With training camps set to open this month, NFL coaches are sleeplessly trying to squeeze every advantage out of their rosters. But here's a tip that could save some time and effort: Merely flipping the top two spots on the running-back depth chart may provide a boost.

Felix Jones Getty Images

Last season, five teams had backups gain more than a yard per carry more than primary ball carriers, an amount that typically separates journeymen from All Pros. Despite this, primary runners on these teams earned 75 more carries on average than their backups.

The backups for these teams were generally smaller, and in the NFL, smaller is typically synonymous with "situational." The New York Giants' Brandon Jacobs has a 66-pound edge over Ahmad Bradshaw, and the others averaged 15 pounds more. Denver's backup, Correll Buckhalter, is bigger than starter Knowshon Moreno, but also nine years older at a position that has age measured in dog years.

Perhaps Jim Mora wouldn't be an ex-Seattle coach if he employed a running-back meritocracy instead of giving Julius Jones (3.7 yards per carry) 98 more carries than 194-pound Justin Forsett (5.4 YPC) in the 13 games where both were healthy. Sean Payton's unwillingness to give the majority of the Saints' carries to RB Pierre Thomas stalled the title hopes of millions of fantasy owners. Fortunately, things worked out for the real team.

Second Option

How five primary ball carriers compared with their backups in yards per carry.

TEAM Running Back 1 YPC Running Back 2 YPC Diff.
Seahawks Julius Jones 3.7 Justin Forsett 5.4 1.7

Mike Bell


Pierre Thomas

5.4 1.6

Knowshon Moreno


Correll Buckhalter

5.4 1.6

Marion Barber


Felix Jones

5.9 1.5

Brandon Jacobs


Ahmad Bradshaw

4.8 1.1