Fantasy Index

Factoid

Ivory / Ridley

Effectiveness of short-yardage rushers, 2013-14

I have another thought on Chris Ivory and Stevan Ridley. The Jets just signed Ridley, so these backs will be playing together this year. There was a factoid about their (lack of) receiving ability yesterday.

With Ivory, I really like his ability to run physically and pound out tough yards. He was slam it up in there, as they say. And in this regard, he’s definitely been better than Ridley – and most other backs.

Look, for example, as key short-yardage plays. Specifically, look at plays when a team needed 1 yard to either score or to keep a drive alive (on third or fourth down). On those kind of plays, Ivory has been successful on 21 of 27 carries over the last two years. That’s really good.

Ridley, on the other hand, has played on a far better team, yet he’s gone only 12 of 20 in the same situations.

Below is the list of all 32 running backs who’ve had at least 15 of these carries in the last two years. There are some weird names here. Who would have figured, for example, that Jed Collins would be No. 1? He tends to get his attempts on change-of-pace fullback dives, which are a different animal.

Ryan Mathews and Trent Richardson show up in the top 10, which is higher than I would have thought.

Marshawn Lynch, Alfred Morris, LeGarrette Blount and Mark Ingram are in the bottom 10, which is much lower. With Lynch (famously ignored on the 1-yard line at the end of the Super Bowl) there’s the added dynamic that at least some defenses are keying on him more. Lynch is in the bottom 10 but might still be one of the best half-dozen short-yardage runners in the league.

But I digress. Ivory is the guy I wanted to draw attention to. I think he’s pretty good, and I don’t think Ridley is going to move past him anytime soon.

"AND ONE" RUSHING, 2013-14
RkNameGoodAttPct
1.Jed Collins131681.3%
2.Ryan Mathews162080.0%
3.Adrian Peterson151978.9%
4.Joique Bell182378.3%
5.Chris Ivory212777.8%
6.LeSean McCoy273577.1%
7.Shonn Greene121675.0%
8.DeMarco Murray314273.8%
9.Matt Asiata141973.7%
10.Trent Richardson182572.0%
11.Jamaal Charles223171.0%
12.Matt Forte223171.0%
13.Eddie Lacy202969.0%
14.Lamar Miller131968.4%
15.LeVeon Bell233467.6%
16.Frank Gore203066.7%
17.Zac Stacy101566.7%
18.Fred Jackson213265.6%
19.Rashad Jennings152365.2%
20.Willis McGahee111764.7%
21.Arian Foster152462.5%
22.Maurice Jones-Drew132161.9%
23.Steven Jackson193161.3%
24.Marshawn Lynch183060.0%
25.Alfred Morris122060.0%
26.Stevan Ridley122060.0%
27.BenJarvus Green-Ellis111957.9%
28.Mike Tolbert111957.9%
29.LeGarrette Blount91752.9%
30.Bernard Pierce71546.7%
31.Ben Tate81844.4%
32.Mark Ingram71838.9%

—Ian Allan

Fantasy Index