Ranking the NFC West’s running back rooms entering 2022
The NFC West has been known in the past for great running backs. Players like Marshawn Lynch, Frank Gore, David Johnson, Todd Gurley and Steven Jackson have been among the best in the league playing in the division.
But in 2021, not a single running back in the NFC West rushed for 1,000 yards.
That doesn’t mean that the running back rooms in the division are bad. They are pretty good.
How do the four teams in the division rank with their running back rooms?
Read on!
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1. Arizona Cardinals (James Conner, Darrel Williams, Eno Benjamin)
Both Conner and Williams had more than 1,000 total yards from scrimmage in 2021. Benjamin has been the talk of the offseason for the team.
San Francisco’s Elijah Mitchell is the best back in the division entering the season, but Williams is more accomplished and steady than Jeff Wilson.
2. San Francisco 49ers (Elijah Mitchell, Jeff Wilson, Trey Sermon)
Head coach Kyle Shanahan’s running scheme is the best in the NFL. He turns every late-round or undrafted running back into a productive player before injuries limit playing time.
Mitchell was a sixth-round rookie and led the division in rushing. Wilson had a strange foot injury last offseason but has shown he can have big games. Sermon has the promise to be a workhorse but just couldn’t crack the playing rotation.
3. Los Angeles Rams (Cam Akers, Darrell Henderson, Jake Funk/Kyren Williams)
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Akers played only one game last season after tearing his Achilles but will be fully healthy this year. Darrell Henderson has had back-to-back 600-yard seasons.
4. Seattle Seahawks (Charis Carson, Rashaad Penny, Kenneth Walker)
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I want to make it clear that if Carson is healthy and Penny even is close to how he played to finish last season, they have the best running back room in the division by far.
Penny had 135 or more rushing yards in four of the final five games of the season and led the NFL in yards per rush with 6.3.
Carson was one of the league’s best backs but he has not yet been able to fully recover from a neck injury.
Penny’s career has been inconsistent and injury-filled. There is promise for Walker, a rookie this season, but with the uncertainty of Carson and only Penny’s flash late last season, Seattle can’t be any higher than the bottom right now.
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