AUSTIN EKELER – CHUCK FOREMAN
Most people think that the ‘running back who catches passes’ phenomenon began in the 80’s with the West Coast Offense. Actually, this goes much further back than that. You could go back to the 50’s and 60’s Baltimore Colts, led by Johnny Unitas. Lenny Moore was a running back on those teams that on multiple occasions caught 40-50 passes a year (at that time a HUGE number) and exceeded 800 yards passing at least 3 times, also a HUGE number.
In today’s game, San Diego Chargers running back Austin Ekeler has, over the last 2 seasons, become a lethal run-pass threat. He’s gone over 900 yards rushing 2 consecutive years and has averaged about 80 catches over the last 4 seasons. Oh yeah, he’s also scored almost 40 touchdowns in the last 2 years as well.
When I go back to find a comparable player from the past, I landed on Minnesota Vikings running back Chuck Foreman, who played for the Vikings through most of the 1970’s. As I said before, the attention and popularity of the multipurpose running back really didn’t get big until the 80’s, with the likes of Roger Craig, Eric Dickerson and Marcus Allen. But Chuck Foreman was doing it a decade before they were. He actually led the league in receptions in 1975 with 73 and rushed for over 1,000 yards three times.
Both Ekeler and Foreman are and were excellent route runners. They aren’t just a 3-yard dump pass kind of back. And neither are slouches when it comes to running the ball… both routinely averaged over 4 yards a carry. To have a dual threat like that is almost necessary in today’s NFL. If a defense doesn’t respect your running game, they can drop 8 guys back and make passing difficult. Or they can send blitzing linebackers or defensive backs to disrupt the timing of an offense. Having an Austin Ekeler or a Chuck Foreman available to get you 4 yards on the ground or catch an 8-yard swing pass will always keep the defense guessing.