These 5 running backs are the NFL’s most explosive right now
By Dustin Baker
1. Raheem Mostert, San Francisco 49ers
15+ Yard Gains in 2019: 19
Total Touches: 151
15+ Yard Gains to Touches Percentage: 12.6
Somebody get this man 300+ touches per season, please.
Raheem Mostert has played on five teams and five years, but has managed to finally find a seemingly permanent home with 49ers. It was overdue.
The 49ers are yet another team that enforce a committee-style rushing attack. For them, though, it works superbly. The team reached the Super Bowl last season, but fell hard in the fourth quarter of the match-up to The [Sports] World’s Richest Man, Patrick Mahomes (and the Chiefs).
Here’s the deal. When the 49ers hand the ball to Raheem Mostert, the proceeding seconds are high-octane spurts of goodness. Mostert is currently the fastest running back on San Francisco’s roster with Matt Breida jettisoned to the Dolphins.
The 4.3 40-yard dash speed of Mostert’s is deadly, and it’s evident when he breaks out of the backfield. Of his 19 explosive plays last season, 76 percent of them came via rush. So, Mostert is not one of these RB-WR hybrids like Alvin Kamara or Miles Sanders–he’s just a fast son of a gun.
With the aforementioned Matt Breida out of the picture, there is a reasonable chance Mostert can showcase his explosiveness more prominently in 2020. But you never how with head coach in Kyle Shanahan. He could surprise everyone and make oft-injured Jerick McKinnon the bell-cow. They’re unpredictable out there in The Bay.