What is a "Big Name Running Back" anymore?

Been a while since I posted so I figured I'd make this a big, statistically driven one based on some disturbing comments that I've heard recently. No lie, I'm a Steelers fan. And I've heard on ESPN recently that Pittsburgh has Rashard Mendenhall who they're going to try to limit some more to keep him fresh, with their early bye week and the amount of load that he carried with the suspension of Ben Roethlisberger. The worry, according to these analysts, is that Pittsburgh doesn't have any big name running backs or guys with a lot of experience behind him, who could pick up the slack should he be sidelined with an injury.

This got me thinking about what a big name running back really was in the NFL. All of my player statistics are derived from NFL.com's listing of player stats and rankings (as of 11:19PM on Sunday, October 24th, the end of the weekend games in Week 7 of the NFL, not accounting for the Monday night game). I'll credit any other statistics that I use.

Per Answers.com (derived from a Google search), the average career for an NFL running back is 2.6 years. Though they do say (from common knowledge) that the average American changes careers roughly 5 times in their lifetime, these athletes play the game of football for sometimes more than a decade, going through every different stage of the game and showing their prowess usually through their college career and getting drafted or signed later to an NFL team. So imagine if you had done an internship for 10 or more years, just to get the full time job that you've worked so hard to get and was incredibly selective, and then after 2.6 years, you leave that by your own volition, or because there just isn't a job for you and have to go do something completely different. I'll give credence to the knowledge that these guys did get degrees during their college career and I'll give the benefit of the doubt that most of these guys have prepared for life after football by getting an education and mentally preparing, just in case. Either way, that would be a very harsh change of pace for you, when you've spent every day training your body, learning playbooks and playing football and then all of a sudden, BOOM, you're forced into doing something else.

There are several people in the NFL who probably won't experience such a rise and fall kind of career. Names like Chris Johnson, Adrian Peterson, LaDanian Tomlinson, and others will have or have had long and illustrious careers that lead to a lot of great statistics and will probably lead to Hall of Fame inductions down the road. While those guys exist, let's look a little deeper into the position of running back and really get a look at how blue-collar that position really has gotten, where at any moment, any one guy can be called to pick up the slack for a team, a realization that has definitely been exposed this year.

Starting at the beginning of the season, a guy who was virtually unknown going into this year, stole our running back loving hearts. Who really, aside from absolute fantasy football nuts who listened to every blog and read every article, expected after Week 7 that Arian Foster would be the top ranked Yahoo! Fantasy player? Even those fantasy nuts probably wouldn't have expected that Foster would be ranked better in Fantasy Football than Adrian Peterson and Chris Johnson, accepted as picks 1 and 2 for most fantasy football leagues this year. Foster was ranked before the season at 45 by Yahoo!. But statistically, after Week 7, Arian Foster is 2nd in the league in rushing yards behind Chris Johnson, and he's had his bye week already. This then makes me wonder, where did Steve Slaton go? The Houston Texans' 3rd round pick and golden boy of 2 years ago who caught a rough case of fumbilitis and injury in 2009, and now sits behind Foster on the depth chart, racking up a meager 19 attempts over the past 6 games an average of 3 attempts per game. And despite his assigned role on their official depth chart, he is still ranked behind 3rd string back Derrick Ward in rushing yards. Let's talk about a fall from grace for a third round pick who has now lost his job to an undrafted free agent (Foster) and has fewer yards than a seventh round pick (Ward). Is it safe to say that it's only a matter of time before Slaton is let go from the Texans who seem to be in a constant ebb and flow to find a winning combination in what is an incredibly competitive AFC South? We saw the exact same thing happen with former Steelers starter Willie Parker, who holds a Super Bowl record for the longest rushing TD (Super Bowl XL), and former Chiefs first round pick Larry Johnson who, after being ousted by their "glory teams" were both cut after trying out for the Redskins in the offseason, and are currently watching football from their couch after 5 and 6 year careers, respectively.

Can Slaton land with another team, desperately in need of his services because of injury or because another team is willing to give him the chance to regain his starting status? He absolutely can. Tomlinson is a clear example of this after he was cast off from the Chargers and is rejuvinating his career with the Jets. But Tomlinson is not normal, in fact he's an absolute anomaly in the NFL and that's why he is a lock for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, potentially as a first ballot candidate. As much of an anomaly as he is though, keep in mind that he wasn't brought in to carry the load and be the starter in New York, far from it. He was brought in to spell Shonn Green, who was destined in the pre-season to be the starter and rushing hero of the Jets and now has been forced to the backseat with what I can only imagine was some colorful language from his head coach.

This is the life of an NFL running back. Any given Sunday, any player can come out of someone's shadow to show off the fact that they have what it takes to carry the load and be successful in this league. When the oft injured Clinton Portis inevitably went down this season (he's played 16 games only 50% of his career before 2010 and already missed games this season), his role was filled by Ryan Torain. Anyone who isn't a close friend of mine is wondering exactly what I was wondering: who is Ryan Torain? If you were looking for him in the 2009 season, you'd be looking forever. He was injured in August, '09 and was released from the Denver Broncos with an injury settlement. If Mike Shanahan, who drafted Torain with the Broncos in the fifth round in '08, hadn't remembered this guy, he'd still be sitting on his couch on Sundays watching football (with Parker and Johnson maybe?). Instead, he was picked up by the Redskins, beating out big names Parker and Larry Johnson for a coveted roster spot. Portis was injured, and Torain for Week 7 is ranked 4th with 125 yards, above the likes of Chris Johnson, Michael Turner, Steven Jackson, and other "big name running backs." In fact, on the year, he's ranked 19th, well above the man he replaced, Clinton Portis (41st in yards) and that is after starting only 3 games.

So these are small examples that are rare in the NFL, right? Most of the top running backs were drafted in the top two rounds at least right? Consider this: of the current top 10 running backs in the NFL in yards, half (Mendenhall, Chris Johnson, Steven Jackson, Peterson, and Darren McFadden) were drafted in the first round. Out of the top 5, only 2 (Johnson and Jackson) had that illustrious honor of the jersey with a "1" on it. The other 3 are Foster (Undrafted), Turner (5th Round) and Ahmad Bradshaw (7th round). It doesn't take first round rated talent to be a successful running back in the NFL.

So what does it mean to be a "big name" running back in the NFL anymore? Does it mean having an incredibly long name like New England's "Law Firm", BenJarvus Green-Ellis (undrafted in '08), who is tied in the Top 10 with 4 rushing TDs on the year, accounting for all but one of New England's overall rushing TDs? It definitely means being the man of the week, for sure. Making a Pro Bowl puts you in the public eye and is an impressive feat, as a season long name builder. But the truth is, anyone at any point at the running back position can stand out and be great. Tampa Bay undrafted rookie LeGarrette Blount, who is 3rd on Tampa's depth chart according to their website, had 79 yards rushing in Week 7 which put him in the top 10. Cleveland's Peyton Hillis (7th round pick by the Broncos in '08) ranked 14th on the week (69 yards) followed immediately by Cleveland Browns PUNTER Reggie Hodges who had a 68 yard fake punt rush. Hodges 68 yards put him above Chris Johnson (66 yards) and Rashard Mendenhall (37 yards). That's right; a punter had more rushing yards than two first round draft picks. I can not make that kind of thing up.

So to say that just because Isaac Redman and Mewelde Moore aren't widely known household names, they can't be stand out running backs at any time is ludicrous. They have the potential at any point to be the next stand out performer rushing the ball. There will always be your Emmit Smith's, Barry Sanders', Chris Johnson's and Adrian Peterson's, guys who will hold their position for several years and be dominant the whole time. However, it's just as important to remember that anyone, at any time, can prove themselves to be great at the running back position, maybe the only true blue collar position left in the NFL.