A lot of people will tell you that in the NFL these days, running backs don’t matter.

It might be more accurate to say that running backs don’t matter as much as they used to — until they do. Then, they matter a LOT.

Exhibit A, for our purposes: Derrick Henry of the Tennessee Titans.

After two straight seasons of leading the NFL in carries, rushing yards, and rushing touchdowns, Henry  missed the last nine games of the 2021 regular season with a foot injury, returning for his team’s divisional round loss to the Bengals. When Henry was on the field last season, the Titans had an Offensive EPA of 0.08. Without him? -0.1. Tennessee had a Passing EPA of 0.15 with Henry, and -0.11 without, a Rushing EPA of 0.03 with, and -0.09 without.

Henry’s absence didn’t just affect the run game. Ryan Tannehill completed 68.1% of his passes for 1,185 yards, seven touchdowns, and three interceptions with Henry. Without Henry, Tannehill completed 66.7% Of his passes for 2262 yards, 10 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions. Without Henry, Tannehill’s EPA per attempt plummeted from 0.23 to 0.1.

With Henry on the field, Tannehill faced a loaded box (seven or more defenders) on a league-high 127 dropbacks. Without Henry, Tannehill faced a loaded box on 120 of his dropbacks, which ranked third in the league. From Week 13 through the end of the regular season, Tannehill had 69 dropbacks against loaded boxes, which ranked eighth. As Henry’s disappearance became more pronounced, opponents altered their strategies. Which happens when your most valuable player isn’t around to be that valuable.

Here, for your perusal, are the 11 most valuable running backs in the NFL today. Not all of them define their offenses, but there are more of those tentpole guys than you may imagine, given what you keep hearing about the value of the modern back. We also have links to all the position lists Mark Schofield and myself have done to date, leading up to next week’s list of the 101 best players in the NFL today.

The NFL’s top 13 safeties

The NFL’s top 12 slot defenders

The NFL’s top 12 outside cornerbacks

The NFL’s top 11 linebackers

The NFL’s top 11 edge defenders

The NFL’s top 12 interior defensive linemen

The NFL’s top 12 centers

The NFL’s top 12 offensive guards

The NFL’s top 12 offensive tackles

The NFL’s top 12 tight ends

The NFL’s top 11 slot receivers

The NFLs top 16 wide receivers

(All advanced metrics courtesy of Sports Info Solutions, Pro Football Focus, and Football Outsiders unless otherwise indicated).

Throughout his fairly successful tenure as the Patriots’ head coach, Bill Belichick has designed his offenses in just about every way you can imagine — from old-school smashmouth to new-school hurry-up spread. One of the undersold aspects of the Belichick offense is the hammerhead goal-line back who can steal touchdowns all over the place. LeGarrette Blount filled that role for the Pats in 2016, when he led the league with 19 rushing touchdowns. Last season, as New England transitioned to a new quarterback in Mac Jones, it was Damien Harris — the 2019 third-round pick from Alabama — who became that force. Harris had just 211 carries, gaining 959 yards, but he had 15 rushing touchdowns. Harris had nine carries inside the opposing five-yard line, and he had six of his touchdowns from there.

Not that Harris can’t get things done from further afield. Remember that Week 13 Patriots-Bills game in which Jones threw the ball three times, and New England had 46 rushing attempts? The Bills were bringing guys off the bench to load the box (I swear I saw Bruce Smith and Cornelius Bennett in there), and it didn’t matter when it was time for Harris to win on a 64-yard counter crack toss.

Harris was an explosive play machine with his relatively limited opportunities — he had 12 carries of 15 or more yards for a total of 317 yards. He had two 21-yard runs against the Cowboys in Week 6, and this is my favorite. The Pats block things up well here, as they did all season in the run game, but it’s Harris who makes things happen at the second level by taking half of Dallas’ defense for a ride.

Harris was also one of the NFL’s best stacked-box runners in 2021 — he had 91 carries against eight or more in the box, gaining 376 yards, 209 yards after contact, and 12 of those 15 touchdowns. He’s now the lead man in a fearsome power committee with 2021 rookie Rhamondre Stevenson, which will continue to be Very Bad News for opposing defenses. Belichick once again has a premier Advil running game.

The difficulty with Penny, who the Seahawks selected with the 27th pick in the first round of the 2018 draft out of San Diego State, is how much you want to put into the first 3 1/2 years of his NFL career, and how much you want to lean on what he did in the last few games of the 2021 season. From Week 12 through Week 18, there wasn’t a more productive back in the league. Penny ran 102 times for a league-leading 706 yards, 6.9 yards per carry, six touchdowns, 4.98 yards after contact per attempt, and 12 runs of 15 yards or more. This is the back the Seahawks envisioned when they took Penny that high. But before that stretch, due to injuries and ineffectiveness, Penny personified Seattle’s approach more in the fact that the team’s last few drafts have been among the NFL’s worst.

Penny had four 100-yard games in his last five; he’d had just two in the previous 32 games. The Seahawks re-signed Penny to a one-year, $6.75 million contract, and they selected Michigan State back Kenneth Walker in the second round of the 2022 draft, so it’s safe to say that the team is a bit hesitant, as well.

With all that said, Penny still makes this list based on the quality of those late-season runs, and the potential they show. On this 62-yard touchdown against the Cardinals in Week 18, Penny cuts back against the slide, moves through the hole quickly, and his second-level acceleration has him blasting past the rest of Arizona’s defense.

Here’s more bounce and acceleration on a 47-yard touchdown against the Texans in Week 14. Here, Penny recovers from bumping into right tackle Jake Curhan before turning on the jets.

Penny was also able to use his vision, tackle-breaking ability, and movement skills as a receiver, and this 27-yard play against the 49ers in Week 13 — right about when Penny started his stint of excellence — is a prime example.

Can Penny turn that last few weeks into a full season of excellence? Such a turn would put him in the top five of next year’s list, and take him to a new level, contractually. We can but wait and see.

With all the talk about Aaron Rodgers and his receivers (or the lack thereof, especially after the Davante Adams trade), the extent to which the Packers’ offense was built on the run game may come as a surprise. But Green Bay was one of the more prolific zone running teams in the NFL last season, and the two-headed monster named A.J. Dillon and Aaron Jones was why — along with Matt LaFleur’s run concepts. The Packers ranked eighth in Rushing DVOA last season, and Jones and Dillon ranked 14th and 15th in individual Rushing DVOA, respectively.

Jones was the more versatile back as a home run hitter and as a receiver — he had eight runs of 15 or more yards for 213 yards, and he caught 52 passes on 65 targets for 391 yards and six touchdowns.

Here, in the divisional round loss to the 49ers, Jones was responsible for the Packers’ biggest play of the game, taking a wheel route vertical to exploit iffy coverage for a 75-yard gain.

Jones also averaged 3.15 yards per carry after first contact, and you can see some of that on this 28-yard run against the Vikings in Week 15, where he takes a simple pitch to its illogical conclusion.

As for Dillon… I have no idea what this is, but I’m in favor of it. More mascot fights in general, please.

AJ Dillon just literally knocked a man's head off…pic.twitter.com/i8ram3eNO6

— Eli Berkovits (@BookOfEli_NFL) July 17, 2022

Dillon was also formidable against actual NFL defenders with more sensible uniform options. 576 of Dillon’s 840 rushing yards last season came after contact, and several of those yards happened on this 36-yard run against the Bears in Week 6. Chicago had nine in the box, and it just didn’t matter when Quadzilla was coming right at somebody’s face.

Dillon did well as a pass-catcher in 2021. He wasn’t quite as prolific as Jones, but he caught 34 passes on 37 targets for 313 yards and two touchdowns, ranking sixth in Receiving DVOA among running backs, and first among all backs on this list. This 50-yard catch-and-run against the Seahawks in Week 10 is proof of concept.

Would either Jones or Dillon make this list as individual players, and the epicenters of their run games? Hard to say. But as a duo, they’re as dangerous as any in the league.

Jacobs’ 2021 season started slowly — he gained 34 yards on 10 carries against the Ravens, missed two games with an ankle injury, and wound up in a committee with Kenyan Drake and Peyton Barber for most of the season. It was a weird “demotion” after two straight 1,000 seasons behind some really bad offensive lines, but Jon Gruden’s decision-making was what it was. Jacobs’ workload increased under interim head coach Rich Bisacia, culminating in a 26-carry, 132-yard game against the Chargers in the season finale.

Even in a disappointing season, Jacobs carried the ball 230 times for 955 yards and nine touchdowns. 683 of his rushing yards came after contact, he forced 60 missed tackles (third in the NFL behind Jonathan Taylor and Javonte Williams), and he had eight carries of 15 or more yards for 169 total yards. He was also good against stacked boxes, which helps when you’re running behind that line (left tackle Kolton Miller excepted).

Jacobs also ran 13 times for 83 yards in the Raiders’ wild-card loss to the Bengals, so he wasn’t just feasting on the Chargers’ bad run defense. This 35-yard run shows an appealing combination of vision, decisiveness, flow through contact, and acceleration.

Jacobs also caught 58 passes on 69 targets for 392 yards, so he’s far from a one-trick guy. This 29-yard play against the Broncos in Week 6 shows how well he can take a simple release route downfield.

The Raiders were pilloried this offseason for refusing to pick up the fifth-year option on any of their three first-round picks in 2019. Clelin Farrell and Jonathan Abram do represent whiffs from the previous scouting departments, but Jacobs is a different cat. New head coach Josh McDaniels seems to get how good Jacobs can be, which bodes well for a bounceback campaign.

Asked McDaniels about Josh Jacobs and picking up the 5th-year option. #Raiders pic.twitter.com/DHddoPCfBM

— Vic Tafur (@VicTafur) March 2, 2022

Since his rookie season of 2017, Ekeler ranks fourth in targets among running backs (455). third in catches (282), third in receiving yards (2,726),and first in receiving touchdowns (24). Alvin Kamara and Christian McCaffrey are the other force multipliers through that time when it comes to receiving backs, and neither one of them is on this list.

What set Ekeler apart from your traditional smaller pass-catching back in 2021 was his ability to get everything done as a pure runner. Ekeler caught 70 passes on 94 targets for 647 yards and eight touchdowns, yes, but he also ran the ball 206 times for 911 yards and 12 touchdowns. Those 20 total touchdowns led the NFL, regardless of position.

At 5-foot-10 and 200 pounds, Ekeler doesn’t project as a foundational back, but he also doesn’t just dry up and blow away when you hit him. 621 of his 911 rushing yards came after contact, he forced 37 missed tackles, and he had nine carries of 15 or more yards, totaling 165 yards on those plays. He did all this while dealing with injuries and a bout on the COVID list.

Last season, the Chargers did a great job of accentuating Ekeler’s yards after catch ability by leading deeper routes away from the strength of his release routes, leaving one-on-ones for the defense. Specifically, this didn’t go well for the Broncos more than once, and this 40-yard play in Week 17 is the prime example.

And this 14-yard touchdown against the Raiders in Week 18 shows how he gets things done against contact.

Ekeler has never had a 20-carry game in his career, and the Chargers are all about keeping him healthy with a balanced workload. They know how crucial his participation is to their offense in all ways.

Cook missed four games in 2021 due to injuries and COVID, and there’s the matter of the lawsuit and countersuit that could complicate his 2022 season. There’s also the fact that new Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell might want his offense to spread things out and be less… traditional or predictable.

“For so long the game kind of became this condensed game where everybody was building things, the marriage of the run and the pass,” O’Connell recently told USA Today’s Jori Epstein. “But as times kind of moved forward, I think spreading the field out not playing the game in a phone booth has been a productive thing for some offenses. Putting the game in the quarterback’s hands a little more, trying to run some premier plays vs. premier looks. And really, when in doubt, trust space-rhythm-timing of offenses to hold you true to your core and what you’re trying to get accomplished.”

Maybe that has Cook running more out of spread stuff, which he can certainly do. Maybe he lines up wide more often, which he can also do. Of course, he’s still a foundational piece of this offense, as he’s been since 2018, his second NFL season. Last season, despite all the distractions, he still gained 1,159 yards and scored six touchdowns on 249 carries, adding 34 catches on 49 targets for 224 yards.

Cook’s line didn’t help. Per the Football Outsiders Almanac, “The Vikings were dead last in stuff rate at 23%, meaning roughly a quarter of the team’s runs last year had no chance for the running back to do anything. However, the Vikings finished seventh in second-level yards and fourth in open-field yards because Cook was still an explosive-play machine.”

And that’s what we’re really looking at with Cook. For every nine-carry, 34-yard game against the Browns, there was a 27-carry, 205-yard game against the Steelers in an offense that didn’t always work, and behind a line that often didn’t help. In addition to the explosive plays, Cook was also nails when opponents loaded the box. On 82 carries with eight or more defenders specifically arrayed against him, Cook gained 396 yards, 145 yards after contact, and he scored five touchdowns.

On this 27-yard touchdown run in that aforementioned Steelers game, Pittsburgh tried to constrict the middle, and Cook just blew that out with this outside run.

And if O’Connell wants to present Cook in wider packages, we see against the 49ers how Cook can take a blown-up screen into an 11-yard gain of his own volition.

A healthy Cook in a more diverse offense could be a very big problem for the rest of the NFL. We’ll see how it plays out, but the skill set is complete — and scheme-transcendent.

In the first half of Super Bowl LVI,. Mixon ran seven times for 40 yards. In the second half, he got eight carries, gaining 32 yards. Given the close nature of the game, and Mixon’s athletic potential, one may wonder why Mixon wasn’t given more opportunities. Wethinks the Bengals could have used more of this down the stretch.

In any event, Mixon — who missed the cut on last year’s list of the top backs — cemented his status as one of the best at his position in the league with a 2021 season in which he had 359 carries for 1,467 yards, and 14 touchdowns behind an offensive line in desperate need of improvement in all possible ways. Only Jonathan Taylor of the Colts had more yards after contact last season (1,272) than Mixon’s 1,089, which helped a lot. And while you’d think that Cincinnati’s predilection for 3×1 sets would have opposing defenses avoiding stacking the box, Mixon ranked sixth in the league with 79 carries against eight or more defenders in the box, gaining 258 yards, 196 yards after contact, and seven of his touchdowns.

Mixon had a few explosive plays in Cincinnati’s AFC Championship win over the Chiefs, and this 23-yard run — which included a juke at the end that devastated safety Juan Thornhill — was the best of the lot.

Why was Mixon given just 67 carries in the postseason, gaining 262 yards and scoring one touchdown? He had enough big plays to prove that he should have been a more integral part of the plan — especially as Joe Burrow was getting the snot knocked out of him over and over. Perhaps head coach Zac Taylor and his staff will change the picture if this team goes on another Super Bowl run.

Through the first eight games of the 2021 season, Henry was on pace to do what he did in both 2019 and 2020 — lead the NFL in carries, rushing yards, and rushing touchdowns. He had 219 carries for 937 yards and 10 touchdowns, and nobody was too close in any of those categories. Then, the foot injury that cost him the rest of the regular season, and the last we saw of Henry in the 2021 season, he ran 20 times for 62 yards and a touchdown against the Bengals in the divisional round loss.

What we saw at that point was a Derrick Henry who didn’t quite have the same juice.

In that same game. we saw backup D’Onta Foreman breaking off stuff like this.

Since Henry’s rookie season of 2016, only Ezekiel Elliott has more carries (1,650) than Henry’s 1,401. And over the last three seasons, Henry’s 900 carries laps the field. So, at age 28. Henry now begs the question: Was that less than sparktacular game against the Bengals a matter of a guy coming back from injury too soon, or the inevitable attrition of the position taking over? Football Outsiders’ Rule of 370, which states that any back with 370 or more carries in a season will inevitably suffer injuries and ineffectiveness after carrying the ball 370 or more carries in a season, comes to mind here.

Including the postseason, Henry had 396 carries in the 2020 season. So, his drop from first in 2021 to fourth this year is based on that uncertainty as much as anything.

We’ve already talked about how opponents stack the box against the Titans when Henry is on the field, and even with him missing half a season, he had the third-most carries against stacked boxes with 92, behind only Dalvin Cook of the Vikings, and Elijah Mitchell of the 49ers. Henry gained 363 yards, 278 yards after contact, and scored six touchdowns on such plays — so when healthy, he proved able to win even when opposing defenses were selling the house to stop him.

What you hope to see again is stuff like this 76-yard touchdown run against the Bills in Week 6. Buffalo’s defense is trying to anticipate where Henry is going, he hits the other side, it’s bang on contact, and he turns on the jets. This is the Derrick Henry you really can’t consistently defend. 728 of Henry’s 938 yards came after first contact last season.

Henry is also a walking nightmare at his best on any kind of misdirection, as he showed on this 60-yard touchdown against the Seahawks. The bottom falls out of that defense, and as great as Quandre Diggs as a deep safety, this ain’t the matchup you want.

Henry may now be on the wrong side of the running back attrition equation. But will he be one of the rare backs who can beat all the curses? We opine that it would be unwise to bet against him — it’s just something to watch from now on.

Based on Williams’ work at North Carolina in 2020, I ranked him as the best back in his draft class, and I didn’t think it was especially close. The NFL apparently didn’t see it the same way. Williams was the third running back selected in last year’s draft, after Alabama’s Najee Harris to the Steelers, and Clemson’s Travis Etienne to the Jaguars. Both Harris and Etienne were first-round picks, while Williams lasted until the 35th overall pick in the second round.

Safe to say, several NFL teams probably would like a do-over on that one. Williams gained 903 yards and scored four touchdowns on 203 carries, adding 43 catches on 53 targets for 316 yards and three touchdowns in a committee with veteran Melvin Gordon. But it was the quality of those carries that allowed Williams to stand out.

He ranked ninth in the NFL among running backs taking at least 20% of their offensive snaps with 3.42 yards after contact per carry. Only Jonathan Taylor had more missed tackles forced than Williams’ 63. He had nine runs of 15 or more yards for 228 yards, and he had 25 runs of 10 yards or more. 635 of Williams’ rushing yards, and 463 of his rushing yards after contact, came with seven or more defenders in the box, which plays to type after you’ve watched his college tape.

This 20-yard run against the Eagles in Week 10 was blocked well, but it also shows what happens when you load the box against Williams, and he makes your efforts irrelevant with vision, acceleration, and force after contact.

When it comes to force after contact, however, it’s hard to top this 30-yard run against the Cowboys in Week 9. You love the patience Williams shows to wait for the gap to open, and then… he just goes full Beast Mode in ways most running backs do in their dreams.

Williams should continue to be part of that dangerous rotation in Denver, and the Broncos will see fewer loaded boxes with Russell Wilson at quarterback than they did with Drew Lock and Teddy Bridgewater in that position. Committee or not, all signs point to a breakout season for a back who has already broken out about as much as he could in his rookie season.

Chubb was our second-best running back last year, and he lands here again, with a new No. 1. At least he’s consistent — and consistently great. Per Next Gen Stats via the Football Outsiders Almanac, Chubb is the only back in the NFL to average over 2.0 yards per carry more than expected on runs against loaded boxes in a single season. He has done it in three of his four seasons. Last season, against eight or more in the box, Chubb gained 258 yards, and 196 yards after contact, with four touchdowns, on just 55 carries. Overall, Chubb carried the ball 228 times for 1,258 yards and eight touchdowns. 967 of those yards came after contact, and only Rashaad Penny had more yards after contact per attempt than Chubb’s 4.24. Chubb also forced 57 missed tackles, fifth-best in the league, and his 17 runs of 15 or more yards ranked third behind Jonathan Taylor and Dalvin Cook.

You could say about Chubb what was once said of Ivan Drago: Everything he hits, he destroys. And ain’t no Rocky Balboa training in the Russian wilderness.

Of course, if you can just weave your way around a loaded box, as Chubb did on this 22-yarder against the Bengals in Week 9, that works pretty well, too.

This 70-yard touchdown run in the same game shows everything you want in a running back — vision, power through contact, acceleration to the second and third levels.

We have absolutely no idea what the Browns’ passing game will look like this season, for obvious Deshaun Watson reasons. But at least Chubb provides a measure of absolute dynamism and consistency no matter who the quarterback is. He was just as good in Baker Mayfield’s injury-plagued 2021 season as he was in Mayfield’s alleged breakout 2020 campaign. Not a lot of backs are team- and scheme-proof, but Nick Chubb is one.

The same could be said of the man who has jumped to the top of the list this year.

Taylor moved from ninth on last year’s list to first overall due to a season in which he took over from Derrick Henry as the NFL’s leader in carries (332), rushing yards (1,811), and rushing touchdowns (18). Taylor also caught 40 passes on 51 targets for 360 yards and two touchdowns, but it was as a runner where he proved his value in his second NFL season.

Speaking of Taylor’s second NFL season, did you know that among all backs in pro football history through their first two seasons, Taylor ranks 22nd in carries (564), but seventh in rushing yards (2,980), and third in rushing touchdowns (29, tied with Clinton Portis, behind only Eric Dickerson and Earl Campbell)?

The second-round 2020 pick out of Wisconsin was a true force on breakaway runs in 2021, and he created all kinds of problems against defenses trying to load the box against him.

On this 78-yard touchdown run against the Jets in Week 9, you can see how Taylor can make the most of a small opportunity by getting skinny to and through the gaps… and then, he just takes off.

And on this 67-yard touchdown run against the Patriots in Week 15, Taylor shows once again his ability to work through a small gap in a big hurry. When your offensive line is racing to the end zone to celebrate, you’ve done something pretty impressive.

This 23-yard touchdown run against the Jaguars in Week 18 showed how, if you have a loaded box against Taylor, and you have hands on him behind the line of scrimmage… you still have pretty good odds of losing the down. Taylor led the NFL in rushing yards against loaded boxes with 1,234, yards after contact with 791, broken tackles with 23, missed tackles forced with 20, and first downs with 77.

Taylor did all this around a highly inconsistent quarterback in Carson Wentz, and offensive line injuries that would have complicated things for lesser backs. With Matt Ryan in the fold, and hopefully fewer nicks on that line, Taylor looks quite likely to hit the top of next year’s list, as well.

Melvin Gordon III, Denver Broncos

Rhamondre Stevenson, New England Patriots

Alvin Kamara, New Orleans Saints

Elijah Mitchell, San Francisco 49ers

Leonard Fournette, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Antonio Gibson, Washington Football Team

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