Running backs by committee in the NFL and NCAA
The running-back-by-committee idea, where teams focus on splitting carries between two or more backs instead of primarily handing off to one player all game, has only been around for a decade or so, but it’s had a noticeable impact on the NFL.
Its roots can be traced to Mike Shanahan’s time as the head coach of the Denver Broncos, and particularly the way the Broncos got strong rushing performances from the likes of Olandis Gary and Mike Anderson in 1999 and 2000 after Terrell Davis got hurt. That convinced Shanahan to split carries between all three in 2001.
That particular situation didn’t work all that well, as the Broncos only went 8-8, but the idea started to catch on, and it soon spread like wildfire. Today, the running-back-by-committee plan has arguably turned into the default strategy. As SB Nation‘s Jon Bois showed in a statistical analysis that only 11 of the 32 NFL teams gave one back 70 per cent or more of their carries last year.
That isn’t a one-year anomaly, either. One of the most interesting statistics in Bois’ article is the percentage of all NFL rushing attempts taken by the top 32 running backs, which provides a general idea of just how much the workhorses are being used. Bois tracks this for the last decade, and finds that it generally hovered between 57.1 percent and 59.7 percent from 2000 to 2006 (the outlier year, 2001’s 56.4 percent, also is the same year Shanahan’s Broncos most famously tried the running-back-by-committee approach). In 2007, that dropped to 54 percent, and it’s generally hovered around that mark since (with a low of 52.8 per cent in 2009).
On the whole, there’s been a four to five percent drop, which could represent as many as 700 carries in a 14,000-carry NFL season. Those are carries that used to go to teams’ top backs, but now are being spread amongst a wider group. After looking at a wide range of data, Bois concludes that stat in particular may represent a significant change. “I think we’re seeing something of a paradigm shift,” he writes.
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That shift has produced significant changes in the NFL, and one of the most important may be the devaluation of running backs in the draft. As Bois writes, it’s been four drafts since a running back was chosen in the top five picks. The average draft position of not just the first running back chosen, but also the second and third RBs selected, has also shot up significantly.
This year, Alabama’s Mark Ingram was the only running back chosen in the first round, and he was taken 28th overall. There wasn’t a run on running backs after Ingram’s selection, either; four were chosen in the second round, but only one (Virginia Tech’s Ryan Williams, who went to the Arizona Cardinals 38th overall) was picked before the 56th overall selection. That’s quite a difference from the way top running backs have been valued historically
Another notable difference is the increased specialization and distinction in roles we’ve seen among running backs. Many teams, including the Kansas City Chiefs with Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones and the Seattle Seahawks with Justin Forsett, Leon Washington and Marshawn Lynch, have opted for splitting carries between quick, agile runners and big, bruising backs. That can make life very difficult for opposing defenses, as massive linemen and linebackers can have a tough time tracking down the speedy guys, but smaller, quicker defenders often have issues trying to stop a big workhorse back.
To counter that, defensive units have to be very aware of which opposing back is on the field at the moment, and they often have to make rapid schematic adjustments to get decent matchups. That isn’t always possible, though, and some offenses like the Miami Dolphins’ Wildcat sets have made life even more difficult for defenses by putting multiple running backs on the field at the same time and daring opponents to try and guess who will wind up carrying the ball.
Why has the NFL changed to such an extent? Shanahan’s strategies found some success, but not enough to really spawn a legion of imitators. A better answer may be found in the college ranks. Some of the most prominent NCAA teams of the decade featured running-back tandems, including the 2006 Arkansas Razorbacks, who gave carries to Darren McFadden, Felix Jones and Peyton Hillis; all would go on to NFL success. Those running-back platoons were also a feature of Pete Carroll’s USC teams, most famously with Reggie Bush and LenDale White, and Carroll hasn’t changed his approach since joining the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks.
“We were playing two backs in a two-back system nine or 10 years ago … and thought that that was O.K.,” Carroll told AOL in last year’s training camp. “We were questioned about it way back then, and I think it’s pretty accepted. There’s a lot of teams that play with two backs. I think it’s a good way to go. In my experience it doesn’t matter. It’s getting the best guys on the field and making the right choice at game time. As things unfold for you, who’s hot and who’s doing right, and it isn’t always the same guy.”
As Field Gulls‘s Danny Kelly writes, this approach not only gives defenses different looks and spreads the ball around, it can also improve running backs’ career lifespans and make it so teams don’t have to draft or trade for replacements as frequently.
“With running backs being hit 20 or 30 times a game, their lifespan really takes a hit,” Kelly writes. “This means you have to draft and/or trade for more running backs more often, which is expensive. On the other hand, if you split the carries … you see where I’m going with this. It’s good for the players and for the team, and this is why so many teams are starting to adopt this method.”
Even fans of teams with top backs who do see a lot of carries aren’t necessarily thrilled about the idea. The Baltimore Ravens split their rushing workload effectively amongst Ray Rice, Willis McGahee and LeRon McClain in 2009, but opted to give Rice far more carries last season. That didn’t work out all that well; while Rice’s carries shot up from 254 to 307, his ground totals actually dropped from 1,339 yards and seven touchdowns to 1,220 yards and five TDs.
It didn’t help Baltimore, either, as their team rushing totals fell from 2,200 yards in 2009 to 1,831 yards in 2010. As Bruce Raffel writes at Baltimore Beatdown, that isn’t sitting well with a lot of Ravens’ fans.
“If you ask most Ravens fans, the majority would want to see the team involve more than just Rice in the rushing attack, regardless of whether or not the other runners are McGahee, McClain or another guy on the team,” Raffel writes. “It just seems to make more sense, not only for the benefit of the team, but for the wear and tear on Rice, who is among one of the smaller backs in the NFL and could use the breaks every now or then.”
The running-back-by-committee approach doesn’t sit well with everyone, of course. It notably ticks off many fantasy football players, who hate seeing their top running backs lose carries and even touchdowns to lesser lights.
Not all NFL running backs are happy with it either, as despite its potential to reduce the hits they take and prolong their careers, the committee system also tends to reduce their paydays; it’s not as easy to cash in on a big contract if you’re only one of many ball-carriers on a team, or if you’re drafted much later than you would be otherwise.
Still, for the moment at least, it seems like the running-back-by-committee approach is generally here to stay. That may not be popular with individual running backs or fantasy football players, but there’s not much they can do about it.
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