Between four players earning at least 295 carries in 2022 and two tailbacks selected among the first dozen picks in the 2023 NFL Draft, it looked like running backs were trending back toward a solo starring role in backfields across the league. Despite a crowded class of veteran and rookie talent, the landscape suggested the days of a low-cost platoon were … well, not even close to over, but no longer the dominant trend it had been the past decade.
Then Austin Ekeler’s contract standoff was decided at the price of less than $2 million in incentives.
