Rushing yards trends & analysis 1970-present

I went back to 1970 (AFL-NFL Merger) and did some research on rushing yards. I wanted to chart what the highest amount of yardage (leader) was for each season/year for white rushers (RB/FB/QB/Whatever). I thought it would be interesting to see the trends (although I am not going to graph it). For each season I'm going to name the rusher, the yardage amount, & in parentheses I'm going to put where that rusher ranks that season for total rushing yardage [For example, for 2023 it would be: Christian McCaffrey, 1,459 yards (#1)]. That way we can contextualize what an amount really means relative to the rest of the league for that particularly selected year. **Also, unlike the receiving post I did like this, for this one in addition to the name of the rusher I think it would be interesting to see how they are classified positionally.....so I will be naming the position they are given on the source I'm using (Profootballreference.com). For example, some seasons John Riggins is listed as a Fullback and other seasons he is listed as a Running Back, so there may appear to be some discrepancies on the list. If you guys see any type of error or correction I need to make, PLEASE feel free to correct me and I'll edit it. I have no ego whatsoever when it comes to this stuff. I'm just incredibly curious to understand it all.

1970: Larry Csonka FB 874 yards (#5)
1971: Larry Csonka FB 1,051 yards (#3)
1972: Larry Csonka FB 1,117 yards (#4)
1973: Larry Csonka FB 1,003 yards (#5)
1974: Marv Hubbard FB 865 yards (#7)
1975: John Riggins FB 1,005 yards (#7)
1976: Rocky Bleier RB 1,036 yards (#9)
1977: Mark Van Eeghen FB 1,273 yards (#2)
1978: Mark Van Eeghen FB 1,080 yards (#8)
1979: John Riggins FB 1,153 yards (#9)
1980: Mark Van Eeghen FB 838 yards (#11)
1981: Rob Carpenter FB 822 yards (#21)
1982: John Riggins RB 553 yards (#15) *Strike shortened season. No 1k runners, league leader had 786 yards.
1983: John Riggins RB 1,347 yards (#5)
1984: John Riggins RB 1,239 yards (#6)
1985: Craig James FB 1,227 yards (#9)
1986: Craig James FB 427 yards (#40)
1987: Jamie Mueller FB 354 yards (#42) *Strike shortened season.
1988: Merril Hoge FB 705 yards (#21)
1989: Merril Hoge FB 621 yards (#24)
1990: Merril Hoge FB 772 yards (#18)
1991: Merril Hoge FB 610 yards (#26)
1992: Steve Young QB 537 yards (#30)
1993: Tommy Vardell FB 644 yards (#27)
1994: Steve Young QB 293 yards (#51)
1995: Mark Brunell QB 480 yards (#37)
1996: Mark Brunell QB 396 yards (#45)
1997: Mike Alstott FB 665 yards (#29)
1998: Mike Alstott FB 846 yards (#24)
1999: Mike Alstott FB 949 yards (#15)
2000: Rich Gannon QB 529 yards (#32) *Gannon was 35 years old during this season.
2001: Mike Alstott FB 680 yards (#28)
2002: Mike Alstott FB 548 yards (#36)
2003: Jeff Garcia QB 319 yards (#52)
2004: David Carr QB 299 yards (#58)
2005: David Carr QB 308 yards (#56)
2006: Charlie Frye QB 215 yards (#60)
2007: Brian Leonard FB 303 yards (#57)
2008: Tyler Thigpen QB 386 yards (#54)
2009: Aaron Rodgers QB 316 yards (#64)
2010: Peyton Hillis RB 1,177 yards (#11)
2011: Tim Tebow QB 660 yards (#28)
2012: Peyton Hillis RB 309 yards (#60) *right behind him @ #61 is Danny Woodhead, also listed as RB, and having 301 yards.
2013: Alex Smith QB 431 yards (#49) *right behind him @ #50 is Danny Woodhead, still listed as RB, having 429 yards.
2014: Blake Bortles QB 419 yards (#47)
2015: Alex Smith QB 498 yards (#45)
2016: Aaron Rodgers QB 369 yards (#50)
2017: Christian McCaffrey RB 435 yards (#44)
2018: Christian McCaffrey RB 1,098 yards (#6)
2019: Christian McCaffrey RB 1,387 yards (#3)
2020: Taysom Hill QB/WR 457 yards (#46) *Hill is listed as QB/WR for this season
2021: Josh Allen QB 763 yards (#25)
2022: Christian McCaffrey RB 1,139 yards (#8)
2023: Christian McCaffrey RB 1,459 yards (#1)
2024: Josh Allen QB 531 yards (#41)
2025: TBD

3 things;

1. Rob Carpenter in 1981 & Christian McCaffrey in 2022 both played for 2 different teams during their respective seasons.

2. For 2025, Christian McCaffrey is on pace for 1,084 yards, Cam Skattebo (at time of his injury) was on pace to finish with 872 yards, Josh Allen is on pace to finish at 580 yards, Justin Herbert is on pace to finish with 500 yards, Jaxson Dart is on pace to finish with 472 yards, and Drake Maye is on pace to finish with 417 yards.

3. Below is the screenshot of what profootballreference.com (PFR) has listed as Taysom Hill's position designations throughout the years:



What say you all?

It's more awesome research. My only suggestion would be to take out the QBs and list only the RBs (and FBs). I think that would illuminate the Caste System much more starkly and how just as with receivers it went hard-core in the mid-1980s with the near total elimination of White running backs, a still ongoing situation despite a generational "outlier" like McCaffrey and possibly Skattebo. And CFers well know that "outliers" at all the mostly black positions changes nothing when it comes to the "scouting services," "draft gurus" and the NFL Draft itself year after year, decade after decade.

Great work! I think many peoples eyes would be opened to the Caste system after reading this chart. I think charts like this could be done on QB's separately and tight ends separately. Would really illuminate the attempt to get rid of white men in the NFL by the NFL owners and the league brass.

Excellent! Thank you for taking the time.

Great list, however as Don said, I think it would be more impactful if RB/FB are separated from QBs.

Great post! Wonder what forces were already in play to see such a nosedive from 85 to 86. I’m sure it was years or decades in the making but wonder why the line of demarcation is 1985

jphoss said:

Great post! Wonder what forces were already in play to see such a nosedive from 85 to 86. I’m sure it was years or decades in the making but wonder why the line of demarcation is 1985

Click to expand...

It was a number of years in the making but the poisonous fruits of it really "blossomed" in '85 and '86.

Among receivers, going into the '85 season the top White WRs were Steve Largent, Steve Watson, Dwight Clark and Cris Collinsworth. Largent was aging out, and Watson and Clark's careers ended up being shortened by injuries. Collinsworth was the last White receiver drafted early for a long time, being taken in the second round by the Bengals in '81. He went over 1,000 yards in four of his first six seasons, then was injured in the strike shortened season of 1987 and again in '88. He then retired after '88 at the age of 29 and went to law school before becoming a broadcaster.

So the leading White receivers were all but finished by '86 and '87 and the short season of '87 made stats for that year meaningless compared to previous years. With no "replacements" being drafted, the phasing out of Whites as starting wideouts was complete by the late '80s.

Among running backs, John Riggins like Largent was at the end of a long career, especially for a running back, having been drafted back in 1971. So after Csonka, Van Eeghen, Hubbard, Carpenter and a few other notable White running backs in the 1970s aged out there was no one left to replace Riggins other than Craig James, who was drafted in the 7th round by the Patriots in 1983 after starring in the same backfield with Eric Dickerson at SMU. James broke through for 1,227 yards in '85, then was hit by the injury bug and rushed for only 452 yards over three seasons after that, leaving the NFL completely free of starting White RBs. It would be 25 long years before Peyton Hillis's big season in 2010.

Merrill Hoge kind of started for the Steelers for three seasons in the late '80s and early '90s as a hybrid fullback/tailback but was never a bellcow or even the definitive starter given his hybrid role, and there were a few others who played a bit but never as starters for more than a game or two. One who comes to mind is Gil Fennerty with the Saints, who flashed but of course was quickly out of the league. Bill Cowher instantly squashed Hoge's career when he replaced Chuck Noll.

There were a few White receivers in the late '80s through mid-'90s but they were all backups except for Ricky Proehl. Todd Kinchen reminds me of TeSlaa and Jordy Nelson as far as talent and big play ability but he was thoroughly screwed over along with a number of others. Every year I would closely follow the White receivers and running backs of the new NFL season and they would always be summarily cut or go from team to team for a cup of coffee, in Tom Kennedy fashion.

When free agent Wayne Chrebet started as a rookie for the Jets in '95 it was shocking and there were murmurs that head coach Rich Kotite was a "racist." Keyshawn Johnson despised having to start alongside Chrebet and knocked him whenever he could.

The mid '80s to 1997 was absolutely the pits as far as following the NFL. Defenses had also gone overwhelmingly black and there were almost no White defensive stars. Today we at least have a sprinkling of White receivers, running backs, pass rushers, linebackers and even safeties and cornerbacks and tight end has become pretty White overall, but back then the QB position was 90 percent White and the o-line about 75 to 80 percent White, the one good aspect of it compared to today's Caste NFL.