How 36-year-old Frank Gore is still thriving in the NFL

We take a look at some of Gore’s best runs this season and the evidence is as expected: he still does what he does extremely well.

Frank Gore doesn’t break every run for a big gain, but the threat is always there. At 36 years old. he’s a breed of running back we rarely see in the NFL, one that may not surface again. His longevity and productivity is almost in defiance of the rest of the league.

On Sunday, Gore made it to 15,000 career rushing yards, becoming only the fourth player in NFL history to hit the mark. He joins Emmitt Smith, Walter Payton and Barry Sanders — all of whom are in the Hall of Fame. Barring several incredibly unlikely mistakes by those voting on the process, Gore will join them one day.

Gore’s vision going through the hole and his determination to scrap for every inch before being brought down make him an important piece for the Buffalo Bills, the latest team to embrace his particular brand of hard-nosed running. After looking at the film, it’s pretty clear he hasn’t lost a step where it counts: between the tackles.

This is why Gore is still a valuable asset, and why you’ll certainly see more big runs from him this season (and beyond, maybe?).

This is what “ball carrier vision” means

Gore is as good as any back when it comes to reading a defense and picking where to make his cuts. His awareness of everything that happens around him is unmatched. That’s why he’s able to make so many subtle moves that cause defenders to just miss getting a hand on him.

Gore had a great game against the Patriots in Week 4, and it started with the run above. It’s an example of a play where the blocking in front of him was particularly good — the Bills ran the wham block to perfection and Gore had no trouble cutting through the hole opened up for him. The big takeaway here is how easily Gore shifted his body from side to side while not altering the direction he’s running. The little bits of shiftiness on this play earned him a few extra yards, at least.

But that play was a bit too ... clean. Gore is even better when things get a little more messy.

That play above is the quintessential Gore run. His offensive line was kind of pushed around to start, but Gore was patient, slipped through, and was touched by four different Patriots before he got into the open field. I’m reminded of a pinball going off the bumpers — he basically just lurched from one potential arm tackle to the next, before he was finally caught in the open field.

How about something a little shorter?

Kyle Van Noy got a hold of Gore behind the line of scrimmage and spun him into a tackle, but not only did Gore make him work for it — picking up yards while his momentum was being impeded by a grown man hanging from him — he got the first down with that extra effort at the end. When I say he scraps for every inch, I mean it.

It’s not just that he’s producing against the Patriots, either. Though to be clear: producing against the Patriots, who entered Week 4 with the league’s top-ranked run defense, is extremely tough (Gore put up 109 yards against them — or one fewer than the Patriots had given up all season.)

This was one of Gore’s better runs of the day from the Bills’ Week 3 win over the Bengals. The first thing you’ll notice is the great decision to cut across to his right (as the arrow from the broadcast shows) and grab an extra 10 yards or so, getting the Bengals moving sideline-to-sideline.

More important than that is how Gore handled the initial steps of the play. A lesser running back would have looked at the mess of bodies in front of him and bailed. Instead, Gore’s patience paid off as he slipped through the small gap for a big gain.

Gore was signed this offseason to be a change-of-pace back to rookie Devin Singletary, who missed the last two games with a hamstring injury. That adds even more value to Gore’s success against both the Patriots and Bengals. The Bills now know that Gore can still handle a heavy workload, and that he will grind out the tough yardage even once Singletary returns.

Before the regular season, I somewhat jokingly referred to the Bills as Gore’s “biggest test yet,” but he’s already done a lot to help them to their 3-1 record and will likely continue to get meaningful carries throughout the season. He’s flourishing in Buffalo, same as he would virtually anywhere, because his style is so dependent on personal perfection. If the blocking is there, Gore will find the hole. If it isn’t, he’ll make one.

This offseason, Gore didn’t even consider retirement, opting instead to join the Bills, the fourth team in his career. I said about seven years ago that I thought Gore wasn’t ever going to experience a period of rapid decline — that he would eventually just retire one day, still at the top. Maybe he’s not quite “at the top” right now, but I think the spirit of that prediction lives on.

Gore does what he does incredibly well, and all signs point to him doing just that until he’s ready to hang up the cleats.