Factoid
There’s not too much about fumbles this year in the magazine. That wasn't by design; I just didn’t see many key guys where fumbling looks like much of a strength or weakness.
Adrian Peterson fumbled too often late last year – particularly in the NFC Championship – but do I see that affecting his performance this year? Will the Vikings replace him in goal-line situations with Toby Gerhart? I don’t thing so.
Steve Slaton is the other player who definitely fumbled too often last year, but the bigger issues with him are his neck and his weight. Can he get past the neck issue that sidelined him late last year (and resulted in offseason surgery)? And will playing down at 200 pounds, after bulking up to 210 last year, help him recapture the speed and quickness that made him a force as a rookie?
Similarly, the best backs at avoiding fumbles over the last three years have been Joseph Addai, LaDainian Tomlinson and Ronnie Brown. But does that mean that any of those backs will be used more prominently than if they were ordinary in terms of ball security. Again, I doubt it.
RUNNING BACKS: FUMBLES IN 2007-2009
Frequency of fumbles for running backs over the last three years. Shown for each back are “handles” (rushing attempts, receptions, kick returns), fumbles and average number of handles per fumble. Joseph Addai, with only 2 fumbles in 752 touches, has been the best at avoiding fumbles. Reggie Bush, with 15 fumbles in 555 handles, has been the worst. All running backs with at least 400 touches are shown.
Han Fum H/F
752 2 376.0 Joseph Addai
962 3 320.7 LaDainian Tomlinson
566 2 283.0 Ronnie Brown
497 2 248.5 Warrick Dunn
745 4 186.3 Brian Westbrook
720 4 180.0 DeAngelo Williams
702 4 175.5 Chris Johnson
1005 6 167.5 Thomas Jones
483 3 161.0 Pierre Thomas
461 3 153.7 Jerious Norwood
460 3 153.3 Earnest Graham
433 3 144.3 Maurice Morris
571 4 142.8 Julius Jones
855 6 142.5 Ryan Grant
781 6 130.2 Jamal Lewis
765 6 127.5 Cedric Benson
509 4 127.3 Derrick Ward
479 4 119.8 Ray Rice
456 4 114.0 Fred Taylor
661 6 110.2 Willie Parker
438 4 109.5 Laurence Maroney
535 5 107.0 Kevin Smith
743 7 106.1 Marshawn Lynch
694 7 99.1 Matt Forte
448 5 89.6 Jonathan Stewart
619 7 88.4 Justin Fargas
884 10 88.4 Maurice Jones-Drew
875 10 87.5 Clinton Portis
599 7 85.6 Fred Jackson
595 7 85.0 LenDale White
655 8 81.9 Willis McGahee
646 8 80.8 Michael Turner
943 12 78.6 Steven Jackson
586 8 73.3 Larry Johnson
491 7 70.1 Darren Sproles
692 10 69.2 Brandon Jacobs
542 8 67.8 Edgerrin James
778 12 64.8 Marion Barber
877 14 62.6 Frank Gore
479 8 59.9 Leon Washington
470 9 52.2 Chester Taylor
1014 20 50.7 Adrian Peterson
493 10 49.3 Steve Slaton
471 11 42.8 Ricky Williams
555 15 37.0 Reggie Bush
—Ian Allan
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