INDIANAPOLIS — Ashton Jeanty was the textbook definition of a running back last season.
The former Boise State back ripped off big run after big run last season to the tune of 2,601 yards, just 28 yards shy of the NCAA single-season record. Even still, the 21-year-old knows that in the NFL his skill set hasn’t been as valued as it was over a decade ago.
Well, that was until last season.
“There was a period of time where running backs were being devalued, it was a lull at the position,” Jeanty said at last week’s NFL draft combine. “But … Bijan [Robinson], Saquon [Barkley], Jahmyr [Gibbs], they’ve all been doing special things and showing that if you have a special, X-factor player at the running back position it can really enhance your offense.”
After years of the position being less emphasized in favor of more passing — only five running backs have been taken in the first round in the past five drafts — last season’s production from running backs may be tipping the scales back … to the backs.
And a new crop of rushers, including Jeanty, coming in the 2025 NFL draft have taken notice of the change.
“I mean, it probably could change the market,” former Florida and Georgia running back Trevor Etienne said of the production of backs like Barkley, who came within 101 yards of breaking the NFL single-season rushing record last season. “I feel like the running back position is undervalued right now, but I just have to control what I can control and I feel like … as a back, I just have to come out and do different things to where I can add value for myself.”
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Running backs used to be the kings of the NFL. Barry Sanders. Emmitt Smith. Walter Payton. Jim Brown. LaDainian Tomlinson.
But with time comes change, and the league began to emphasize the air more than the ground over the years.
During the 2004 season, nine running backs attempted 300 or more rushes. But from 2013 to 2022 there were just 17 total instances of running backs rushing more than 300 times in a season. Rather than a single stud running back like Sanders or Smith, teams began to opt for a duo or committee approach to the run game.
Which is nothing new to the NFL. The Miami Dolphins’ Larry Csonka and Mercury Morris were the first teammates to rush for 1,000 yards apiece in 1972. Committee approaches date back to the 1950s with the Los Angeles Rams’ “Bull Elephant Backfield” and the San Francisco 49ers’ “Million Dollar Backfield.” But the modern approach to running back usage took off in 2011 when the New Orleans Saints deployed four running backs who rushed for at least 370 yards that season and has continued over the years.
It was a justifiable approach, as it kept backs fresh with fewer carries and fewer hits from defenders. But it was also a cost-control measure: as quarterback salaries took off, running backs suffered. So much so that during the 2023 offseason some of the game’s top backs (Nick Chubb, Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry, Christian McCaffrey) set up a Zoom call to discuss running back pay. “We’re the only position that our production hurts us the most,” Chubb said at the time. “If we go out there and run 2,000 yards with so many carries, the next year they’re going to say, you’re probably worn down. It’s tough. … It hurts us at the end of the day.”
Last season running backs finally got their time back in the limelight.
After not a single running back eclipsed 300 carries in 2023, that number skyrocketed to six backs in 2024, with the Philadelphia Eagles’ Barkley hitting 345 rushes for 2,005 yards and the Baltimore Ravens’ Henry totaling 325 rushes for 1,921 yards.
Now attention turns to the rookies who will take the field next season.
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No backs were taken in the first round of the 2024 draft, but in ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper’s most recent mock draft he has at least two (Jeanty and North Carolina’s Omarion Hampton) going in the top 12.
Hampton sees himself as one of the most complete rushers in the draft. “I’m a three down back,” he said. “I can do everything. I can pass-block, I can catch out the backfield. I can make defenders miss in the third level.”
Hampton said the numbers that Barkley, Henry and the Detroit Lions’ Gibbs put up last season reminded the entire league of how important backs are to team success.
“Most of the teams in the playoffs had a good running back, so I feel like most of the teams will now see that and value the position more,” Hampton said. “I’m just excited for it, and we just got to add on to that.”
Cincinnati’s Corey Kiner said that while he was “a little bit” worried about how the position had been deemphasized over the years, he stands 10 toes down on what all running backs bring to the table.
“Our jobs are not easy. We got to be blockers like o-linemen, we got to be pass catchers like receivers, we got to run the football, and running the football isn’t easy,” said Kiner, who ran the ball 396 times for 2,200 yards the past two seasons. “You got to have that mindset each and every day that there’s a brick wall right there that’s trying to stop me and I got to run through it.”
Tennessee’s Dylan Sampson echoed that sentiment.
“I wouldn’t say we have the hardest position, but I would say we have one of the most physically taxing positions, just all of us really not being the same size compared to everybody on there,” said Sampson, who ran 258 times for 1,491 yards and 22 touchdowns last season. “But we’re asked to do everything — block, run, catch — and we are a valuable piece that can sometimes go unnoticed.”
That being said, not everyone is against the duo or committee approach. Michigan’s Donovan Edwards shared the backfield with a host of other running backs over his four seasons in Ann Arbor, never running more than 140 times in a single season. He believes using multiple backs brings out everyone’s full potential.
“Honestly, I believe in the two-back system,” Edwards said. “So later on in the season, both guys aren’t beat up and one guy’s not beat all the way up and another guy has to go in and he gets beat up.”