By Mike Kahn
CBS SportsLine Executive Editor
Oct. 22, 1998

Somebody has got to do it all for an NFL team, circa 1998. The drill goes something like this:

The guy must be willing to give up his body in two different fashions, both as a decoy and a blocker. He must run the ball inside and outside. Next on the agenda is to catch passes in the flat, where linebackers drool as they run full blast toward them.

This offensive back must also run patterns over the middle, where safeties dream of pass-catchers focusing on a football knowing full well they will get blindsided.

What a great job it is to be an all-purpose running back, huh?

"This is what I always dreamed of doing from the time I was in junior high," Denver Broncos running back Terrell Davis said. "We have such a great team all around, it just makes my job easier."

PERHAPS. IF YOU ASK BRONCOS coach Mike Shanahan, it's Davis who is simplifying the task for the undefeated Broncos every week. With 865 yards in six games, he's averaging six yards a carry and has nine touchdowns. He's leading the NFL in all three categories. He has only caught four passes, but it isn't because he can't catch -- he has averaged more than 42 receptions a season. Quarterback John Elway prefers to throw downfield and is one of the best ever at doing it -- which means Davis very often serves as a blocking back.

To top it off, Davis is a great guy who teammates -- from Elway to Shannon Sharpe to Steve Atwater -- adore because of his work ethic. He's a selfless team leader and precisely the kind of housekeeper to get everything done for his football team.

"There's not much more to say about Terrell except that he does everything a great running back needs to do," Shanahan said. "Every team needs somebody like that. I'm just glad we're the team that has him."

Davis is the best, no doubt, as the all-purpose tailback in today's game. He's also not alone. At 240 pounds, Natrone Means is hardly what you'd refer to as a typical tailback. He also has 709 yards rushing and 10 receptions.

"Natrone does everything that makes us go," Chargers quarterback Ryan Leaf said. "He wears down a defense and then it opens everything up for passing situations. He sure makes my life a lot easier."

That's the whole idea. Control the clock, grind out the yardage, wear down the defense and put them away with a pass. It's an age-old theory of football that comes and goes, but always returns.

ALTHOUGH SEATTLE SEAHAWKS COACH Dennis Erickson is a former college quarterback who clearly is an advocate of the forward pass, he also stresses the need for a proportionate approach to offense.

"A

San Diego's Natrone Means combines size with surprising skills running and catching the ball. (Allsport)

balanced offense is the most effective offense and it starts with running the football," Erickson said. "That's why we went after Ricky (Watters). He can do it all and it gives us more weapons because he can run inside, outside and catch the football."

The classic all-purpose tailback today, if only because of his size, is Marshall Faulk of the Indianapolis Colts. At 5-10, 210 pounds, he is playing these days like the second coming of Hall of Famer Walter Payton. With 581 yards rushing, and 33 receptions for 404, he has an NFL-best 985 all-purpose yards.

All three are different sizes, with different speed capabilities. They also are the top three AFC performers in yards from scrimmage this season, with Faulk and Davis 1-2 in the NFL, and Means fifth behind San Francisco's Garrison Hearst and Jamal Anderson, who is blooming quickly for the surprising Atlanta Falcons.

Not surprisingly, Faulk stands out in a variety of ways because of his pass-catching ability.

"As a rookie quarterback, you have no idea how much it helps to have Marshall Faulk in the backfield with me," Colts quarterback Peyton Manning said. "Marshall just makes big plays. He can do it by taking a handoff, or coming out of the backfield for a pass. Every quarterback should have one."

THEY DO, JUST NOT THAT GOOD. NOT far behind in all purpose yards are some familiar names as well. Filling out the top 10 are Barry Sanders, Robert Smith, Terry Allen, Emmitt Smith and Curtis Martin.

Even though Smith has discovered his speed is fading, he's clever enough to pick his spots both running the ball and catching passes in the flat. If talent were the only prerequisite for exceptional play in the NFL, then 90 percent of the league would be superstars.

It takes brains, great work habits and a great attitude. That's one of the great things about the NFL. If you don't have your mind and attitude on straight, you're liable to get decapitated by some irritated defensive player.

"It's one thing to be confident and something else to be so cocky, everybody wants a piece of you," Davis said. "I already know people want a piece of me. I'm the leading rusher and I'm on the Super Bowl champs. I don't need to give anybody any more reasons why they want to come after me."

But they will. They know Davis is the key that unlocks the door to the postseason for the Broncos. The good news for him is he has bodyguards. Big ones. Nobody is going to knock out their housekeeper.