The 2017 Cleveland Browns went 0-16, a season the franchise would like to forget. The team’s best offensive player was running back Isaiah Crowell, who shouldered a very large percentage of the team’s rushing workload – at least among running backs. Quarterback DeShone Kizer finished second on the team in rushing yards, while backup running back Duke Johnson was the team’s leader in targets, receptions, and receiving yards — and it wasn’t particularly close.
One thing that was notable about Crowell’s season: among Browns running backs, Crowell was the leader in rushing yards in all 16 games. Four other teams had one player lead the team’s running backs in rushing in 15 of 16 games: the Rams with Todd Gurley, the Steelers with Le’Veon Bell, the Chiefs with Kareem Hunt, and the Colts with Frank Gore. Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, and Kansas City all made the players and rested starters in week 17; Gurley, Bell, and Hunt led their teams in rushing in each of the first 15 team games of the season. As for Indianapolis, Gore led the team in rushing each week with one notable exception: against the 49ers, Marlon Mack rushed 9 times for 91 yards, while Gore had 14 carries for only 48 yards against his former team. Save that for the revenge game narrative.
We talk a lot about how running back by committee is retaking the league after the stud running back era of the mid-’00s. Last year, for 15 of the league’s 32 teams, one running back led the team in rushing in 75% of their team’s games. I’m not quite sure whether this is the best or even the right way to measure RBBC, but I do think it’s a useful balancing act against other, typical measures.
The table below shows, for each team, how many games one RB led all team running backs in rushing:
| Team | Player | Games Leading |
|---|---|---|
| Browns | Isaiah Crowell | 16 |
| Rams | Todd Gurley | 15 |
| Steelers | Le'Veon Bell | 15 |
| Chiefs | Kareem Hunt | 15 |
| Colts | Frank Gore | 15 |
| 49ers | Carlos Hyde | 14 |
| Bills | LeSean McCoy | 14 |
| Raiders | Marshawn Lynch | 13 |
| Saints | Mark Ingram | 13 |
| Bears | Jordan Howard | 13 |
| Chargers | Melvin Gordon | 12 |
| Ravens | Alex Collins | 12 |
| Patriots | Dion Lewis | 12 |
| Broncos | C.J. Anderson | 12 |
| Jets | Bilal Powell | 11 |
| Jaguars | Leonard Fournette | 11 |
| Texans | Lamar Miller | 11 |
| Bengals | Joe Mixon | 11 |
| Falcons | Devonta Freeman | 11 |
| Cowboys | Ezekiel Elliott | 10 |
| Panthers | Jonathan Stewart | 10 |
| Redskins | Samaje Perine | 9 |
| Lions | Ameer Abdullah | 9 |
| Titans | Derrick Henry; DeMarco Murray | 8 |
| Giants | Orleans Darkwa | 8 |
| Vikings | Latavius Murray | 8 |
| Dolphins | Jay Ajayi; Kenyan Drake | 7 |
| Eagles | LeGarrette Blount | 7 |
| Buccaneers | Doug Martin | 7 |
| Packers | Jamaal Williams | 7 |
| Cardinals | Adrian Peterson | 6 |
| Seahawks | Thomas Rawls; Mike Davis | 4 |
The Seahawks, of course, with their historically unimpressive running game, show up last on the list. J.D. McKissic (including a game with six yards) and Chris Carson led the team in rushing (by running backs) in three games each, while Eddie Lacy led all Seahawks running backs in two games.
On the other hand, there’s a team like the Saints. Between Ingram and Alvin Kamara, the Saints had perhaps the impressive RBBC in modern history. But while Kamara was a great receiving back and had 65% as many rushing yards as Ingram, he only led the team in rushing 3 times. New Orleans had a running back by committee situation, but when it came to weekly rushing, Ingram operated like a traditional workhorse.