The 5 Most Valuable NFL Rushing Seasons Since 2000
Shaun Alexander, 2005
Season: 2005
Team: Seattle Seahawks
Rushing NEP: 66.11
Success Rate: 47.03%
| G | ATT | YDS | Y/G | AVG | TD | FUML |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | 370 | 1,880 | 117.5 | 5.1 | 27 | 1 |
Shaun Alexander's NFL MVP-winning performance in 2005 top ours list as the number one most valuable single-season rushing performance of this century.
Alexander's production in 2005 would mark the pinnacle of his career. Running behind one the best offensive lines in NFL history, he would record his highest rushing yards (1,880) and touchdown (27) totals of his career that season, and would cap an NFL-record five-straight seasons with 15 or more touchdowns. And his contributions to the Seahawks offense that year by way of Rushing NEP registered at an amazing 66.11.
To put this number into perspective and illustrate just how astounding this figure is, if you were to take Marshawn Lynch's Rushing NEP from the last three seasons combined -- a time span in which Lynch led the league in this category -- his 51.08 from 2012-2014 would still fall more than 15 points behind Alexander's Rushing NEP of 66.11 in 2005.
His output on the field would not only propel the Seahawks to the best record in the NFC at 13-3 but would also earn him every distinction imaginable including First-Team All-Pro and Pro Bowl selections, the AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year, NFL Alumni Rushing Back Player of the Year, and NFL MVP awards.
Alexander's performance that season led the Seahawks all the way to the cusp of the franchise's first Super Bowl title, where they would lose to Hines Ward and the Pittsburgh Steelers 21-10 in a controversially officiated game.
It would take nearly a decade before Seattle would get another shot at this milestone. And in Super Bowl XLVIII, the Seahawks achieved redemption and finally hoisted their first Vince Lombardi trophy, which perhaps not coincidentally, relied in large part on the performance of their bruising, workhorse back in Marshawn Lynch.
While 2005 would be Alexander's last great rushing season -- it would be the last time in his career he would ever top the 1,000-yard rushing mark -- his performance that year would be one for the ages and gave Seahawks fans one hell of a swan song.
