One of the hottest debates of the last couple of years in the NFL is, “What is the true value of a running back in the modern era?” This is treated like one side saying, “I don’t think running backs are being used as much as they used to be,” and the other side saying “You’re wrong” but it’s much more simple than even that:
There’s no “I think” about it. Running backs, statistically, factually, are not being used as much as they used to be. A single-back system is becoming harder and harder to find, and the ones that you do find, are often the least-effective offensive gameplans in the league.