Rushing Yards and Rushing Yards By Running Backs In 2017

by Chase Stuart on November 9, 2017

in Checkdowns, Rushing

Carolina is #1… in percentage of rushing yards not by running backs

The Carolina Panthers have rushed for 982 yards this year, an average of 109.1 per game. That ranks 15th in the NFL, and just a hair above the league average rate of 108.1 rushing yards/game. But the Panthers don’t have anything resembling a traditional ground game: of those 982 yards, starting running back Jonathan Stewart has just 350 of them, while quarterback Cam Newton has 341 rushing yards, the most of any quarterback in the NFL in 2017.

In addition, wide receivers Curtis Samuel, Damiere Byrd, and Russell Shepard have combined for 87 yards; that’s the third-most rushing yards in the league for any team behind the Rams (Tavon Austin) and Raiders (Cordarrelle Patterson) among non-QB/non-RBs. In fact, Panthers running backs are averaging just 61.6 rushing yards per game, the fewest in the NFL.

This is hardly shocking, of course: Newton has been an incredible rushing threat since he arrived in the NFL in 2011. But it’s still interesting to see the numbers and understand that the Panthers are an above average team in total rushing, but dead last in rushing by running backs. The table below shows each team’s rushing yards in 2017 through nine weeks, both by running backs only and overall. Here’s how to read the table below. The Jacksonville Jaguars rank 1st in running back rushing yards, with 145.1 per game. The Jaguars also rank 1st in total rushing yards per game, at 166.5. For Jacksonville, 87.2% of their rushing yards have come from running backs. The Panthers rank last in both running back rushing yards per game and percentage of rushing yards by their running backs.

Search:

Rb Rush Yd Rk	Team	RB Rush Yd/G	Rush Yd/G	Rush Yd Rk	RB Perc
1	Jacksonville Jaguars	145.1	1	166.5	87.2%
2	Dallas Cowboys	121.0	2	148.1	81.7%
3	New Orleans Saints	117.4	7	122.8	95.6%
4	Baltimore Ravens	115.8	8	120.9	95.8%
5	Chicago Bears	115.6	6	129.9	89%
6	Philadelphia Eagles	114.0	3	136.8	83.3%
7	Minnesota Vikings	111.4	9	120.0	92.8%
8	Pittsburgh Steelers	107.1	17	108.9	98.4%
9	Atlanta Falcons	103.8	13	114.8	90.4%
10	Los Angeles Rams	103.1	5	131.3	78.6%
11	New England Patriots	101.3	16	109.0	92.9%
12	Denver Broncos	100.9	14	112.4	89.8%
13	New York Jets	96.8	18	106.7	90.7%
14.5	Tennessee Titans	96.5	12	115.4	83.6%
14.5	Houston Texans	96.5	4	132.8	72.7%
16	Kansas City Chiefs	92.1	11	116.7	79%
17	Buffalo Bills	90.6	10	116.9	77.5%
18	Los Angeles Chargers	83.6	25	88.9	94.1%
19	New York Giants	82.6	27	86.8	95.2%
20	Indianapolis Colts	82.1	20	98.7	83.2%
21	Washington Redskins	79.9	21.5	98.6	81%
22	San Francisco 49ers	79.6	24	92.1	86.4%
23	Green Bay Packers	77.1	21.5	98.6	78.2%
24	Miami Dolphins	75.6	30	77.6	97.4%
25	Oakland Raiders	69.9	26	87.9	79.5%
26	Arizona Cardinals	69.1	31	76.4	90.5%
27	Detroit Lions	68.5	29	78.1	87.7%
28	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	67.4	28	81.6	82.5%
29	Cleveland Browns	67.0	23	95.1	70.4%
30	Seattle Seahawks	65.0	19	103.9	62.6%
31	Cincinnati Bengals	62.9	32	72.3	87%
32	Carolina Panthers	61.6	15	109.1	56.4%

The table below breaks down rushing yards for each team by the percentage gained by running backs, quarterbacks, and all other players. Pittsburgh running backs have gained 98.4% of all Steelers rushing yards, most in the NFL. The Browns, Seahawks, and Panthers are the three teams with the lowest percentage of rushing yards by running backs. Unsurprisingly, those tree teams are also the leaders in percentage of rushing yards by quarterbacks, with equally unsurprising appearances by the Texas and Bills at four and five. As for the final column, as discussed, the Rams and Raiders — and perhaps Panthers with Samuel (or Christian McCaffrey, who is of course a running back/wide hybrid) — have truly unique wide receiver/running back hybrids.

Search:

Rush Yd Rk	Team	RB Perc	RB % Rk	QB Perc	QB % Rk	Other perc	Other % Rk
1	Jacksonville Jaguars	87.2%	15	11.6%	15	1.3%	23
2	Dallas Cowboys	81.7%	22	17.6%	7	0.8%	25
3	Philadelphia Eagles	83.3%	19	16.9%	8	-0.2%	31
4	Houston Texans	72.7%	29	25.3%	4	2%	19
5	Los Angeles Rams	78.6%	26	3.4%	24	18%	1
6	Chicago Bears	89%	13	11%	16	0%	28
7	New Orleans Saints	95.6%	4	0.3%	30	4.1%	9
8	Baltimore Ravens	95.8%	3	0.9%	29	3.3%	13
9	Minnesota Vikings	92.8%	8	6.4%	22	0.8%	24
10	Buffalo Bills	77.5%	28	22.5%	5	0%	28
11	Kansas City Chiefs	79%	25	16.5%	10	4.6%	7
12	Tennessee Titans	83.6%	18	14.1%	12	4.4%	8
13	Atlanta Falcons	90.4%	11	8.6%	20	1.4%	22
14	Denver Broncos	89.8%	12	9.8%	18	0.4%	27
15	Carolina Panthers	56.4%	32	34.7%	1	8.9%	3
16	New England Patriots	92.9%	7	3.2%	26	3.9%	10
17	Pittsburgh Steelers	98.4%	1	-1.3%	32	2.9%	15
18	New York Jets	90.7%	9	7.3%	21	2%	18
19	Seattle Seahawks	62.6%	31	32.5%	2	4.9%	6
20	Indianapolis Colts	83.2%	20	16.8%	9	0%	28
21.5	Washington Redskins	81%	23	15.8%	11	3.2%	14
21.5	Green Bay Packers	78.2%	27	19.3%	6	2.5%	16
23	Cleveland Browns	70.4%	30	28.1%	3	1.4%	21
24	San Francisco 49ers	86.4%	17	12.9%	14	0.7%	26
25	Los Angeles Chargers	94.1%	6	0.1%	31	5.8%	5
26	Oakland Raiders	79.5%	24	4.3%	23	16.2%	2
27	New York Giants	95.2%	5	2.9%	28	1.9%	20
28	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	82.5%	21	13.6%	13	3.8%	11
29	Detroit Lions	87.7%	14	10.9%	17	2.1%	17
30	Miami Dolphins	97.4%	2	3.2%	25	-0.6%	32
31	Arizona Cardinals	90.5%	10	2.9%	27	6.5%	4
32	Cincinnati Bengals	87%	16	9.2%	19	3.8%	12

As always, please leave your thoughts in the comments.

Tagged as: Cam Newton, Panthers

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