In case you were wondering, the NFL’s plus/minus leaders this season — running backs division — were the Ravens’ Justin Forsett (1,235-yard increase over his 2013 rushing total) and the Vikings’ Adrian Peterson (1,191-yard decrease, thanks to the “off-field trouble” that limited him to one game).

You don’t necessarily have to read a lot into this. Maybe a player just got an opportunity (and his yards shot up), or maybe he just got hurt (and they went down). In other words, it’s less a measure of how well a back played and more a matter of his production compared to the year before. (Just one of the ways I keep myself entertained in the offseason: by looking at numbers from all sorts of angles.)

BIGGEST GAINERS

[table width=”450px”]

Running back\, Team,2013,2014,Gain

Justin Forsett\, Ravens,     31,1266,+1235

C.J. Anderson\, Broncos,     38,   849,   +811

DeMarco Murray\, Cowboys,1121,1845,   +724

Arian Foster\, Texans,   542,1246,   +704

Jonathan Stewart\, Panthers,   180,   809,   +629

Mark Ingram\, Saints,   386,   964,   +578

Denard Robinson\, Jaguars,     66,   582,   +516

Le’Veon Bell\, Steelers,   860,1361,   +501

Matt Asiata\, Vikings,   166,   570,   +404

Lamar Miller\, Dolphins,   709,1099,   +390

[/table]

Note: The first five backs all made the playoffs (and three played for teams that didn’t make it the season before).

BIGGEST DECLINERS

[table width=”450px”]

Running back\, Team,2013,2014,Drop

Adrian Peterson\, Vikings,1266,   75,-1191

Ryan Mathews\, Chargers,1255,330,   -925

Knowshon Moreno\, Broncos,1038,148,   -890

Reggie Bush\, Lions,1006,297,   -709

Maurice Jones-Drew\, Raiders,   803,   96,   -707

Zac Stacy\, Rams,   973,293,   -680

C.J. Spiller\, Bills,   933,300,   -633

DeAngelo Williams\, Panthers,   843,219,   -624

Bilal Powell\, Jets,   697,141,   -556

Stevan Ridley\, Patriots,   773,340,   -433

[/table]

Obviously, most of these backs were injured, forcing their teams to scramble a bit at the running back position. Some of the clubs (Broncos, Lions, Panthers, Patriots) dealt with the situation better than others. But then, Denver, Detroit and New England weren’t that dependent on the running game to begin with.

Next: receivers.

Source: pro-football-reference.com