In this past spring’s NFL Draft, 18 running backs were drafted. In the first three rounds, eight running backs were selected and out of those eight, two went to NFC West teams. The St. Louis Rams drafted Georgia’s Todd Gurley with the 10th overall pick in the first round and the Arizona Cardinals selected Northern Iowa's David Johnson with the 86th overall pick in the third round.

Both running backs were needed as both the Rams and Cardinals struggled without having a playmaker at the position. Last season, the Rams were using a running back by committee with 2014 rookie Tre Mason out of Auburn, Benny Cunningham and Zac Stacy. All three backs were serviceable as Mason led the way with 765 rushing yards on 179 carries and four touchdowns.

Stacy was eventually traded to the New York Jets as he was disgruntled when he found out the Rams had selected Gurley with the 10th overall pick on draft night.

At the same time, the Cardinals were going with running back by committee last season as they were bitten by the injury bug. Towards the end of the season, Arizona lost Andre Ellington, who had 660 rushing yards and three touchdowns and made an impact in the receiving game with 395 yards and two touchdowns. The Cardinals went into the playoffs last season with Kerwynn Williams and Stepfan Taylor.

With both teams knowing that to compete in the tough NFC West, where it is tough to run on each other’s defenses, they had to get playmaking backs in the draft.

Many people were wondering what type of player Gurley was going to be coming off a gruesome ACL injury in his final season at Georgia. Would he still be the same explosive back that can still hit the home run? The answer to that question has been yes.

Gurley, who did not play until Week 3 of the regular season, has been nothing short of spectacular only needing a little bit of space to break off a long run for a touchdown. So far this season, he has 975 rushing yards on 189 carries and eight touchdowns, while averaging 5.2 yards per carry. Last season, Mason, Cunningham and Stacy did not even come close to averaging 5.0 yards per carry.

What is amazing about Gurley’s start to his career is that from Weeks 4-8, he put up over 100 plus yards rushing (146, 159, 128, 133) against defenses such as Arizona and Green Bay. This season, Arizona’s defense is only giving up 87.7 yards on the ground and 3.9 yards per carry.

Another interesting stat to show how beneficial Gurley has been to the Rams’ offense is that when St. Louis has the ball on 1st and 10, he has 648 rushing yards and averaging 5.8 yards per carry.

But he is a bigger threat when the Rams have the ball between their own 21-50 yard line. This season, he has 571 rushing yards and averaging 6.6 yards per carry. Gurley has been fantastic this season and continued that last Sunday against the Lions, rushing for 140 yards on 16 carries and picked up two touchdowns.

The St. Louis Rams have found their franchise back in Gurley and he is only going to get better as his career progresses. Do not be surprised, if he contends for a rushing title in the next few years.

While Gurley has received all the praise in St. Louis, David Johnson has given Bruce Arians and the Cardinals depth at running back. Johnson came from a FCS school and put up tremendous numbers there, which has translated well to the NFL.

A lot of people did not know what to expect from Johnson or what role he would have in the Cardinals’ offense as they got back a healthy Andre Ellington and signed veteran Chris Johnson, who had a surprisingly productive season before suffering a fractured tibia.

When given the opportunity, David Johnson has made plays in all three phases of the game. In Week 1 against the New Orleans Saints, he only caught the ball once but took it to the end zone for 55 yards showing that game breaking speed that he had at Northern Iowa.

During the next week against the Chicago Bears on kick return duties, Johnson once again showed that speed returning the football 108 yards for a touchdown. Within the Cardinals’ offense, he is the perfect running back that works well within their offense. Not only can he run the ball but he can also catch the ball out of the backfield.

Before the Chris Johnson injury, we did not see David Johnson carry the ball a lot. But since Chris Johnson’s injury and Ellington missing some time, David Johnson has not had a problem carrying the load.

In the last two games for the Cardinals, Johnson has carried the ball 41 times for 191 rushing yards and averaging 4.6 yards per carry. He has helped the Cardinals to be the 10th best rushing team in the league with 118.4 yards per game. Last season, Arizona was ranked 31st in the league, only averaging 81.8 yards per game. It’s a huge difference.

If the Cardinals do not re-sign Chris Johnson this offseason, they will be fine with David Johnson being their possible feature back.

Finally, the outlier of the group is Thomas Rawls. The Seattle Seahawks picked up Rawls out of Central Michigan as an undrafted free agent.

Rawls, who stepped in for an injured Marshawn Lynch, helped the Seattle offense go to new heights. This season alone, Rawls has 830 rushing yards on 147 carries, with four touchdowns and averaging 5.6 yards per carry.

It is a shame that we will not see Rawls continue his great play as in last Sunday’s game against the Baltimore Ravens, he broke his ankle ending his season. But in that game against Baltimore, Rawls was off to a good start with 44 rushing yards on six carries.

In the games that Rawls did play in this season, he was baby beast mode. Despite his 5-foot-10, 217 lbs. stature, he is a physical running back that has speed and isn’t afraid to lower his shoulder. Just ask the San Francisco 49ers’ defense in Week 11. Against the Niners, Rawls rushed for 209 yards on 30 carries with a touchdown.

But that wasn’t the only game, where Rawls went off for 100 plus yards. He did it against the Minnesota Vikings (101 yards), Cincinnati Bengals (169 yards) and Chicago Bears (104 yards). Currently, the Bengals’ rushing defense is ranked ninth in the league only giving up 96.2 yards on the ground.

Looking at Rawls’ splits, just like Gurley, he is dangerous on 1st and down this season with 504 rushing yards on 6.3 yards per carry. When the Seahawks have the ball between their own 1-20, he is averaging 6.5 yards per carry and between their own 21-50, he is averaging 6.8 yards per carry.

The NFC West has a great stable of young running backs that are ready to take flight. As much as people talk about how tough the NFC West defenses are, you may want to start looking at Gurley, Johnson and Rawls. All three are capable of being the guy for their franchises for the next few years.