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

The Buffalo Bills selected Marshawn Lynch with the No. 12 overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft and immediately benefitted from his power running. He went for 1,115 yards and seven touchdowns as a rookie, following it up with another 1,000-yard season and eight more scores in 2008.

But things between him and the franchise soured starting in year three. He was suspended for a few games due to off-the-field issues and ultimately was replaced in the starting lineup by Fred Jackson.

Lynch was traded to the Seattle Seahawks in 2010 a few games into the season, where he was inserted as a starter and ran for 573 yards and six touchdowns. It was the start of an outstanding four-year campaign for him from 2011 to 2014 in Seattle, making the Pro Bowl each season.

Lynch was named an All-Pro in 2012 as arguably the best running back in football. In that season, Lynch went for a career-high 1,590 yards and 11 touchdowns.

He led the NFL in rushing touchdowns in 2013 and had a pair of huge playoff games that season, including a 28-rush, 140-yard performance, plus two touchdowns in a win over the New Orleans Saints before going for over 100 yards in the NFC Championship victory over the rival San Francisco 49ers. The running back only had 39 yards in the Super Bowl win against the Denver Broncos, but he wasn’t needed all that much in the blowout.

Lynch’s career was filled with highlights and drama, including a few viral rushing touchdowns. He was involved (or not) in Seattle’s losing goal-line decision against New England in Super Bowl XLIX. His reluctance to talk to the media also made headlines.

But even in his last couple of seasons with his hometown Oakland Raiders, Lynch showed an ability to rush the ball that would’ve worked in any era of football. The “Legion of Boom” was pivotal in the Seahawks’ success on the defensive side of the ball, but the team would’ve been grossly one-sided without Lynch in the backfield playing at an elite level.