Is Giovani Bernard a sneaky candidate to be one of the five best pass-catching backs in the league? He’s a capable, smart veteran, and he’s on the same roster as one of the Jedi quarterbacks. History indicates that the best pass-catching running backs tend to be paired with those kind of quarterbacks.
It’s an idea we were kicking around on the podcast, and I wanted to play around with the numbers some. I wanted to look at third-down backs, and then look at who was throwing to them.
Below see the 33 running backs in the last 10 years who’ve caught at least 70 passes. And in the final column, you’ll see the player who was the primary quarterback on that team.
Of the 33, the majority were piloted by immobile veteran quarterbacks. Granted, this is a subjective exercise, but I see only 8 quarterbacks who don’t fit that profile (and I’ve got them in bold). Some may be surprised to see Cam Newton (twice) and Dak Prescott in bold, and that can be debated. I included them because so much of Newton’s success has been built off him having the threat to run. With Prescott, he’s now emerged as a high-level passer, but I thought he was more of a run-pass guy back at that point in his career.
Three others can be debated, and I’ve got black dots by their names. Joe Flacco back in 2011 was near the start of his career and just emerging. And Jay Cutler (twice) has some mobility and never really reach the in-the-pocket-badass level.
For 21 of the 33 quarterbacks, they’re definitely pocket-passer veterans, with just a slight asterisk on 2013 Alex Smith (he could move at that time).
As for Bernard, I’m not crazy about him at this point. The Bucs have a ton of other pass-catching talent, and Bruce Arians is a fan of seeing the ball pushed downfield. While Tom Brady is arguably the best player in the history of the game, I’m not confident he’ll be checking a bunch of balls down to Bernard. (And at this early stage, I’m not yet 100 percent certain Bernard will even be that third-down back).
| RUNNING BACKS WITH 70-PLUS CATCHES (last 10 yrs) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Rec | Yds | TD | Quarterback |
| 2019 | Christian McCaffrey, Car. | 116 | 1,005 | 4 | Kyle Allen |
| 2018 | Christian McCaffrey, Car. | 107 | 867 | 6 | Cam Newton |
| 2014 | Matt Forte, Chi. | 102 | 808 | 4 | • Jay Cutler |
| 2019 | Austin Ekeler, LAC | 92 | 993 | 8 | Philip Rivers |
| 2018 | Saquon Barkley, NYG | 91 | 721 | 4 | Eli Manning |
| 2018 | James White, N.E. | 87 | 751 | 7 | Tom Brady |
| 2011 | Darren Sproles, N.O. | 86 | 710 | 7 | Drew Brees |
| 2017 | LeVeon Bell, Pitt. | 85 | 655 | 2 | Ben Roethlisberger |
| 2020 | Alvin Kamara, N.O. | 83 | 756 | 5 | Drew Brees |
| 2014 | LeVeon Bell, Pitt. | 83 | 854 | 3 | Ben Roethlisberger |
| 2019 | Alvin Kamara, N.O. | 81 | 533 | 1 | Drew Brees |
| 2018 | Alvin Kamara, N.O. | 81 | 709 | 4 | Drew Brees |
| 2017 | Alvin Kamara, N.O. | 81 | 826 | 5 | Drew Brees |
| 2015 | Danny Woodhead, S.D. | 80 | 755 | 6 | Philip Rivers |
| 2015 | Theo Riddick, Det. | 80 | 697 | 3 | Matthew Stafford |
| 2016 | David Johnson, Ariz. | 80 | 879 | 4 | Carson Palmer |
| 2020 | J.D. McKissic, Was. | 80 | 589 | 2 | Alex Smith |
| 2017 | Christian McCaffrey, Car. | 80 | 651 | 5 | Cam Newton |
| 2019 | Tarik Cohen, Chi. | 79 | 456 | 3 | Mitchell Trubisky |
| 2013 | Pierre Thomas, N.O. | 77 | 513 | 3 | Drew Brees |
| 2018 | Ezekiel Elliott, Dall. | 77 | 567 | 3 | Dak Prescott |
| 2013 | Danny Woodhead, S.D. | 76 | 605 | 6 | Philip Rivers |
| 2011 | Ray Rice, Balt. | 76 | 704 | 3 | • Joe Flacco |
| 2019 | Leonard Fournette, Jac. | 76 | 522 | 0 | Gardner Minshew |
| 2012 | Darren Sproles, N.O. | 75 | 667 | 7 | Drew Brees |
| 2016 | LeVeon Bell, Pitt. | 75 | 616 | 2 | Ben Roethlisberger |
| 2013 | Matt Forte, Chi. | 74 | 594 | 3 | • Jay Cutler |
| 2017 | Duke Johnson, Cle. | 74 | 693 | 3 | DeShone Kizer |
| 2015 | Devonta Freeman, Atl. | 73 | 578 | 3 | Matt Ryan |
| 2019 | James White, N.E. | 72 | 645 | 5 | Tom Brady |
| 2013 | Darren Sproles, N.O. | 71 | 604 | 2 | Drew Brees |
| 2018 | Tarik Cohen, Chi. | 71 | 725 | 5 | Mitchell Trubisky |
| 2013 | Jamaal Charles, K.C. | 70 | 693 | 7 | Alex Smith |
—Ian Allan