Yesterday, Mark Schofield kicked off this year’s draft position rankings for Touchdown Wire with his Top 11 quarterbacks. Now, it’s time to get into the 11 best running backs in this class. And before we even start analyzing these backs, a few words on the “Running backs don’t matter” thing you hear all the time.
First of all, only a Sith deals in absolutes. Don’t be a Sith.
Second, there are all kinds of running backs for all types of schemes, and this particular class is as deep and varied as any I can remember in recent years. Each one of the 11 backs profiled here, and several others who just missed the cut, have the opportunity to “matter” in the NFL as they did in college.
When we say “Running backs don’t matter,” what we’re generally insinuating beyond the bumper-sticker sloganeering is the idea that it’s unwise to spend too much draft capital or free-agent money on any running back, because the position is fungible with very few exceptions. While that may be true for the rank and file, tell the Tennessee Titans that Derrick Henry doesn’t matter. Tell the Indianapolis Colts that Jonathan Taylor doesn’t matter. Once their coaches are done laughing, come back and we’ll continue.
At any level of football, running backs are like insurance. They don’t necessarily matter until they do, at which point, they REALLY matter.
When Henry missed nine games for the Titans last season due to injury, per Sports Info Solutions, Tennessee’s Offensive EPA dropped from 0.08 to -0.1, their Passing EPA went from 0.15 to -0.11, and their Rushing EPA plummeted from 0.03 to -0.09. The mere threat of Henry on the field changed the structure and complexion of the Titans’ offense, and how defenses dealt with that offense. Tennessee went with a lot more 11 personnel with Henry off the field, the favored 12 personnel packages went out the window, they faced fewer stacked boxes, and the reliance was more on quarterback Ryan Tannehill than it obviously would have been for the team’s actual field-tilter on that side of the ball. Henry also covered any gaps in the quality of Tennessee’s offensive line, and that’s another attribute common among the best backs throughout pro football history.
Henry, Taylor, and that rare ilk represent the true franchise-defining backs, and there are never more than a small handful at any given time, but the point is that such players still do exist, and even the best role-players in committees make differences well ahead of the norm.
Each of the 11 backs profiled in this year’s rankings has something special to offer, so let’s get down to extrapolating their best, and most questionable, traits to the NFL.
(All advanced metrics courtesy of Pro Football Focus and Sports Info Solutions unless otherwise indicated. All testing data comes from the 2022 scouting combine, with percentile per position, courtesy of MockDraftable.com).
