Pro Football Focus · May 19, 2020
Ranking the situations for the NFL's 2020 rookie running backs
With all of PFF’s data pointing to the quality of a particular team’s offensive line and run scheme as being more important factors in the running game than pure running back talent, evaluating the situation around a particular player is paramount. It’s important to note that this isn’t a direct reflection of the running back’s talent — that’s what our position rankings are for — although that plays a factor when it comes to the share of touches we assume they’ll get in the backfield. For example, Tony Pollard went into a great situation to produce when called upon last year with the Dallas Cowboys‘ offensive line but was not good enough to realistically take touches away from Ezekiel Elliott. This is the ranking of a running backs’ ability to not only produce efficiently but also voluminously.
