The NFC West certainly should be wild this season. While the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks are coming off playoff appearances, the Los Angeles Rams and Arizona Cardinals deserve respect. The NFC West is likely the best division in football. However, each team in this division is unique.
One area of difference is how each team views their running game. It will be interesting to see how the backs of the NFC West fare this season.
The Cardinals prefer to spread things out. Last season, Arizona had a solid receiving core. This year it’s only gotten better adding Pro-Bowl wideout DeAndre Hopkins. The addition will put a lot of defensive attention on the Cardinals passing attack. However, the Cardinals run game should still play a big part in the team’s offensive success.
During Pete Carroll’s tenure with the Seahawks, the team has undergone a few identity changes on offense. The treatment of the run game seems to follow the path of Russell Wilson’s success. At the beginning of his career, Seattle was very run-heavy. However, as Wilson grew into his role as the face of franchise, the running game began to fall behind. It seems as though Seattle has finally found a balance to their offense.
The 49ers and the Rams both may take a committee approach this season. While San Fransisco was incredibly successful with this approach last season, there is still a lot of unknown’s with Los Angeles. Whatever the case, the running game will be vital for both teams success.
With that being said, let’s take a look at how each running back in the NFC West should fare in 2020.
