Running backs supposedly don’t matter, but a lot of teams that were in the playoffs seemed to have more than one good option. The Buccaneers got strong games from Leonard Fournette and Ronald Jones II in their championship victory on Sunday over the Chiefs, who had a strong duo of their own with Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Le’Veon Bell.
Passing efficiency is ultimately what got Tampa and Kansas City into the big game, but it’s clear that these organizations value having multiple rushing weapons on their rosters. Other 2020 postseason teams who can say the same include the Ravens, Seahawks, Packers, Colts, Browns and Saints.
The best running back tandem in the league resides either in Cleveland or New Orleans, depending on who you ask. Panthers backup running back Mike Davis admires the combination of Alvin Kamara and Latavius Murray. He called them “deadly” on Twitter a couple days ago.
That combo wit kamara and Murray is deadly. I’m just sayin it’s possible but I ain’t gone say too much
— IG MikeDavisRB (@MikeDavisRB) February 9, 2021
Naturally, Davis’ tweet brought out speculation about Carolina’s own pair of running backs and what comes next.
Christian McCaffrey is a superstar at the position and an elite talent when he’s healthy. He wasn’t in 2020 but at his age (24) there’s no reason not to believe he’ll return to a high level again.
In McCaffrey’s absence Davis had a strong season, proving he has the ability to be a starting running back in this league.
So far, we’ve assumed that Davis would be signing with another team in free agency but his tweet does at least seem to suggest that he’d like to stay and build up a McCaffrey/Davis combo. If Carolina can make it work from a salary-cap perspective, re-signing Davis isn’t a bad idea at all.
