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

A second-round pick in the 1997 NFL Draft from the University of Washington, Corey Dillon was an outstanding running back with the Cincinnati Bengals. He was breaking records out the gate, including going for 246 yards and four touchdowns, which broke Jim Brown’s single-game rookie rushing record.

Dillon ran for at least 1,129 yards in his first six seasons with the Bengals and reached double-figure touchdowns twice. He made the Pro Bowl each year from 1999 to 2001 and had another single-game record for rushing yards (278), which was the best in NFL history for a couple of years.

But not all things end well between players and teams in the league. After a season where Dillon struggled with injuries and started to looked slow, Cincinnati made the move to trade him to the New England Patriots. At 30 years old, it looked like he had little left in the tank. It seemed as though the Bengals got rid of him at the right time.

Wrong.

Once again, New England capitalized off another team’s mistake with Dillon having the best season in his career in 2004. He went for a franchise-record 1,635 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns and played a pivotal role in the Patriots’ title run in the 2004 NFL season.

It also was the first time the running back even experienced postseason play. The Bengals were in the midst of a decade-plus playoff drought when Dillon played for them. His rushing production in his final two seasons with New England did dip down a bit, but he still managed to find the endzone a combined 25 more times.

Dillon may not have gotten “better” from a talent standpoint after leaving Cincinnati, but it was the best thing that happened to his career. He went from a perennially losing franchise to the one with the most success since the start of the 21st century. His prestige and legacy got a nice boost. He still holds several franchise records from the two teams he played for.