r/NFLNoobs • u/fiddlesoup • 4d ago
What exactly makes it hard for running backs to have longevity?
To further clarify my question, people keep saying it’s a bad idea to give Kenneth Walker 500 touches. Why can’t he just keep playing assuming he remains healthy and uninjured
Saquon had that one insane season, but hasn’t been as insane since then. I presumed it was oline issues, but is it because he just can’t do that season again?
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u/2LostFlamingos 4d ago
They get tackled pretty much on every touch. WRs get hit on maybe 2/3, and by smaller guys.
So contrast Walker getting tackled 400-ish times completed to a WR that maybe gets tackled 75 times.
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u/Left_Astronaut90 4d ago
This! A good RB will go 20-ish times a game and get tackled by 250-300+ lb LB & DL. A good WR might catch 6-8 passes a game and then taken down by a 200lb DB (or pushed out of bounds)
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u/McGillicuddys 4d ago
And a lot of the plays they aren't getting the ball they may be staying in to block against DL or LB
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u/Cocrawfo 3d ago
LBs with a full head of steam at that or or a DL that just shed a block and is also at a full head of steam
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u/Late-Application-47 4d ago
The greatest runningback performance I've ever seen was a triple-overtime game when I was in high school. We ran the Wing-T, and he was our fullback. 49 carriers for 365 and 5 TDs whilst playing nose guard the entire time. He went on to be a Walter Payton Award finalist, is the #2 rusher in GA Southern's long history of rushing offense, and now coaches sprint football at Army. Small town football is where it's at if you wanna runningbacks that can grind it out these days.
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u/Zealousideal_Oil4571 4d ago
This doesn't even include blocking assignments when they aren't running the ball.
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u/thewunderbar 4d ago
long term wear and tear. Walker had 252 touches in 2025. that means he got hit probably 240 times, sometimes multiple times on each play. He also blocks, which is plays he's not getting the ball but also gets hit. The severty of those varies.
When you look at receivers, Pukka Nacua lead the league with 129 receptions last year. he also had 10 carries, so 139 touches. And WR are more likely to not get hit on a play, more likely to run out of bounds, etc. He probably got hit 115 or so times. Wide receivers also block, but they're usually blocking smaller guys.
So Walker had 2x as many touches, and got hit 2x as many times.
That why careers of running backs are shorter. They just get hit so many more times than other players.
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u/1CryptographerFree 4d ago
You’re right especially about the blocking. Pass blocking is brutal for RB’s in NFL. They are 50-100 pounds lighter and they are far enough back from the line of scrimmage that the collision happens at sprinting speed.
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u/NormanMitis 4d ago
Running backs are also getting tackled quite often by very big linemen while receivers are getting tackled by smaller corner backs and safeties. Obviously still wear and tear, but nothing like constantly having 300 lb linemen falling on you 20+ times a game.
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u/LionoftheNorth 4d ago
To build upon this, I think RB is particularly sensitive to a drop in explosive athleticism. A WR who loses his explosiveness can still get open with savvy route running even if he is limited on deep balls or after the catch. A RB who loses his explosiveness might not even make it past the line of scrimmage.
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u/RaidingTheFridge 4d ago
Second really only to Linemen who get hit every play.
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u/thewunderbar 4d ago
At least with lineman they're generally slower speed collisions and not having guys land on them, at least as often.
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u/theEWDSDS 4d ago
WR blocks are also often a lot softer, because they are either chasing down a DB or securing the edge against them. Compare that to a RB where they often have to go against an edge rusher sprinting off the edge.
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u/Mobile-Ice-5874 4d ago
The only thing I'll disagree with is your math on the hits for Nacua. 139 touches so about 115 hits? (Obviously a guess as nobody knows). No argument on that.
You're also forgetting drops. How many times is a receiver targeted and drops the ball, due to a hit?
So even without the touch, still a few more hits. So 139 touches? I could see it being about the same hits.
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u/Admirable_Pop_7292 4d ago
Almost no running backs either A survive 500 touch seasons or B don’t pay for it the next season. This is why vast majority of teams use tandem backfields so they don’t run down their RBs and do not become super dependent on a single player doomed to breakdown or get hurt at some point.
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u/toasty327 4d ago
I remember an old back, Ricky Williams maybe? He was asked what the hardest part of his job is.
His response was lay on the ground. Now stand up. Repeat 30 times. Then he added something about on top of that, running and getting hit constantly.
RBs wear and tear isn't something any other position deals with
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u/girafb0i 4d ago
Because the punishment accumulates. They've been taking hit after hit since they were teenagers, most pro running backs have a lot of miles on their bodies.
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u/redskinsguy 4d ago
Personally I think it's the increased size of players. They're tryi g to run through and being hit by guys so much bigger than they used tk be that it wears them out quicker
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u/IndependentBorder670 4d ago
Marshawn Lynch recently said that according to his physicians, he effectively endured 6 - 8 car crashes each game.
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u/kavinay 4d ago
Bodies break down. Soft tissue injuries accumulate even if you don't suffer a major one. The difference between a running back and most other players is that they touch the ball roughly 20 times a game. A receiver might only be targeted 5 times all game, and so much receptions end in running out of bounds.
The big change in the NFL in the last 20 years has been this understanding that running backs are more "Not For Long" than any other position on the field.
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u/thoughtihadanacct 4d ago
RB is a unique position in terms of taking damage. Oline and Dline are big guys hitting big guys, starting about 2 feet apart. So the force they got each other with is relatively manageable (because they themselves are huge). WR and DB are small on small, so again the force is not much (relatively speaking... I would die, but I'm not an NFL player).
LB is medium on medium when they hit the RB, with a running start, so they take the second most damage. The thing with LB is that they don't take a hit everytime you "use" them. If it's a deep pass or a run away from their side, they don't hit.
With RB, everytime you run your RB he takes damage, regardless of which direction he runs. And he takes the most damage because he's ONE medium guy running into two or three LBs or DLs. He will almost always be out numbered, and possibly out-massed on every running play.
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u/this_curain_buzzez 4d ago
Watch an average run play. It ends with them getting hit by someone probably at least 50 lbs heavier than them, at the bottom of a pile of like 6 people. Those add up.
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u/Reasonable-Tell-7147 3d ago edited 3d ago
The athletes for the last 40 years have been treated like crops - the food we eat today is the product of generations of breeding the cream of the crop so that our food is bigger, better tasting, yet somehow less healthy.
Today you have athletes marrying athletes, breeding kids that are genetically more likely to be bigger, stronger, and faster. There’s also parents spending obscene amounts of money to train kids from the day they can walk so that they are raised from basically day 1 to hit their athletic peaks. And then throw on top the natural thinning out of the player pool that happens at every level, by the time these guys reach the nfl it’s only human beings who are so big and so fast that you legitimately have - proven by science - hits in the nfl that compare to car crashes in terms of g force and kinetic energy on the body because the guys are just now so big and so fast.
So imagine getting into 15-25 car accidents within a 3-4 hour window every week for 18+ weeks. And the league still sits there and goes “well idk why these guys get hurt, let’s add more games for more money!”
In reality it’s no wonder why you have guys now whose bodies break down by 26-27. It’s horrible what the football and professional world has become to be honest. And to be even more honest, comparing the game today - the speed is great. It can be exciting. But it’s so boring compared to even 10-15 years ago let alone 20-25 years ago. It’s so dangerous for players that they’ve had to do everything conceivable to remove risks for players that it’s becoming nothing but a bunch of big fast guys running out of bounds or sliding so they avoid destroying their bodies.
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u/veritable-truth 4d ago
Because players like Walter Payton, Emmitt Smith and Derrick Henry are incredibly rare.
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u/BarracudaFluffy6625 4d ago
Frank Gore too for his longevity, he always produced when his number was called upon.
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u/Sad-Celebration-7542 4d ago
Frank gore was very bad for several thousand yards at the end though. But some GMs are worse
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u/MrShake4 4d ago
For Saquon it is just O-line issues but it is a good question
He is a fantastic RB but he had an all time season because he had 2 pro bowlers + a future HoFer on the O-line. It’s very possible if not likely that all 3 of those guys have already played their final snap as an eagle
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u/Adorable_Secret8498 4d ago
Wear and tear. Same with LBs since they're usually the ones hitting them.
Both are the biggest candidates for CTE.
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u/NormanMitis 4d ago
Does it not seem incredibly obvious that running backs take an incredible amount of abuse doing what they do? And that is what makes longevity so rare with them?
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u/Aggressive_Monitor86 4d ago
Something a lot of people don’t think about is, RB get hit on basically every play, whether they run it or not. If they run it or catch it, they get hit. Or they’re picking up a blitzing LB, or a free rusher from the d line or a blitzing CB. The only players who get hit more than RB are OLine. It’s basically the most physically demanding position on the field.
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u/Old_Independent3248 4d ago
I think many football fans can't adequately comprehend the level of physicality of NFL football and its impact on the body (and brain). All this on a 53 man roster. doing this for 17 games (more if you make the playoffs) is incomprehensively difficult. Winning in the modern NFL comes down to who manages injuries the best. Having said that there is an argument to be made to play guys as much as they can for as long as they can and roll someone else out when they break down. They deserve every damn penny.
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u/therob91 4d ago
As herculean as the players appear, they are still human. RBs might have a couple hits per game that would knock out a qb or WR. Look at half the time a wr hits the ground its someone from behind or him and the db go down with the ball - most of the time a RB goes down he runs into another guy coming at him with a collision. Even the average looking collisions with lineman and LBs take a toll, it is not an easy job. And just as it adds up for a cereer and you have very short shelf lives for RBs you have that play out in a season or even a game as well. Less so in a single game but its there too.
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u/WheresWolfie30 4d ago
Hence why I've always been one to say nfl running backs there rookie deals should pay them more.
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u/Monte_Cristos_Count 4d ago
Run into a brick wall over and over and over again. Eventually, you might be beat up
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u/SlightDonut1 4d ago
I'm Saquons case specifically it's mostly the O line taking a HUGE step back, with a lil bit of him doing the same. In general though it's a health thing. You realistically can't expect they guy to survive the year at too crazy a usage clip. Tons of other positions are relatively low contact when compared. Pass play, QB and all but the one receiver catching the ball might essentially not even be touched. Run the ball instead? Walker is all but certainly getting hit that play.
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u/Cocrawfo 3d ago edited 3d ago
do you see what they have to do every play even when they don’t get the ball?
they also have to focus on the ball in a hand off or a backfield toss so they are also more likely to get blindsided if a play breaks down which is another rough way to take hits their heads cant be on a swivel during those moments
also when the ball hits the ground in the backfield they typically have the first opportunity to dive for it because the QB is gonna step back
and down there they are gonna get lit the fuck up with everybody else going for it even their own teammates falling on the rb to protect the repossession
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u/notwhoiwas44 3d ago
The fact that they get plowed into by 1 or 2 or 3 300 lb guys on most every play.
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u/countrytime1 3d ago
You can find information talking about when the effectiveness of running backs decreases. It’s generally after a certain number of carries, especially if they get too many in a season. I can’t remember where to find it now, or even if it’s really changed with the changes in the game now. But it was pretty dramatic. More chance for injury, being fatigued.
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u/CartezDez 3d ago
You skipped over the most important part, healthy and uninjured.
It’s literally just that. You can’t stay healthy and uninjured with 500 touches.
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u/mhsheets 2d ago
Running Backs get hit each and every play whether they touch the ball or not. Generally by guys bigger than they are. When teams run play action the RB still has to sell the run and gets tackled. When asked to block they’re chipping or taking on DLine and LBs. Again, most of them are bigger.
I don’t like it when teams give a RB that 3rd contract. There are exceptions, see Derrick Henry, but when a RB hits like 26 they have a good year, get paid, and then fade away.
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u/Muninn91 2d ago
Look up Arian Foster or any major running back and you'll see that they have to major leg surgeries by 28. Their lower body gets wrecked from the hits and the carries.
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u/Few-Initial-819 13h ago
Have you ever played RB at any level? I played pretty much every position at least once in high school and there is absolutely nothing like the day after playing running back. Your body takes a beating like no other.
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u/fiddlesoup 12h ago
Nah I didn’t get into football until pretty recently (my wife and I are swifties). Been a pretty eye opening experience.
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u/Few-Initial-819 11h ago
Welcome to the club! But yeah the sport is hard on your body no matter what but running back in another level. 11 freaks of nature dedicated to hitting you as hard as possible every play if you get the ball, plus on other plays having to block blitzing linebackers running full speed directly into you.
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u/Logical-Mobile-7643 4d ago
Because they are running into a brick wall or freight train every other play