I posted the team short-yardage rushing stats earlier. Here are the individual numbers for players with at least 4 attempts.
As a reminder, I’m defining a short-yardage running play as any rushing attempt where 1-2 yards is needed for either a touchdown, a 2-point conversion or to keep a drive alive on third/fourth down. A play is deemed “successful” if the player either scores or moves the chains.
| INDIVIDUAL SHORT-YARDAGE RUSHING NUMBERS | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Player | Att | Good | Pct |
| 1. | Montee Ball, Den. | 5 | 5 | 100.0% |
| 2. | Matt Asiata, Minn. | 6 | 6 | 100.0% |
| 3. | Austin Johnson, N.O. | 4 | 4 | 100.0% |
| 4. | DeMarco Murray, Dall. | 13 | 12 | 92.3% |
| 5. | Andy Dalton, Cin. | 6 | 5 | 83.3% |
| 6. | Chris Ivory, NYJ | 5 | 4 | 80.0% |
| 7. | LeSean McCoy, Phil. | 5 | 4 | 80.0% |
| 8. | LeVeon Bell, Pitt. | 5 | 4 | 80.0% |
| 9. | Giovani Bernard, Cin. | 4 | 3 | 75.0% |
| 10. | Ryan Fitzpatrick, Hou. | 4 | 3 | 75.0% |
| 11. | Blake Bortles, Jac. | 4 | 3 | 75.0% |
| 12. | Geno Smith, NYJ | 4 | 3 | 75.0% |
| 13. | LeGarrette Blount, Pitt. | 4 | 3 | 75.0% |
| 14. | Bobby Rainey, T.B. | 4 | 3 | 75.0% |
| 15. | Fred Jackson, Buff. | 6 | 4 | 66.7% |
| 16. | Matt Forte, Chi. | 9 | 6 | 66.7% |
| 17. | Marshawn Lynch, Sea. | 6 | 4 | 66.7% |
| 18. | Joe Flacco, Balt. | 8 | 5 | 62.5% |
| 19. | Arian Foster, Hou. | 8 | 5 | 62.5% |
| 20. | Lamar Miller, Mia. | 8 | 5 | 62.5% |
| 21. | Steven Jackson, Atl. | 5 | 3 | 60.0% |
| 22. | Ben Tate, Clev. | 5 | 3 | 60.0% |
| 23. | Ahmad Bradshaw, Ind. | 5 | 3 | 60.0% |
| 24. | Knile Davis, K.C. | 5 | 3 | 60.0% |
| 25. | Stevan Ridley, N.E. | 10 | 6 | 60.0% |
| 26. | Tom Brady, N.E. | 5 | 3 | 60.0% |
| 27. | Khiry Robinson, N.O. | 5 | 3 | 60.0% |
| 28. | Rashad Jennings, NYG | 12 | 7 | 58.3% |
| 29. | Toby Gerhart, Jac. | 7 | 4 | 57.1% |
| 30. | Lorenzo Taliaferro, Balt. | 6 | 3 | 50.0% |
| 31. | Bernard Pierce, Balt. | 4 | 2 | 50.0% |
| 32. | Trent Richardson, Ind. | 4 | 2 | 50.0% |
| 33. | Zac Stacy, St.L. | 4 | 2 | 50.0% |
| 34. | Alfred Blue, Hou. | 5 | 2 | 40.0% |
| 35. | Shane Vereen, N.E. | 5 | 2 | 40.0% |
| 36. | Andre Williams, NYG | 5 | 2 | 40.0% |
| 37. | Alfred Morris, Wash. | 5 | 2 | 40.0% |
| 38. | Eddie Lacy, G.B. | 6 | 2 | 33.3% |
| 39. | Frank Gore, S.F. | 7 | 2 | 28.6% |
| 40. | Justin Forsett, Balt. | 4 | 1 | 25.0% |
Some observations on various guys:
Montee Ball: He’s had a crappy year, but he’s at least gone 5-for-5 on these kind of running plays. He had one really impressive touchdown against the Colts, where he broke tackles at the goal line. In a week or two or three, the Broncos will need to figure out how they want to want to use Ball and Ronnie Hillman, who ran for 100 last week filling in.
Matt Asiata: Jerick McKinnon took over as Minnesota’s starting tailback last week and looks pretty good, but Asiata is 6-for-6 as a short-yardage runner thus far. Vikings might use the veteran in some, most or all goal-line situations.
Austin Johnson: Sean Payton likes that little change-of-play at the goal line, giving the ball to the fullback instead of the tailback. Johnson is 4-for-4 in short-yardage so far. I take this as a sign that Erik Lorig probably will punch in a couple of touchdowns in the remaining games. (Lorig, not Johnson, is their regular fullback but missed the first five games with an ankle injuries – Lorig is healthy now).
DeMarco Murray: Has converted an impressive 12 of 13 carries. Also the only Dallas player to handle the ball in one of these situations.
Chris Ivory: He’s 4 of 5, which is 80 percent. (That doesn’t include the Thursday game, in which he ran well against the Patriots.) Ivory is an impressive back – a lot better than Chris Johnson. A year ago, Ivory was also very effective on this plays, going 12 of 15 for the season.
Steelers: LeVeon Bell (4-5) and LeGarrette Blount (3-4) have gotten a similar amount of work in these situations so far.
Fred Jackson: No surprise, he’s getting Buffalo’s work in these situations. C.J. Spiller is not.
Colts: Trent Richardson and Ahmad Bradshaw have split these carries. Richardson is at 2 of 4; Bradshaw is at 3 of 5.
Stevan Ridley: Ridley had 10 of these carries entering this week, 3rd-most in the league. He’s out of the year now, so the Patriots will need to find a new back to handle those attempts. It looks like Jonas Gray will be that guy. He played some against the Jets on Thursday, while Brandon Bolden (I think) was on the field for only one offensive play. They also have Shane Vereen, but he’s more of a Sproles-Woodhead type guy. Vereen is their best back, but I think Gray will score more 1-yard touchdowns going forward.
Rashad Jennings: The Giants seem to finish among the leaders in these kind of plays every year. They’re not averse to pounding 1-2 yards out in these kind of situations. Jennings had a league-high 12 carries through the first five weeks, then was sidelined on Sunday with a knee injury. He’ll sit again this week, then should be back.
Eddie Lacy: Lacy was great on these plays last year, successful on 15 of 19 carries. This year, he’s already matched his total of missed opportunities – just 2 of 6 after six weeks. Maybe some of the blame can be attributed to the offensive line, but it doesn’t seem like Lacy is running quite as hard or effectively. James Starks has outperformed him thus far.
Frank Gore: The 49ers have been able to fire up their power running game. He’s just 2 of 7.
Justin Forsett: He’s been arguably the league’s most surprising back so far, averaging 6.4 yards per carry, but he’s too small to be effective as a short-yardage and goal-line back. He’s gone only 1 of 4 so far on these plays.
—Ian Allan