Rookie running backs in the NFL have a way of showing either what they could be or what they will be in the league. While the promise of some ends up being prophetic, there are so many others who never realize their full potential. All they have to their name was that one great run that made them a household name for a night or two. Below is a list of the five longest runs by a rookie in NFL history. While some runs proved prophetic, many more were just a tease of what could have been.
Bob Gage, 97 yards (1949)
In the penultimate game of his rookie season, the sixth overall pick from Clemson left his mark on the game. After taking a horrifying 20-yard loss, Bob Gage lined up as a punter, took the snap and raced down the field, tying Green Bay's Andy Uram from NFL record with a 97-yard touchdown run. Now down 30-14 against the Chicago Bears, the Gage would score once more before the Steelers would ultimately lose 30-21. Interestingly, Gage gained 87 yards on just six carries that afternoon. He retired after the following season.
Nick Chubb, 92 yards (2018)
Sometimes a big run can be predicted before the back even gets the ball. The Browns were beating the Falcons 21-10 in the middle of the third quarter when their precocious rookie running back Nick Chubb took the ball. Noticing that Atlanta's defensive line was slanting towards him but confident that his offensive line could zone block their way to success, Chubb found daylight between his right tackle and tight end at his own eight-yard line. From there, Atlanta could only watch as he rumbled 92-yards towards the endzone. It was the longest run in Cleveland history.
Sid Blanks/Bo Jackson/Demarco Murray, 91 yards
The 1964 Houston Oilers were terrible. Sitting at 2-10 with two games left, the team really didn't have much to play for, other than the love for the game. With the game tied at 3-3, rookie running back Sid Blanks rushed for a 91-yard touchdown, lighting a fire under his teammates that could not be extinguished. Inspired by his effort, the Oilers beat the Jets that day 33-17, breaking a nine game losing streak.
Bo Jackson had potential. After a couple of years away from the game and spent on the baseball diamond, the 25 year old rookie (who's birthday was that night) hadn't even cracked 100 rushing yards and had yet so see a victory for the L.A. Raiders before their late November 1987 clash with the Seattle Seahawks.
Jackson put on a clinic, rushing for an incredible 221 yards on just 18 carries. But it was 91 of those yards that still echoes through history. In the middle of the second quarter, the Raiders were up by a touchdown when Jackson took the handoff from quarterback Marc Wilson at the Raiders own 9-yard line, stiff-armed safety Eugene Robinson at the 15-yard line and whooshed into the endzone with ease, at once sparking a rare Los Angeles victory and igniting national adoration for one of the most naturally talented players to ever put on an NFL jersey.
DeMarco Murray was puttering along as an overlooked rookie early in 2011 and hadn't even sniffed 40 yards in any of his first five games. That would change in a flurry in Week 6. Early in the first quarter of the Cowboys matchup with the Rams, Murray took the handoff from the I-formation, followed his blockers and chortled as the two St. Louis defensive backs that had an angle on him tripped over themselves as he breezed past them for a 91-yard touchdown, the first points of his career.
At the end of Dallas's 34-7 triumph, DeMarco Murray had rushed for 253 yards on 25 carries. Of course, that incredible average of 10.12 yards per carry would not have been possible without that simple draw play that began an excellent stint with America's Team.
Leonard Fournette, 90 yards (2017)
Leonard Fournette inspired the Jacksonville Jaguars as a rookie, rushing for 1,040 yards and nine touchdowns as his team made a surprising playoff run that came one game short of the Super Bowl. Arguably, the game that sparked this renaissance was a Week 5 matchup in Pittsburgh.
Undaunted with facing one of the league's premier defenses, the Jaguars found themselves ahead 23-9 with two minutes left in the game when Fournette took the handoff and raced through the left edge for the last 90 yards of his 181 yard day, scoring the touchdown that iced the game and put the league on notice that the once putrid Jaguars were now title contenders.
Tre Mason/Hugh McElhenny, 89 yards
In Week 13 of the 2014 season, St. Louis was beating Oakland 21-0 early in the second quarter when Tre Mason took the handoff from quarterback Shaun Hill and started left before bolting towards the right and straight through the line like a hot knife through butter. It was the vision that had the Rams' personnel drooling at the NFL Combine. In total, the rookie from Auburn rushed for 117 yards and two touchdowns while adding 47 yards and another touchdown through the air in the Rams 52-0 beatdown of the Raiders.
In the second game of his career, 49ers halfback Hugh McElhenny set the team record with an 89 yard touchdown rush in the first quarter of a 37-14 win over the Dallas Texans. While rushing seven times for 170 yards that afternoon, his average was far and away better than his seven runs for 21 yards the week before. It was the first page in a brilliant rookie campaign and an even more impressive career that would earn him a bust in Canton, Ohio.
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