Traditional Star Running Back Becoming Relic of The Past
By Kyle Kensing
Quarterback has been football’s spotlight position basically since the inception of the forward pass. However there was a time, not long ago, when running backs commanded co-billing. There couldn’t have been Vincent with no Jules; no Walter White without Jesse Pinkman. John Elway didn’t win a Super Bowl until he shared a backfield with Terrell Davis. The Greatest Show on Turf was equal parts Marshall Faulk as Kurt Warner. Even legendary Joe Montana had Roger Craig.
Yet with the 2012 NFL Draft approaching, pundits speculate Trent Richardson is the sole running back targeted for the first round. That’s largely a byproduct of the highly touted back becoming less of a necessity to the professional offense. Talking point-parroting TV and radio personalities like to hammer home the motto, “It’s a passing league.” Though the mantra’s become white noise, it’s true.
College football has been more accomodating to vertical passing attacks for much longer. However, even in the college game the star running back is becoming more novelty than necessity.
Shifts in offensive philosophy could play a significant role in the lessened value of the featured back. If the multiple receiver, spreaded air raid formation is Falco, than it’s 1984 because that offenese is at the peak of its popularity. But teams aren’t necessarily throwing more as a whole.
Rewind 20 years. The nation was dealing with a recession, troops were returning home from Iraq, and Madonna’s act was hot enough that she could have headlined the Super Bowl halftime…
Alright, so maybe things haven’t changed that much. Cultural shifts are strangely prescient of the gridiron changes. Sure, there are those pass-happy offense that resulted in quarterbacks like Case Keenum, Nick Foles, Seth Doege and Brandon Weeden throwing in the neighbor of or exceeding 600 attempts. The BYU offense of two decades ago wouldn’t be such an anamoly in today’s landscape.
But quarterback of co-national champion Miami, Geno Torretta, threw with the same regularity as this season’s Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III, and runner-up Andrew Luck. Florida’s Shane Matthews and Florida State’s Casey Weldon weren’t too far behind that 36-37 pass attempt/game pace.
There were those teams who found success as rushing teams. Alabama employed an almost rush-exclusive formation under Gene Stallings. Co-national champion Washington relied on a talented and loaded running back corps that combined for nearly 400 carries — about 120 more attempts than quarterback Billy Joe Hobert had throwing the ball. Bearing in mind LSU and Alabama were the 2011 national title game participants, that’s hardly indicative of some wild shift.
In the same vein though, the 1992 NFL Draft wasn’t a roll call of running back legends. Three went in the first round: Tommy Vardell, Tony Smith and Vaughn Dunbar. However, notables like Jerome Bettis, Napoleon Kaufman, Garrison Hearst, Curtis Martin were cutting their teeth at the same time.
Furthermore, three was a consistent basement figure for running backs drafted in the first round. That basement has fallen out, though.
Richardson’s Alabama teammate, Mark Ingram, was the sole first round back drafted a year ago. The ’08 Draft was the last to exceed three, and was the last time a back was taken in the top five.
There are no shortage of talented backs out there, so that’s not the problem. The top backs of 2011 included Montee Ball, who chased records set by one of the greatest to ever do it, Barry Sanders. LaMichael James exceeded 1800 yards despite battling multiple injuries. Unheralded, non-BCS stars like Bernard Pierce and Ronnie Hillman wowed those who got to witness their exploits.
Ball is back in 2012, and barring injury should be a first round draftee in 2013. Otherwise though, next spring could be a refrain of the same chorus.
Marcus Lattimore returns after missing much of 2011. An All-American in his true freshman campaign, Lattimore is likely to be a part of the ’13 Draft class. The problem with Lattimore is one that plagues running backs more than any other position, though. Injuries seem to impact backs to a greater degree, and they’re certainly prone to racking them up. Lattimore, James, Pierce, Missouri’s Henry Josey: all have missed time and fought through significant injury.
Quarterbacks are more often on the receiving end of cringe-worthy, freakish hits. Backs endure a steady diet of blunt force trauma. They become locomotives, charging from one side of the tracks with another engine barreling from the opposite. Head-on collision after head-on collision wears the back’s shelf life short.
Boston College star Montel Harris sat out most of 2011, and
with a knee injury. Harris was the ACC’s most prolific ball carrier in 2010, but his effectiveness will be under serious scrutiny when — if? — he returns.
Rolandan Finch failed to have the same success as Harris, which makes his recovery a huge matter of concern for BC head coach Frank Spaziani. South Carolina weathered its storm sans Lattimore almost exclusively due to its stout defense. But other coaches are able to cycle through backs when adversity rears its head.
This is particularly true at the pro level. The NFL proves that the talent pool isn’t the problem — if anything, it’s too deep. If a back can’t produce instantaneously, he can be labeled a bust. One of the recent first rounders is CJ Spiller. In just two seasons with the Buffalo Bills, the stigma’s being attached to him while Fred Jackson excels.
Spiller is a uniquely skilled talent, whose multifaceted game transcended anything seen in the college game previously, save Reggie Bush. Of course, Bush had his own problems adjusting to the NFL, only finding individual success this season in an offense that catered to his abilities.
Bush and Spiller were both Top 10 draft picks, but neither has performed at All-Pro level. Neither is the traditional back, a fact that may have left scouts feeling burned. Thus, their guard is up for system players.
Surely Chip Kelly will miss James at Oregon, but Kenjon Barner showed an uncanny ability to handle premiere duties — much in the same fashion as James when spelling the suspended LaGarrette Blount. UO is noteworthy for running an offense that could be considered gimmicky, thus the seamless transfer from LGB to LMJ (and likely LMJ to Barner). Obviously Kelly recruits the position well, but such smooth transition does run the risk of getting a player labeled as the product of a system for NFL purposes.
Ball dropped nearly 30 pounds in the off-season last year to avoid said stigma. Since Ron Dayne’s lackluster pro career, Wisconsin backs have had an increasingly difficult time finding niches on Sunday. Ball is trying to establish himself as the traditional back, and he’s done so tremendously.
The question is, for how much longer is it “traditional,” and not expendable; or worse, antequted.