Carolina is #1… in percentage of rushing yards not by running backs
In addition, wide receivers Curtis Samuel, Damiere Byrd, and Russell Shepard have combined for 87 yards; that’s the third-most rushing yards in the league for any team behind the Rams (Tavon Austin) and Raiders (Cordarrelle Patterson) among non-QB/non-RBs. In fact, Panthers running backs are averaging just 61.6 rushing yards per game, the fewest in the NFL.
This is hardly shocking, of course: Newton has been an incredible rushing threat since he arrived in the NFL in 2011. But it’s still interesting to see the numbers and understand that the Panthers are an above average team in total rushing, but dead last in rushing by running backs. The table below shows each team’s rushing yards in 2017 through nine weeks, both by running backs only and overall. Here’s how to read the table below. The Jacksonville Jaguars rank 1st in running back rushing yards, with 145.1 per game. The Jaguars also rank 1st in total rushing yards per game, at 166.5. For Jacksonville, 87.2% of their rushing yards have come from running backs. The Panthers rank last in both running back rushing yards per game and percentage of rushing yards by their running backs.
| Rb Rush Yd Rk | Team | RB Rush Yd/G | Rush Yd/G | Rush Yd Rk | RB Perc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jacksonville Jaguars | 145.1 | 1 | 166.5 | 87.2% |
| 2 | Dallas Cowboys | 121.0 | 2 | 148.1 | 81.7% |
| 3 | New Orleans Saints | 117.4 | 7 | 122.8 | 95.6% |
| 4 | Baltimore Ravens | 115.8 | 8 | 120.9 | 95.8% |
| 5 | Chicago Bears | 115.6 | 6 | 129.9 | 89% |
| 6 | Philadelphia Eagles | 114.0 | 3 | 136.8 | 83.3% |
| 7 | Minnesota Vikings | 111.4 | 9 | 120.0 | 92.8% |
| 8 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 107.1 | 17 | 108.9 | 98.4% |
| 9 | Atlanta Falcons | 103.8 | 13 | 114.8 | 90.4% |
| 10 | Los Angeles Rams | 103.1 | 5 | 131.3 | 78.6% |
| 11 | New England Patriots | 101.3 | 16 | 109.0 | 92.9% |
| 12 | Denver Broncos | 100.9 | 14 | 112.4 | 89.8% |
| 13 | New York Jets | 96.8 | 18 | 106.7 | 90.7% |
| 14.5 | Tennessee Titans | 96.5 | 12 | 115.4 | 83.6% |
| 14.5 | Houston Texans | 96.5 | 4 | 132.8 | 72.7% |
| 16 | Kansas City Chiefs | 92.1 | 11 | 116.7 | 79% |
| 17 | Buffalo Bills | 90.6 | 10 | 116.9 | 77.5% |
| 18 | Los Angeles Chargers | 83.6 | 25 | 88.9 | 94.1% |
| 19 | New York Giants | 82.6 | 27 | 86.8 | 95.2% |
| 20 | Indianapolis Colts | 82.1 | 20 | 98.7 | 83.2% |
| 21 | Washington Redskins | 79.9 | 21.5 | 98.6 | 81% |
| 22 | San Francisco 49ers | 79.6 | 24 | 92.1 | 86.4% |
| 23 | Green Bay Packers | 77.1 | 21.5 | 98.6 | 78.2% |
| 24 | Miami Dolphins | 75.6 | 30 | 77.6 | 97.4% |
| 25 | Oakland Raiders | 69.9 | 26 | 87.9 | 79.5% |
| 26 | Arizona Cardinals | 69.1 | 31 | 76.4 | 90.5% |
| 27 | Detroit Lions | 68.5 | 29 | 78.1 | 87.7% |
| 28 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 67.4 | 28 | 81.6 | 82.5% |
| 29 | Cleveland Browns | 67.0 | 23 | 95.1 | 70.4% |
| 30 | Seattle Seahawks | 65.0 | 19 | 103.9 | 62.6% |
| 31 | Cincinnati Bengals | 62.9 | 32 | 72.3 | 87% |
| 32 | Carolina Panthers | 61.6 | 15 | 109.1 | 56.4% |
The table below breaks down rushing yards for each team by the percentage gained by running backs, quarterbacks, and all other players. Pittsburgh running backs have gained 98.4% of all Steelers rushing yards, most in the NFL. The Browns, Seahawks, and Panthers are the three teams with the lowest percentage of rushing yards by running backs. Unsurprisingly, those tree teams are also the leaders in percentage of rushing yards by quarterbacks, with equally unsurprising appearances by the Texas and Bills at four and five. As for the final column, as discussed, the Rams and Raiders — and perhaps Panthers with Samuel (or Christian McCaffrey, who is of course a running back/wide hybrid) — have truly unique wide receiver/running back hybrids.
| Rush Yd Rk | Team | RB Perc | RB % Rk | QB Perc | QB % Rk | Other perc | Other % Rk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jacksonville Jaguars | 87.2% | 15 | 11.6% | 15 | 1.3% | 23 |
| 2 | Dallas Cowboys | 81.7% | 22 | 17.6% | 7 | 0.8% | 25 |
| 3 | Philadelphia Eagles | 83.3% | 19 | 16.9% | 8 | -0.2% | 31 |
| 4 | Houston Texans | 72.7% | 29 | 25.3% | 4 | 2% | 19 |
| 5 | Los Angeles Rams | 78.6% | 26 | 3.4% | 24 | 18% | 1 |
| 6 | Chicago Bears | 89% | 13 | 11% | 16 | 0% | 28 |
| 7 | New Orleans Saints | 95.6% | 4 | 0.3% | 30 | 4.1% | 9 |
| 8 | Baltimore Ravens | 95.8% | 3 | 0.9% | 29 | 3.3% | 13 |
| 9 | Minnesota Vikings | 92.8% | 8 | 6.4% | 22 | 0.8% | 24 |
| 10 | Buffalo Bills | 77.5% | 28 | 22.5% | 5 | 0% | 28 |
| 11 | Kansas City Chiefs | 79% | 25 | 16.5% | 10 | 4.6% | 7 |
| 12 | Tennessee Titans | 83.6% | 18 | 14.1% | 12 | 4.4% | 8 |
| 13 | Atlanta Falcons | 90.4% | 11 | 8.6% | 20 | 1.4% | 22 |
| 14 | Denver Broncos | 89.8% | 12 | 9.8% | 18 | 0.4% | 27 |
| 15 | Carolina Panthers | 56.4% | 32 | 34.7% | 1 | 8.9% | 3 |
| 16 | New England Patriots | 92.9% | 7 | 3.2% | 26 | 3.9% | 10 |
| 17 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 98.4% | 1 | -1.3% | 32 | 2.9% | 15 |
| 18 | New York Jets | 90.7% | 9 | 7.3% | 21 | 2% | 18 |
| 19 | Seattle Seahawks | 62.6% | 31 | 32.5% | 2 | 4.9% | 6 |
| 20 | Indianapolis Colts | 83.2% | 20 | 16.8% | 9 | 0% | 28 |
| 21.5 | Washington Redskins | 81% | 23 | 15.8% | 11 | 3.2% | 14 |
| 21.5 | Green Bay Packers | 78.2% | 27 | 19.3% | 6 | 2.5% | 16 |
| 23 | Cleveland Browns | 70.4% | 30 | 28.1% | 3 | 1.4% | 21 |
| 24 | San Francisco 49ers | 86.4% | 17 | 12.9% | 14 | 0.7% | 26 |
| 25 | Los Angeles Chargers | 94.1% | 6 | 0.1% | 31 | 5.8% | 5 |
| 26 | Oakland Raiders | 79.5% | 24 | 4.3% | 23 | 16.2% | 2 |
| 27 | New York Giants | 95.2% | 5 | 2.9% | 28 | 1.9% | 20 |
| 28 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 82.5% | 21 | 13.6% | 13 | 3.8% | 11 |
| 29 | Detroit Lions | 87.7% | 14 | 10.9% | 17 | 2.1% | 17 |
| 30 | Miami Dolphins | 97.4% | 2 | 3.2% | 25 | -0.6% | 32 |
| 31 | Arizona Cardinals | 90.5% | 10 | 2.9% | 27 | 6.5% | 4 |
| 32 | Cincinnati Bengals | 87% | 16 | 9.2% | 19 | 3.8% | 12 |
As always, please leave your thoughts in the comments.