NFL record likely to fall No. 7: Yards from Scrimmage
Current record: 2,509 — Chris Johnson in 2009
A product of East Carolina, Chris Johnson was taken at No. 24 overall by the Tennessee Titans. He slid a bit in that draft due to being under 200-pounds, which had some teams worried about how he would hold up in the NFL.
It didn’t take long at all to see he would be just fine.
Johnson was impressive out of the gate with 1,228 yards and nine touchdowns as a rookie. But then in year two, he went off. That season, Johnson had 2,006 yards rushing and added another 503 as a receiver. In all, that’s 2,509 yards from scrimmage which topped the 2,429 that Marshall Faulk put up for the St. Louis Rams in 1999.
There was a contender recently as Christian McCaffrey recorded 2,392 yards in 2019 and if he had an extra game that year, he likely would have knocked Johnson down the list.
This season, it seems unlikely that McCaffrey will challenge the record again due to his struggles with staying healthy, but there are a couple of players to watch for. One is Najee Harris, who was excellent as a running back and a receiver last season. Harris had 1,667 yards from scrimmage and could make a leap in year two as Johnson did.
Another possible player is Jonathan Taylor from Indianapolis. Taylor had 2,171 yards from scrimmage in his second season and could continue to to improve the more comfortable he gets in the NFL.
Players most likely to break the record: Najee Harris, Jonathan Taylor