[div align=\\\"center\\\"][/div]
A short aside. I began this article in December of 2019. Then of course college resumed, and it has sat dormant since January. Funnily enough, I think this in and of itself provides an interesting commentary on how the league and its runningbacks have changed. Future section on Marquise Brown and others will come… just not quite yet. Give me my bonus bruh.
Also hi graders, pls give stats bonus
Welcome back to The Specialist! As long as there has been football, there have been halfbacks. At football’s conception, the ground game was all there was, after all; no passing, just running over the other team. The ground game continued to dominate football for decades, until the NFL finally began a shift towards the passing game and spread offenses that became the groundwork for National Simulation Football League offenses when the league played its first season in 2016.
Nonetheless, even while Mike Boss and the Orange County Otters commanded a devastating air raid offense, the league’s first decade was equally defined by dominant running backs who were as much the stars of their teams as the quarterbacks. Three in particular stood above the rest, and now stand enshrined in the Hall of Fame: Reg Mackworthy, Darren Smallwood, and Owen Taylor (inducted in that order). A more recent king of the running game who commanded attention in the league’s second decade can be found in the recently retired Marquise Brown, whose accolades and career achievements speak for themselves. Although modern receiving backs may look to Eric Kennedy or Jordan Yates for inspiration, and power backs may admire Boss Tweed’s constant pounding against the line in Colorado, this trio of Hall of Famers (as well as shoe-in Brown) gave the blueprints for what it means to be the best. The records they set are ones young running backs aspire to when they’re drafted.
As a result, what this article aims to do is this: look at the careers thus far of four different young running backs, and compare them to both the early years and complete careers of the four running backs who I would call the NSFL’s greats. I will feature one running back from each of the last four NSFL draft classes (2031, 2032, 2033, 2034), specifically, Season 16’s Sam Torenson, Season 17’s Ashley Owens, Season 18’s Marcella Toriki, and Season 19’s Quindarius Tyerucker. A quick shoutout to @Lowlycrib, whose excellent article ”Flashback to the S17 Draft and a new perspective” has inspired me to write this one, in an attempt to, as he put it, “weave career storylines, statistical analysis, projections, and others all in one.”
So, obviously, the “first four seasons” of these players has now for the most part passed. For that reason, this article on the four past greats will be a first article, and articles on the four abovementioned players will come each as a standalone.Still examining their early years, but also beyond them)
I will be writing both in terms of years and in seasons for this article (because I feel it is more immersive), so here’s a very quick and simple guide… as much for my own use as for your’s, to be honest.
Season 1 = 2016 | Season 11 = 2026
Season 2 = 2017 | Season 12 = 2027
Season 3 = 2018 | Season 13 = 2028
Season 4 = 2019 | Season 14 = 2029
Season 5 = 2020 | Season 15 = 2030
Season 6 = 2021 | Season 16 = 2031
Season 7 = 2022 | Season 17 = 2032
Season 8 = 2023 | Season 18 = 2033
Season 9 = 2024 | Season 19 = 2034
Season 10 = 2025
Reminder: Season 16, 2031, is when the league expanded from 8 teams to 10, and went from a 14 week season to a 13 week season.
Thank you once more for clicking into today’s issue of The Specialist. Without further ado, I present:
[div align=\\\"center\\\"]Running Backs: The Past and Future[/div]
[div align=\\\"center\\\"]Part 1: The Legacy[/div]
What’s the point of telling you about the youngsters if you have no reference? Since Sam Torenson, the oldest of the four young players I selected, just completed his fourth season, I will write out and discuss the stats (and awards, if relevant) for each Hall of Famer’s (and Brown’s) first four seasons, as well as their career numbers.
Reg Mackworthy (@Esa77)
Reg Mackworthy was, quite literally, straight outta Compton. Born and raised in Compton, California, Mackworthy finally left the Golden State when he went to play football for Oregon State University. Defined by his raw speed, he quickly gathered the attention of scouts who invited him to join the National Simulation Football League as a draftee in its inaugural season.
From here, Mackworthy went on to spend the entirety of his 11 season career with the Arizona Outlaws. In his first three seasons with them, they won 3 championships, although Mack shined most in the latter half of his career.
First Four Seasons:
2016:
Attempts: 142
Rushing yards: 630
Rushing TDs: 1
Catches: 11
Receiving yards: 115
Receiving TDs: 0
Salary: $3,000,000
2016 was a tumultuous and unpredictable start to the league we know and love. En route to being crowned the first ever Ultimus champion, the Outlaws had Mackworthy split carries with Jack Durden (who got 149) and Michael Newman (who got 126).
2017:
Attempts: 333
Rushing yards: 1,089
Rushing TDs: 7
Catches: 27
Receiving yards: 206
Receiving TDs: 3
Salary: $3,000,000 + $500,000 bonus
After a 2016 campaign in which Mackworthy proved he was the fastest, most effective back on the team with 4.4 yards per carry good enough for 4th in the league, Jack Durden ended up on San Jose and Mackworthy became Arizona’s lead running back. This resulted in Mack tallying the second most rushing yards of any player that season - although his yards per carry regressed sharply to 3.3.
2018:
Attempts: 364
Rushing yards: 1,215
Rushing TDs: 10
Catches: 18
Receiving yards: 161
Receiving TDs: 1
Salary: $3,000,000
Another year, another $3,000,000, another year being second on the rushing yardage leaderboard for the season. However, 2nd place sure isn’t bad. Furthermore, Mack managed the most touchdowns of any running back other than Orange County’s Burnsman, who somehow got 11 touchdowns on just 151 attempts (for reference, the next lowest number of attempts by a starting running back was 288…). 2018 would mark the last Ultimus appearance of Mack’s career, as well as his one and only Running back of the Year award.
2019:
Attempts: 230
Rushing yards: 809
Rushing TDs: 10
Catches: 16
Receiving yards: 184
Receiving TDs: 0
Salary: $2,000,000
When 2019 came, Mackworthy’s efficiency rose, but for whatever reason, the 2019 Outlaws just stopped rushing the ball nearly as much as in previous seasons. As a team, Arizona had just 293 rushing attempts, making them one of only two teams that season to have less than 300 attempts, while half the league had over 400. I guess you can’t fault the team, though, since they finished 12-2 on the season (only to be upset by the Otters in the first round of the playoffs).
Total over first four:
Attempts: 1,069
Rushing yards: 3,743
Rushing TDs: 28
Catches: 72
Receiving yards: 666
Receiving TDs: 4
Earnings: $11,500,000
The first thing to note is that Reg Mackworthy made bank compared to the other two Hall of Fame RBs I’m going to cover. While they were taking two million or less a season, Mackworthy made nearly 50% more. He didn’t make an insane amount, but he did well for himself. Meanwhile, based on his first four seasons, Mack was pretty good, but there wasn’t much indication yet that he’d be a guaranteed great down the road. Additionally, up to this point, Mack had failed to be a factor in the passing game.
Average per season:
Attempts: 267.25
Rushing yards: 935.75
Rushing TDs: 7
Catches: 18
Receiving yards: 166.5
Receiving TDs: 1
Earnings: $2,875,000
Comparison to Career Statistics:
Career:
Attempts: 3,176
Rushing yards: 12,208
Rushing TDs: 81
Catches: 325
Receiving yards: 2,956
Receiving TDs: 14
3x Ultimus Champion (2016, 2017, 2018)
1x Running Back of the Year (2018)
Mackworthy did pretty damn well for himself. While he wasn’t close to the other Hall of Fame running backs in terms of touchdowns (the Outlaws 1. didn’t give it to him much near the goalline, and 2. didn’t score much in the latter half of his career), Reg still managed an impressive 15,000 combined rushing/receiving yards over the course of his career. Even if Owen Taylor would prove to outdo him overall, Mack was still a clear lock for the Hall as his career came to a close.
First Four Seasons as a % of Career:
Attempts: 33.7%
Rushing yards: 30.7%
Rushing TDs: 34.6%
Catches: 22.2%
Receiving yards: 22.5%
Receiving TDs: 28.6%
For reference: four seasons makes up 36.4% of Mackworthy’s total career)
Reg Mackworthy should give hope to any young running back who’s having a slow start to their career. Mack was NOT on pace for any of his career totals after his first four seasons. In fact, in 2020, the Arizona star regressed further and gained a combined 935 yards, which would only barely be better than his freshman season.
Then, in 2021, Mack recovered and more. He once again passed 1,000 yards rushing, while also getting 48 catches for 461 yards. In 2022, he got only 1,002 yards on the ground… and absolutely went off for 890 receiving yards. Even after that outlier in terms of the passing game, Mack spent his last four seasons rushing for 1,461, 1,497, 1,494, and 1,281 yards. Mack had a good early career that seemed to be teetering on the edge of falling into obscurity, and then he turned it into something magical.
The one “downside” of Reg Mackworthy’s career is perhaps his lack of awards, with only one position award. Alas, he always seemed to end up second best. In 2022, he had the most yards from scrimmage in the league, but others had more rushing yards and rushing touchdowns. In 2023, 2024, and 2025, he had monster rushing numbers, but still far fewer touchdowns than everyone else. Alas, that’s just how it goes sometimes. Even if it’s unlikely he’ll be called the GOAT, Mackworthy will forever be an Arizona great, and an undeniable Hall of Fame running back.
Darren Smallwood (@tlk742)
Born in Las Vegas, Nevada, Darren Smallwood somehow found his way to little known Beloit College in Wisconsin. He played wide receiver there, and despite his 6’2” frame, he actually fit into the offense more as a speed receiver than a deep threat or possession guy. He was drafted by the San Jose Sabercats with the 52nd pick of the 2017 draft, still as a wide receiver. And… he proceeded to stay a wide receiver for his first three seasons, not switching to running back until 2020. Since Smallwood’s career amounted to 10 seasons (six with San Jose, four with New Orleans), and seven were at running back, I very much consider him one in terms of career. However, this means his “first four seasons” are really his fourth through seventh, but his first four at running back. So, uh… take this all as you will.
First Four Seasons:
2020:
Attempts: 257
Rushing yards: 840
Rushing TDs: 11
Catches: 63
Receiving yards: 483
Receiving TDs: 4
Salary: $2,000,000
Smallwood’s first season at running back went pretty well. He finished fourth in rushing yards and first in rushing touchdowns, despite having a low-end yards per carry. Furthermore, he quite unsurprisingly finished first in receiving yards among true running backs. Eric Kennedy and Jordan Yates both put up monster numbers, but despite being designated as running backs, they each took far fewer snaps in the backfield than at receiver. But that’s a debate for another day.
2021:
Attempts: 162
Rushing yards: 720
Rushing TDs: 10
Catches: 92
Receiving yards: 1,238
Receiving TDs: 3
Salary: $2,000,000
Year two at RB, year five overall, and Smallwood… did something quite similar to what I just said Kennedy and Yates did. But similar, not the same. In contrast to them, Smallwood still put up solid numbers on the ground. Despite getting almost 100 less carries than the year before, Darren Smallwood still succeeded in passing 700 rushing yards thanks to a huge efficiency increase (4.4 yards per carry, as opposed to 3.3). A great season for sure (to severely under-state it), even if his receiving touchdown numbers fell short of those around him in yardage. Chalk it up to gameplanning? Regardless, 2021 would mark his only trip to the playoffs with San Jose.
2022:
Attempts: 190
Rushing yards: 734
Rushing TDs: 7
Catches: 59
Receiving yards: 540
Receiving TDs: 3
Salary: $2,000,000
28 more attempts than 2021, 14 more yards. Smallwood seemed to regress alongside his team; while San Jose dropped to 5-9 from an 11-3 record the year prior, missing the playoffs to an also 5-9 Arizona Outlaws team, Smallwood’s rushing efficiency and general production in the receiving department all took a hit. After six seasons with the Sabercats, his contract expired, and Smallwood finally became a free agent and hit the market. He signed a multi-year deal with the New Orleans Second Line.
2023:
Attempts: 314
Rushing yards: 1,421
Rushing TDs: 16
Catches: 50
Receiving yards: 351
Receiving TDs: 2
Salary: $4,000,000
Before anything else: Smallwood got himself paid! After taking just $2,000,000 every season so far, Darren Smallwood secured a $4,000,000 a year deal with NOLA, and I think both sides came out quite happy. The Second Line had gone 4-10 in 2022. In 2023, with the help of Darren Smallwood, they improved to 9-5 (San Jose went 1-13, if you were wondering). I grant you that another year of experience for young quarterback Borkus Maximus III couldn’t have hurt, but it also doesn’t hurt when your new running back puts up MVP numbers. Literally.
Smallwood had enough rushing yards for 2nd in the NSFL, just 40 behind a veteran Mackworthy, but while getting eight more touchdowns. Combine that with best-among-running backs 351 receiving yards (35 more than Mackworthy), and you have yourself an MVP. He was named Most Outstanding Player, Offensive Player of the Year, and Running Back of the Year this season as well. The Second Line ended up sneaking into the Ultimus from the second seed in the ASFC, but ultimately lost.
Total over first four:
Attempts: 923
Rushing yards: 3,715
Rushing TDs: 44
Catches: 264
Receiving yards: 2,612
Receiving TDs: 12
Earnings: $10,000,000
Looking at his first four years at the running back position, Smallwood is actually quite similar to Mackworthy, except significantly better as a receiver. This is… completely expected. First four years as a running back, just like a fellow Hall of Famer? Performed similarly. Already had three years experience catching the football, compared to fellow Hall of Famer? Performs much better. The only real surprise is that he made 1.5 million less than Reg.
Average per season:
Attempts: 230.75
Rushing yards: 928.75
Rushing TDs: 11
Catches: 66
Receiving yards: 653
Receiving TDs: 3
Earnings: $2,500,000
Comparison to Career Statistics:
Career:
Attempts: 1,891
Rushing yards: 7,823
Rushing TDs: 105
Catches: 617
Receiving yards: 5,825
Receiving TDs: 31
2x Ultimus Champion (2024, 2026)
1x Most Valuable Player (2023)
2x Most Outstanding Player (2023, 2024)
2x Offensive Player of the Year (2023, 2024)
2x Running Back of the Year (2023, 2024)
Although Mackworthy gained a few thousand more combined yards, Smallwood is, in my opinion, another undeniable Hall of Famer. Additionally, Smallwood arguably has the highest peak of any of the players I’ll be discussing. I’ve already listed his 2023 MVP season stats above, but in 2024 he blew his own MVP season out of the water. He got 113 more rushing yards (1,534), 27 rushing touchdowns (11 more), 139 more receiving yards (490), and 3 receiving touchdowns (1 more than the previous year). Honestly, I know Carlito Crush (who won MVP in 2024) broke receiving records, but I have to think voter fatigue contributed strongly to Smallwood not winning MVP.
First Four Seasons as a % of Career:
Attempts: 48.8%
Rushing yards: 47.5%
Rushing TDs: 41.9%
Catches: 42.8%
Receiving yards: 33.4%
Receiving TDs: 38.7%
For reference: four seasons makes up 40% of Smallwood’s total career, and 57.1% of his seasons spent at running back)
The receiving numbers are hard to judge as a result, of course, of him spending three seasons at wide receiver before switching to running back. Nonetheless, Smallwood is now our second of two Hall of Fame running backs who, after four seasons at the position, were not on pace to hit their career numbers. For Mackworthy, it seems the game plan was the cause. For Darren Smallwood, a change of scenery (changing teams) seemed to help. Regardless, even if Smallwood had an atypical career, take note of his delayed success/peak. Really this lesson applies to people at all positions; not everybody will reach the Hall, but a few mediocre or bad seasons alone does not rule you out.
Smallwood’s trophy case is quite full. Over the course of two seasons, he managed to win an Ultimus as well as every possible award available to running backs, with the exception of one of two MVPs. I don’t know about you, but even one MVP is pretty impressive. Helping a young, initially very weak team rapidly rise to a brief dynasty (two Ultimus wins, four Ultimus appearances over just four seasons) is a pretty good thing to put on your resume.
Ultimately, while Smallwood may have had a shorter career, and while he spent several seasons at wide receiver, his career as a whole is quite impressive (especially those two seasons in the middle). Is he the GOAT? That’s up for debate, but he’s definitely in the conversation. In terms of running backs who also went out wide, he’s undoubtedly the best of the first era NSFL. Toriki and Owens will surely hope to challenge him.
Owen Taylor (@manicmav36)
Born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska - the largest city in a small state - Owen Taylor stayed close to home as he went off to college. Attending the University of Nebraska, Taylor’s 6 foot 2 inch, 225 pound frame meant that he fit nicely into both the positions he’d play during the course of his football career. Indeed, like Darren Smallwood, Owen Taylor actually used to play at a different position than the one he’s now a legend for.
Initially a defensive end, Taylor played at that spot for all of his college football career, and when National Simulation Football League draft scouts came calling, it was defensive end Owen Taylor who answered. Drafted by the Baltimore Hawks in the third round of the 2017 NSFL draft, he took after Mack more than Smallwood in that he spent 100% of his career with the team who drafted him. That amounts to 11 seasons in Baltimore from 2017 through 2027, and of which the first two were spent at defensive end, and the latter all spent, of course, as a prolific running back. As in… immediately. Let’s get in to that, shall we?
First Four Seasons:
2019:
Attempts: 349
Rushing yards: 1,200
Rushing TDs: 12
Catches: 42
Receiving yards: 332
Receiving TDs: 1
Salary: $2,000,000
Owen Taylor opened up his career at running back with two seasons at defensive tackle under his belt, but in spite of this, he was essentially a speed back from day one. And from day one, Owen Taylor was a star. Although the Baltimore Hawks ended the season 7-7, just missing the playoffs after having been to two Ultimus in a row to start his career, Taylor racked up numerous accolades. 2nd most rushing yards (85.7 yards per game!), 2nd most rushing touchdowns, breakout player of the year, and perhaps most impressive, a running back of the year award in his first year at the position. The question on everybody’s mind became not if he could succeed at running back, but could he maintain such a high level of play?
2020:
Attempts: 268
Rushing yards: 992
Rushing TDs: 4
Catches: 58
Receiving yards: 428
Receiving TDs: 2
Salary: $1,000,000
The answer was, well… it’s complicated. No, but also yes? Taylor regressed in the rushing game, however, so did everybody. In 2020, the NSFL simply passed more and rushed less; the lead rusher went from 1,222 in 2019 to 1,098 in 2020, and Taylor’s yardage drop (as he stayed #2 in rushing yards) was a bit worse, but similar. Nonetheless, he still managed to win the running back of the year award for the second season in a row. This can perhaps be attributed to his incredibly high yards per carry; it was the highest of any running back other than Eric Kennedy, who in the 2020 season had just 51 rushing attempts. Also, a quick spoiler for those not previously familiar with Taylor… he wouldn’t go for less than 1,000 again for seven years.
2021:
Attempts: 337
Rushing yards: 1,402
Rushing TDs: 5
Catches: 67
Receiving yards: 485
Receiving TDs: 4
Salary: $1,000,000
Can somebody be a breakout player twice? Taylor certainly tried his best in 2021. After a slow rushing season the year prior, Taylor broke out for 1,402 yards on the ground, making him the first player ever to average more than 100 yards rushing a game over the course of an entire NSFL season. Interestingly enough, he somehow only got one touchdown for every 280 yards gained… don’t feel too bad for him, his touchdown seasons come later. I know you’re wondering it, so yes, Owen Taylor did win another Running Back of the Year award, and well deserved it was. Even if TDs were scarce, Taylor broke a boundary that other running backs shoot for their entire careers.
Also, I’d like to take a second to admire the Baltimore Hawks front office. I couldn’t find the exact details of the contract Taylor signed, or when it was signed (all I know is how much he made in each given season), but wow. This is a guy who has won Running Back of the Year three times in three seasons, and they’ve paid him $4 million so far. Bravo.
2022:
Attempts: 304
Rushing yards: 1,306
Rushing TDs: 8
Catches: 61
Receiving yards: 442
Receiving TDs: 4
Salary: $1,000,000
His yardage may have decreased, but he still maintained a nearly 200 yard lead on the guy in second place, so… not too shabby. Unsurprisingly, he took home yet another award, even with his Baltimore Hawks going 7-7 for the third time in four years (fun fact: they went 7-7 in 2023 too. Like losing the Ultimus, it’s just something the Hawks tend to do). This season would mark the end of his first four, so let’s take a look at it now as a whole...
Total over first four:
Attempts: 1,258
Rushing yards: 4,900
Rushing TDs: 29
Catches: 228
Receiving yards: 1,687
Receiving TDs: 11
Earnings: $5,000,000
Well, there’s not a whole ton to say, other than “I wish you could’ve been there to see it for yourself.” That’s what Baltimore Hawks fans will be saying to their children for years and years to come, and this was just the start. Despite minimal production in terms of touchdowns (although, still one more rushing TD than ole’ Mackworthy), Taylor was a beast and everybody knew it. Already a man to be remembered. Already a running back for the ages. And he wasn’t close to done.
Average per season:
Attempts: 314.5
Rushing yards: 1,225
Rushing TDs: 7.25
Catches: 57
Receiving yards: 421.75
Receiving TDs: 2.75
Earnings: $1,250,000
Comparison to Career Statistics:
Career:
Attempts: 2,799
Rushing yards: 11,563
Rushing TDs: 123
Catches: 465
Receiving yards: 3,277
Receiving TDs: 23
1x Ultimus Champion (2025)
2x Most Outstanding Player (2025, 2026)
2x Offensive Player of the Year (2025, 2026)
1x Breakout Player of the Year (2019)
6x Running Back of the Year (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2025, 2026)
A championship, two more positional awards, two MOPs, two offensive player of the year awards… didn’t I just say he wasn’t done yet? Here’s your evidence. We’ll get back to that in a minute, though. Talk about a career. When Taylor retired, he had the second most career rushing yards behind Mackworthy, and to this day he holds the title of career rushing touchdown leader; if you hadn’t noticed, his rushing touchdown numbers skyrocketed after his first four seasons, logging consecutive seasons of 15, 23, 23, 17, and 16 touchdowns on the ground. Currently, he’s one of three running backs to ever surpass 9,000 yards on the ground… and he got over 11.5 thousand. Pretty solid work for a defensive end from Omaha, don’t you think? While he may have never won the MVP award, he certainly came close on numerous occasions, and he’s nonetheless the most decorated running back ever in terms of awards.
First Four Seasons as a % of Career:
Attempts: 44.9%
Rushing yards: 42.4%
Rushing TDs: 23.6%
Catches: 49.0%
Receiving yards: 51.5%
Receiving TDs: 47.8%
For reference: four seasons makes up 36.4% of Taylor’s total career, and 44.4% of his seasons spent at running back)
Like I just said, touchdown numbers took off. However, a fact that’s hidden by the numbers alone is that, in Taylor’s last season, he wasn’t Baltimore’s lead back. With zero starts in 2027 (every game he was second string in the depth chart), he put up just 791 yards - waaaay below his typical yield (he was retiring after all). When you take this into account, alongside the fact he’d logged only 42.4% of his career rush yards so far… you must be left to wonder where he got all those extra ones. Well, primarily they’d come in 2025 and 2026, his Offensive Player of the Year seasons, when he racked up 1,713 and 1,511 rushing yards respectively.
How does that old saying go… once is chance, twice is a coincidence, three times is a pattern? Something like that. What we see from the National Simulation Football League’s first decade is an impressive trend that works quite contrary to the “lifespan” of a typical NFL running back; Mack, Smallwood, and Taylor all got better with age. Yes, scheme, gameplan, and circumstance benefitted every one of them progressively more as their careers went on, but… that doesn’t make it any less true. Honestly, it really just helps to define the era.
I’ll come back to this point plenty later (comparison across the decades is the whole goal of this article), but I want to touch on it now, especially with the last (but most recent) of the “historic” running backs I’m looking at up next. In first decade NSFL, stars were found at every position in every round of the first two drafts. Players at all positions had to fight to earn and keep their starting spot on a team, and it wasn’t until they’d done so through perseverance, a team-beneficial position switch, or most often a combination of both that they’d then be trusted fully by their coaches and utilized as a weapon that the team could build around. Smallwood and Taylor also represent a time when NSFL gameplanning was unregulated, uninhibited. During their days (or at least most of them), teams could call run plays 100% of the time once inside the opponent’s 10 yard line. In the modern game, such playcalling is prohibited. Even the next player up, Hall of Fame lock Marquise Brown played in a time where he was immediately granted the starting spot and named the star of the team in his rookie year.
But… that’s all I’ll say on it all for now. I don’t want to be detracting from one of the greatest careers - of all players, running back or not - in NSFL history. Owen Taylor remains one of the most prolific running backs to ever play the game, and I was lucky enough to get an interview with him as well!
Interview:
“Hello Mr. Taylor, thank you for sitting down with us today!”
[Taylor] Hey, no problem! Glad to be here.
“To state the obvious, you’ve had one of the most prolific careers ever for a running back; many players still struggle to even approach the benchmarks and achievements you’ve set for the position. However, your path to offensive stardom is atypical, with you having played defensive end for the Nebraska Cornhuskers in college. Could you elaborate on how that transition between positions happened once you were with the Hawks?”
[Taylor] Yeah, so that whole situation was very strange. I had a decent career at Nebraska and after a pretty rough start in the NSFL, actually playing pretty well here too. From the start though, it was obvious that I was just too small. I was eating non-stop and basically lived in the weight room, but by the third season in the NSFL it really started to take a toll on me. I was being physically beaten up daily, by guys much bigger than me, and I just couldn’t keep the weight on to save my life. That’s when coach approached with what seemed like an absurd suggestion, I switch to RB. I was already faster than any LB on the team and was literally forcing myself to eat to stay up at a high weight. It only made sense that with a reduced diet the pounds would just fall off and, hypothetically, that should make me faster. That off-season I worked harder than I ever had to lose weight and increase my speed, and it worked. It actually worked.
“After swapping positions for the 2019 season, you exploded onto the scene and won four straight Running Back of the Year awards. From there, you continued to flourish. How did you manage your newfound fame, and how did you maintain such a high level of play over so many seasons immediately after finding your calling at running back?”
[Taylor] Honestly, I think I was more surprised than anyone. I’m playing a totally new position, on the other side of the ball, and Farlane just had a monster season the year before, leaving behind some huge shoes to fill. I think what happened next was beyond what anyone could’ve hoped for. Luckily, I had a fantastic group of guys around me to help keep me grounded and my head out of the clouds. Early on in my career Kurt Hendrix was a huge help and taking me under his wing and showing me how to be a professional. But once I changed sides of the ball, I struck up a great friendship with our new quarterback, Avon Blocksdale. He was another guy that had a really strange career path and saw almost immediate success, so it was nice to have him around. We would joke with each other and slap each other down a bit when it seemed like our heads were getting too big. To say that I was happy with how everything was going though, that would be an understatement. As far as maintaining my level of play though, that was me just being driven by the competition. We had guys like Mackworthy and Tweed that filled the prototype RB role early on, while Yates and Kennedy were more of a CMC type back. Later on, in my career, I had a pretty good competition going with Brown and Smallwood. While Blocksdale helped to keep my head from getting too big off the field, these guys did the same on the field.
“You spent your whole 11 season career with the Hawks, and you took team friendly contracts for the duration. Do you think staying with the same team helped your career? Do you have any comments about the fact that, in contrast to the running backs of the NSFL’s early days such as yourself, Mackworthy, Yates, Kennedy, etc., three of the four young running backs who will be featured in this article have already left the team they were drafted to?”
[Taylor] You know, I get why guys leave. Maybe they don’t like their usage, they want more money to better provide for their family, they don’t like their teammates, all kinds of stuff. I don’t fault any of those guys for leaving. After all, when you’re in this league, you’re basically a product. When not try and sell yourself as best as you can? Luckily, for me, I never really had any issues with that stuff. The front office took a chance on me way back when, they always treated me well, and my family loved the city. I’m not sure my wife would’ve ever let me leave if I wanted to. And, honestly, I do feel like the consistency that always playing in Baltimore brought to me was a huge help. You build a bond with guys, you know how they operate, and you know what they’re going to do on the field before it happens. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Are there any words of advice you’d give to the young running backs entering the league today?”
Words of advice? Find a team you love to play for. There’s nothing harder than waking up in the morning to go to a job you hate, in a place you hate. Find a couple teammates that you can be buddies with, and bust your ass every day both in and out of practice.
(@ graders: I'm editing out a small section that's kinda janky 2 minutes after media bonus deadline. Since I'm removing words hope that's okay lol)
A short aside. I began this article in December of 2019. Then of course college resumed, and it has sat dormant since January. Funnily enough, I think this in and of itself provides an interesting commentary on how the league and its runningbacks have changed. Future section on Marquise Brown and others will come… just not quite yet. Give me my bonus bruh.
Also hi graders, pls give stats bonus
Welcome back to The Specialist! As long as there has been football, there have been halfbacks. At football’s conception, the ground game was all there was, after all; no passing, just running over the other team. The ground game continued to dominate football for decades, until the NFL finally began a shift towards the passing game and spread offenses that became the groundwork for National Simulation Football League offenses when the league played its first season in 2016.
Nonetheless, even while Mike Boss and the Orange County Otters commanded a devastating air raid offense, the league’s first decade was equally defined by dominant running backs who were as much the stars of their teams as the quarterbacks. Three in particular stood above the rest, and now stand enshrined in the Hall of Fame: Reg Mackworthy, Darren Smallwood, and Owen Taylor (inducted in that order). A more recent king of the running game who commanded attention in the league’s second decade can be found in the recently retired Marquise Brown, whose accolades and career achievements speak for themselves. Although modern receiving backs may look to Eric Kennedy or Jordan Yates for inspiration, and power backs may admire Boss Tweed’s constant pounding against the line in Colorado, this trio of Hall of Famers (as well as shoe-in Brown) gave the blueprints for what it means to be the best. The records they set are ones young running backs aspire to when they’re drafted.
As a result, what this article aims to do is this: look at the careers thus far of four different young running backs, and compare them to both the early years and complete careers of the four running backs who I would call the NSFL’s greats. I will feature one running back from each of the last four NSFL draft classes (2031, 2032, 2033, 2034), specifically, Season 16’s Sam Torenson, Season 17’s Ashley Owens, Season 18’s Marcella Toriki, and Season 19’s Quindarius Tyerucker. A quick shoutout to @Lowlycrib, whose excellent article ”Flashback to the S17 Draft and a new perspective” has inspired me to write this one, in an attempt to, as he put it, “weave career storylines, statistical analysis, projections, and others all in one.”
So, obviously, the “first four seasons” of these players has now for the most part passed. For that reason, this article on the four past greats will be a first article, and articles on the four abovementioned players will come each as a standalone.Still examining their early years, but also beyond them)
I will be writing both in terms of years and in seasons for this article (because I feel it is more immersive), so here’s a very quick and simple guide… as much for my own use as for your’s, to be honest.
Season 1 = 2016 | Season 11 = 2026
Season 2 = 2017 | Season 12 = 2027
Season 3 = 2018 | Season 13 = 2028
Season 4 = 2019 | Season 14 = 2029
Season 5 = 2020 | Season 15 = 2030
Season 6 = 2021 | Season 16 = 2031
Season 7 = 2022 | Season 17 = 2032
Season 8 = 2023 | Season 18 = 2033
Season 9 = 2024 | Season 19 = 2034
Season 10 = 2025
Reminder: Season 16, 2031, is when the league expanded from 8 teams to 10, and went from a 14 week season to a 13 week season.
Thank you once more for clicking into today’s issue of The Specialist. Without further ado, I present:
[div align=\\\"center\\\"]Running Backs: The Past and Future[/div]
[div align=\\\"center\\\"]Part 1: The Legacy[/div]
What’s the point of telling you about the youngsters if you have no reference? Since Sam Torenson, the oldest of the four young players I selected, just completed his fourth season, I will write out and discuss the stats (and awards, if relevant) for each Hall of Famer’s (and Brown’s) first four seasons, as well as their career numbers.
Reg Mackworthy (@Esa77)
Reg Mackworthy was, quite literally, straight outta Compton. Born and raised in Compton, California, Mackworthy finally left the Golden State when he went to play football for Oregon State University. Defined by his raw speed, he quickly gathered the attention of scouts who invited him to join the National Simulation Football League as a draftee in its inaugural season.
From here, Mackworthy went on to spend the entirety of his 11 season career with the Arizona Outlaws. In his first three seasons with them, they won 3 championships, although Mack shined most in the latter half of his career.
First Four Seasons:
2016:
Attempts: 142
Rushing yards: 630
Rushing TDs: 1
Catches: 11
Receiving yards: 115
Receiving TDs: 0
Salary: $3,000,000
2016 was a tumultuous and unpredictable start to the league we know and love. En route to being crowned the first ever Ultimus champion, the Outlaws had Mackworthy split carries with Jack Durden (who got 149) and Michael Newman (who got 126).
2017:
Attempts: 333
Rushing yards: 1,089
Rushing TDs: 7
Catches: 27
Receiving yards: 206
Receiving TDs: 3
Salary: $3,000,000 + $500,000 bonus
After a 2016 campaign in which Mackworthy proved he was the fastest, most effective back on the team with 4.4 yards per carry good enough for 4th in the league, Jack Durden ended up on San Jose and Mackworthy became Arizona’s lead running back. This resulted in Mack tallying the second most rushing yards of any player that season - although his yards per carry regressed sharply to 3.3.
2018:
Attempts: 364
Rushing yards: 1,215
Rushing TDs: 10
Catches: 18
Receiving yards: 161
Receiving TDs: 1
Salary: $3,000,000
Another year, another $3,000,000, another year being second on the rushing yardage leaderboard for the season. However, 2nd place sure isn’t bad. Furthermore, Mack managed the most touchdowns of any running back other than Orange County’s Burnsman, who somehow got 11 touchdowns on just 151 attempts (for reference, the next lowest number of attempts by a starting running back was 288…). 2018 would mark the last Ultimus appearance of Mack’s career, as well as his one and only Running back of the Year award.
2019:
Attempts: 230
Rushing yards: 809
Rushing TDs: 10
Catches: 16
Receiving yards: 184
Receiving TDs: 0
Salary: $2,000,000
When 2019 came, Mackworthy’s efficiency rose, but for whatever reason, the 2019 Outlaws just stopped rushing the ball nearly as much as in previous seasons. As a team, Arizona had just 293 rushing attempts, making them one of only two teams that season to have less than 300 attempts, while half the league had over 400. I guess you can’t fault the team, though, since they finished 12-2 on the season (only to be upset by the Otters in the first round of the playoffs).
Total over first four:
Attempts: 1,069
Rushing yards: 3,743
Rushing TDs: 28
Catches: 72
Receiving yards: 666
Receiving TDs: 4
Earnings: $11,500,000
The first thing to note is that Reg Mackworthy made bank compared to the other two Hall of Fame RBs I’m going to cover. While they were taking two million or less a season, Mackworthy made nearly 50% more. He didn’t make an insane amount, but he did well for himself. Meanwhile, based on his first four seasons, Mack was pretty good, but there wasn’t much indication yet that he’d be a guaranteed great down the road. Additionally, up to this point, Mack had failed to be a factor in the passing game.
Average per season:
Attempts: 267.25
Rushing yards: 935.75
Rushing TDs: 7
Catches: 18
Receiving yards: 166.5
Receiving TDs: 1
Earnings: $2,875,000
Comparison to Career Statistics:
Career:
Attempts: 3,176
Rushing yards: 12,208
Rushing TDs: 81
Catches: 325
Receiving yards: 2,956
Receiving TDs: 14
3x Ultimus Champion (2016, 2017, 2018)
1x Running Back of the Year (2018)
Mackworthy did pretty damn well for himself. While he wasn’t close to the other Hall of Fame running backs in terms of touchdowns (the Outlaws 1. didn’t give it to him much near the goalline, and 2. didn’t score much in the latter half of his career), Reg still managed an impressive 15,000 combined rushing/receiving yards over the course of his career. Even if Owen Taylor would prove to outdo him overall, Mack was still a clear lock for the Hall as his career came to a close.
First Four Seasons as a % of Career:
Attempts: 33.7%
Rushing yards: 30.7%
Rushing TDs: 34.6%
Catches: 22.2%
Receiving yards: 22.5%
Receiving TDs: 28.6%
For reference: four seasons makes up 36.4% of Mackworthy’s total career)
Reg Mackworthy should give hope to any young running back who’s having a slow start to their career. Mack was NOT on pace for any of his career totals after his first four seasons. In fact, in 2020, the Arizona star regressed further and gained a combined 935 yards, which would only barely be better than his freshman season.
Then, in 2021, Mack recovered and more. He once again passed 1,000 yards rushing, while also getting 48 catches for 461 yards. In 2022, he got only 1,002 yards on the ground… and absolutely went off for 890 receiving yards. Even after that outlier in terms of the passing game, Mack spent his last four seasons rushing for 1,461, 1,497, 1,494, and 1,281 yards. Mack had a good early career that seemed to be teetering on the edge of falling into obscurity, and then he turned it into something magical.
The one “downside” of Reg Mackworthy’s career is perhaps his lack of awards, with only one position award. Alas, he always seemed to end up second best. In 2022, he had the most yards from scrimmage in the league, but others had more rushing yards and rushing touchdowns. In 2023, 2024, and 2025, he had monster rushing numbers, but still far fewer touchdowns than everyone else. Alas, that’s just how it goes sometimes. Even if it’s unlikely he’ll be called the GOAT, Mackworthy will forever be an Arizona great, and an undeniable Hall of Fame running back.
Darren Smallwood (@tlk742)
Born in Las Vegas, Nevada, Darren Smallwood somehow found his way to little known Beloit College in Wisconsin. He played wide receiver there, and despite his 6’2” frame, he actually fit into the offense more as a speed receiver than a deep threat or possession guy. He was drafted by the San Jose Sabercats with the 52nd pick of the 2017 draft, still as a wide receiver. And… he proceeded to stay a wide receiver for his first three seasons, not switching to running back until 2020. Since Smallwood’s career amounted to 10 seasons (six with San Jose, four with New Orleans), and seven were at running back, I very much consider him one in terms of career. However, this means his “first four seasons” are really his fourth through seventh, but his first four at running back. So, uh… take this all as you will.
First Four Seasons:
2020:
Attempts: 257
Rushing yards: 840
Rushing TDs: 11
Catches: 63
Receiving yards: 483
Receiving TDs: 4
Salary: $2,000,000
Smallwood’s first season at running back went pretty well. He finished fourth in rushing yards and first in rushing touchdowns, despite having a low-end yards per carry. Furthermore, he quite unsurprisingly finished first in receiving yards among true running backs. Eric Kennedy and Jordan Yates both put up monster numbers, but despite being designated as running backs, they each took far fewer snaps in the backfield than at receiver. But that’s a debate for another day.
2021:
Attempts: 162
Rushing yards: 720
Rushing TDs: 10
Catches: 92
Receiving yards: 1,238
Receiving TDs: 3
Salary: $2,000,000
Year two at RB, year five overall, and Smallwood… did something quite similar to what I just said Kennedy and Yates did. But similar, not the same. In contrast to them, Smallwood still put up solid numbers on the ground. Despite getting almost 100 less carries than the year before, Darren Smallwood still succeeded in passing 700 rushing yards thanks to a huge efficiency increase (4.4 yards per carry, as opposed to 3.3). A great season for sure (to severely under-state it), even if his receiving touchdown numbers fell short of those around him in yardage. Chalk it up to gameplanning? Regardless, 2021 would mark his only trip to the playoffs with San Jose.
2022:
Attempts: 190
Rushing yards: 734
Rushing TDs: 7
Catches: 59
Receiving yards: 540
Receiving TDs: 3
Salary: $2,000,000
28 more attempts than 2021, 14 more yards. Smallwood seemed to regress alongside his team; while San Jose dropped to 5-9 from an 11-3 record the year prior, missing the playoffs to an also 5-9 Arizona Outlaws team, Smallwood’s rushing efficiency and general production in the receiving department all took a hit. After six seasons with the Sabercats, his contract expired, and Smallwood finally became a free agent and hit the market. He signed a multi-year deal with the New Orleans Second Line.
2023:
Attempts: 314
Rushing yards: 1,421
Rushing TDs: 16
Catches: 50
Receiving yards: 351
Receiving TDs: 2
Salary: $4,000,000
Before anything else: Smallwood got himself paid! After taking just $2,000,000 every season so far, Darren Smallwood secured a $4,000,000 a year deal with NOLA, and I think both sides came out quite happy. The Second Line had gone 4-10 in 2022. In 2023, with the help of Darren Smallwood, they improved to 9-5 (San Jose went 1-13, if you were wondering). I grant you that another year of experience for young quarterback Borkus Maximus III couldn’t have hurt, but it also doesn’t hurt when your new running back puts up MVP numbers. Literally.
Smallwood had enough rushing yards for 2nd in the NSFL, just 40 behind a veteran Mackworthy, but while getting eight more touchdowns. Combine that with best-among-running backs 351 receiving yards (35 more than Mackworthy), and you have yourself an MVP. He was named Most Outstanding Player, Offensive Player of the Year, and Running Back of the Year this season as well. The Second Line ended up sneaking into the Ultimus from the second seed in the ASFC, but ultimately lost.
Total over first four:
Attempts: 923
Rushing yards: 3,715
Rushing TDs: 44
Catches: 264
Receiving yards: 2,612
Receiving TDs: 12
Earnings: $10,000,000
Looking at his first four years at the running back position, Smallwood is actually quite similar to Mackworthy, except significantly better as a receiver. This is… completely expected. First four years as a running back, just like a fellow Hall of Famer? Performed similarly. Already had three years experience catching the football, compared to fellow Hall of Famer? Performs much better. The only real surprise is that he made 1.5 million less than Reg.
Average per season:
Attempts: 230.75
Rushing yards: 928.75
Rushing TDs: 11
Catches: 66
Receiving yards: 653
Receiving TDs: 3
Earnings: $2,500,000
Comparison to Career Statistics:
Career:
Attempts: 1,891
Rushing yards: 7,823
Rushing TDs: 105
Catches: 617
Receiving yards: 5,825
Receiving TDs: 31
2x Ultimus Champion (2024, 2026)
1x Most Valuable Player (2023)
2x Most Outstanding Player (2023, 2024)
2x Offensive Player of the Year (2023, 2024)
2x Running Back of the Year (2023, 2024)
Although Mackworthy gained a few thousand more combined yards, Smallwood is, in my opinion, another undeniable Hall of Famer. Additionally, Smallwood arguably has the highest peak of any of the players I’ll be discussing. I’ve already listed his 2023 MVP season stats above, but in 2024 he blew his own MVP season out of the water. He got 113 more rushing yards (1,534), 27 rushing touchdowns (11 more), 139 more receiving yards (490), and 3 receiving touchdowns (1 more than the previous year). Honestly, I know Carlito Crush (who won MVP in 2024) broke receiving records, but I have to think voter fatigue contributed strongly to Smallwood not winning MVP.
First Four Seasons as a % of Career:
Attempts: 48.8%
Rushing yards: 47.5%
Rushing TDs: 41.9%
Catches: 42.8%
Receiving yards: 33.4%
Receiving TDs: 38.7%
For reference: four seasons makes up 40% of Smallwood’s total career, and 57.1% of his seasons spent at running back)
The receiving numbers are hard to judge as a result, of course, of him spending three seasons at wide receiver before switching to running back. Nonetheless, Smallwood is now our second of two Hall of Fame running backs who, after four seasons at the position, were not on pace to hit their career numbers. For Mackworthy, it seems the game plan was the cause. For Darren Smallwood, a change of scenery (changing teams) seemed to help. Regardless, even if Smallwood had an atypical career, take note of his delayed success/peak. Really this lesson applies to people at all positions; not everybody will reach the Hall, but a few mediocre or bad seasons alone does not rule you out.
Smallwood’s trophy case is quite full. Over the course of two seasons, he managed to win an Ultimus as well as every possible award available to running backs, with the exception of one of two MVPs. I don’t know about you, but even one MVP is pretty impressive. Helping a young, initially very weak team rapidly rise to a brief dynasty (two Ultimus wins, four Ultimus appearances over just four seasons) is a pretty good thing to put on your resume.
Ultimately, while Smallwood may have had a shorter career, and while he spent several seasons at wide receiver, his career as a whole is quite impressive (especially those two seasons in the middle). Is he the GOAT? That’s up for debate, but he’s definitely in the conversation. In terms of running backs who also went out wide, he’s undoubtedly the best of the first era NSFL. Toriki and Owens will surely hope to challenge him.
Owen Taylor (@manicmav36)
Born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska - the largest city in a small state - Owen Taylor stayed close to home as he went off to college. Attending the University of Nebraska, Taylor’s 6 foot 2 inch, 225 pound frame meant that he fit nicely into both the positions he’d play during the course of his football career. Indeed, like Darren Smallwood, Owen Taylor actually used to play at a different position than the one he’s now a legend for.
Initially a defensive end, Taylor played at that spot for all of his college football career, and when National Simulation Football League draft scouts came calling, it was defensive end Owen Taylor who answered. Drafted by the Baltimore Hawks in the third round of the 2017 NSFL draft, he took after Mack more than Smallwood in that he spent 100% of his career with the team who drafted him. That amounts to 11 seasons in Baltimore from 2017 through 2027, and of which the first two were spent at defensive end, and the latter all spent, of course, as a prolific running back. As in… immediately. Let’s get in to that, shall we?
First Four Seasons:
2019:
Attempts: 349
Rushing yards: 1,200
Rushing TDs: 12
Catches: 42
Receiving yards: 332
Receiving TDs: 1
Salary: $2,000,000
Owen Taylor opened up his career at running back with two seasons at defensive tackle under his belt, but in spite of this, he was essentially a speed back from day one. And from day one, Owen Taylor was a star. Although the Baltimore Hawks ended the season 7-7, just missing the playoffs after having been to two Ultimus in a row to start his career, Taylor racked up numerous accolades. 2nd most rushing yards (85.7 yards per game!), 2nd most rushing touchdowns, breakout player of the year, and perhaps most impressive, a running back of the year award in his first year at the position. The question on everybody’s mind became not if he could succeed at running back, but could he maintain such a high level of play?
2020:
Attempts: 268
Rushing yards: 992
Rushing TDs: 4
Catches: 58
Receiving yards: 428
Receiving TDs: 2
Salary: $1,000,000
The answer was, well… it’s complicated. No, but also yes? Taylor regressed in the rushing game, however, so did everybody. In 2020, the NSFL simply passed more and rushed less; the lead rusher went from 1,222 in 2019 to 1,098 in 2020, and Taylor’s yardage drop (as he stayed #2 in rushing yards) was a bit worse, but similar. Nonetheless, he still managed to win the running back of the year award for the second season in a row. This can perhaps be attributed to his incredibly high yards per carry; it was the highest of any running back other than Eric Kennedy, who in the 2020 season had just 51 rushing attempts. Also, a quick spoiler for those not previously familiar with Taylor… he wouldn’t go for less than 1,000 again for seven years.
2021:
Attempts: 337
Rushing yards: 1,402
Rushing TDs: 5
Catches: 67
Receiving yards: 485
Receiving TDs: 4
Salary: $1,000,000
Can somebody be a breakout player twice? Taylor certainly tried his best in 2021. After a slow rushing season the year prior, Taylor broke out for 1,402 yards on the ground, making him the first player ever to average more than 100 yards rushing a game over the course of an entire NSFL season. Interestingly enough, he somehow only got one touchdown for every 280 yards gained… don’t feel too bad for him, his touchdown seasons come later. I know you’re wondering it, so yes, Owen Taylor did win another Running Back of the Year award, and well deserved it was. Even if TDs were scarce, Taylor broke a boundary that other running backs shoot for their entire careers.
Also, I’d like to take a second to admire the Baltimore Hawks front office. I couldn’t find the exact details of the contract Taylor signed, or when it was signed (all I know is how much he made in each given season), but wow. This is a guy who has won Running Back of the Year three times in three seasons, and they’ve paid him $4 million so far. Bravo.
2022:
Attempts: 304
Rushing yards: 1,306
Rushing TDs: 8
Catches: 61
Receiving yards: 442
Receiving TDs: 4
Salary: $1,000,000
His yardage may have decreased, but he still maintained a nearly 200 yard lead on the guy in second place, so… not too shabby. Unsurprisingly, he took home yet another award, even with his Baltimore Hawks going 7-7 for the third time in four years (fun fact: they went 7-7 in 2023 too. Like losing the Ultimus, it’s just something the Hawks tend to do). This season would mark the end of his first four, so let’s take a look at it now as a whole...
Total over first four:
Attempts: 1,258
Rushing yards: 4,900
Rushing TDs: 29
Catches: 228
Receiving yards: 1,687
Receiving TDs: 11
Earnings: $5,000,000
Well, there’s not a whole ton to say, other than “I wish you could’ve been there to see it for yourself.” That’s what Baltimore Hawks fans will be saying to their children for years and years to come, and this was just the start. Despite minimal production in terms of touchdowns (although, still one more rushing TD than ole’ Mackworthy), Taylor was a beast and everybody knew it. Already a man to be remembered. Already a running back for the ages. And he wasn’t close to done.
Average per season:
Attempts: 314.5
Rushing yards: 1,225
Rushing TDs: 7.25
Catches: 57
Receiving yards: 421.75
Receiving TDs: 2.75
Earnings: $1,250,000
Comparison to Career Statistics:
Career:
Attempts: 2,799
Rushing yards: 11,563
Rushing TDs: 123
Catches: 465
Receiving yards: 3,277
Receiving TDs: 23
1x Ultimus Champion (2025)
2x Most Outstanding Player (2025, 2026)
2x Offensive Player of the Year (2025, 2026)
1x Breakout Player of the Year (2019)
6x Running Back of the Year (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2025, 2026)
A championship, two more positional awards, two MOPs, two offensive player of the year awards… didn’t I just say he wasn’t done yet? Here’s your evidence. We’ll get back to that in a minute, though. Talk about a career. When Taylor retired, he had the second most career rushing yards behind Mackworthy, and to this day he holds the title of career rushing touchdown leader; if you hadn’t noticed, his rushing touchdown numbers skyrocketed after his first four seasons, logging consecutive seasons of 15, 23, 23, 17, and 16 touchdowns on the ground. Currently, he’s one of three running backs to ever surpass 9,000 yards on the ground… and he got over 11.5 thousand. Pretty solid work for a defensive end from Omaha, don’t you think? While he may have never won the MVP award, he certainly came close on numerous occasions, and he’s nonetheless the most decorated running back ever in terms of awards.
First Four Seasons as a % of Career:
Attempts: 44.9%
Rushing yards: 42.4%
Rushing TDs: 23.6%
Catches: 49.0%
Receiving yards: 51.5%
Receiving TDs: 47.8%
For reference: four seasons makes up 36.4% of Taylor’s total career, and 44.4% of his seasons spent at running back)
Like I just said, touchdown numbers took off. However, a fact that’s hidden by the numbers alone is that, in Taylor’s last season, he wasn’t Baltimore’s lead back. With zero starts in 2027 (every game he was second string in the depth chart), he put up just 791 yards - waaaay below his typical yield (he was retiring after all). When you take this into account, alongside the fact he’d logged only 42.4% of his career rush yards so far… you must be left to wonder where he got all those extra ones. Well, primarily they’d come in 2025 and 2026, his Offensive Player of the Year seasons, when he racked up 1,713 and 1,511 rushing yards respectively.
How does that old saying go… once is chance, twice is a coincidence, three times is a pattern? Something like that. What we see from the National Simulation Football League’s first decade is an impressive trend that works quite contrary to the “lifespan” of a typical NFL running back; Mack, Smallwood, and Taylor all got better with age. Yes, scheme, gameplan, and circumstance benefitted every one of them progressively more as their careers went on, but… that doesn’t make it any less true. Honestly, it really just helps to define the era.
I’ll come back to this point plenty later (comparison across the decades is the whole goal of this article), but I want to touch on it now, especially with the last (but most recent) of the “historic” running backs I’m looking at up next. In first decade NSFL, stars were found at every position in every round of the first two drafts. Players at all positions had to fight to earn and keep their starting spot on a team, and it wasn’t until they’d done so through perseverance, a team-beneficial position switch, or most often a combination of both that they’d then be trusted fully by their coaches and utilized as a weapon that the team could build around. Smallwood and Taylor also represent a time when NSFL gameplanning was unregulated, uninhibited. During their days (or at least most of them), teams could call run plays 100% of the time once inside the opponent’s 10 yard line. In the modern game, such playcalling is prohibited. Even the next player up, Hall of Fame lock Marquise Brown played in a time where he was immediately granted the starting spot and named the star of the team in his rookie year.
But… that’s all I’ll say on it all for now. I don’t want to be detracting from one of the greatest careers - of all players, running back or not - in NSFL history. Owen Taylor remains one of the most prolific running backs to ever play the game, and I was lucky enough to get an interview with him as well!
Interview:
“Hello Mr. Taylor, thank you for sitting down with us today!”
[Taylor] Hey, no problem! Glad to be here.
“To state the obvious, you’ve had one of the most prolific careers ever for a running back; many players still struggle to even approach the benchmarks and achievements you’ve set for the position. However, your path to offensive stardom is atypical, with you having played defensive end for the Nebraska Cornhuskers in college. Could you elaborate on how that transition between positions happened once you were with the Hawks?”
[Taylor] Yeah, so that whole situation was very strange. I had a decent career at Nebraska and after a pretty rough start in the NSFL, actually playing pretty well here too. From the start though, it was obvious that I was just too small. I was eating non-stop and basically lived in the weight room, but by the third season in the NSFL it really started to take a toll on me. I was being physically beaten up daily, by guys much bigger than me, and I just couldn’t keep the weight on to save my life. That’s when coach approached with what seemed like an absurd suggestion, I switch to RB. I was already faster than any LB on the team and was literally forcing myself to eat to stay up at a high weight. It only made sense that with a reduced diet the pounds would just fall off and, hypothetically, that should make me faster. That off-season I worked harder than I ever had to lose weight and increase my speed, and it worked. It actually worked.
“After swapping positions for the 2019 season, you exploded onto the scene and won four straight Running Back of the Year awards. From there, you continued to flourish. How did you manage your newfound fame, and how did you maintain such a high level of play over so many seasons immediately after finding your calling at running back?”
[Taylor] Honestly, I think I was more surprised than anyone. I’m playing a totally new position, on the other side of the ball, and Farlane just had a monster season the year before, leaving behind some huge shoes to fill. I think what happened next was beyond what anyone could’ve hoped for. Luckily, I had a fantastic group of guys around me to help keep me grounded and my head out of the clouds. Early on in my career Kurt Hendrix was a huge help and taking me under his wing and showing me how to be a professional. But once I changed sides of the ball, I struck up a great friendship with our new quarterback, Avon Blocksdale. He was another guy that had a really strange career path and saw almost immediate success, so it was nice to have him around. We would joke with each other and slap each other down a bit when it seemed like our heads were getting too big. To say that I was happy with how everything was going though, that would be an understatement. As far as maintaining my level of play though, that was me just being driven by the competition. We had guys like Mackworthy and Tweed that filled the prototype RB role early on, while Yates and Kennedy were more of a CMC type back. Later on, in my career, I had a pretty good competition going with Brown and Smallwood. While Blocksdale helped to keep my head from getting too big off the field, these guys did the same on the field.
“You spent your whole 11 season career with the Hawks, and you took team friendly contracts for the duration. Do you think staying with the same team helped your career? Do you have any comments about the fact that, in contrast to the running backs of the NSFL’s early days such as yourself, Mackworthy, Yates, Kennedy, etc., three of the four young running backs who will be featured in this article have already left the team they were drafted to?”
[Taylor] You know, I get why guys leave. Maybe they don’t like their usage, they want more money to better provide for their family, they don’t like their teammates, all kinds of stuff. I don’t fault any of those guys for leaving. After all, when you’re in this league, you’re basically a product. When not try and sell yourself as best as you can? Luckily, for me, I never really had any issues with that stuff. The front office took a chance on me way back when, they always treated me well, and my family loved the city. I’m not sure my wife would’ve ever let me leave if I wanted to. And, honestly, I do feel like the consistency that always playing in Baltimore brought to me was a huge help. You build a bond with guys, you know how they operate, and you know what they’re going to do on the field before it happens. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Are there any words of advice you’d give to the young running backs entering the league today?”
Words of advice? Find a team you love to play for. There’s nothing harder than waking up in the morning to go to a job you hate, in a place you hate. Find a couple teammates that you can be buddies with, and bust your ass every day both in and out of practice.
(@ graders: I'm editing out a small section that's kinda janky 2 minutes after media bonus deadline. Since I'm removing words hope that's okay lol)