Running Backs Are Taking Over the NFL Again

Back in July of 2023, NFL running backs all met on a zoom call to discuss the financial state of playing one of the most demanding positions in football. At the time, many teams were straying away from heavy offensive sets in favor of spread offenses and high-volume passing attacks.

Of course, like most things out there, the NFL is incredibly cyclical, and running backs are back in favor again for the best play-callers in football.

In 2023, only one running back in football finished the season with over 1,200 rushing yards: Christian McCaffrey. In 2025, that number skyrocketed to nine players, with Saquon Barkley just 20 yards away from that mark as well. Of those nine players, five of those players led their teams to the playoffs in 2025.

Fast forward to today, 11 different players are on pace to total at least 1200 yards this season. It’s quite obvious that there has been a massive shift in play-calling in the NFL, and teams are once again relying on their ability to run the ball to win games. That should have always been the case, though. NFL teams win 67% of their games when they win the time-of-possession battle, and there’s no easier way to win it than by running the football.

Look at the Chiefs and Bills, for example. Both Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen are the two highest-paid players in football. It would be insane to undervalue their contributions to their teams, but look at how much better their offenses have been early on this year with competent running games.

Mahomes hasn’t had a 1,000-yard rusher in any of his previous 9 NFL seasons, but now that he gets to play with Kenneth Walker, it’s unleashed an entirely new playstyle for the Chiefs. Of course, moving on from Matt Nagy back to Eric Bieniemy helps, but being able to run the ball in the modern NFL has become insanely valuable.

It took a while for NFL defenses to adjust to spread offenses and more shotgun looks, but now that they've switched to adding more corners and secondary players to the field, offenses have adjusted right back by loading the box and getting under center again. Being able to play under center increases opportunities in the passing game and leads to more productive rushing attacks.

I’m not sure if this cycle of NFL offenses will lead to running backs getting paid more, but it has certainly proven that they are as valuable as ever in the current NFL landscape.