Fantasy News

Here’s a new stat – one I’ve never tabulated in all the 22 years of putting together these magazines.

I’m pushing around the numbers, mulling what to expect from Oakland’s running backs this year, when I figured I’d tabulate total touches by running backs – rushing attempts plus pass catches.

The Raiders, who got surprising production last year out of LaMont Jordan, Justin Fargas and Dominic Rhodes, came out on top. In all but four of their games, their starting tailback got at least 24 total touches. At the other end, no surprise that pass-happy Mike Martz’s running backs came in last.

Those three Raiders running backs, by the way, combined for over 2,300 total yards last year. The team’s running game, however, did decline significantly after an early-season run of huge numbers against Denver, Cleveland and Miami. In the team’s other games, it averaged 107 rushing yards, with 7 TD runs in those 13 games – that’s below-average productin.

The complete chart appears below (showing total activity by running backs on each team):

Touches
537 Oakland
531 Washington
523 San Diego
508 Pittsburgh
506 Jacksonville
503 Minnesota
502 New Orleans
499 NY Giants
494 Tennessee
493 Tampa Bay
489 Baltimore
477 Indianapolis
470 Chicago
470 Seattle
467 Carolina
466 Buffalo
466 Philadelphia
465 Cleveland
462 St. Louis
461 New England
459 Kansas City
457 Houston
456 Dallas
451 Cincinnati
445 NY Jets
437 Green Bay
437 Miami
434 Denver
430 Arizona
425 Atlanta
400 San Francisco
357 Detroit

--Ian Allan

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