Prior to the 2014 season the NFL lost two prominent running backs due to their own stupidity/parenting choices. Ray Rice infamously punched his then fiancé, now wife, and Adrian Peterson of course was charged with having beaten his young son to the point of leaving visible marks and scars. While these two stories were possibly the most heavily covered running back related news in the football world, the backs who actually made it on to the field put on amazing shows and produced some very impressive numbers.
An impressive Dallas Cowboys’ offense produced the 17th highest single season rushing performance and 13th highest yards from scrimmage in history, the shining star of a sputtering Chicago Bears offense caught the most passes by a running back in history and of course a couple young, unheard of talents started to sprout. Here is the first of three installments in our list of the top running backs of the 2014 NFL season. Obviously your own analysis of the year may be different from ours so offer your own thoughts in the comments section if need be. We start with the veteran workhorse in San Francisco who looked good in spite of an offense that suffered overall in 2014.
TOP 15 NFL RUNNING BACKS OF 2014: 15-11
15. Frank Gore
It was ultimately a disappointing season for the San Francisco 49ers, going 8-8 and finishing third in their division following strong seasons by the Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals. Colin Kaepernick did not look like the agile leader he had been in previous seasons and the receivers looked downright sloppy. The defense performed fairly well despite important starters missing significant time, but on offense the running game seemed to be all that worked.
The 31 year old Frank Gore led the way with a 1,106 yard season on the ground. He added 111 yards receiving on just 11 catches which are the lowest totals of his career. His five touchdown total is his lowest since 2010 when he played in just eleven games. The long-time star of the 49ers’ run game still packed the power he is known for but his age is starting to show, even if very minimally. His season finished very strong with 302 yards rushing in his last two games. While he may lack the explosiveness of previous years, he will still be useful, and could still be used as a workhorse if the 49ers determine that Carlos Hyde is not yet ready for the job.
14. Alfred Morris
The third year Redskins’ back out of Florida Atlantic had his third 1,000+ rushing season of his career, but his numbers dipped once again from 2013. He managed 1,074 yards and eight rushing scores with an average of 4.1 yards per carry. His receiving yards on the year rose from a negligible 78 yards in 2013 to a slightly less negligible 155 yards on 17 catches in 2014.
Unfortunately for Morris, the Redskins struggled to field a capable offense and only scored 301 points on the year. Morris was one of three reliable weapons on offense along with Pierre Garcon and DeSean Jackson. Unfortunately, three quarterbacks led the Redskins throughout the season and none could get steady results. Morris has the skills of a good NFL running back but it is noteworthy that his stats have been less impressive each year since his breakout rookie season in 2012.
13. C.J. Anderson
With injuries to Montee Ball and Ronnie Hillman, C.J. Anderson stepped in and did a fantastic job in the second half of the season. The second year back showed great speed and vision and will likely be competing with Ball in 2015 for the top running back spot in John Fox’s offense, obviously pending his performance in the playoffs. He played in 15 games but started just seven, and in that time he racked up 849 yards with eight touchdowns on the ground and 324 receiving yards and two touchdowns through the air.
His games at the end of November against Miami and Kansas City proved to be his best in terms of yardage as he totalled 195 and 185 total yards in those games respectively. In terms of scoring points, his best weeks came in December. On the 7th he rushed for three touchdowns against the Buffalo Bills’ normally dominant defense (despite just averaging 2.8 yards per carry) and on the 28th when he tore through the Raiders for another three.
12. Mark Ingram
The 2009 Heisman winner, Mark Ingram, became the de facto starter for the New Orleans Saints in 2014 despite how much the term “committee” was thrown around this year. This was due as much to his being the man for the job as it was due to injuries to Khiry Robinson and Pierre Thomas. Unfortunately, Ingram was still unable to crack that pesky 1,000-yard threshold, missing by just 36 yards. He played in 13 games in 2014 and racked up nine rushing touchdowns on 964 yards, adding 145 yards on 29 receptions.
Ultimately, the Saints had a disappointing year, but Ingram was what can loosely be called the star of their offense. Drew Brees may have passed for the most yards of any quarterback in the NFL (tied with Ben Roethlisberger), but his 17 interceptions on the year did his team no favors. Given his talent, Ingram looks like he has what it takes to be a top tier talent in the NFL, but it remains to be seen whether he will remain in New Orleans for 2015.
11. Lamar Miller
After a great first game in which the Miami Dolphins upset the Patriots, it looked like Knowshon Moreno would be capably handling the running back work for the team. He rushed for 134 yards and a single touchdown in week one. After that, however, he suffered a dislocated elbow in week two followed by an ACL tear in week six which would end his season.
The duties fell to Lamar Miller, the third year back out of The U who absolutely tore it up in 2014. On the year he totalled 1,374 yards from scrimmage and piled up nine all-purpose touchdowns including a 97-yarder which is the longest in Dolphins’ history. Miller had a great year in 2014 after his previous two years were decent but unremarkable. Despite his team ending on a loss, week 17 against the New York Jets was the best game of his season, rushing for 178 yards and a single touchdown.
Stay tuned for running backs 10-6
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