsbury's spread-field offense, which afforded him some of the widest running lanes in the league. He faced eight-plus defenders in the box on only 8.82 percent of his runs last season, per NFL.com's NextGen Stats, the fifth-lowest rate in the NFL. Still, he should be afforded similarly wide lanes in 2020, and Edmonds looked nearly as good as Drake when given a shot NHL Detroit Red Wings Kids Jersey to tote the rock last season.Neither Henderson nor Brown showed enough last season to give the Rams much confidence in them, as evidenced by the fact that they felt the need to use their first draft selection on another running back in Akers. Carson is one of the most powerful runners in the league. He's a broken tackle machine and last season he stepped up his pa sing-game contributions. But he can't stop fumbling, and the Seahawks brought in like four more running backs (including Hyde) over the past few years. It's even po sible that and could factor in there. Meanwhile, the 49ers have a bunch of guys they can plug in and find succe s. The true star there is the system. That's why Mostert and Breida have been their most effective backs even though they paid Coleman and McKinnon big money.6. AFC SouthHenry is a star. He runs over and through everybody in front of him. He doesn't contribute much as a receiver, but if the Titans get a lead, they can lean on him to end pretty much any game. On the other side of the spectrum, the Jaguars seemingly can't wait to get rid of Fournette, who simply has not lived up to expectations. Armstead has a bit of dynamism, but we don't know if it's anything more than that. If I felt confident that the Texans would make Duke Johnson their lead back, this division might be higher on the list. Duke is one of the most efficient backs in the league, but he has somehow gotten pigeonholed as a third-down guy despite having pretty good size and being the all-time leader in rushing at the University of Miami. Alas, Bill O'Brien is one of the guys who has pigeonholed him, and it seems likely they'll try to force the ball to David Johnson, who was stuck in mud for much of last year. We haven't seen the superstar version of David Johnson since 2016. That's a long time ago.Mack has looked good as the lead back for the past couple seasons, but he's also struggled with several injuries. The Colts maintain that he'll be involved in a committee this year, but they didn't draft Taylor at the top of the second round to give him 1B work. He should be the lead guy by mid-season, if not earlier. Hines is an excellent fit with , but might find it difficult to get an Austin Ekeler-level of snaps.5. NFC North Why, oh why, are the Packers so reluctant to give Aaron Jones a bell-cow role? He's clearly been the best back on the roster for several years, but Jonathan Ericsson Jersey two different coaches have resisted giving him the full-time job. And the second of those coaches just brought in a running back to share snaps with him. Sigh. The Lions are similarly reluctant to give their lead role to Kerryon Johnson, but the difference is that Johnson hasn't been nearly as effective as Jones. Swift is also a more dynamic threat than either of the Packers' other backs, though, and a better pa s-catcher as well.Dalvin Cook finally stayed healthy last season, and recaptured the superstar talent he showed before tearing his ACL as a rookie. He's a home-run threat as a runner and also a terrific Anthony Mantha Jersey pa s-catcher, making him a perfect fit for what modern need out of their backs. Mattison looked just fine spelling Cook on limited snaps last season, and while the Vikes would surely prefer Cook's holdout not last all that long, they could feel okay about Mattison, , and as a backup plan.Montgomery was one of the least effective backs in the league last season. He led the nation in broken tackles two years ago, though, and that skill doesn't just disappear. If Chicago can get moderately better blocking so he can make it more than a yard down the field, maybe he'll find more succe s. The same goes for Cohen, whose average catch traveled approximately negative-37 yards last year. Get him out into open space more often. 4. AFC WestGordon has not been a particularly efficient runner. He's failed to top 3.9 yards per carry in four of his five seasons, and he's been cons
