NFL End of Season Running Back Rankings
With the 2020 NFL regular season and postseason fully in the rearview mirror, now is a great time to complete the tall task of ranking the top 10 at every single position. We continue with running backs.
*These rankings are based on the 2020 season ONLY -- including postseason
Honorable Mention: Antonio Gibson, Washington Football Team
Part of an impressive 2020 draft class for the WFT, Gibson showed enough before the season to make future Hall-of-Famer Adrian Peterson expendable. Although he had a slow start where he crossed the 50-yard threshold just once in his first six games, Gibson exploded against the Cowboys and never looked back. From that point on, the only game where he was held under sixty yards was in Washington’s Monday night win over the previously undefeated Pittsburgh Steelers. He finished the season with 795 yards on 4.7 YPC.
10. Miles Sanders, Philadelphia Eagles
Despite being criminally underused, Sanders still managed to be a bright spot for a lethargic Eagles offense. 7th in the league in YPC, the sophomore running back nearly hit 900 yards in just 12 games, despite being 18th in attempts per game. Even with his receiving numbers plummeting, Sanders still flexed his big-play ability, recording three different rushes of over 70 yards in 2020.
9. Kareem Hunt, Cleveland Browns
The Browns’ return to the playoffs was aided largely by Hunt’s unselfishness in the offseason. With a chance to go and become a starter elsewhere, he settled for a two-year deal to remain the Robin to Nich Chubb’s Batman (we’ll talk more about him in a bit) in the Browns monster backfield. He was rewarded with 236 touches, racking up 1145 yards and 11 total touchdowns.
8. David Montgomery, Chicago Bears
Montgomery struggled early on, playing behind what is arguably the league’s worst offensive line. His breakthrough came when the Bears finally realized that the abysmal QB duo of Trubisky-Foles wasn’t taking them anywhere. Over the second half of the season, Montgomery saw his YPC jump a full yard when the Bears began to lean on him. He recorded four games of over 95 rushing yards and was the main reason Mitchell Trubisky was able to play efficient, winning football, just enough to guide Chicago into the postseason.
7. James Robinson, Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jaguars spent 2020 fully committed to tanking for a high draft pick, but clearly, Robinson didn’t get the memo. The undrafted rookie tied for fifth in the NFL in rushing yards and added 50 grabs for 344 yards. After going under-the-radar during his first season, Robinson has a chance to leap to stardom, alongside “potential” future teammate Trevor Lawrence.
6. Jonathan Taylor, Indianapolis Colts
Robinson’s great year still wasn’t enough to make him the best rookie running back, though. That honor goes to Indy’s Jonathan Taylor. Thrown into the fire early because of an injury to Marlon Mack, Taylor flashed early, rushing for over 100 yards in his very first game. His best came at great times too, as Taylor first broke the 150-yard mark to put the Raiders playoff hopes on life support in Week 14. Three weeks later, Taylor ran for 253 yards (2nd all-time by a rookie, 9th all-time by anyone) to punch the Colts’ ticket to the postseason against the Jaguars.
5. Aaron Jones, Green Bay Packers
Jones continues to get better every single year. While watching his fellow Aaron [Rodgers] throw his way to MVP honors, Jones rushed for a career-best 1104 yards to go along with the 355 he put through the air. He was also third among RBs in YPC with 5.5, remaining in-line with his career average of 5.2. That mark puts him second all-time among RBs with 650+ career totes. His best performance came in Week 2 against Detroit, when he had 236 total yards from scrimmage and three trips to the end zone.
4. Nick Chubb, Cleveland Browns
After being labeled the best runner in the NFL by PFF, Chubb made sure to help them back up their claim. In only 12 games (missed four due to an MCL injury in week 4 vs Dallas), Chubb ran for 1,067 yards while sharing carries with the talented Kareem Hunt. Chubb was also second among all backs in YPC with a stellar mark of 5.6. After returning from injury, he averaged 91.5 yards per game and had four 100-yard outings.
3. Alvin Kamara, New Orleans Saints
Kamara was actually in serious MVP talks before a midseason slump put that discussion to bed. For the third time in his career, he broke 700 yards in both rushing and receiving, this year putting up a career-high 83 receptions. He also recorded career-bests in rushing yards and both receiving & rushing touchdowns. Speaking of touchdowns, he was also the first player in the entire NFL with a whopping 21 of them, the most by any skills player since 2007.
2. Dalvin Cook, Minnesota Vikings
It took Cook just 14 games to rack up over 1,900 total yards and 17 total touchdowns. He was second in the league in rushing yards per game and there was an over twenty-yard gap between him and the third-place finisher. Cook had eight games over 100 yards, three games over 150, and one over 200. He never fell under 50 yards in a game, either. If he had played 16 games at this absurd pace, he would’ve finished with 1,779 rushing yards and 18 rushing touchdowns.
1. Derrick Henry, Tennessee Titans
After a historic 2019 playoff run, nobody thought Derrick Henry would get even better. This year:
- first in rushing yards (2,027, 5th all-time)
- first in rushing yards per game (126.7,15.5 more than second place)
- first in rushing touchdowns (17)
- fourth among RBs in YPC (5.4 despite being first in carries)
- 10 games with 100+ rushing yards
- 4 games with 150+ rushing yards
- 3 games with 200+ rushing yards
- 1 game with 250+ rushing yards
In the last week of the season, he needed 223 yards to get to 2,000… he got 250. That’s why he won Offensive Player of the Year.
*All statistics are taken from Pro Football Reference
Writer
-By: Micah Jimoh