He responded by rushing for 1,172 yards in his next eight games while in the process setting franchise regular and postseason single-game rushing records. In 2016, with the Steelers sitting at 4-5, the team turned to Bell to get the season turned around. Le'Veon BellĪt one point, Bell was the example for anyone defending the value of top-tier running backs. Here's a player-by-player look at what happened during a season that significantly contributed to the current sad state of the running back position. Bell was the biggest player, but he wasn't the only one. That was the approach former All-Pro running back Le'Veon Bell took back in 2018, a year that in many ways led to the current plight of the running back position. Things like that are things we can do in the short term to help ourselves out."Įkeler's plan is better than holding out or even missing an entire season. For us, we need to have some consistent messaging when it comes to that. And also, when we get asked about it, have some type of narrative. "I'm going to go out there and try to score as many touchdowns as I can, play my game, be consistent, make a big impact. "All the running backs out there, what we can do in the short term is to continue to make an impact," Ekeler said during a one-on-one interview with CBS Sports. The goal of the meeting was to try to figure out the best way to make it clear to team owners that top-notch running backs are still worth investing in. Things have gotten so bad for the position that Ekeler recently hosted a virtual meeting with some of the league's top backs. Ezekiel Elliott and Dalvin Cook, who amassed a combined 2,436 total yards and 22 touchdowns last season, are free agents. Many of of the league's best backs - a list that includes Saquon Barkley, Jonathan Taylor, Josh Jacobs and Austin Ekeler - are woefully underpaid. Conversely, three quarterbacks will make north of $50 million this year, with that number set to go up as soon when Joe Burrow signs an extension. Only three running backs currently have multi-year deals that equal $50 million. If the '90s were a high point for the running back position, the 2020s represent the low point. 1 pick in your fantasy football league entering the '98 season, you were taking either Sanders or Davis, without much hesitation - a pedestal for backs that hasn't changed that much in the fantasy world, but one they're far from atop these days in reality. The following year, Davis won league MVP as Denver repeated as champion. Barry Sanders shared league MVP honors with Brett Favre the same year Terrell Davis carried the Broncos to an upset of Favre's Packers in Super Bowl XXXII. Emmitt Smith won league and Super Bowl MVP in the same year. I grew up in the 1990s, when the NFL's biggest names were mostly running backs. Those words, recently spoken by my brother-in-law, stung me like a Clubber Lang punch to the stomach.
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