NFL RBs who could have played other positions, avoided market crash: Christian McCaffrey, Tony Pollard, more

It’s tough to be a running back in 2023. In decades past, NFL teams built their offenses around running backs and paid them as such. Now, the league’s reigning rushing yards champion, Las Vegas Raiders running back Josh Jacobs, can’t agree to terms on a second contract. He was the NFL’s first-team All-Pro running back in 2022 after leading the league in rushing yards (1,653) and scrimmage yards (2,053) at the age of 24.

New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley’s career-high 1,312 rushing yards last season ranked as the fourth-most in the NFL and the most by a Giants player since Tiki Barber’s 1,662 in 2006; essentially, Barkley acted as the hub for 2022 NFL Coach of the Year Brian Daboll’s offense. Dallas Cowboys running back Tony Pollard led the NFL in scrimmage yards per touch last season (5.9) among players with at least 200 touches, a figure that was the most by a Cowboys player since Herschel Walker’s 6.0 scrimmage yards/touch back in 1987. 

However, all three Pro Bowl backs were stiff-armed by their respective teams when it came time to get long-term contract extensions done before the start of the NFL season. All three franchise-tagged players are currently set to play on one-year deals.

If these three can’t secure long-term deals now, what hope is there for others at the position going forward? And they weren’t the only top-flight rushers to suffer, either.

• Earlier this offseason, Green Bay Packers Pro Bowl running back Aaron Jones took a pay cut in order to remain with the Green and Gold despite running for a career-high 1,121 rushing yards, the 10th-most in the NFL. 
• When the player who has led the NFL in scrimmage touchdowns in each of the last two seasons asked for a contract extension or trade, Los Angeles Chargers running back Austin Ekeler was simply handed a reworked deal from his Los Angeles Chargers. 
• Cincinnati Bengals running back Joe Mixon also restructured his deal to make himself more affordable for the AFC runner-ups.
• Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor, who led the NFL in rushing in 2021 at 22 years old, is in an ugly, public spat with team owner Jim Irsay over his potential second contract, which led him to request a trade
• Free agent Dalvin Cook, who is the only player in the entire NFL with at least 1,100 rushing yards in each of the past four seasons, was outright released by the Minnesota Vikings this offseason.

Six years ago, the running back franchise tag figure was $12.1 million. Today, that figure has decreased by $2 million to $10.1 million, which is what Jacobs and Pollard will make in 2023 on their fully guaranteed, one-year deals. (Barkley can make up to $11 million after the two sides agreed upon a reworked tag contract.)

On the flip side, franchise tag figures have increased for quarterbacks ($21.2 million in 2017 to $32.4 in 2023), wide receivers ($15.6 million to $19.7 million), offensive linemen ($14.2 million to $18.2 million), defensive ends ($16.9 million to $19.7 million) and cornerbacks ($14.2 million to $18.1 million). 

These developments led to two-time Pro Bowl running back and current Baltimore Raven Melvin Gordon, who once held out for a second deal of his own with the team that drafted him — the Los Angeles Chargers — saying the quiet part out loud this past weekend: he regrets using his athletic gifts to play running back.

“If you’re thinking about playing running back, think twice,” Gordon said Saturday, via The Baltimore Banner. “Unless you really, truly feel like God put you on this planet to run the ball. If you’re athletic enough to switch positions, I’d do so in a heartbeat.”  

With that in mind, here is a look at five current NFL running backs, four who have earned Pro Bowl nods, who could have maybe ended up at different positions in the pro’s had they leaned into their development at other positions they played in high school. Plus, a bonus, sixth entry to this list because of a body type that screams potential dominance at another position. 

• Height: 5-foot-11 | Weight: 205 pounds
• NFL accolades/notable statistics: Two-time Pro Bowl selection, 2019 First-Team All-Pro, third player in NFL history with 1,000+ rushing yards and 1,000+ receiving yards in a single season (2019)

The San Francisco 49ers offense didn’t skip a beat going from Jimmy Garoppolo, a nine-year NFL veteran and Super Bowl starting quarterback, to Brock Purdy, the last player selected in the 2022 NFL Draft, last season in large part because of Christian McCaffrey. His presence as both a rusher and receiver in the starting lineup beginning in Week 8 following a midseason trade from the Carolina Panthers helped power San Francisco to a perfect 10-0 record to finish the regular season. It doesn’t get much better than that. For more details on why he is currently the NFL’s best running back, take a gander at CBS Sports’ top 10 running backs list.   

However, McCaffrey could have been a wide receiver, defensive back, or even punter instead since he played all three of those positions in addition to running back at Valor Christian High School in Colorado. He set the Colorado high school football all-time record for all-purpose yards (8,845) after his run from 2010-2013, which now ranks as second-most all-time in state history. McCaffrey’s 141 total touchdowns in high school also rank as the second-most in Colorado history and 47 of those are receiving touchdowns, the third-most in state history. He is one of the best route-running running backs in the NFL, and if he had focused exclusively on that element of his game, perhaps he could have carved out a nice role as a wide receiver. 

CMC also totaled four career interceptions and 25 tackles as a defensive back in high school, and given his strong NFL Combine performance in 2017 — a 4.48 40-yard dash, a 37.5″ vertical jump, a 10’1″ broad jump, and a 4.22 20-yard shuttle time — he could have been an NFL cornerback instead as well if he had focused on that side of the ball exclusively in college at Stanford. 

• Height: 6 feet | Weight: 209 pounds
• NFL accolades/notable statistics: 2023 Pro Bowl selection, led NFL in yards/touch in 2022, minimum 200 touches (5.9),  leads NFL in yards/touch across last three seasons, minimum 500 touches (5.8)

Tony Pollard is now the Dallas Cowboys new “lead back” in the words of head coach and new team offensive play-caller Mike McCarthy. The 26-year-old, who is playing out 2023 on the franchise tag, earned the first Pro Bowl selection of his career for his efforts during the 2022 season with bests in rushing yards (1,007), rushing touchdowns (nine), carries (193), receptions (39), receiving yards (371), and receiving touchdowns (three). It was a new workload for Ezekiel Elliott’s former backup, as he became a co-starter in 2022 while readying to be the guy in the Cowboys backfield in 2023 with Elliott being released. Pollard’s 5.9 yards per touch led the NFL among players with at least 200 touches in 2022

However, Pollard could have been either a wide receiver or defensive back had he focused his efforts toward those positions in college at Memphis. At Melrose High School in Memphis, Tennessee, Pollard earned a two-way 2014 All-District 16-AAA selection as a wide receiver and defensive back his senior season. He totaled over 1,200 receiving yards while scoring 20 total touchdowns that season. He showcased his route-running chops in Week 11 of the 2022 NFL season when he cooked a Minnesota Vikings linebacker on a wheel route for a 68-yard touchdown in the Cowboys’ 40-3 road victory. 

• Height: 5-foot-9 | Weight: 208 pounds
• NFL accolades/notable statistics: 2021 Pro Bowl selection, co-led NFL in rushing touchdowns (16) and scrimmage touchdowns (19)  in 2019, career-high 1,121 rushing yards in 2022 while averaging 5.3 yards per carry (second-most in the NFL among running backs), career 5.1 yards per carry (tied for fourth-most in the Super Bowl era by a running back)  

In arguably Aaron Rodgers‘ worst season as a Green Bay Packer (he totaled a career-low 91.1 passer rating as the Packers starting quarterback in 2022), the other Aaron, running back Aaron Jones, picked up the slack. Jones amassed a career-high 1,121 rushing yards last season while averaging 5.3 yards per carry, the second-most in the entire NFL among running backs. That high-level efficiency is business as usual for Jones since 2022 marked the fourth time in six career seasons that he’s averaged more than 5 yards a rush.   

Jones could have also made his way into the NFL as wide receiver or as hybrid linebacker/safety given his high school background. He was an All-District wide receiver his sophomore year at Burges High School in El Paso, Texas, and he was named to the National All-Department of Defense team his junior year. Jones totaled 74 combined tackles — 56 of those being solo tackles– one interception and two forced fumbles on the defensive side of the ball. 

• Height: 6-foot-1 | Weight: 233 pounds
• NFL accolades/notable statistics: Two-time Pro Bowl selection, 26 scrimmage touchdowns since 2021 (second-most in NFL)

James Conner is survivor, both on and off the football field. He overcame cancer and revived his football career over the last couple of seasons with the Arizona Cardinals. Following his breakout 2018 campaign as a Pittsburgh Steeler that netted him his first Pro Bowl nod — 1,470 scrimmage yards and 13 scrimmage touchdowns — his production declined over the course of the next couple seasons. However, he bounced back in a gigantic way with the Cardinals in 2021, totaling 1,127 scrimmage yards and a career-high 18 scrimmage touchdowns after signing a one-year, $1.75 million deal. 

Conner’s efforts were rewarded as he signed a three-year, $21 million contract last offseason, the richest of his career. However, he was an All-State Class AAAA selection in each of his last two seasons of high school football at McDowell High School in Erie, Pennsylvania, as both a running back and as an edge rusher. During his high school career, he set his school’s records for sacks in a single season (12) and all-time (17). He would have needed to put on 15-30 pounds and focused more on defense to make the NFL as an outside linebacker, but given his high school accomplishments, that may have been within the realm of possibility for Conner. 

• Height: 5-foot-9 | Weight: 209 pounds
• NFL accolades/notable statistics: Super Bowl LVII champion, first running back in NFL history with a receiving touchdown in six consecutive games (Weeks 13-18, 2022 season)

Jerick McKinnon became an integral part of the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs last season. His receiving presence at the tail end of the 2022 regular season helped power them to a 5-1 finish from Week 13-18, helping them capture the AFC’s top overall seed. McKinnon’s eight receiving touchdowns from Weeks 13-18 led the entire NFL in that span, and his 274 receiving yards during that stretch led all running backs. 

However had he focused on his receiving skills full time, he may have been able to carve out a career as a slot wide receiver in the NFL. McKinnon dominated the 2014 NFF Combine, recording a 4.41 40-yard dash, a 40.5″ vertical jump, an 11’0″ broad jump, and a 4.12 20-yard shuttle time. In college at Georgia Southern, he focused on being a triple-option quarterback after being the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s first-team All-State quarterback selection as a senior in 2009. When he was a wide receiver during his prep days at Sprayberry High School in Marietta, Georgia, his school won a region championship his junior year. McKinnon also won the wide receiver MVP for the National Underclassmen Ultimate 100 competition.

• Height: 6-foot-3 | Weight: 247 pounds
• NFL accolades/notable statistics: Three-time Pro Bowl selection, 2020 First-Team All-Pro, 2020 NFL Offensive Player of the Year, led NFL in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns twice (2019 & 2020), one of eight players in NFL history with 2,000+ rushing yards in a single season (2,027 in 2020, fifth-most in a season in NFL history)

There have only been seven occurrences of a player accumulating 1,500 or more rushing yards and 10 or more rushing touchdowns in a season in the last four years, since 2019. Three of them belong to Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry, including his 2022 “down year” of 1,538 rushing yards and 13 rushing touchdowns. These numbers coming in a year in which the Titans had to use three different quarterbacks because of injuries — Ryan Tannehill (12 starts), Malik Willis (three starts) and Joshua Dobbs (two starts) — only add to the legend of King Henry.  Even though his rushing yards-per-carry average of 4.4 last year marked the third-lowest of his career, Henry plowed ahead for those 1,538 yards, which ranked as the second-most in the NFL.  

Unlike the other five running backs on this list, Henry doesn’t appear to have experience doing anything else in high school besides what he’s done in the NFL: run through his competition in dominant fashion as a running back. However, his listed height and weight is only two pounds different than Dallas Cowboys two-time First-Team All-Pro pass rusher Micah Parsons‘ listed stature at 6-foot-3, 245 pounds. It’s very easy to picture Henry bull-rushing through offensive tackles and smashing opposing quarterbacks instead running over tacklers for touchdowns.