The 10 best running backs in Washington Commanders franchise history

The Washington Commanders franchise hasn't always been associated with great running backs. More with outstanding wide receivers and legendary quarterback performances. Yet, the organization is no stranger to quality runners who quietly and consistently dominated at their position for years.

Said position has been steadily devalued in the modern game, so now's a good time for some heart-warming nostalgia. A fond look back to the days when the likes of Clinton Portis, Earnest Byner, and Larry Brown made Washington offenses feared on the ground.

Brown, Byner, and Portis feature in this particular top-10 listicle because each boasted lengthy track records of production. Two members of that trio became champions of varying levels, so some hardware helps. However, there's still room for backs who toiled and thrived in relative obscurity during lean years for the franchise.

Criteria for selection

Unfortunately, no space could be found for the proverbial one-hit wonders. So there's no Timmy Smith, despite his record-setting, blink-of-an-eye efforts to win Super Bowl 22. There's also no Reggie Brooks, who was 1,063 yards and as good as gone after the 1993 season.

Those players shone brightly and faded quickly. The 10 best in franchise history either put together multiple 1,000-yard campaigns or else ticked numerous achievement boxes.

Achievements like leading the league in rushing and or scoring. Achievements like bringing home the bacon in the form of titles.

The 10 best running backs in Washington Commanders franchise history

10. George Rogers

George Rogers occupies a strange place within Washington folklore. He was essentially acquired to unseat the legend John Riggins in 1985. There wasn't much he could do to best the established starter, but the Heisman Trophy winner still surpassed 1,000 rushing yards during his maiden season in D.C.

Rogers was even better in 1986. He amassed 1,203 yards on the ground and topped the league's scoring charts with 18 rushing touchdowns. Those efforts helped Washington reach the NFC Championship Game, but a New York Giants defense coached by Bill Belichick and featuring Lawrence Taylor, Carl Banks, and Harry Carson sent them packing.

Revenge was sweet in 1987 when Rogers was more of a passenger. He got fewer carries as Washington also indulged Smith and USFL standout Kelvin Bryant.

Rogers was a bystander when Smith ran all over the Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl. But lifting the Lombardi Trophy was ample consolation.

9. Alfred Morris

Alfred Morris also has a curious place in the pantheon of great Washington running backs. He excelled for a limited time, playing just four seasons for the Burgundy and Gold, but easily cleared the 1,000-yard rushing barrier in three of those years.

When trying to place Morris among the greats, problems arise because of how he benefited from two factors that can't be ignored. First, he was one of many beneficiaries of playing in the famed zone-based rushing system favored by then-head coach Mike Shanahan.

The Shanahan blueprint famously helped Terrell Davis go from a sixth-round pick to a two-time Super Bowl winner. Morris was another sixth-round find, originally drafted as a fullback in 2012.

The system, particularly its staple outside zone-stretch rushing play, helped Morris take the NFL by storm, but he arguably benefited more from the presence of Robert Griffin III. Before the dual-threat quarterback tore up his knee and overloaded on warrior speak, he was a dynamic playmaker from another planet.

Defenses geared almost everything to shackling Griffin and the read-option and pistol-based concepts that kept them guessing. Morris did his best work when the signal-caller was fully healthy during their rookie year, but a pair of follow-up 1,000-plus yard seasons underlined the greatness of Shanahan's last hidden gem.

8. Andy Farkas

For an old-school fullback in the leatherhead era, Andy Farkas had a knack for the big play. Like when he took a Frankie Filchock pass 99 yards for a touchdown in 1939.

That was the same year Farkas led the league with 11 trips to the end zone, one of them via a kickoff return. Those plays were spectacular, but merely precursors for his greatest moment.

It came in 1942 when he helped Washington win the NFL Championship at the expense of a Chicago Bears team going for the three-peat. Farkas was the workhorse who powered a 14-6 victory, particularly when "he ran the ball 10 times on a 12-play, 44-yard drive, plunging over from the 1 for a touchdown," per Michael Richman.

Strong enough to grind out the tough yards, dynamic enough to score from anywhere on the field, and blessed with a true nose for the end zone, Farkas belongs on any list of this type.

7. Stephen Davis

Three years as a backup only made Stephen Davis more eager to make defenses pay once he got his chance. Washington's patience was rewarded by big No. 48 breaking out with 1,405 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns on the ground as the oil in the engine for the 1999 team - one of the great offenses in franchise history.

Davis added 1,318 yards as a sequel in 2000, but he had his best year in Marty Schottenheimer's offense in 2001. A good match of coach and player, he instantly took to Marty Ball and its power-rushing concepts.

Square-shouldered and quick-footed, Davis was a devilish blend of brute force and deceptive speed. He punished defenses between the tackles and did some of his best work near the goal line.

He came within a whisker of winning a Super Bowl with the Carolina Panthers in 2003 and lifting the championship his talent deserved. Even without a Vince Lombardi trophy, Davis was one of the best of his era.

6. Terry Allen

Davis' predecessor didn't sniff a Super Bowl, but Terry Allen was still one of the greats. A free-agency bargain in 1995, the former Minnesota Vikings star instantly mastered the lead draw Norv Turner had leaned on as offensive coordinator of the Dallas Cowboys.

Allen took Emmitt Smith's favorite play and ran with it. Literally. Ran to back-to-back seasons of 1,300-plus rushing yards.

His first year in Washington saw Allen become the catalyst for a season sweep over those Super Bowl-laden Cowboys. He turned 30 carries into 121 yards in the first meeting at a rocking RFK Stadium before Allen rushed for two more scores and 98 yards at Texas Stadium.

His 1996 campaign also yielded a league-best 21 touchdowns on the deck. Washington didn't make the playoffs, but the team did post a winning record for the first time since 1992.

Injuries piled up the next two years, but Allen still topped the team's rushing charts. He was a rare and genuine star player to get excited about during lean years for the franchise.

5. Larry Brown

Larry Brown pips Davis and Allen into the fifth spot by helping Washington win the NFC Championship in 1972. He did it by putting together a season worthy of being named NFL MVP.

Brown's 1,216 rushing yards was his fourth year out of five with over 800 yards on the ground. His banner campaign included six 100-yard games out of 12.

Washington's offense went through Brown and he delivered. A natural power runner with a long stride, the bruising back mastered the sweep he'd briefly learned under Vince Lombardi in 1969.

Tough and resourceful, there wasn't much Brown couldn't do, but he was at his best when attacking the edges. He also had that thing all the great backs seem to share - a decisive streak near the goal line that was chiefly responsible for his 55 career touchdowns.

Being a terrific receiver rounded out the two-time All-Pro and four-time Pro Bowler as arguably the closest thing to a truly complete back in franchise lore. Putting Brown's production into context only underlines his greatness, per Talk of Fame Two's John Turney.

"From 1969-74 ...

No NFL player had more yards from scrimmage, no RB, WR or TE.
No NFL player scored more touchdowns.
No running back had more rushing touchdowns (tied).
No running back had more receiving yards.
No running back had more receiving touchdowns."

- John Turney, Talk of Fame Two

4. Cliff Battles

Sometimes a star can shine briefly and still be memorable enough to achieve legendary status. Cliff Battles played six seasons for the franchise, covering its inception to its first NFL Championship.

Battles played a key role in the latter triumph. He rushed for 874 yards and five touchdowns to underpin an offense ostensibly led by the great Sammy Baugh. It was his second rushing title after the 1932 season.

Baugh's arm talent provided the magic, but Battles kept the machine ticking. Fittingly, it was the backfield force who opened the scoring during the signature 28-21 victory over the Chicago Bears at Wrigley Field on December 12, 1937.

Before Farkas, Battles was the first true workhorse in franchise history.

3. Earnest Byner

Earnest Byner was already one of the league's best before Washington sent Mike Oliphant to the Cleveland Browns in 1989. He had to overcome the stigma of 'The Fumble,' a great defensive play that unfairly defined a gifted running back and a true professional.

In true pro fashion, Byner quietly went about his work in Joe Gibbs' offense. He was a proper all-rounder who could handle 20-plus carries, attack the edge, pound the middle, and feature in the passing game.

He did the latter for his career redemption moment when Byner caught a pass from Mark Rypien to score Washington's first touchdown against the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl 26.

Byner finished just two yards short of a third-straight 1,000-yard campaign in 1992. The near miss couldn't dim everything he'd achieved in a Washington uniform.

2. Clinton Portis

Another nifty trade, this one involving shutdown cornerback Champ Bailey, brought a marquee running back to town in 2004. Clinton Portis swapped the comfortable confines of the Shanahan zone system for the regimented repetition of Gibbs' beloved counter trey.

If Portis felt any constraints in a different scheme, they hardly showed. Gibbs trusted the running back enough to give him 343 carries in his first season, a large workload he turned into 1,315 rushing yards.

Portis' legs powered the Gibbs-era Mark II up a notch in 2005. This time, the workhorse lugged the rock 352 times for 1,516 yards and 11 touchdowns.

A postseason return and playoff win followed before Washington returned to knockout football again in 2007. Portis was still the catalyst, withstanding another 300-plus carries and amassing 1,262 yards to mask a quarterback situation hampered by an injury to Jason Campbell. This required journeyman backup Todd Collins to step into the fray.

Portis had one more 1,000-yard campaign in him, this time in 2008. The two-time Pro Bowler was so good that season he briefly made you believe the Jim Zorn experiment would work.

That takes talent, and Portis was one of the most talented backs to ever suit up for Washington.

1. John Riggins

It was never likely to be anybody else. John Riggins is the unmovable No. 1 because he fits every necessary criteria of an all-time franchise icon.

Stellar and consistent production? Check. In the form of posting four 1,000-yard seasons, along with rushing for a then-NFL record 24 touchdowns in 1983.

Want some legendary moments? How about 'The Diesel' bludgeoning the Minnesota Vikings and Dallas Cowboys during the 1982 playoffs, even stopping to take a bow in between, en route to Super Bowl 17?

Speaking of that particular vintage of the big game, Riggo created the iconic moment in franchise history on a certain 4th-and-1 play.

Riggins became a champion by doing the heavy lifting to build the platform for the awesome success of Gibbs' first era, the halcyon days of the franchise. For that alone, No. 44 deserves his place atop this list.

The best running backs in Washington Commanders franchise history by rushing yards

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