The NFL’s rushing renaissance: how running backs reclaimed the narrative

If you’re at all familiar with the National Football League these days, you know what people say about both modern offenses and the value of running backs within them. Over the past two decades, with the increase in the number of receivers on the field and the decreasing value of running backs both in the draft and in free agency, it is now widely believed that the NFL is a passing game, and that running backs that are not. It doesn’t really matter.

As is the case with any absolute story, there is more to the story, and that was especially true in the 2024 season. Most people already know that Saquon Barkley of the Philadelphia Eagles and Derrick Henry of the Baltimore Ravens introduced the concept of running renewing back value with their MVP-level seasons, but there is an undercurrent of creative and effective run games across the league in 2024. That’s increasingly showing up in the stats.

In 2023, there were 12 running backs who rushed for more than 1,000 yards from scrimmage on the season, compared to 28 receivers. That has been the standard of the course for a long time. The last season in which there were more running backs with 1,000 yards than receivers was 2005 (23 running backs, 19 receivers), and the NFL is on pace for another one of those years. Through Week 16, there are 11 running backs with 1,000-yard seasons and 11 receivers.

But in 2023, there were six teams that averaged at least 4.5 yards per carry; in 2024, that number will double to 12. Last season, two teams had a Rushing EPA above +10.0; this season that number has increased to seven. And in 2023, seven teams had the ball on at least 45% of their offensive snaps; that number will increase to 13 by 2024.

Why is this so? First of all, this is an example of offensive play-callers catching up to the reality that what we have long considered basic defense – three linebackers and four defensive backs on the field – is no longer basic defense. Now the nickel defense (two linebackers and five defensive backs) is the WHERE base defense for the majority of NFL teams, and the majority of defenses are more likely to play dime defense (one linebacker and six defensive backs) than the old school stuff. That obviously leads to fewer stacked boxes (seven or more defenders at the defensive line and linebacker level) than in previous eras, and you want to run the ball more and pass the ball less against light boxes. That’s just simple math and common sense.

Within that construct is the fact that many of the NFL’s best schematic minds have come up with some new and innovative run concepts.

Beyond the usual single-back ideas – all kinds of iterations of man and zone blocking – there are ways that NFL teams have conspired to make their run games much more interesting than in previous eras. What you see now more than ever is the Pistol formation as a basic construction. Invented by Nevada head coach Chris Ault in 2005 — he perfected it with a lightly recruited mobile quarterback named Colin Kaepernick — the Pistol has the quarterback about 10 feet behind center, and the running back about 10 feet behind the quarterback. That was the first draft that started taking the NFL by storm in early 2010; now teams have expanded it to formations in which a second back runs parallel to the quarterback in offset Pistol sets, and that’s where all the power and deception elements come into play.

Another wrinkle you’re seeing more and more is the reimplementation of Pony personnel, where two backs are in the backfield regardless of formation. In the old days of football, the pro set, with two backs on either side of the quarterback positioned under center, was how most running plays were done. That started to decline in the 1990s, as teams wanted more receivers on the field. Now Pony Staff can provide quick benefits in a variety of ways.

Deception of the gun pony

“Pistol Pony Misdirection” may sound like a long-lost Eagles song, but Don Henley and Glenn Frey didn’t write it. The two most inspired authors of this concept in the NFL are Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur and Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury.

Both teams have the added benefit of mobile quarterbacks who can create additional defensive confusion. Washington’s Jayden Daniels is more of a pure runner than Green Bay’s Jordan Love, but the point remains: if you can seriously conflict an opponent’s linemen and linebackers with your ability to zig when the other guys expect you to zig , that’s a real problem. .

In Green Bay’s case, it’s all about leadback Josh Jacobs, and how well LaFleur is able to design counter and delay runs that Jacobs can take to their ultimate endgame.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers led by first-year offensive coordinator Liam Coen are another team that will put defenses on edge with their Pistol Pony deception equipment and their highly gifted lineup of running backs, led by fourth-round rookie Bucky Irving from Oregon.

Letting the big dogs eat

Other teams are taking the lead blocker concept, which has been around as long as there has been football, to new heights. Both the Ravens and Chargers have big bubbles to make defending their run concepts much more difficult. In Baltimore’s case, that’s the 6-foot-4, 305-pound Patrick Ricard, who is classified as both a fullback and a tight end, but whose primary role is to clear the way for Henry and anyone else who gets the ball. could run for the Ravens.

For the Chargers, who employ former Ravens offensive coordinator Greg Roman, it’s 6-foot-1, 296-pound Scott Matlock, who was actually selected in the sixth round of the 2023 draft out of Boise State as defensive lineman.

You can also include the San Francisco 49ers (with fullback Kyle Juszczyk) and the Miami Dolphins (with fullback Alec Ingold) on this list. No surprise for the similarities there, as Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel was 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan’s run game coordinator from 2017 through 2020.

The Buffalo Bills, who have one of the NFL’s most efficient run games with James Cook and Ray Davis as the primary backs, are adding their own concept: They’ve run the ball with six offensive linemen instead of five, compared to by far the fastest pace of the competition. 95 attempts), with Alec Anderson as the sixth man up front.

The New Orleans Saints under first-year offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak are running an interesting hybrid of Pistol-deception, letting the big dog eat with halfback Alvin Kamara as the main instigator, and 6-foot-4, 245-pound fullback Adam Prentice as the secret weapon. Any way you look at it, these are the two ways you’ll see the NFL’s most productive and effective rushing teams do their thing.

However NFL teams arrive at their ideal version of the run game, there’s no doubt that those ground attacks are crucial to success in the 2024 season, and more and more coaches are bringing their own spices to the recipe. How long that lasts will be based primarily on the ability of defensive coaches to adapt to a more physical, loaded set of schemes without being targeted against big quarterbacks.

For this moment? The old school has reclaimed the offensive mentality of the NFL, and longtime football fans can rejoice.