Ian Allan

A reader sent in an interesting e-mail last summer. I don't recall the guy's name, but he asked if all of the talk about more teams using a committee approach with their running backs was a bunch of baloney. As far as he could see, teams weren’t using any more committee than they ever had. It’s something I filed away and was meaning to look into.

Well, I looked at some of the numbers, and I would have to say I tend to agree. The concept of going with a committee approach isn’t new. Dave Meggett and Joe Washington were nice third-down backs in the ‘80s. Pete Banaszak was a good goal-line runner for the Raiders in the ‘70s, and Robb Riddick filled that role for the Bills in the late ‘80s. Rocky Bleier and Franco Harris both ran for over 1,000 yards for the same team in the ‘70s, and Kevin Mack and Earnest Byner did it out of the same backfield in the ‘80s.

If we were to go along with the assumption that teams are, in fact, rotating their backs more than they used to, then why isn’t it more reflected in the overall numbers. There were 22 1,000-yard rushers in 2006, the 2nd-highest total ever. And there were 16 of those runners last year. In the first 20 years of the 16-game schedule, there was never a season with more than 16 1,000-yard rushers.

I’ve put together a few charts below. The first shows plain 1,000-yard rushers. The second shows the number of running backs who both ran for over 1,000 yards and caught at least 40 passes – guys who weren’t getting pulled on third downs. And the final chart shows players who ran for over 1,000 yards and also scored at least 10 TDs – players tending not to be pulled at the goal line.

For all of these charts, the overall numbers supporting the premise that the workhorse runner is a dying breed just aren’t there. The sky isn’t falling. There will be plenty of adequate running backs available in your fantasy drafts this summer.


1000-yard rushers, 1978-2008
The number of players (each year) who’ve gone over 1000 rushing yards since the league went to a 16-game season in 1978:

  1978  11
  1979  12
  1980  8
  1981  15
  1982  0 (strike)
  1983  16
  1984  13
  1985  16
  1986  8
  1987  2 (strike)
  1988  12
  1989  11
  1990  8
  1991  7
  1992  13
  1993  11
  1994  10
  1995  16
  1996  13
  1997  16
  1998  20
  1999  14
  2000  23
  2001  15
  2002  17
  2003  18
  2004  18
  2005  16
  2006  22
  2007  17
  2008  16


RBs with 1000-plus rushing yards and 40-plus recs
The number of running backs who've had both 1000 rushing yards and 40 receptions since the league went to a 16-game season in 1978:

  1978  2
  1979  5
  1980  5
  1981  10
  1982  0 (strike)
  1983  9
  1984  7
  1985  8
  1986  2
  1987  0 (strike)
  1988  3
  1989  4
  1990  2
  1991  4
  1992  7
  1993  2
  1994  5
  1995  7
  1996  4
  1997  7
  1998  7
  1999  8
  2000  11
  2001  8
  2002  14
  2003  11
  2004  7
  2005  5
  2006  10
  2007  6
  2008  8


RBs with 1000-plus rushing yards and 10-plus TD
The number of running backs who've had both 1000 rushing yards and scored at least 10 TDs since the league went to a 16-game season in 1978:

  1978  4
  1979  9
  1980  4
  1981  9
  1982  0 (strike)
  1983  9
  1984  6
  1985  11
  1986  5
  1987  1 (strike)
  1988  7
  1989  7
  1990  3
  1991  4
  1992  9
  1993  1
  1994  4
  1995  10
  1996  8
  1997  6
  1998  7
  1999  6
  2000  13
  2001  9
  2002  9
  2003  9
  2004  8
  2005  10
  2006  7
  2007  6
  2008  9

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