Cincinnati Bengals: Best running backs in team history, No. 2
By Kenn Korb
We’re nearing the end of the countdown of the greatest running backs in Cincinnati Bengals history as we look at the No. 2 guy.
There is reason to be excited about the Cincinnati Bengals heading into the 2018 season. However, it’s simply hard to be excited this time of year in the NFL. It’s that time before training camp has started when things just aren’t happening — or at least in the way they do during the season around the draft.
Throughout this time, we’ve been looking at some of the best players in Bengals history. That started with a look back at Cincinnati quarterbacks, since moving to the running backs.
We’ve already discussed the Nos. 5-3 running backs in team history. Today, we’ll be discussing No. 2 on the list.
2. James Brooks
To come out ahead of the two Johnsons on this list, a runner had to have a pretty strong career; one had a steady dose of production spread across a long time, while the other hit huge peaks which matched him with the league’s best at his position at that time. To best that, you would likely need to combine the strongest parts of the Johnsons’ careers.
Two players were arguably able to do so. Brooks is one of them.
Brooks was there for the most prosperous time in Cincinnati’s franchise history: the 1980s. While his career began with the San Diego Chargers, from 1984-91 he was in the black and orange. It took awhile for Brooks to gain a foothold with the team, but once he did he did not let up.
Between 1985-90, he was the main man in the backfield. Thrice in that time, he eclipsed 1,000 yards on the ground, and two other years he had 900+. Take out the strike-shortened 1987 season, and he had a great five-year stretch: 992 carries, 5,190 rushing yards and 32 touchdowns.
Running wasn’t Brooks’ only contribution, either; his receiving talents were an important part of his package, to a greater degree than any of the players preceding him in this countdown. In eight seasons with Cincinnati he caught nearly 300 passes out of the backfield (297), bringing in 20+ every year, 30+ five times, and 50+ twice. He surpassed 3,000 receiving yards for those eight years, catching 27 touchdowns along the way as well.
What really gives Brooks the edge over either Johnson for the No. 2 spot though is his efficiency on the ground. While the Johnsons and others gained plenty of yardage, they did so in large part just because they were handed the ball an enormous amount of times. Pete Johnson averaged below four yards per carry across his Cincinnati career, and in four of his seven seasons there. Rudi Johnson was better, but his 3.8 yards per carry in a 341-carry 2006 campaign weighed him down — and was probably the nail in the coffin for a career which would quickly fall off a cliff.
Meanwhile, Brooks was a monster in terms of picking up big gains. His average yards per carry across his Cincinnati days (4.8) is the highest of any runner with 100+ career carries for the team. Only 12 players ever have had a better career average than that; take out the quarterbacks, and he’s in the top 10.
The individual seasons are even more impressive. All non-strike seasons from 1985-1990 saw him average at least 4.8 yards per attempt, and four times he had more than 5.0 yards per carry. In 1986, he led the entire league with 5.3 yards per carry, but hit even greater heights by averaging a ridiculous 5.6 yards per attempt in his 1989 campaign. While his team was more successful the previous year, 1989 was Brooks’ best outing: with one-hit wonder Ickey Woods quickly losing prominence, Brooks hit 221 carries (career-best), 1,239 rushing yards (career-best) and seven rushing touchdowns.
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His peaks weren’t as high as Rudi Johnson, and his production didn’t exactly stay consistent as long as Pete Johnson, but by being an effective middle-ground between both options — and doing so with some of the most efficient running efforts by a player in league history — Brooks firmly places himself as the No. 2 running back in Cincinnati history.