Todd Gurley, Alvin Kamara, Kareem Hunt: Who are the NFL's best dual-threat running backs?
Thursday 27 September 2018 19:35, UK
It was only a few years ago the value of the running back was arguably at its lowest it had ever been in the league, with no RBs selected in the first round of either of the 2013 or 2014 NFL drafts.
Cue 2015 and Todd Gurley and Melvin Gordon broke that trend, taken five picks apart on draft day one, signalling a new era of young runners equally adept at catching the ball as they are breaking tackles.
We have already taken a look at the league's best deep-threat wide receivers, but now it's time to pick out six of the NFL's best dual-threat runners...
Todd Gurley (Los Angeles Rams, NFC)
Career receiving touchdowns: 7
The former first-round pick out of Georgia has been the Rams ultimate weapon since being selected 10th overall in 2015. The 24-year-old ran for a total of 1,991 yards and 16 touchdowns over his first two seasons as he accounted for 32 per cent of all Rams touchdowns. Although Gurley was not primarily used in the passing game throughout this time, he still managed to catch 64 passes for 515 yards.
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Last season was Gurley's real breakout year as a dual-threat running back. He finished it with 1,305 rushing yards, 788 receiving and 19 touchdowns - six of which were receiving, with one of them coming from 80 yards out! In the 2018 offseason the Rams kept their faith in Gurley and signed him to a mega four-year, $60m contract extension. He's already proving he's worth the money as, in Week Two, Gurley ran in three scores against the Arizona Cardinals in a 34-0 shutout win for the Rams.
Alvin Kamara (New Orleans Saints, NFC)
Career receiving touchdowns: 6
Kamara came into the league last season as a dark horse and with a lot of controversy behind him throughout his college career due to behavioural issues. However, New Orleans took a gamble on him when they traded up to get their guy in the third round. It's pretty safe to say the move has paid off so far. In his rookie season, the 23-year-old out of Tennessee ran for 728 yards and eight touchdowns, which are already pretty solid numbers. Kamara then added 826 receiving yards and five more TDs on 81 receptions to that, giving him over 1,500 yards from the line of scrimmage.
Kamara's 81 receptions were more than A.J. Green, Mike Evans and Rob Gronkowski, who are all No 1 targets for their respective teams. On the 81 receptions, Kamara also had the highest catch completion rate among receivers who caught over 60 passes, at 81 per cent.
Christian McCaffrey (Carolina Panthers, NFC)
Career receiving touchdowns: 5
The 22-year-old showed his versatility all throughout his time at college, where he set the NCAA record for most all-purpose yards in a single season with 3,864. He brought this fine form into the NFL with the Panthers, who drafted him eighth overall last year.
McCaffrey did not impress a huge amount in the running game, with only 435 rushing yards and two touchdowns, but he more than made up for it by becoming one of Cam Newton's most reliable targets. He caught 80 passes for 651 yards and five touchdowns in a Carolina team that finished with an 11-5 record. McCaffrey caught more passes than any of his team-mates last season and was the only Panther to tally over 1,000 all-purpose yards.
The 2018 season has started well for McCaffrey, who ran for a career-best 184 yards in the 31-21 win over the Cincinnati Bengals last week.
Kareem Hunt (Kansas City Chiefs, AFC)
Career receiving touchdowns: 4
After fumbling on his first carry in an NFL game against the New England Patriots last season, it looked like Hunt's NFL career could have been a short one. Instead, the 23-year-old out of Toledo decided to pound the then Super Bowl reigning champions for 148 rushing yards, 98 receiving yards and two touchdowns in a 42-27 win.
Hunt went on to win rookie of the year and finished with the most rushing yards in the NFL,1,327, with a further 455 receiving yards added to that. He finished the season with eight rushing and three receiving TDs. Although Hunt was not used as heavily in the passing game as other running backs, he was still massively effective.
Hunt has not been utilised as much this season due to the emergence of Patrick Mahomes at quarterback, who has broken Peyton Manning's record for the most touchdown passes thrown through the first three weeks of a season, with 13.
Melvin Gordon (Los Angeles Chargers, AFC)
Career receiving touchdowns: 8
At college, Gordon was used solely as a running back where he recorded the second-most rushing yards by a player ever with 2,587, only 41 yards behind Barry Sanders. However, after being drafted 15th overall in the 2015 draft by the Chargers, they decided to use him in the passing game as well.
Gordon failed to score a touchdown in his first season, but in 2016 and 2017, Gordon tallied a total of 24 scores - 18 on the ground and six in the air. Throughout his four-year career, Gordon averages 90 yards per game and is well on track to continue that this season, as he's already bagged himself 316 all-purpose yards alongside four TDs.
James White (New England Patriots, AFC)
Career receiving touchdowns: 14
Last on the list is James White, who narrowly beats out Le'Veon Bell, due to the fact Bell is not currently seeing action in 2018 and could potentially be getting traded from the Pittsburgh Steelers in the near future.
White is the oldest back on our list, drafted back in 2014. He was initially seen as a prototypical runner, with 45 rushing touchdowns in college, but the Patriots quickly turned him into a threat in the passing game too. The former Wisconsin badger rose to fame when he was the unlikely hero in New England's remarkable 28-3 comeback win over the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI. He set a Super Bowl record that day for most points scored (20), with three touchdowns and a two-point conversion.
In all but one of the 26-year-old's five seasons in the NFL, he has had more receiving yards than rushing yards and has only scored two rushing touchdowns in his professional career (excluding the playoffs). Despite never going over 700 yards in a season, White's elusiveness always makes him available for Tom Brady to throw to when he's in trouble, which is one of the reasons he has been able to keep a place on the Patriots roster for so long. He was rewarded for this by being named as a captain for the 2018 season.
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