Todd Gurley won the Offensive Rookie of the Year award last night, a well-deserved honor for the 1000-yard rusher. He was even more impressive when you consider he wasn't fully healthy at the start of the season.
Gurley was brought along slowly, playing behind Tre Mason initially. But once he took over, he was extremely productive. He averaged 85 rushing yards per game, which ranks 12th over the past 20 years among rookies with at least 800 rushing yards.
Rookie running backs since 1996, sorted by yards per game, are presented below. One other 2015 player on that list (Thomas Rawls).
ROOKIE RBS, YARDS PER GAME, 1996-PRESENT | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Player | Team | Att | Yds | Avg | Yds/G | TD |
2004 | Julius Jones | DAL | 197 | 819 | 4.2 | 102.4 | 7 |
2012 | Alfred Morris | WAS | 335 | 1,613 | 4.8 | 100.8 | 13 |
1999 | Edgerrin James | IND | 369 | 1,553 | 4.2 | 97.1 | 13 |
1999 | Olandis Gary | DEN | 276 | 1,159 | 4.2 | 96.6 | 7 |
2007 | Adrian Peterson | MIN | 238 | 1,341 | 5.6 | 95.8 | 12 |
2002 | Clinton Portis | DEN | 273 | 1,508 | 5.5 | 94.2 | 15 |
2000 | Mike Anderson | DEN | 297 | 1,487 | 5.0 | 92.9 | 15 |
2012 | Doug Martin | TB | 319 | 1,454 | 4.6 | 90.9 | 11 |
2007 | Marshawn Lynch | BUF | 280 | 1,115 | 4.0 | 85.8 | 7 |
1996 | Eddie George | HOU | 335 | 1,368 | 4.1 | 85.5 | 8 |
2000 | Jamal Lewis | BAL | 309 | 1,364 | 4.4 | 85.2 | 6 |
2015 | Todd Gurley | STL | 229 | 1,106 | 4.8 | 85.1 | 10 |
2001 | Anthony Thomas | CHI | 278 | 1,183 | 4.3 | 84.5 | 7 |
2005 | Cadillac Williams | TB | 290 | 1,178 | 4.1 | 84.1 | 6 |
2008 | Chris Johnson | TEN | 251 | 1,228 | 4.9 | 81.9 | 9 |
1998 | Fred Taylor | JAC | 264 | 1,223 | 4.6 | 81.5 | 14 |
2008 | Steve Slaton | HOU | 268 | 1,282 | 4.8 | 80.1 | 9 |
2013 | Eddie Lacy | GB | 284 | 1,178 | 4.1 | 78.5 | 11 |
2010 | LeGarrette Blount | TB | 201 | 1,007 | 5.0 | 77.5 | 6 |
2008 | Matt Forte | CHI | 316 | 1,238 | 3.9 | 77.4 | 8 |
2001 | LaDainian Tomlinson | SD | 339 | 1,236 | 3.6 | 77.2 | 10 |
2004 | Kevin Jones | DET | 241 | 1,133 | 4.7 | 75.5 | 5 |
1999 | Ricky Williams | NO | 253 | 884 | 3.5 | 73.7 | 2 |
2001 | Dominic Rhodes | IND | 233 | 1,104 | 4.7 | 73.6 | 9 |
2003 | Domanick Williams | HOU | 238 | 1,031 | 4.3 | 73.6 | 8 |
1997 | Corey Dillon | CIN | 233 | 1,129 | 4.8 | 70.6 | 10 |
2014 | Jeremy Hill | CIN | 222 | 1,124 | 5.1 | 70.2 | 9 |
1996 | Karim Abdul-Jabbar | MIA | 307 | 1,116 | 3.6 | 69.8 | 11 |
1998 | Robert Edwards | NE | 291 | 1,115 | 3.8 | 69.7 | 9 |
2013 | Zac Stacy | STL | 250 | 973 | 3.9 | 69.5 | 7 |
2011 | DeMarco Murray | DAL | 164 | 897 | 5.5 | 69 | 2 |
2006 | Joseph Addai | IND | 226 | 1,081 | 4.8 | 67.6 | 7 |
2013 | Le'Veon Bell | PIT | 244 | 860 | 3.5 | 66.2 | 8 |
2015 | Thomas Rawls | SEA | 147 | 830 | 5.6 | 63.8 | 4 |
2012 | Trent Richardson | CLE | 267 | 950 | 3.6 | 63.3 | 11 |
1997 | Fred Lane | CAR | 182 | 809 | 4.4 | 62.2 | 7 |
--Andy Richardson