My Top Ten Running Backs In The NFL!

 
  A good running game is significant to every offense in the NFL. A good running game is considered to be a quarterback's best friend. However, if you don't have a superstar running back today, it doesn't mean you can't go to the Super Bowl and win it. New England Patriots won Super Bowl 49 and 51 with an average running game. Their featured running backs in those Super Bowls were Shane Vereen and James White. Those two have never been considered as one of the top twenty running backs in the league. A good running game is still important. It certainly helps young quarterbacks when they enter the league and have to deal with the tough pro-style defenses. Without a good running game, those young quarterbacks would force a lot of passes, make mistakes, and then lose confidence. Dak Prescott and Jared Goff might not have been as good of quarterbacks as they are if they didn't have star running backs in their offenses.

  Gregg Rosenthal, who writes and reports for the NFL, came up with a list of the top thirty-two running backs today. For all of them, he provided details of their rankings. However, I didn't agree with his rankings. His top ten running backs are great, but I didn't like the order. Some of them in my opinion, don't even belong in the top ten! Rosenthal has LeSean McCoy and Mark Ingram in his top ten. He has David Johnson and Alvin Kamara in his top five. Not saying Johnson and Kamara are not talented enough to be top five, but they both aren't there yet in terms of production. In this article, I will go over my top five running backs, and then I will mention the other five running backs who belong in the top ten, but not top-five just yet.

Top Five Backs

Kareem Hunt: In 2017, Hunt had 272 carries for 1,327 yards and eight rushing touchdowns. He added 53 catches for 455 yards and three touchdown receptions. Hunt averaged 4.9 yards per carry. It is not easy to average that many yards after 272 carries and Hunt did it, as the featured-rookie running back on Kansas City Chiefs' offense. I have no reason to like Hunt after what he did to my Patriots in the season opener on September 7, 2017. All I know is that he is only going to get better!

Leonard Fournette: In 2017, Fournette had 268 carries for 1,040 yards and nine rushing touchdowns. He added 36 catches for 302 yards and one score. Fournette's yards per carry weren't as impressive as Hunt's, but it was still good as he averaged 3.9 yards per carry. He was the first running back to be taken from 2017 Draft. We all know that the 2017 NFL Draft was loaded with good running backs. While Fournette didn't finish the year as the best running back among all rookies, but he was the reason why the Jaguars' offense wasn't below average. He was the reason why Blake Bortles looked great in some moments during the regular season. Fournette is a strong force of the Jaguars' offense. If a team wants to shut down the Jaguars' offense, it starts with shutting down Leonard Fourtnette. However, it's not so easy. Nobody would enjoy tackling Fournette in the open field.

Le'Veon Bell: In 2017, Bell had 321 carries (most in the NFL) for 1,291 yards and nine rushing touchdowns. He added 85 catches for 655 yards and two touchdown receptions. Bell averaged 4.0 yards perry carry in 2017. I believe, he is the best running back in the game. He has been the best for the past three years at least. What he does on a consistent basis, can't be done by all the running backs. He runs like a true number one running back and catches passes as he is the two receiver on an offense. For a receiver to have 85 catches in a season is a good season. Bell had 85 catches with 321 rushing attempts. He did all of that workload effectively. His patience and will to find holes at the line of scrimmage is just a beautiful thing to watch. He is a nightmare matchup for every single defense. He can hurt a defense in several ways.

Todd Gurley: In 2017, Gurley had 279 carries for 1,305 yards and thirteen rushing touchdowns. He added 64 catches for 788 yards and six touchdowns. He averaged 4.7 yards per carry. The pace where Gurley is at, it won't be long when he passes Le'Veon Bell as the best running back today. There is a great chance that he could surpass Bell by the end of the season. Like Bell, there he is nothing he can't do. Gurley is like 'The Flash!' He can burst for an eighty-yard touchdown out of nowhere. He could turn short screens into big gains in a matter of seconds. The Rams' offense does have a lot of weapons, but if a defense could slow down Todd Gurley, there is a great chance the Rams would lose the game. He's going to have another great season in 2018.

Ezekiel Elliott: In 2017, Elliott had 242 carries for 983 yards and seven rushing touchdowns. He added 26 catches for 269 yards and two touchdown catches. Elliott averaged 4.1 yards per carry. Ezekiel Elliot is amazing, plain and simple. Although he didn't finish the 2017 season as the leading rusher like he did in 2016, he did have over 1200 yards from the scrimmage in just ten games. Elliott almost had 1000 rushing yards last season, and he missed six total games. It is not easy to rush that many yards in just ten games. We can not deny how much talent Elliott has. He is one of a kind! However, he needs to stay out of trouble. If Elliott keeps getting suspended, he will never get to reach his true potential in his NFL career.

  My top ten running backs in order are; Le'Veon Bell, Todd Gurley, Ezekiel Elliott, Kareem Hunt, Leonard Fournette, Alvin Kamara, David Johnson, Melvin Gordon, Devonta Freeman, and Jordan Howard.

How come David Johnson and Alvin Kamara didn't make the top five?

David Johnson didn't make my top five because I haven't seen him play since 2016. He missed all of 2017 season due to an injury, and I'm not sure how he is going to look like in 2018. Yes, he did have an incredible 2016 campaign, but that was the only year we saw him as the team's number one running back for the entire season. Being great for one and a half season, and then miss an entire season is not enough to label a player as a top-five player, especially a running back. What about Alvin Kamara? Kamara was electric for the entire 2017 season. He averaged 6.1 yards per carry with over 100 rushing attempts. He had 81 catches for 826 receiving yards as the number two running back in Saints' offense. Kamara's numbers are off the chart. What he did as a rookie was simply mind-blowing! However, he did get to share the backfield with Mark Ingram. He shared the backfield with a running back who went for over 1100 rushing yards in the same season. Kamara was great, but he didn't do it as the featured back. Also, if Kamara is a top-five running back, then how come the Saints didn't put him as the number one running back on their depth chart? Let's see what Johnson and Kamara do in 2018.

  The other three running backs who I have in my top-ten are Melvin Gordon, Devonta Freeman, and Jordan Howard. Each of them had a nice season in 2017. Of the three, I like Melvin Gordon the most. I think he could be a top-five running back if he adds back to back great seasons. Gordon does have the potential to be great, as he is very talented and has improved significantly since his painful 2015 rookie season. Devonta Freeman is more than a decent running back, but like Kamara, he also splits his carries on offense with another running back. He can run and catch effectively, but he is not a game-changer. I don't understand why the Atlanta Falcons made him the highest-paid running back last season when they handed him a five-year, 41 million dollar contract. Jordan Howard barely made it to my top ten. He is electric, fast, and does everything you ask from him. He can run the ball, catch passes from the backfield, and return kickoffs and punts. Jordan Howard is very good, but there have been games where he was present but no one felt his presence. He needs to be more consistent to be considered one of the best.