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The lifespan of a running back, on the field and in fantasy seems to get shorter every season. Simply look at the recent production of Eddie Lacy. Is he capable of resiliency and reestablishing himself as one of the game's best young backs? And then there's someone like Marshawn Lynch, who retired at 29 years old, after only nine seasons in the league.
But while some running backs are fading out, others have just begun to fade in, onto the main stage of the NFL.
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Three 2015 Running Backs Standouts
Entering 2015, the Arizona Cardinals rostered a potential three-headed monster out of the backfield consisting: of veteran Chris Johnson, the promising yet often injured Andre Ellington, and the 86th overall pick in the 2015 draft, David Johnson. Early on, the bulk of the workload was given to CJ2K as Ellington struggled to stay healthy and inherit a consistent amount of attempts. Initially, the most overlooked of the trio was the rookie, who wasted no time displaying the part of his game that would later earn him the most work.
In Arizona's first game against the New Orleans Saints, Carson Palmer connected with David Johnson with 1:33 left in regulation, for his first touch of the game and a 55 yard receiving touchdown, clinching the Cardinals their first win of the young season. Johnson finished the game with no rushing attempts but the rookie, with that one play, solidified himself into Arizona's highly used passing attack.
As the season progressed, so did Johnson, tallying 658 all purpose yards in his last five games. Johnson finished the season with 581 rushing yards on 125 attempts, 36 receptions for 457 yards, and 12 total touchdowns (eight rushing, four receiving). Johnson was also a factor in both of Arizona's playoff games, posting 206 yards from scrimmage and one score.
With Ellington's inability to stay healthy, and CJ2K's future with the team uncertain, Johnson is the running back of the future for the Cardinals. Re-signing CJ2K would actually benefit Johnson, as he would be mentored again and would share some of the workload. Head coach Bruce Arians has already expressed that Johnson has a chance to be one of the best, while he has received the high praise from his offensive coordinator as well.
"Knock on wood, this guy's got a little A.P. (Adrian Peterson) potential, and probably better hands," Harold Goodwin told Arizona Sports 98.7 FM, according to arizonasports.com.
Johnson will enter the 2016 season with one of the highest ceilings of any running backs, and will be extremely valuable in PPR leagues.
2) Thomas Rawls
Sometimes, things just work out. The baton is handed off cleanly to an unproven teammate that manages to finish the race in first. And although the baton has been passed from Marshawn Lynch to Thomas Rawls, Seattle Seahawks officials have made it clear that Rawls will still need to earn his job, likely to compete with rookies, Notre Dame Running Back CJ Prosise and Arkansas Running Back Alex Collins so the Seahawks could have an interesting 3-headed combo in the 2016 backfield.
With Lynch missing a ton of time because of injuries, the undrafted rookie displayed some of his own Beast Mode in seven relief starts. In six games without Lynch in uniform, Rawls averaged 20.5 touches, 12o rushing yards, 5.6 yards per carry, and nearly one touchdown a contest. Despite missing some time of his own after breaking his ankle at the end of the season, Rawls' individual performances will likely put him inside the top 10 of fantasy running backs heading into 2016.
His most notable performance last season came against the San Fransisco 49ers Week 10. Rawls rushed for 209 yards on 30 attempts and caught three passes for 46 yards, with one touchdown on the ground and another through the air. Rawls became the first player in NFL history to post 250-plus yards from scrimmage while scoring both a rushing and receiving touchdown in the same game. Rawls breached the 100-yard mark in four of seven starts. Rawls should continue his hard running in his second NFL season.
In 2012, Doug Martin bulldozed his way onto the NFL scene during his rookie campaign, rushing for 1,454 yards on 319 attempts, finding the end zone 11 times on the ground. His receiving abilities were also impressive, catching 49 passes for 472 yards and one score. The future looked bright under the warm Tampa Bay sun, but his next two seasons resulted in subpar play filled with injury and inconsistency, Martin's ability to be a workhorse in the backfield came into question.
Plenty of questions were answered after Martin's stellar 2015 season, and his future appears to be bright once again. In a tremendous bounce-back year, Martin rushed for 1,402 yards on a hefty 288 touches, and even though his touchdown total of six wasn't too high, his 4.9 yards per carry was the highest average of his four year career. Martin finished the season second overall in rushing yards, only 83 yards behind Adrian Peterson.
Martin's receiving abilities also resurfaced, as the fourth year back tallied 33 receptions for 271 yards and a touchdown. His production dipped a bit in the latter part of the season, failing to rush for over 100 yards in his final six games, but did rush for over 80 in four of those games. Martin was simply overworked, but did receive some help from backup Charles Sims who was more productive on passing downs. Martin's best performance of the season came against the highly picked on Eagles Week 10, where he rushed for 235 yards on 27 carries, including one attempt for a long 84 yards.
After entering 2015 without much expectation, Martin heads into his next season in opposite fashion, also likely in the top 10 of fantasy running back rankings.
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