There's been some debate, including internally at Fantasy Index, over how good Ameer Abdullah will be for the Detroit Lions. He's the team's second-round pick and could be at worst the passing downs back right off the bat, but he's also a smaller back who played in a spread offense in college, and there might be a period of adjustment. He'll be vying with Joique Bell and Theo Riddick for snaps in Detroit.
The reality is that a lot of rookie running backs, perhaps struggling to pick up blocking schemes and pass protection, find it hard to earn that third-down role right away. Over the last 20 years, only 38 running backs have caught even 30 passes in their rookie seasons; so, about two per season. (Devonta Freeman and Branden Oliver in 2014.) Only 18 have caught 40 balls. Maybe Abdullah will be one of those guys, but that kind of production is rare.
The runners who have caught at least 30 passes in their rookie seasons since 1995 are presented below.
ROOKIE RUNNERS WITH 30 RECEPTIONS, 1995-2014 | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Rd | Player | Team | RuYds | Rec | ReYds | Tot | TD |
2006 | 1 | Reggie Bush | Saints | 565 | 88 | 742 | 1307 | 9 |
1996 | 2 | Mike Alstott | Buccaneers | 377 | 65 | 557 | 934 | 6 |
2008 | 2 | Matt Forte | Bears | 1238 | 63 | 477 | 1715 | 12 |
1999 | 1 | Edgerrin James | Colts | 1553 | 62 | 586 | 2139 | 17 |
2001 | 1 | LaDainian Tomlinson | Chargers | 1236 | 59 | 367 | 1603 | 10 |
2010 | 1 | Jahvid Best | Lions | 555 | 58 | 487 | 1032 | 6 |
2013 | 2 | Giovani Bernard | Bengals | 695 | 56 | 514 | 1209 | 8 |
2012 | 1 | Trent Richardson | Browns | 950 | 51 | 367 | 1317 | 12 |
2008 | 3 | Steve Slaton | Texans | 1282 | 50 | 377 | 1659 | 10 |
2012 | 1 | Doug Martin | Buccaneers | 1454 | 49 | 472 | 1926 | 12 |
2011 | 4 | Roy Helu | Washington | 640 | 49 | 379 | 1019 | 3 |
2003 | 4 | Domanick Davis | Texans | 1031 | 47 | 351 | 1382 | 8 |
2006 | 2 | Maurice Jones-Drew | Jaguars | 941 | 46 | 436 | 1377 | 16 |
2013 | 2 | LeVeon Bell | Steelers | 860 | 45 | 399 | 1259 | 8 |
1998 | 1 | Fred Taylor | Jaguars | 1223 | 44 | 421 | 1644 | 17 |
2008 | 1 | Chris Johnson | Titans | 1228 | 43 | 260 | 1488 | 10 |
2006 | 1 | Joseph Addai | Colts | 1081 | 40 | 325 | 1406 | 8 |
2009 | 2 | LeSean McCoy | Eagles | 637 | 40 | 308 | 945 | 4 |
1997 | 1 | Warrick Dunn | Buccaneers | 978 | 39 | 462 | 1440 | 7 |
2008 | 3 | Kevin Smith | Lions | 976 | 39 | 286 | 1262 | 8 |
1995 | 3 | Rodney Thomas | Titans | 947 | 39 | 204 | 1151 | 7 |
2013 | 6 | Andre Ellington | Cardinals | 652 | 39 | 371 | 1023 | 4 |
2000 | 3 | Travis Prentice | Browns | 512 | 37 | 191 | 703 | 8 |
2000 | 5 | Sammy Morris | Bills | 341 | 37 | 268 | 609 | 6 |
2014 | U | Branden Oliver | Chargers | 582 | 36 | 271 | 853 | 4 |
1998 | 1 | Robert Edwards | Patriots | 1115 | 35 | 331 | 1446 | 12 |
2013 | 2 | Eddie Lacy | Packers | 1178 | 35 | 257 | 1435 | 11 |
1999 | 2 | Rob Konrad | Dolphins | 16 | 34 | 251 | 267 | 1 |
1997 | 2 | Tiki Barber | Giants | 511 | 34 | 299 | 810 | 4 |
2008 | 5 | Tim Hightower | Cardinals | 399 | 34 | 237 | 636 | 10 |
2006 | 1 | DeAngelo Williams | Panthers | 501 | 33 | 313 | 814 | 2 |
2008 | 2 | Ray Rice | Ravens | 454 | 33 | 273 | 727 | 0 |
2002 | 2 | Clinton Portis | Broncos | 1508 | 33 | 364 | 1872 | 17 |
2005 | 1 | Ronnie Brown | Dolphins | 907 | 32 | 232 | 1139 | 5 |
2000 | 1 | Thomas Jones | Cardinals | 373 | 32 | 208 | 581 | 2 |
2002 | 3 | Lamar Gordon | Rams | 228 | 30 | 278 | 506 | 3 |
1995 | 3 | Curtis Martin | Patriots | 1487 | 30 | 261 | 1748 | 15 |
2014 | 4 | Devonta Freeman | Falcons | 248 | 30 | 225 | 473 | 2 |