Small sample sizes are sometimes all we have to work with in football analysis. We don\u2019t have data from 800 pitches or 500 jumpshots or 300 shots on goal. Would it be nice if we had massive samples for every single player in the NFL? Yes, it would.<\/p>\n
But we don\u2019t, and that includes second and third string running backs who show out on limited opportunities. Some of those limited-sample stats are skewed by a big run or two, but hiding in that data are hints as to who might excel if given the chance at a real backfield workload.<\/p>\n
Below are five running backs who over the past couple NFL seasons have impressed on the spreadsheets (and for some, on the field as well). I used four metrics to evaluate these rushers: Success rate, explosive rush rate, missed tackles forced, and yards after contact. These metrics, I think, offer a good look at which runners have made the most of their limited chances in the league.<\/p>\n
Blake Corum (LAR)<\/p>\n
Yards after contact per rush: 2.25 (37th)Missed tackles forced per rush: 0.18 (18th)Explosive rush rate: 7% (9th)Rushing success rate: 59.7% (3rd)<\/p>\n
The caveat with Corum is straightforward enough: Kyren Williams is better or about equal in every key rushing metric mentioned above. Kyren in 2025 was one of the two backs with a better rushing success rate than Corum. He was slightly better at forcing missed tackles too.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m highlighting Corum for two reasons: His ADP is lower than Williams by a long shot and Corum showed great improvement on the spreadsheets in 2025. Pro Football Focus in 2024 graded Corum as the league\u2019s 42nd best rusher out of 77 qualifying backs. In 2025, he finished sixth in PFF grading. Corum, naturally, was tied with his backfield mate.<\/p>\n
Corum can certainly do everything Williams can do if Williams were to miss time in 2026. Sean McVay\u2019s rushing scheme plus Corum\u2019s efficiency would make him something close to a top-5 weekly fantasy option in such a scenario. It won\u2019t hurt that Corum is running behind an LA offensive line that created the second highest rate of rush yards before contact in 2025.<\/p>\n
Keaton Mitchell (LAC)Yards after contact per rush: 1.31 (73rd)
Missed tackles forced per rush: 0.12 (50th)
Explosive rush rate: 10.2% (2nd)
Rushing success rate: 52.5% (24th)<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t mean to become a Keaton Mitchell truther, but here I am, five months into the offseason, truthing Mitchell. I really had no choice after the Chargers pursued Mitchell aggressively in free agency after he spent three tantalizing seasons with the Ravens.<\/p>\n
\u25b6 RELATED: What Mike McDaniel\u2019s offense means for the Chargers<\/a><\/p>\n You might notice Mitchell doesn\u2019t exactly check the missed tackles and yards after contact boxes. That\u2019s OK. Speedy backs like Mitchell are often underwhelming on the after-contact stuff because they tend to gain a lot of yards before contact. Last season in Baltimore, Mitchell led all backs in yards before contact per rush (4.47), a hallmark of lightning fast rushers who regularly blow by the first wave of defenders.<\/p>\n In this way \u2014 gaining consistent yards before contact \u2014 Mitchell is not unlike De\u2019Von Achane, who you may remember as the centerpiece of Mike McDaniel\u2019s Dolphins offense. McDaniel, as you surely know, is now LA\u2019s offensive coordinator, and he\u2019s making me rather bullish on the fourth-year runner. When a play caller puts a free agent\u2019s face on a Wanted poster<\/a> \u2014 like McDaniel did with Mitchell \u2014 I pay attention.<\/p>\n Then there\u2019s The Athletic\u2019s Daniel Popper, a longtime Bolts beat writer, said in March that Mitchell\u2019s \u201cacceleration and threatening speed to the edge will thrive\u201d in the Chargers offense.<\/p>\n I\u2019m not projecting Mitchell to be a 15-touch-per-game guy in the Chargers offense. I do think Mitchell is the kind of back who can do a lot with 8-10 weekly touches on well-designed rushes and screens in the running back-friendly McDaniel (Shanny) scheme.<\/p>\n