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Running backs and the receptions trap
Running backs are usually judged by rushing yards. The receptions category breaks that link. Some of the best runners on the ladder rarely caught passes, and some of the best receivers out of the backfield were only middle of the pack as rushers. Here is every running back, ranked by receptions with his rushing-yards rank alongside.
| Running back | Receptions | Rank | Rushing yards | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marshall Faulk | 767 | 1st | 12,279 | 10th |
| LaDainian Tomlinson | 624 | 2nd | 13,684 | 6th |
| Marcus Allen | 587 | 3rd | 12,243 | 12th |
| Emmitt Smith | 515 | 4th | 18,355 | 1st |
| Walter Payton | 492 | 5th | 16,726 | 2nd |
| Curtis Martin | 484 | 6th | 14,101 | 5th |
| Thurman Thomas | 472 | 7th | 12,074 | 13th |
| Steven Jackson | 442 | 8th | 11,438 | 15th |
| Edgerrin James | 433 | 9th | 12,246 | 11th |
| Tony Dorsett | 398 | 10th | 12,739 | 9th |
| Barry Sanders | 352 | 11th | 15,269 | 3rd |
| Adrian Peterson | 305 | 12th | 14,918 | 4th |
| Fred Taylor | 290 | 13th | 11,695 | 14th |
| Eric Dickerson | 281 | 14th | 13,259 | 8th |
| Jerome Bettis | 200 | 15th | 13,662 | 7th |
The two biggest mismatches
Marshall Faulk is first in receptions with 767, 143 more than anyone else on the ladder (LaDainian Tomlinson, 624). In rushing yards he is only 10th, with 12,279. Choose Faulk in any receptions matchup, and think twice about choosing him in a rushing-yards matchup against a 13,000-yard back.
Jerome Bettis is the opposite. His 13,662 rushing yards rank 7th, but his 200 receptions are the fewest of the 15 backs. Bettis was a short-yardage power runner, and the numbers show a back who was almost never a passing target.
Other patterns worth knowing
- Barry Sanders is third in rushing yards (15,269) but only 11th in receptions (352).
- Adrian Peterson is fourth in rushing yards (14,918) but 12th in receptions (305).
- Marcus Allen is 12th in rushing yards (12,243) but third in receptions (587). Allen and Faulk show how a back can finish high in receptions with only a middling rushing total.
- Emmitt Smith leads rushing yards by a wide margin (18,355) and is still fourth in receptions (515). He is the only back in the top four of both lists.
A simple rule for the category
For a receptions question between two running backs, ignore rushing totals at first and ask who was used as a pass catcher. Backs known as pass catchers (Faulk, Tomlinson, Allen) beat backs known for carries (Bettis, Dickerson, Peterson), even when the carries total is far higher. When both players were all-purpose backs, fall back on career length.
See every rushing and receiving number in the running backs table, then play a round to test the rule.