Hogs Haven
Part 3 of the search for clues about areas to build this offseason
The headline statistics indicate that the Washington Commanders had a top four running game in 2024. The team ranked third in the league in regular season rushing yards (2,619 yds) and fourth in rushing TDs (25) and yards per attempt (5.0 Y/A). However, accumulating statistics across an entire team and season can hide some ugly bumps and wrinkles.
If we take the QB rushing stats out of the equation, the Commanders drop to 10th in the league in Y/A. Even then, the RB rushing stats are propped up by a few big games against weak rushing defenses. Against teams with top 10 rushing defenses (Buccaneers, Ravens, Steelers, Eagles), the Commanders’ running backs averaged just 2.8 Y/A, a significant drop from their 4.14 Y/A season average.
If the goal is to finish in the top 10 of the league, the RB rushing attack might be adequate. However, if the Commanders aim to compete for championships with teams like the Eagles, Broncos, Packers, Steelers and Chiefs, they will have to fortify the RB rushing attack.
This article is the third and final instalment of my dive into the 2024 running game, looking for clues about areas that Adam Peters may look to improve this offseason.
The first article in the series demonstrated that the non-QB rushing attack was highly variable throughout the season. Through the first 6 games, and again in the final 8 games, the running backs’ success seemed to rise and fall from game to game in sync with the run blocking. For 6 games in the middle of the season, spanning the 3-game losing streak, the run game seemed to decouple from the run blocking. These observations suggest that run blocking was a limiting through much of the season, but could not explain all of the struggles.
The second article examined how the Commanders’ individual running backs’ rushing success related to the team’s run blocking. The team’s primary backs, Brian Robinson and Austin Ekeler had Rushing Success Rates that placed them among middle of the pack starters. Neither showed evidence of being able to consistently create opportunities beyond what the blocking gave them. Backups Jeremy McNichols had better than expected success, in limited roles.
Taken together, the findings of the first two articles suggest that there is plenty of room for improvement to RB corps as well as the Commanders’ run blocking.
The final article will focus on the offensive line and attempt to determine which starting offensive linemen held their own on running downs and whether there were any particularly weak areas for Adam Peters to shore up this offseason. I will start by analyzing the rushing success and run blocking at the team-level through the different offensive line gaps. Then I will then attempt to break it down to the level of individual offensive linemen to see if we can identify any weak links in the starting lineup.
The analysis...
