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In the NFL, bigger is usually better, but running back is one position where players of all shapes and sizes can succeed. In fact, a number of small and shifty running backs with versatile skills and low centers of gravity have had great success throughout the years – standing at 5’10” or below and weighing in around 200+ pounds apiece, Maurice Jones-Drew and Brian Westbrook were each among the best dual-threat backs (and first-round fantasy draft picks) for a number of years during the mid-to-late 2000s before injuries and age took their toll. Looking back on the stellar careers of these two mighty mites, the question is:
Who was better – Maurice Jones-Drew or Brian Westbrook?
The Beginning
Jones-Drew and Westbrook each had storied high school football careers, though only the former was a blue-chip college recruit. Nevertheless, both backs had highly productive college careers and were mid-round NFL draft picks; of the two, Jones-Drew went on to make an immediate impact at the game’s highest level during his rookie season.
A native of the Bay Area in California, Jones-Drew was a two-way football star in high school (running back on offense, linebacker on defense) as a member of juggernaut De La Salle High School and its record 151-game winning streak. As the top-ranked all-purpose back recruit in 2003, he elected to attend UCLA and led the Bruins in rushing yards in each of his three years with the team, eventually earning First Team All-Pacific 10 (Pac-10) and All-American honors as a junior while leading the team to a Rose Bowl victory and setting the school’s record for career all-purpose yards. After declaring for the NFL Draft as a junior in 2006, he was selected 60th overall in the second round by the Jacksonville Jaguars and spent his rookie season backing up veteran running back Fred Taylor as a third-down back and also returning kicks on special teams; nevertheless Jones-Drew had an outstanding rookie year with 941 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns, plus 46 receptions for 436 yards and 2 touchdowns to finish second for Offensive Rookie of the Year behind quarterback Vince Young of the Tennessee Titans.
Meanwhile, Westbrook was born and raised in Maryland and starred in both football and basketball at DeMatha Catholic High School, where he earned a slew of local and state honors in football. As a somewhat unheralded recruit, he went on to Division I-AA Villanova to play college football (a school known more so for its basketball prowess); there, despite missing a season due to a knee injury, Westbrook was twice named Atlantic-10 (A-10) Offensive Player of the Year, won the Walter Payton Award as a senior in 2001 as the top player in Division I-AA, and set an NCAA record for all-purpose yards. However, given his size and small-school status, he fell to the 91st overall pick of the 2002 NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles and played sparingly as a rookie, rushing for 193 yards and catching 9 passes for 86 yards, but without scoring any touchdowns.
Career Comparison
At the height of their primes, Jones-Drew and Westbrook were Pro Bowl/All-Pro-caliber players who each tallied roughly 2,000 all-purpose yards in their career-best seasons, as a result leading the league in either rushing yards or all-purpose yards, respectively.
Though he continued to share the Jaguars backfield with Taylor for a few more seasons, Jones-Drew remained a versatile and productive all-purpose back. As an encore to his rookie season, he rushed for 768 yards and 9 touchdowns with 40 receptions for 407 yards in 2007, followed by 824 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns plus a career-best 62 catches for 565 yards and a pair of touchdowns in 2008. Then, with Taylor’s departure ahead of the 2009 season, Jones-Drew became the unquestioned starting running back in Jacksonville and had a breakout campaign with 1,391 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns, as well as 53 receptions for 374 yards and a touchdown to earn the first of three Pro Bowl selections and a Second Team All-Pro nod; notably, in a game vs. the Titans, he tied Barry Sanders’ record of two 75+ yard touchdown runs in a single game, going for 177 yards and a pair of touchdowns of 79 and 80 yards, respectively.
Despite a torn meniscus in 2010, Jones-Drew had another outstanding Pro Bowl season with 1,324 yards and 5 touchdowns on the ground plus 34 catches for 317 yards and 2 touchdowns through the air. Then, in 2011, he had a career-best year with league-highs of 343 carries for 1,606 rushing yards (a career-high) and 8 touchdowns, as well as 43 catches for 374 yards and 3 touchdowns, earning both Pro Bowl and First Team All-Pro honors. However, the following season, he held out and ended up only playing six games due to injury, rushing for just 414 yards. In 2013, Jones-Drew bounced back to a certain extent by playing 15 games, but only rushing for 803 yards and 5 touchdowns, though he did add 43 catches for 314 yards. A free agent at season’s end, he signed with the Oakland Raiders, but only eked out 96 total rushing yards in 12 games during the 2014 season; at age 29 in 2015, Jones-Drew signed a one-day contract to retire as a Jaguar, finishing his career as the franchise’s second-leading rusher behind Taylor, but #1 in career rushing touchdowns and total touchdowns.
Similarly, Westbrook spent his first few seasons backing up longtime Eagles running back Duce Staley, yet was still productive – in his second season in 2003, he rushed for 613 yards and 7 touchdowns while adding 37 receptions for 332 yards and 4 touchdowns and likewise, starring as a kick returner on special teams. Taking over as Philadelphia’s starting running back in 2004, Westbrook formed a formidable backfield duo with dual-threat quarterback Donovan McNabb and had his first Pro Bowl season in 2004 on the strength of 812 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns plus 73 catches for 703 yards and another 6 touchdowns (which were league-highs among running backs). Though he was limited by injuries to 12 games the next season, Westbrook still had over 1,000 total yards, buoyed by 61 receptions for 616 yards.
Entering the mid-2000s, Westbrook would become one of the league’s best all-around backs and have some of his most productive years. In 2006, he had his first 1,000-yard rushing season (1,217 yards and 7 touchdowns) and added 77 receptions for 699 yards and 4 touchdowns. This was followed by a career-best year, culminating in both the Pro Bowl and a First Team All-Pro selection: 1,333 rushing yards and 7 touchdowns, along with an eye-popping 90 catches (then a team record) for 771 yards and 5 touchdowns, to lead the NFL with 2,104 yards from scrimmage. As an encore, Westbrook was not quite as good yardage wise (936 rushing yards and 54 receptions for 402 yards), but had a personal-best 14 touchdowns (9 rushing and 5 receiving). However, in 2009, he only played in eight games due to concussions and was released at season’s end; he signed with the San Francisco 49ers, but had a forgettable 2010 season before eventually retiring in 2012 as an Eagle.
Both Jones-Drew and Westbrook played in the NFL for nine seasons and are separated by five regular season games; during this span, Jones-Drew rushed for more yards (on more carries) and scored more touchdowns overall, but Westbrook actually averaged more rushing yards per attempt and was the far superior receiver. By season, their numbers are comparable: the former had more 1,000-yard rushing seasons (3x vs. 2x), but both scored double-digit touchdowns (rushing and receiving combined) 4x, resulting in one additional Pro Bowl selection for Jones-Drew (also 3 to 2) and one All-Pro selection apiece. Likewise, on a per-game basis, the duo have similar numbers: 88 total yards (65 rushing, 2.7 catches for 23 yards) and 0.63 touchdowns per game for Jones-Drew across 126 regular season games vs. 85 total yards (52 rushing, 3.7 catches for 33 yards) and 0.59 touchdowns per game for Westbrook over 121 regular season games. As productive as each running back was at his peak, neither likely has the longevity (nor the absolute dominance a la Gale Sayers or Terrell Davis) to merit enshrinement in the Hall of Fame.
Regular Season Statistics
| Maurice Jones-Drew | Player | Brian Westbrook |
| 9 (2006-2014) | Seasons | 9 (2002-2010) |
| 126 | Games Played | 121 |
| 1,847 | Rushing Attempts | 1,385 |
| 8,167 | Rushing Yards | 6,335 |
| 4.4 | Yards Per Attempt | 4.6 |
| 68 | Rushing Touchdowns | 41 |
| 346 | Receptions | 442 |
| 2,944 | Receiving Yards | 3,940 |
| 11 | Receiving Touchdowns | 30 |
| 3x | Pro Bowls | 2x |
| 1x | All-Pro | 1x |
| – | MVP | – |
| – | Super Bowls | – |
| – | Other Awards | – |
| – | Hall of Fame Induction | – |
Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com
The two backs had very different postseason experiences – Jones-Drew rarely tasted the playoffs with Jacksonville, while Westbrook was a perennial playoff participant with the Eagles and led the team to a Super Bowl appearance.
Jones-Drew only played in the postseason once, as the Jaguars made it to the Divisional Round in 2007 before falling to Tom Brady and the New England Patriots – as Taylor’s backup, Jones-Drew rushed 14 times for 48 yards and a touchdown, while adding 7 catches for 92 yards and a touchdown, in two games played.
In contrast, Westbrook was a key piece of five Eagles playoff teams, highlighted by an appearance in Super Bowl XXXIX vs. the aforementioned Brady and the Patriots – in a heartbreaking 24-21 loss in which Terrell Owens famously played with a broken leg, Westbrook rushed 15 times for 44 yards and had 7 receptions for 60 yards and a touchdown in defeat; overall, he had a strong postseason with 210 rushing yards and an additional 146 receiving yards on 17 catches.
Playoff Statistics
| Maurice Jones-Drew | Player | Brian Westbrook |
| 2 | Games Played | 11 |
| 14 | Rushing Attempts | 129 |
| 48 | Rushing Yards | 591 |
| 3.4 | Yards Per Attempt | 4.6 |
| 1 | Rushing Touchdowns | 3 |
| 7 | Receptions | 33 |
| 92 | Receiving Yards | 334 |
| 1 | Receiving Touchdowns | 3 |
Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com
Every athlete goes through a natural career lifecycle, from starting off as a rookie to reaching peak years of performance and finally, declining into the inevitable retirement due to a combination of age and/or injury; following their brief primes, both Jones-Drew and Westbrook finished their careers with different teams and each played just under a decade in the NFL. For Hall of Fame caliber players across sports, I like to look at a concept I call a “decade of dominance.” The thinking behind this is that for most Hall of Fame type careers, there are roughly 10 great seasons that define an athlete (this idea is embodied in a sense by the NFL’s All-Decade teams), though due to injury or other factors, they might not be 10 consecutive years. However, given the shorter careers most running backs have due to the physical toll of the position (very few running backs are effective after age 30), I have modified it in this comparison to a “(half)-decade of dominance”.
(Half)-Decade of Dominance
| Maurice Jones-Drew | Player | Brian Westbrook |
| 2006, 2008-2011 | (Half)-Decade of Dominance | 2004-2008 |
| 78 | Games Played | 69 |
| 1,317 | Rushing Attempts | 1,084 |
| 6,086 | Rushing Yards | 4,915 |
| 4.6 | Yards Per Attempt | 4.5 |
| 53 | Rushing Touchdowns | 29 |
| 238 | Receptions | 355 |
| 2,066 | Receiving Yards | 3,191 |
| 10 | Receiving Touchdowns | 24 |
Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com
Generally, the same trends apply here – Jones-Drew was the better rusher and more prolific at scoring touchdowns, whereas Westbrook was more versatile in his receiving abilities.
My Thoughts
Playing running back in the NFL is a brutal task, and thus, it should come as no surprise that even the best running backs have a limited period of prime production. For more diminutive backs like Maurice Jones-Drew and Brian Westbrook, their zeniths may be even more fleeting and it is no surprise to see their production wane as they approach the 30-year-old cliff for the position; such was definitely the case with Westbrook – while he was undoubtedly a supremely versatile player and an incredible receiver out of the backfield, his rushing attempts were always somewhat limited and he was constantly nagged by injuries. In contrast, Jones-Drew was a punishing runner even when he was splitting carries with Fred Taylor as a rookie and perhaps an underrated receiver; during his three-to-four-year peak, he was a three-down running back, good for 1,000+ rushing yards, another 300-400+ receiving yards, and double-digit touchdowns. As a complementary back/jack-of-all-trades player, give me Westbrook, but for a true workhorse back, give me prime Jones-Drew.
Thus, after weighing their careers against each other in terms of statistics, achievements, and impact, the winner of this faceoff is:
Maurice Jones-Drew
As always, vote for your choice and leave your thoughts and comments below.
Further Reading
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