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 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Team | Player | Att | 20+ | Avg |
2010 | PHI | (QB) Michael Vick | 100 | 8 | 12.5 |
2012 | MIN | Adrian Peterson | 348 | 27 | 12.9 |
2011 | CAR | DeAngelo Williams | 155 | 11 | 14.1 |
2012 | CAR | (QB) Cam Newton | 127 | 9 | 14.1 |
2011 | OAK | Darren McFadden | 113 | 8 | 14.1 |
2010 | NYG | Brandon Jacobs | 147 | 10 | 14.7 |
2013 | ARI | Andre Ellington | 118 | 8 | 14.8 |
2011 | BUF | C.J. Spiller | 107 | 7 | 15.3 |
2010 | OAK | Darren McFadden | 223 | 14 | 15.9 |
2009 | TEN | Chris Johnson | 358 | 22 | 16.3 |
2011 | CHI | Matt Forte | 203 | 12 | 16.9 |
2011 | BUF | Fred Jackson | 170 | 10 | 17.0 |
2012 | BUF | C.J. Spiller | 207 | 12 | 17.3 |
2009 | SEA | Justin Forsett | 114 | 6 | 19.0 |
2010 | ARI | Tim Hightower | 153 | 8 | 19.1 |
2012 | PHI | Bryce Brown | 115 | 6 | 19.2 |
2011 | PHI | LeSean McCoy | 273 | 14 | 19.5 |
2009 | ATL | Michael Turner | 178 | 9 | 19.8 |
2012 | WAS | (QB) Robert Griffin III | 120 | 6 | 20.0 |
—Ian Allan