Nah, it's not being picky; it's just a simple matter of proper definition.
It's kind of like the difference between "running over" or "running through" a defender versus "running around" a defender.
Ingram, Trent, Lacy, Fowler, and Yeldon have done a lot of "running over" or "running through" defenders. Onterio McCaleb, on the other hand, did very little of that. That doesn't mean that he isn't a good Running Back. He did a lot of "running around" defenders. We've had a plethora of backs over the past few season that could, almost at will, both run over as well as run around defenders. The fact that running over defenders isn't a strength - or perhaps really even an ability - of McCaleb doesn't mean that he isn't a good Running Back; it just means that he's a different type of Running Back.
You're confusing a "good" or "productive" rushing offense with a "power" rushing offense, i.e. an offense that can "run it down people's throats". As long as that phrase has been used to describe a rushing attack, it's been used to describe a power rushing game, not a finesse or misdirection based rushing game.
