Factoid
I haven’t yet finished taking an in-depth look at each player, but I’m thinking Arian Foster will be the No. 1 player for most (probably all) scoring system this summer. He looks awfully strong.
There are a lot of great quarterbacks, but that’s the deal – there are a lot of them. So you can get a really good quarterback in the second, third, fourth round or later.
With Foster, he looks a lot better than the vast majority of running backs. Maybe a lot better than ALL of the other running backs. Over the last two years, when you look at per game numbers, he’s No. 1 in every category – rushing, receiving and scoring.
Foster’s per-game numbers, in fact, stack up nicely with the best we’ve seen. The chart below shows the best two-year numbers (per game) for all running backs who’ve started at least 20 games in a two-year period. Only 23 have averaged 18-plus points per game, and Foster is in the middle of the pack.
So unofficially, Foster is No. 1. Anybody have any problems with that?
BEST TWO-YEAR RUNNING BACKS 2000-11
Using scoring system of 6 points for TDs and 1 for every 10 run/rec yards:
Run Rec Tot TD FPG
98 57 155 1.69 25.6 Marshall Faulk (St.L.) 2000-01
101 45 147 1.70 24.9 Priest Holmes (K.C.) 2002-03
126 27 153 1.44 23.9 Larry Johnson (K.C.) 2005-06
96 37 133 1.75 23.8 Priest Holmes (K.C.) 2003-04
102 27 130 1.59 22.5 LaDainian Tomlinson (S.D.) 2005-06
103 31 134 1.53 22.5 LaDainian Tomlinson (S.D.) 2006-07
106 43 149 1.13 21.7 Priest Holmes (K.C.) 2001-02
90 50 140 1.25 21.5 Marshall Faulk (St.L.) 2001-02
116 26 142 1.20 21.4 Clinton Portis (Den.) 2002-03
112 8 120 1.50 21.0 Shaun Alexander (Sea.) 2004-05
98 42 140 1.03 20.2 Arian Foster (Hou.) 2010-11
104 38 142 1.00 20.2 LaDainian Tomlinson (S.D.) 2002-03
108 36 144 .97 20.2 Edgerrin James (Ind.) 2000-01
96 38 134 1.13 20.1 LaDainian Tomlinson (S.D.) 2003-04
107 5 112 1.35 19.2 Shaun Alexander (Sea.) 2005-06
90 26 116 1.23 19.0 LaDainian Tomlinson (S.D.) 2004-05
106 35 140 .81 18.9 Tiki Barber (NYG) 2004-05
104 25 129 .97 18.7 Ahman Green (G.B.) 2002-03
88 50 138 .79 18.5 Brian Westbrook (Phil.) 2006-07
99 15 114 1.16 18.4 Shaun Alexander (Sea.) 2003-04
87 26 113 1.14 18.2 Shaun Alexander (Sea.) 2001-02
105 23 129 .88 18.1 Chris Johnson (Tenn.) 2009-10
98 25 123 .96 18.0 Larry Johnson (K.C.) 2006-07
—Ian Allan
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Posted by Timothy Concannon | Apr. 25 at 04:01 AM
Hi Ian, my question is about the follow-up performance in year 3. Does the effort to accumulate these stats come at the cost of the player being used too much, leading to injury or a worn-down player?
Posted by IAN ALLAN | Apr. 25 at 03:30 PM
@Timothy: I can pull those numbers. I will pull them at some point. Anytime you're looking at a bunch of guys with great numbers, though, you'll definitely see a decline. Just as when you pull the list of all the rookie running backs who've gone over 1,000 yards, you'll be surprised how many don't go over 1,000 in their second season. Not necessarily that they wore out. Stuff happens. Injuries. Arrests. Suspensions. Party animals. Whatever.