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Factoid

Breaking Good

Ellington busts long runs for Arizona

Arizona chose Andre Ellington in the sixth round of last year's draft. After a nice rookie season, he looks like he could be something special.

I am intrigued by Andre Ellington. To me, he looks like he could be at the start of nice little run for the Cardinals. He looks like he could be one of the better third-down type backs in the league – a Shane Vereen, Danny Woodhead, Darren Sproles kind of guy.

He’s a little on the small side, but a lot of playmaking ability. And he’s big enough that he can carry a larger load on a game-to-game basis.

He’s certainly got playmaking ability. Ellington carried the ball only 118 times last year but had 8 runs of 20-plus yards. That’s an average of one per every 15 attempts, which was No. 1 in the league last year for players with at least 100 attempts.

In the past five years, only four running backs have had seasons with a better ratio of big plays.

Pretty darn good for a running back who (oddly) wasn’t even the first running back Arizona selected last year. The Cardinals chose Stepfan Taylor in 5th round before chosen Ellington 187th overall.

PLAYERS BREAKING LONG RUNS MOST OFTEN
YearTeamPlayerAtt20+Avg
2010PHI(QB) Michael Vick100812.5
2012MIN Adrian Peterson 3482712.9
2011CARDeAngelo Williams1551114.1
2012CAR (QB) Cam Newton 127914.1
2011OAKDarren McFadden113814.1
2010NYGBrandon Jacobs1471014.7
2013ARIAndre Ellington118814.8
2011BUFC.J. Spiller107715.3
2010OAKDarren McFadden2231415.9
2009TENChris Johnson3582216.3
2011CHIMatt Forte2031216.9
2011BUFFred Jackson1701017.0
2012BUF C.J. Spiller 2071217.3
2009SEAJustin Forsett114619.0
2010ARITim Hightower153819.1
2012PHI Bryce Brown 115619.2
2011PHILeSean McCoy2731419.5
2009ATLMichael Turner178919.8
2012WAS (QB) Robert Griffin III 120620.0

—Ian Allan

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