FOX Sports NFL Staff
The running back position has changed a great deal over the past few decades.
There were NFL teams that built their identities around one workhorse back running into the middle of an offensive line over and over. There were many that deployed fullbacks as essential cogs of their offense. A steady four-yard average per play was rarely a bad thing; the goal was moving the chains.
The modern NFL values versatility and explosion to a very different degree. Running backs are now evaluated for their receiving ability to nearly the same degree as their running skills. We also know (or think we know) that blocking has a great deal more to do with an effective running game than the back himself does — which has led to teams allocating more resources elsewhere on the offense.
Case in point: Only two running backs have contracts with an average annual value of at least $15 million (Christian McCaffrey and Alvin Kamara). Eight guards and 24 offensive tackles have reached or exceeded that salary.
ADVERTISEMENT
Regardless, running backs remain important — and the position is actually quite deep. With that in mind, our writers listed their best 10 based on their confidence in each RB were he to take the field for a game next week. A first-place vote merited 10 points in our methodology and descended from there, down to a single point for 10th place. We then combined the scores to determine our rankings.
No. 1: Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco 49ers
Eric D. Williams: McCaffrey took his rare pass-catching skills and explosive playmaking ability to another level when he joined the 49ers midway through the 2022 season. Now that he’s had a full offseason to master the offense, he could put up even better numbers in 2023. But he’ll have to prove he can stay healthy. And he will have to share the ball with San Francisco’s plethora of other playmakers, including Deebo Samuel, George Kittle, Brandon Aiyuk and Elijah Mitchell.
Greg Auman: My case for Christian McCaffrey being No. 1 has a few points. He ranked third in yards from scrimmage (1,880) but was extremely effective, averaging 5.7 yards per carry, compared to 5.2 for Josh Jacobs and 5.1 for Derrick Henry. McCaffrey matched their scoring (13 TDs) and did so with one fumble in 329 touches, relative to six for Henry and three for Jacobs.
49ers top Emmanuel Acho’s list of NFL teams with Best Playmakers
No. 2: Josh Jacobs, Las Vegas Raiders
Carmen Vitali: If anyone has a grievance against the current running back market, it’s Josh Jacobs. He came out of Alabama with limited tread on his tires and has been the picture of consistency for the Raiders. Did I mention his production? Jacobs led the league in rushing yards last season with 1,653 on 340 carries, averaging 4.9 yards per carry in the process. Add in his 400 receiving yards and Jacobs accounted for more than 2,000 yards of offense in 2022. He’s topped 1,000 rushing yards in three of his four seasons, including his rookie year, and has already scored 40 career touchdowns. And on a team that hasn’t boasted great quarterback play, Jacobs has easily been one of the most valuable players on the Raiders, if not the most valuable. And that makes him my most valuable running back in the league.
Williams: The 5-foot-10, 220-pound Jacobs boasts a lethal combination of elusiveness and the ability to run through tackles. Then he can hit another gear once he reaches the second level of the defense. Jacobs has not signed his franchise tag tender because of his frustration with the Raiders’ contract offer compared to what other top-tier NFL playmakers earn, which is understandable. The Raiders need to figure out how to make Jacobs happy financially if they want to compete for a playoff spot in the NFC West.
What Tony Pollard, Saquon Barkley, Josh Jacobs show about RB market
No. 3: Derrick Henry, Tennessee Titans
Ben Arthur: Many NFL observers thought Derrick Henry would start to fall off the cliff last season, coming off a 2021 campaign in which he missed nine games with a Jones fracture in his right foot. But he regained superstar form in 2022, with a league-leading 349 carries for 1,538 yards (second in the league) and 13 touchdowns (tied for second) playing behind a subpar offensive line.
He also had a career season as a pass-catcher (33 receptions for 398 yards). Despite his age (29) and the mileage on his body, he remains of the league’s best runners.
No. 4: Nick Chubb, Cleveland Browns
David Helman: I’m just not sure if we give Chubb enough credit for consistency. Sure, if we go off volume alone, he doesn’t rack up yards or touchdowns at quite the same rate as others — though it’s worth noting he’s among the top four in the NFL in both categories over the past three years. But what I appreciate about Chubb is that he’s always going to make something happen.
Over these past three years, his average of 5.3 yards per carry is easily the best among backs with at least 500 carries. His average of 5.0 yards per carry last year was tied for fourth in the league, despite the fact that he carried the ball 50-plus more times than the guys ahead of him. His 88 runs of 10-plus yards over the last two seasons also comfortably rank first. Other guys might be flashier, but Chubb is the model of consistent, top-tier production.
No. 5: Jonathan Taylor, Indianapolis Colts
Geoff Schwartz: Taylor ran for more than 1,100 yards in each of his first two seasons, with his high-water mark coming in his second season (1,811 yards in 17 games). Last year, he was limited by injuries and poor play around him and his numbers took a turn for worse, with his average yards per carry dropping from 5.5 to 4.5. Taylor has yet to play with a true franchise quarterback like Anthony Richardson and that should open up the opportunity for lighter boxes to run into and more yards to gain with defenses focused on the rookie QB. In Taylor’s contract year, I would expect the 24-year-old back to return to those lofty numbers of 2021.
Who should trade for Colts RB Jonathan Taylor?
Arthur: It’s not totally clear what kind of player Taylor will be in 2023. Aside from his messy contract standoff with the Colts, his timetable for returning from offseason ankle surgery remains mysterious. He has missed the entire offseason program and training camp to this point rehabbing, missing valuable time with rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson in new coach Shane Steichen’s offense. Taylor is also coming off his worst year as a pro (192 carries, 861 yards, four touchdowns), due largely to subpar offensive-line play and the ankle issue that kept him out for six games.
But there’s no questioning what Taylor is at his peak. Just two years ago, he was the best running back in football, registering the most prolific rushing season in Colts history en route to first-team All-Pro honors (332 carries, 1,811 yards, 18 touchdowns). His jump cuts and second-gear speed are world-class.
No. 6: Austin Ekeler, Los Angeles Chargers
Williams: One of the best pass-catching running backs in the NFL, Ekeler is out to prove his worth after requesting a trade and not receiving a multi-year contract extension this past offseason. It will be interesting to see how new Chargers offensive coordinator Kellen Moore finds innovative ways to get the 28-year-old the ball in space this season.
Henry McKenna: In some ways, Ekeler might actually be better than Christian McCaffrey. McCaffrey has struggled with injuries and his production has dipped substantially, which makes me wonder if McCaffrey was the NFL’s top RB … but isn’t anymore.
Ekeler’s 2022 season was epic: 204 carries, 107 receptions and 18 total touchdowns. He is the modern running back — as much a threat as a pass-catcher as he is a runner. Maybe he doesn’t get the appreciation he’s due because he entered the league undrafted. He should be talked about as one of the NFL’s best running backs.
Bayless: Today’s RBs are “damned if they do, damned if they don’t”
No. 7: Saquon Barkley, New York Giants
Ralph Vacchiano: A case can be made to put Barkley at the top of this list when he’s fully healthy and playing like everyone knows he can. There might not be a better combination of power and elusiveness in any NFL backfield. The problem remains that Barkley is rarely fully healthy.
His body has been battered by ankle and knee injuries and even last year — one of his finest seasons — he wore down late due to a shoulder injury. It would really be something to see Barkley at 100 percent and running behind a strong offensive line. That may never happen for him, though. It’s a testament to how talented he is that, despite all that, he still easily makes this list.
Future for Saquon Barkley after signing pseudo-franchise tag?
No. 8: Aaron Jones, Green Bay Packers
McKenna: The Packers running back was, at times, more important to the offense than Aaron Rodgers was last year. Even with the quarterback — and the offense as a whole — struggling, Jones managed to put up 1,121 rushing yards, 59 catches, 395 receiving yards and seven touchdowns. The number of TDs might bum out fantasy football owners, but make no mistake: Jones is a legit, every-down back. He’s an asset to the team. And he was enormously reliable in 2022, with 5.3 yards per attempt and a career-high catch percentage (81.9).
Vitali: How can Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon be the NFL’s best running-back tandem without one of them appearing on this list? And Jones is about to be one of the biggest factors in determining whether Green Bay’s offense sinks or swims in the Jordan Love era. He’s a veteran presence that the first-year starter can lean on this season. Jones made it a point to fly to California before the offseason program to get reps in with Love. He then returned with a bigger group over the summer.
This is all after Jones lowered his salary from $16 million, a previous vote of confidence from Green Bay, to $11 million early this offseason rather than risk being a cap casualty. He’s a team player through and through while coming off this third 1,000-plus-yard season for the franchise. He accounted for more than 1,500 total yards from scrimmage last year and will likely have to at least be that productive again while Love figures things out. And it certainly seems that the Packers can count on him to do so.
No. 9: Dalvin Cook, free agent
Vacchiano: The fact that Cook was released by the Vikings in June and was still unsigned into August is really all anyone needs to know about the plunging value of running backs in the NFL. He has topped 1,000 rushing yards in each of the past four seasons, he’s a decent weapon in the passing game, and he’s explosive in the open field. But he’s 28 years old — ancient for a running back — and nobody wants to make a big investment in a back that old anymore. Maybe there’s a good reason for that, but if you’re talking about right now, one season, Cook still has it. And in the right situation, he can be as good as almost anyone in the league.
No. 10: Tony Pollard, Dallas Cowboys
Helman: Pollard’s turn in the spotlight is one of the most underrated storylines of 2023. He’s already been to a Pro Bowl and proven himself as a dynamic playmaker while sharing a backfield with Ezekiel Elliott. Not only is Elliott gone now, but the Cowboys didn’t replace him with a proven backup. If Pollard can continue to provide that explosiveness with a larger workload, he’s going to shoot up these rankings while putting himself in line for a big payday — if such a thing is even possible for a running back these days.
Auman: I ranked Pollard eighth because he averaged 5.9 yards per touch last season, the best average out of all these elite backs. He officially started only four games in 2022, splitting work with Elliott. Pollard had 16 fewer touches than Zeke last year but finished with 410 more yards. Plus, no other NFL back accounted for more yards and still finished without a fumble, as Pollard did.
Honorable mentions: Travis Etienne, Rhamondre Stevenson
This preview was compiled by:
AFC South reporter Ben Arthur (@benyarthur)
NFC South reporter Greg Auman (@gregauman)
Dallas Cowboys reporter David Helman (@davidhelman_)
AFC East reporter Henry McKenna (@McKennAnalysis)
NFL and betting analyst Geoff Schwartz (@GeoffSchwartz)
NFC West reporter Eric D. Williams (@eric_d_williams)
NFC East reporter Ralph Vacchiano (@RalphVacchiano)
NFC North reporter Carmen Vitali (@CarmieV)
National Football League
Christian McCaffrey
Josh Jacobs
NFL trending
Get more from National Football League Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
Sponsored Content
Bet the World Cup in Wager.dm
