THE GIVING TRIAGE

Running back tandems are the NFL rage. Who has the best?

by Chris Sprow

Last year, LaDainian Tomlinson led the NFL with just 1474 yards rushing. It's a good year by most standards, but consider that the league-leader over the previous five seasons averaged 1,862 yards.

Why the drop-off? Well…

Last year, LT had only 315 carries. Among the rushing leaders over the past five years, only Tomlinson in 2006 had below 350 carries—he had 348. Of course, in both 2006 and 2007, LT gladly spent more time sharing the ball with Michael Turner, who burst on the scene in 2006 with 502 yards and a ridiculous 6.3 YPC. Turner took off to become a 1-A instead of a 1-B, and has helped carry Atlanta to the league's most surprising start. In short, carries are falling for top backs because solid tandems are a huge priority for GMs, both to preserve good backs, and to change the look for defenses.

In the current issue of ESPN The Magazine, we look into the rise of Jonathan Stewart, who along with DeAngelo Williams forms one of the top young backfield pairings in the league. Here, we polled The Magazine's wooly and wise football dept and have ranked the rest.

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10. Willis McGahee and Le'Ron McClain, Baltimore
Baltimore might as well concede that McGahee isn't a classic workhouse and keep him healthy by splitting carries. McClain has 65 to McGahee's 58. And surprise, McClain—who at just 6-feet tall and 260 pounds is like trying to tackle Grimace if he could run a 4.6 forty—has a better per carry average, at 4.1 yards a pop, than McGahee's 3.2.

Rising or Falling? Sort of depends on the development of Joe Flacco. They'll see a lot of 8 in the Box until he starts throwing more TD's. He has just one this year. (And yes, Matt Ryan is sort of wasting his flavor.)

9. Julius Jones and Maurice Morris, Seattle
It's actually something of a credit to Seattle that they could be 5th in the league in rushing (137.2 ypg) and Jones could be tied for 7th in the league at 417 yards rushing with a solid 4.6 YPC average when the 'Hawks have a busted quarterback and recently called Steve Largent to see if he remembered how to run a seven-yard out. (That may or may not have been a joke.) TJ Duckett actually has more yards than Morris, but the other alliterated one will get more now that he's healthy. Also good about Seattle's backs: zero fumbles.

Rising or Falling? As long as Mike Holmgren is there and Walter Jones shows up before Week 1 next year, this team will be running the ball well. In other words, uh-oh. For this year at least, they should stay steady.

8. Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams, Carolina
As Stewart told us, "I'm just trying to punish people when it's my time" Well, it is. He and Williams basically split carries (Williams 85, Stewart 71) and both may very well hit 800 yards for the year. Or more. The issue? Carolina averages just 3.6 YPC as a team and is 19th in the league in rushing. On talent alone, these guys are maybe higher than their production would indicate, but…

Rising or Falling? These guys got the votes, but they haven't even produced a lot yet. Once they add some other skills (Stewart has just two catches for 9 yards) they can go higher.

7. Reggie Bush and Deuce McCallister, New Orleans
Rip on Reggie Bush for low YPC average (3.1) all you want. He is exactly what the Saints' offense—the league's leading offense at 412 ypg—requires. He has 41 catches, second in the NFL only to Greg Jennings and his presence in the backfield still scares the bejeezus out of LBs, freeing up downfield passing lanes for first quarter MVP, Drew Brees. Deuce is just getting healthy. On talent alone, these two could be higher, but New Orleans is so good in the passing game, they get fewer carries than they could. Plus, "Deuce and Reggie," … how is that not a cop show pilot on the USA Network?

Rising or Falling? Steady as Brees goes.

6. Darren McFadden and Justin Fargas/Michael Bush Oakland
Oakland is 4th in the league in rushing at 141 YPG and it's not because teams are deathly afraid of the passing game. McFadden is averaging 5.1 YPC, which is fantastic for a rookie not named Peterson. Fargas can catch the ball and provides speed, and people forget Bush was a monster in college but had a botched surgery and is just now getting right. Until one of 'em is seen wearing orange or red in public and is fired and eviscerated in public by Al Davis for a lack of loyalty, they are a great mix.

Rising or Falling? From the perspective of talent and promise, who wouldn't want to take over JaMarcus Russell handing off to these guys? Jim Fassel? If they get a good offensive coach who has, um, deference to the looming specter, watch out.

5. Ernest Graham and Warrick Dunn, Tampa Bay
Honestly, they could be higher. Tampa is scowling its way to 6th in the league in rushing at 136 YPG, both backs are on pace for 1000 yards, they split carries evenly (Dunn 75, Graham 72), they both average over five yards per carry (Dunn 5.1, Graham 5.5) and they have zero fumbles between them. Any negatives there? Warrick Dunn, who builds more houses than FEMA, is always a part of a team with a solid running game. Graham? He's got a good story too.

Rising or Falling? They really should be higher on stats alone, but the votes weren't there. We think they need an ad campaign. Or an attack ad. We could whip one up. Also, "Warrick and Ernest"? No TV pilot forthcoming.

4. Brandon Jacobs and Derrick Ward, New York Giants
Jacobs, at 447 yards on just 79 carries, is on pace for over 1,400, and Derrick Ward is also on pace for 1000-plus. The best thing about these two: insanely high yards per carry. Jacobs, who is one inch taller and 27 pounds heavier than Lawrence Taylor's prime playing size, averages 5.7 ypc, and Ward gets a somewhat obnoxious 7.4. In the end, the Giants, with 181.2 ypg as a team, average 19 more ypg than second place Atlanta. They lose points off name recognition, which is really to say there's a suspicion that any other good tandem could do well in Jersey right now.

Rising or Falling? The mess in Cleveland notwithstanding, these guys should dominate. The passing game is there, as is the O-line. They could move up—and don't forget third-wheel Bradshaw. Also, did we mention Brandon Jacobs is legitimately frightening?

3. Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams, Miami
They don't have the productivity of the Giants' tandem, but it takes two guys (and no quarterback) to run the Wildcat offense, and what the Dolphins did in New England with the offense was perhaps the move of the season. Chad Pennington's arm strength isn't making anybody forget Dan Marino (or, um, Fiedler), so these guys deal with a stacked front and still should get 1000 and 750-plus yards respectively. Brown leads all runners in TDs and seriously, they hand off to each other, in the NFL. You can't do that, right?

Rising or Falling? On talent and novelty, we like this tandem, but they are down to 11th in rushing (120 ypg) after combining for 211 at New England, and teams will adjust further. Unless this offense shows more balance, and Ricky grows more hair (seriously, Ricky without hair is like LT without a visor), they'll drop. Samson, bro. Think about it.

2. Michael Turner and Jerious Norwood, Atlanta
The only thing that will keep a healthy Turner from 2000 yards is the fact that Atlanta has to utilize Norwood somehow or they're crazy. So Turner, a bowling ball on toothpicks basking in his alpha-back status after LT-induced purgatory, instead is on pace for a paltry 1,854 yards. Meanwhile, Norwood gets 6.8 yards every time he touches it—when he touches it. Over the last three games, he has just 10 carries, but at an average of 9.4 YPC. Still, he should eclipse 750 yards. This is a diverse backfield, and they complement each other off the field beautifully. For example, Norwood loves to hunt and fish, and Turner loves to eat.

Rising or Falling? If Matty Ryan can keep this up, this team could be like when rookie Ben Roethlisberger ran Pittsburgh with Bettis and Parker. If the rookie QB struggles at all, it's justa good reason to ride them more, which ain't a bad option.

1. Marion Barber III and Felix Jones, Dallas
Almost a unanimous choice No. #1 by our poll, Barber and Jones (the latter will be out 2-4, with, as Al Michaels would say, a hamstring) have been electric when used properly. That's the problem. The vote in this case has to be biased for talent because on a couple of occasions, Dallas just forgets they exist. When they lost to Washington 26-24 two weeks ago, Dallas ran an inexplicable 11 times total! One was Romo, two were by T.O. (Romo threw 47 times that game). In their latest loss Sunday at Arizona, Dallas ran the ball just 22 times versus 39 passes. Barber is 6th in the league in rushing and should hit 1,200 yards, and Jones can be breathtaking, averaging an absurd 8.9 YPC. And there's this: since Jerry lost Emmitt Smith and embraced tandem-hood full time, this is his best crew. Jones is the fast one, but he also weighs close to 220 pounds, and Barber will a) not run out of bounds—ask those who know—but b) once ran the 100 meters in under 10.9. NFL players. They're just like you and me.

Rising or Falling? These two have to get more touches, which should bode well for them, and a team who gets away too infatuated with Tony Romo sometimes. That may be a T.O. Public Relations LLC effect. Now, however, Brad Johnson steps in at QB, a perfect time to re-introduce the ground game while Romo nurses his purple pinky. No?

We'll let ourselves out.

Close, But Not Cuban

-Portis and Betts, Washington: The team averages 152 yards per, good for 3rd in the league, but it's all Clinton, who leads all backs with 643 yards.

-Young and Pittman, Denver: We think they should be higher, but neither is above 26th in rushing, and their coach doesn't seem as committed to the cause as he has been in past years. In love with Cutler's arm? Well, Elway didn't win til you could run it, coach.

-Parker and Mendenhall, Pittsburgh: Should be in the mix based on talent, but Tomlin is afraid of Rashad's propensity to drop the brown bean.

-Peterson and Taylor, Minnesota: Taylor doesn't carry much at all anymore (29 carries for 110 yards), and what's up with AP's 4.4 ypc? Find hairs. We'll split them mercilessly.

-Writer's Note: Initially wanted to mention LenDale White and Chris Johnson (Tennessee) here. In fact, we just wrote a TON on it. Johnson we like, but LenDale's ypc, at 2.6, even with all the goal line work, is pretty pathetic.

Next Week: WR Tandems … T.O. convinces us that he's No. 3 … by himself. Also, Rosenhaus, who can write(!) reps both T.O. and Chad Johnson. Can't this happen? We can't get 'em together as a football/social/science/media experiment? On par with the Hadron Collider? Potentially.

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