NFL: 30 running backs who got better after leaving their first team

It’s been a fascinating career for the only active player on this list. Despite going undrafted and being waived by the Tennessee Titans to begin his career, LeGarrette Blount started strong with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2010, racking up 1,007 rushing yards.

He couldn’t stay at that level with Tampa Bay in the next couple of years before being traded to the New England Patriots in 2013. Blount was very effective in his 2013 campaign with them, scoring seven touchdowns on 772 yards. He set a franchise record with 334 total yards thanks to a career-high 189 yards rushing, combined with 145 return yards against the Buffalo Bills.

Blount has always had trouble follow him and that happened when he joined the Pittsburgh Steelers as a free agent signing. A drug arrest, along with conduct detrimental to the team, caused him to get released in 2014.

New England picked him up right away and the move worked perfectly. Blount looked as good as he ever did running the football en route to the Patriots winning the Super Bowl over the Seattle Seahawks.

2016 was the year of Blount. He ran for a career-high 1,161 rushing yards and scored a league-high 18 rushing touchdowns. It’s a New England single-season franchise record for trips to pay dirt on the ground. It ended with another Super Bowl victory for both him and the team.

Blount would see New England in the Super Bowl the following season as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles. He contributed with a 21-yard touchdown run the help the Eagles beat the Patriots to win his third ring. He jumped ship again this past season, scoring five times with the Detroit Lions as their goal-line threat mainly.

Blount is currently a free agent and could very well join a team in the fall. But if this is his last stop, it was a very impressive career for the former undrafted running back out of Oregon, who is considered one of the better postseason backs of the recent era.