Someone far less wise and far less learned in the ways of the NFL than myself recently told me that having a soft-handed RB, someone like Marshall Faulk used to be, wasn’t just a “nice to have”, but a “must have”.
Has anyone but me noticed that they aren’t called Catching Backs, or even a Running and Catching Backs – and no, the term “Halfback” wasn’t invented to describe someone who runs half the time and catches the other half of the time.
Maybe there’s a reason that neither NFL.com nor ESPN.com lists the receiving stats along with the rushing stats. They aren’t even calculated for a players total yards unless you go to a specific player’s stats page. Why? Because a RB’s primary job is to . . . RUN the ball! DOH!
But enough of the nick picking and semantic nonsense. Let’s take a real look at this multipurpose beast and his importance, or the degree of his importance, to his team’s success over the past regular season.
In 2003, 4 of the teams with the top 5 RUSHING RBs made the playoffs.
Only 2 of the teams with the top 5 RECEIVING RBs made the playoffs.
But what about something more basic, like wins. Can’t make the playoffs if you don’t win games, right?
Ok, fine, let’s look at wins.
Four teams with a top 5, and 7 with a top ten RUSHING RB had winning records.
On the other hand, only 2 teams with a top 5, and 4 with a top 10 RECEIVING RB had a winning record.
The team with the top RUSHING RB, Baltimore, had a winning record and made the playoffs.
The team with the top RECEIVING RB, San Diego, had a losing record and missed the playoffs.
Of the two teams in the SB, Carolina’s Stephen Davis was the 4th ranking Rusher and not even in the top 50 in RB catches.
New England’s Antowain Smith was the 30th ranking Rusher and not even in the top 50 as a pass catcher. Kevin Faulk was the 31th ranked Rusher and the 12th ranked pass catcher.
I won’t go so far as to say that a pass catching RB isn’t nice. He is. But is he a “must have”? Hardly.
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Comments (1)
An anomaly for this year is... (Below threshold)1. Posted by Sean Hackbarth | February 1, 2004 11:24 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
An anomaly for this year is the top receiving back (LaDanian Tomlinson, I think) is also one hell of a rusher. A back that can do both (like Faulk and James in their primes) are so tough to stop.
1. Posted by Sean Hackbarth | February 1, 2004 11:24 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on February 1, 2004 23:24