Fulton’s Fast Break: Honor the run game

Good quarterback play is the secret ingredient to an offense’s recipe, but a strong running game is  the cooking utensils which make the recipe work. 

This isn’t a boomer rant about returning to old-school football and stats prove having a good rushing attack helps a football team immensely. Seven of the top 10 rushing teams made the playoffs while seven of the top 10 passing offenses are watching the postseason from home.  For a history lesson, the only undefeated team in NFL history, the 1972 Miami Dolphins, was led by two 1,000-yard rushers. Twelve years later, the team fell short in the Super Bowl despite Dan Marino coming off a 5,000-yard, 48 touchdown season.

When it comes to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, I don’t believe there is a better running back than CSC’s Elijah Myles, sophomore of Hawthorne, California. Despite nursing an injury early in the season and missing time in two games, Myles still rushed for 1,077 yards and 12 touchdowns.

“People seem to forget about the run game in today’s world of football. The run game can have a huge impact on a team. I have been fortunate to have played with great running backs such as Elijah Myles in my time at Chadron. If you establish a good run attack the defense must defend the run and pass. It sets up for play action shots downfield and can wear a defense down throughout the course of the game. As a quarterback it is a great feeling knowing that the offense can run the play on a team because it opens the pass game even more.” CSC Quarterback Dalton Holst, junior of Gillette, Wyoming, said in a message to The Eagle.

Looking at the last seven MVPs in the NFL, every quarterback on the list led an offense with a strong ground game. Patrick Mahomes’s incredible 2018 season overshadowed Kareem Hunt’s 824 rushing yards in 11 games as the Kansas City Chiefs went 12-4. Even when Peyton Manning threw for 5477 yards and 55 touchdowns in 2013, he had a 1,000-yard rusher. Assuming Lamar Jackson rightfully receives the award next week, 23 of the last 30 MVPs in the NFL all had a 1,000-yard rusher in the backfield or were the running back who had an incredible season. 

Running backs are scrutinized by analysts everywhere, drawing criticism for a short lifespan and being deemed replaceable and unworthy of being a first-round draft pick. This constant criticism is devaluing the position in an unjust manner. Because of his heavy workload in college, Wisconsin Running Back Jonathan Taylor may fall to round two or three of this year’s draft despite rushing for 6,174 yards and 50 touchdowns in only three seasons.

Let’s stop this notion about the run game dying. The secret ingredient in a recipe doesn’t work without the right supplies.