Factoid
Reggie Bush is generally regarded as one of the best pass-catching running backs, but I’m not sure that’s true. He can line up as a wide receiver, and he seems to have good hands, but the Saints never really got him going in that regard.
Consider, for example, the yards-per-catch numbers from the last two years. Bush is down at 6.7 yards per reception. Among running backs with at least 50 catches, that’s better than only three other running backs.
RUNNING BACKS: YARDS PER CATCH IN 2009-2010
No Yds Avg
68 752 11.1 Darren McFadden
52 538 10.3 Kevin Smith
79 777 9.8 Adrian Peterson
104 1017 9.8 Darren Sproles
108 1018 9.4 Matt Forte
74 697 9.4 Arian Foster
85 765 9.0 Jamaal Charles
65 585 9.0 Knowshon Moreno
141 1258 8.9 Ray Rice
98 858 8.8 Frank Gore
67 569 8.5 Felix Jones
58 487 8.4 Jahvid Best
64 529 8.3 Brandon Jackson
64 528 8.3 Chester Taylor
59 480 8.1 Correll Buckhalter
74 602 8.1 Justin Forsett
94 748 8.0 Chris Johnson
87 691 7.9 Maurice Jones-Drew
74 572 7.7 Cadillac Williams
68 521 7.7 Ahmad Bradshaw
65 496 7.6 Peyton Hillis
118 900 7.6 LeSean McCoy
77 586 7.6 Fred Jackson
74 562 7.6 Jason Snelling
54 405 7.5 Ricky Williams
51 380 7.5 Maurice Morris
68 503 7.4 Pierre Thomas
97 705 7.3 Steven Jackson
72 522 7.3 LaDainian Tomlinson
50 354 7.1 Brian Leonard
84 564 6.7 Tim Hightower
81 543 6.7 Reggie Bush
70 460 6.6 Joseph Addai
50 324 6.5 Marshawn Lynch
52 291 5.6 Julius Jones
—Ian Allan
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Posted by JOHN BRAGG | Aug. 09 at 03:37 AM
Tough on just YPC. What's his rec %, and how many TDs does he have in comparison? The Saints used Reggie's pass-catching ability in lieu of "rushing" yards, basically, so he was almost always catching the ball within a yard or two of the line of scrimmage, if not behind on a screen pass. They rarely send him down field for 15+ yard routes. You also can not calculate how defenses had to keep their most athletic LBs in the box as a shadow, and how that impacted Brees' ability to get the ball to their other weapons. Reggie is a very valuable pass-catching RB, even though his YPC is not on par with the majority of RBs. More appropriate measuring stats will be Team YPG and # of first downs for both the Saints and Dolphins at the end of 2011. My money says the Saints #'s will both be down, and the Dolphins #'s will both be up.