Which Team Will Lead the AFC West in Rushing?
Just in case you haven’t heard, the running back position is premium again after years of declining attention, money, and perceived offensive importance. After a prolonged era of deep ball dominance, the league’s defenses have been cracking down on big passing plays, which in turn has caused the league’s offenses to pivot back to the tried and tested run game. Players like Saquon Barkley, Christian McCaffrey, and Derrick Henry have become megastars in a new golden age of rushing. The rebirth of the run game has been acknowledged across the entire NFL, including in the eternal offensive arms race that is the AFC West.
As of last year, the AFC West has no true world-stopper RB on the same level as the aforementioned three superstars. That could very well change in the upcoming 2025 NFL season. All four AFC West teams have attempted to beef up their rushing attack this offseason, either through the draft or big free agency signings. The only question is, whose running game will reign supreme?
The way I see it is that there are actually two races happening between the four teams simultaneously. The first race is between two teams over who will have the best running offense in the division. The second, concurrent race is over who will have the worst. Let’s start with the latter.
Third and fourth place in this running game contest is a toss-up between the Las Vegas Raiders and the defending AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs. Both of these teams mainly tended to their RB depth chart through the draft rather than free agency. Of the two, the Raiders clearly made the biggest splash in strengthening their run game, signing Raheem Mostert from free agency and selecting the most electrifying player in the entire 2025 NFL Draft in Ashton Jeanty. While the Raiders are clear winners in elevating their RB room, they have the largest deficit to make up for, after posting the very worst rushing attack in the entire league last season.
The Chiefs, meanwhile, have struggled quite a bit in recent history with their running game and treated it as a secondary option behind their typically elite passing offense. They have a head start on the Raiders when it comes to rushing performance. However, they are hopeful that the familiar one-two punch of Kareem Hunt and Isiah Pacheco, along with the addition of rookie Brashard Smith, will carry their run game to at least an adequate level. The battle for last place will be decided by whether the Raiders' big moves will pay off better than the Chiefs’ contentment with an average-at-best run game.
The real battle for the best running game in the division comes down to the Denver Broncos vs. the Los Angeles Chargers. Their rushing performance last year was neck and neck, with both teams posting the same rushing yards per attempt, the Broncos having slightly more rushing yards overall, and the Chargers having more rushing TDs. However, both teams were decidedly middle of the table when it came to league-wide rushing attacks, a fact that has clearly been deemed as unacceptable to repeat going into this upcoming season. The Chargers made a huge move at the position by signing Najee Harris, coming off four straight seasons of at least 1,000 rushing yards per season during his rookie tenure with the Steelers. Meanwhile, the Broncos upgraded at RB by signing J.K. Dobbins, who was the leading rusher last year for none other than… the Chargers. Dobbins completely revitalized his career in LA last season, coming off several years of injury trouble during his rookie stint in Baltimore.
Both teams also spent serious draft capital this year to elevate their running back corps. The Chargers selected Omarion Hampton with their first-round pick, while the Broncos spent a second-round pick to grab RJ Harvey. The front offices in Denver and LA have pulled out all the stops to make a serious play for the best rushing attack in the division, from signing proven veterans to drafting highly touted prospects. While talent-wise, it could be anyone’s game, I think I have to give the edge to the Chargers. Harris had the best season of any current-day AFC West RB last year, Hampton is a hyped first-round level talent, and head coach Jim Harbaugh is well known for prioritizing the run game. All of these factors combined should very well make the Bolts the new masters of the ground game in the division.
