Multiple Backs Can Turn Weakness Into a Strength

Many NFL teams have been making like centipedes this season and relying on multiple legs. Among the teams that are splitting rushes between two backs or more are the Raiders, Lions, Patriots, Dolphins, Chiefs, Panthers, Giants, 49ers, Vikings and Buccaneers. That’s nearly one-third of the league.

These teams all share the problem of not having a dominant back at their disposal. Some of them have excellent backs, such as Robert Smith (Vikings) and Warrick Dunn (Bucs), but they aren’t 25-carries-a-game backs. Some of them have budding stars, such as Cecil Collins (Dolphins), but they aren’t ready to carry the load yet. Some of them, such as the Giants and 49ers, have been trying to compensate for injured players.

“Teams that are doing it are the ones that don’t have a Barry Sanders back there,” says Patriots offensive coordinator Ernie Zampese.

With an envious blend of abilities at the halfback position, the Raiders have used the multiple-back approach as well as any team in the league, and have a 2-1 record to show for it.

“It’s been a good thing for our team, a healthy thing,” Raiders Coach Jon Gruden says. “It’s good for our morale, and it’s helping us have a more effective offense. We’re trying to get something out of everybody.”

The Raiders have used their running backs like fancy restaurants use forks, assigning a specific purpose to each. Napoleon Kaufman gets the ball mostly when the Raiders are working with a big field. Twenty-three of his 30 carries have come when the Raiders have been outside the opponents’ 40. Because of his explosiveness, Kaufman is at his best when the offense can create space around him, or if he can get near the edge of the defense with pitches and tosses. Tyrone Wheatley has been used to eat up the clock and wear down opponents. Many of his carries have come on runs in the middle of the field. Randy Jordan is the third-down pass protector and short-yardage man--or at least he was until Gruden sat him down during the Raiders’ victory over the Bears last Sunday after Jordan lost two fumbles (one on a rush, one on a kickoff return). Really, Jordan should be wearing a number in the 70s, because basically he’s just another blocker.

Gruden is turning what had been a weakness into a potential strength. There had been talk of trading Kaufman because he wasn’t big and strong enough to be an every-down back. But then the Raiders came to the conclusion that Kaufman could be very effective if he could be rested throughout the game and complemented by a big back. On draft day, the Raiders came close to trading for Wheatley, but the deal fell apart. When the Dolphins released Wheatley, the Raiders jumped on him. The toughness of Wheatley, a former first-round pick (Giants, ‘95) had been in question, but he has run with tenacity this year before bruising his shoulder late in the game against the Bears. Wheatley has played 95 snaps to Kaufman’s 50, and has 41 carries to Kaufman’s 30.

“They pound guys down with Wheatley, then bring in Kaufman, and he cuts everything back like Barry Sanders,” Bears defensive tackle Jim Flanigan says.

Now, the Raiders’ running game is as versatile as any team’s. They have shown 11 different backfield looks, mixing personnel and formations, and likely will show more once Zack Crockett is healthy. Gruden can call for his “Patriot” backfield, which deploys Wheatley and fullback Jon Ritchie; his “Rocket” backfield, which uses two halfbacks; his “Big” backfield, which plays Jordan and Ritchie; or his “Joker,” a single-back set. Flanigan says the Raiders forced the Bears to prepare for a lot of different possibilities.

There are benefits to playing more than one back. The Panthers like the way Tshimanga Biakabutuka and Fred Lane are pushing one another. Competition brings out the best in both. Once Gary Brown gets healthy, the Giants plan to have LeShon Johnson alternate occasionally with Brown. “Going from LeShon to Brown is like going from breaking balls to fastballs,” Giants General Manager Ernie Accorsi says.

The Patriots are hoping that by playing three backs, they can minimize the deficiencies of all three. Playing Terry Allen full time probably would ensure he wouldn’t make it through the season. Allen, 31, is playing on two reconstructed knees and hasn’t lasted a full 16-game schedule since 1996. Playing rookie Kevin Faulk full time would expose his inexperience. And Faulk, for a different reason, might not be any better suited to be a workhorse than Allen. Faulk is 5-8, 197 pounds. Third-down back Lamont Warren doesn’t have the running skills of either Allen or Faulk, but he can contribute as a receiver and pass protector.

“We need to play both, to develop the young guy (Faulk) and employ the older guy (Allen) who has done it before,” Zampese says. “But we’d like to keep the number of carries down for [Allen]. He’s taken a lot of hits.”

Still, splitting carries for most teams is a holding pattern, a temporary state. Most teams that are divvying up carries are not doing it because they want to. In fact, many of them could be in the running back market in the offseason.

Even Gruden acknowledges it’s easier to call plays with one every-down back. When using different backs, coaches have to be concerned about becoming predictable. “With one back getting all the carries, you don’t have to worry so much about tendencies from a self-scout standpoint,” Gruden says.

For instance, the Raiders have been somewhat predictable when Jordan is on the field. On Jordan’s 49 snaps, not including short-yardage situations, the Raiders haven’t run the ball once. Then again, Jordan has played mostly with the nickel offense, which generally is not designed for runs.

The only teams that have had success with splitting carries in recent seasons and are doing it by choice this season are the Vikings and Bucs. Smith picks up chunks of yards for the Vikings, and Leroy Hoard gets the tough ones. The Bucs give a lot of carries to their fullback, Mike Alstott, which is unusual, but he also plays in some one-back sets and complements the shifty Dunn nicely.

Maybe what the Vikings and Bucs have done has inspired the other teams. In many cases, NFL teams are discovering six legs are better than two.