In the dead of the offseason, this is what we do. Last week, we gave you a rundown of the top 10 quarterbacks in football, and now it’s time to break down the running backs.
1. Marshawn Lynch, Seattle Seahawks: The 29-year-old actually had the second-highest yards-per-attempt average of his career in 2014, amassing 1,200-plus yards for the fourth consecutive season while finishing tied for the league lead with 13 rushing touchdowns. Combine that with a career-high 367 receiving yards and it’s clear Lynch has remained borderline unstoppable.
2. Jamaal Charles, Kansas City Chiefs: The immensely underrated 28-year-old has gone over 1,000 yards in all five of his full seasons, and he’s never averaged below 5.0 yards per carry. He’s got the league’s third-highest rushing yardage total dating back to 2012, despite the fact six backs have more carries than him in that time frame. He also ranks second in terms of yards per scrimmage, but is only 164 yards back of Matt Forte despite a 128-touch deficit.
3. Le’Veon Bell, Pittsburgh Steelers: Bell averaged 4.7 yards per carry while ranking second in football with 2,215 yard from scrimmage in his second season. It was also a fumble-free sophomore year, which might help explain why Pro Football Focus graded him as the best back in football.
4. DeMarco Murray, Dallas Cowboys: The 2014 offensive player of the year is greatly overrated. Sure, he led the league in rushing by a 484-yard margin last season, but that might have been an anomaly. The fumble- and injury-prone Murray still ranked behind six qualified backs with a 4.7 average. He clearly benefited in a major way from playing with Tony Romo, Dez Bryant and a jacked offensive line.
5. Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings: Peterson is the biggest name on this list, but there’s no way I’m giving a high spot to a 30-year-old coming off a lost season. No way. The dude was already beginning to decline in 2013.
6. Jeremy Hill, Cincinnati Bengals: Hill’s issue is the sample size is still extremely small. Fumbles were an issue and he had double-digit carries only 10 times in 2014, but the rookie managed to go over 145 yards rushing on four occasions (something no other back in football was able to accomplish), and his 5.1 average ranked second among all qualified backs.
7. Eddie Lacy, Green Bay Packers: Lacy finished his second season very strong, putting together 98-plus yards in five of Green Bay’s final six games. He also had 13 touchdowns and ranked eighth in football in terms of yards from scrimmage. He does, however, lose points for some fumbling problems.
8. C.J. Anderson, Denver Broncos: During his breakout second season, Anderson picked up 1,173 yards from scrimmage despite touching the ball a total of 15 times the first two months of the year. Sure, the sample size is scary small, but it’s hard to deny a guy who averaged 4.7 yards per carry and had 160-plus yards from scrimmage three times.
9. Arian Foster, Houston Texans: The steady Foster went over 1,200 yards last year for the fourth time in four full or semi-full NFL seasons. He also chipped in with 13 touchdowns and averaged a stellar 4.8 yards per carry.
10. Matt Forte, Chicago Bears: Forte continues to be the league’s most productive pass-catching receiver. The NFL’s yards-from-scrimmage leader dating back to 2012 had a ridiculous 808 receiving yards on 102 catches in 2014. His 3.9 yards-per-attempt average hurts, but the 29-year-old is still a top-10 back.
