In 2020, Derrick Henry had a monster season, rushing for 2,027 yards. In an era where the game continues to shift more to passing every year, Henry’s effort was truly remarkable. It’s also interesting that Buffalo WR Stefon Diggs led the NFL with 1,535 receiving yards.

That made 2020 a bit unusual: in recent seasons, the player with the most receiving yards tends to have a higher number than the player with the most rushing yards. That’s a reversal of how things used to be. The graph below shows the NFL’s rushing and receiving king in each season, and how many rushing or receiving yards they gained. For non-16 game seasons, the numbers were pro-rated to a 16-game era.

And here is the differential each year, shown from the perspective of the rushing leader’s number minus the receiving leader’s number.

In fact, this was the largest delta in favor of the rushing leader since 1998. That’s pretty notable, in light of 2020 being the greatest passing season in league history. Which reminds me: this post is due for an update.

What stands out to you?