In today's changing world of football, the running back has once again become a position many players and fans alike have been talking about. With the many large injury problems plaguing the league's running backs, many teams have looked to their backups to pick up the slack, split carries with the starter in an attempt to extend the durability of their starters.

The advantages of the second back in most cases vastly outweigh the disadvantages. In addition to putting together different packages for both running backs and throwing off the game planning of the other team, the running back-by-committee also takes a lot of the wear off of your mainstay and in turn, will prolong his productivity.

The strategy comes into play in a couple different ways. First and foremost is using your second back as a short yardage player who is more of a power-back, bowling through players and pounding out yards to get the tough TDs and first downs. No team better exemplified this than the defending Super Bowl champions, the Pittsburgh Steelers, when they used Willie Parker in longer yardage situations and used his speed and elusiveness to gain the big yards, while Jerome Bettis came in as a threat in all senses of the word, pounding out the short yards for key first downs and touchdowns while still breaking long gains after surprising defenses and breaking sure tackles.

There's also the receiving RB who can spread an offense out, and on a long third down situation, changes the entire dynamic of the passing situation by forcing a defensive back or linebacker to stay low to attempt to cover him and either stretching the defense to the point that a wide receiver breaks open or the running back can create a mismatch and completely outplay the coverage of the player on him. One of the best in the league, when healthy, is 2004 Heisman Trophy runner-up Chris Perry of the Cincinnati Bengals. He, as much as any second running back, poses an impressive threat on third down. With Chris, a team can never tell if he will become a receiving threat or if the team will just run him out of the backfield.

Finally is the clone-back. The clone-back is the running back who has a similar style to the starter but just enough difference to pose a threat to opposing offenses. In the 2006 season, the Denver Broncos present just such a threat in the tandem of Tatum and Mike Bell. This combination can reduce the threats of injury by being every-down backs while still putting up production and keeping the offense consistent.

In both Madden and NCAA Football 2007, this threat is one you can exploit nearly as effectively as in the real game. In this way, having depth becomes more of a necessity. Where depth at running back used to be a precaution behind an injury-prone back, now it becomes a whole different ballgame, whether you play against a computer opponent or a fellow Madden/NCAA addict.

In a franchise/dynasty, respectively, it has many merits in the game. As stated above, it gives the player a great way to keep the computer from catching onto the game plan. But there's also an added benefit in finding diamonds in the rough. By using a tandem rather than just one running back, the player gains the chance to find that game-breaking player where otherwise, he would've sat on the bench.

Additionally, the same running back gains experience during in-game situations and gains a chance to progress his skills to the point where he can become more functional in a more pronounced role in the offense.

This new dynamic of tandem backs will end up opening up the game and bringing back the strategy to the rushing game, taking the focus off of having your lone starting back doing the bulk of the work to nearly splitting the carries in many cases and truly expanding the dynamic exponentially.