I saw a note the other day where ESPN’s Jeff Legwold reported that people with the Broncos have told him that they think C.J. Anderson can be “the guy”, carrying a big workload in 2016. On the one hand, Anderson got beaten out by Ronnie Hillman early last year, losing the starting job. But on the other, Anderson played really well in the second half of the season. When they won the Super Bowl, it was with Anderson going essentially the entire way.
So check out this chart. It shows the 33 running backs last year that carried the ball at least 50 times in the first half of the season, and also carried the ball in the second half of the year. There is no clear halfway point of the season anymore, of course, so I went with the first and last eight games for each player.
There is Anderson, coming in at the No. 1 spot. He averaged 6.3 yards per carry in the second half of the year – almost a full 3 yards ahead of what he was doing early in the year.
While I haven’t yet looked at him in detail, Isaiah Crowell is a back who interests me. He runs hard, and I like the shift in play-calling there, with Hue Jackson taking over. He was the 2nd-most improved last year. Ameer Abdullah was the only other player who improved by over a yard per carry in the second half of the year.
At the other end of the spectrum, I see eight running backs who declined by at least a yard per carry. Devonta Freeman was down at 3.1 yards per attempt in Atlanta’s final eight games. I would be nervous about selecting him in the first round of a fantasy draft.
Chris Johnson and Giovani Bernard were the worst of the worst, both dropping by over 2 yards per attempt.
| RUNNING BACKS: Improve or decline? | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Player | 1st | 2nd | Diff |
| C.J. Anderson, Den. | 3.58 | 6.33 | 2.75 |
| Isaiah Crowell, Clev. | 3.24 | 4.37 | 1.13 |
| Ameer Abdullah, Det. | 3.57 | 4.65 | 1.08 |
| Rashad Jennings, NYG | 3.90 | 4.80 | .90 |
| Darren McFadden, Dall. | 4.09 | 4.98 | .89 |
| Chris Ivory, NYJ | 3.94 | 4.83 | .88 |
| Alfred Morris, Wash. | 3.28 | 4.10 | .82 |
| Doug Martin, T.B. | 4.50 | 5.23 | .74 |
| Eddie Lacy, G.B. | 3.71 | 4.33 | .62 |
| Jonathan Stewart, Car. | 3.88 | 4.40 | .52 |
| Jeremy Hill, Cin. | 3.31 | 3.78 | .47 |
| Thomas Rawls, Sea. | 5.45 | 5.82 | .37 |
| Matt Forte, Chi. | 4.03 | 4.27 | .24 |
| Alfred Blue, Hou. | 3.69 | 3.90 | .21 |
| Adrian Peterson, Minn. | 4.49 | 4.60 | .12 |
| Ronnie Hillman, Den. | 4.17 | 4.17 | -.01 |
| LeSean McCoy, Buff. | 4.43 | 4.39 | -.03 |
| T.J. Yeldon, Jac. | 4.09 | 4.03 | -.06 |
| DeMarco Murray, Phil. | 3.68 | 3.59 | -.09 |
| James Starks, G.B. | 4.28 | 3.81 | -.47 |
| Melvin Gordon, S.D. | 3.71 | 3.20 | -.51 |
| DeAngelo Williams, Pitt. | 4.92 | 4.36 | -.56 |
| Matt Jones, Wash. | 3.73 | 3.06 | -.67 |
| Antonio Andrews, Tenn. | 3.97 | 3.29 | -.69 |
| LeGarrette Blount, N.E. | 4.56 | 3.82 | -.74 |
| Charcandrick West, K.C. | 4.57 | 3.57 | -1.00 |
| Frank Gore, Ind. | 4.30 | 3.22 | -1.08 |
| Lamar Miller, Mia. | 5.25 | 3.83 | -1.43 |
| Latavius Murray, Oak. | 4.77 | 3.25 | -1.52 |
| Devonta Freeman, Atl. | 4.66 | 3.07 | -1.59 |
| Todd Gurley, St.L. | 5.63 | 3.98 | -1.65 |
| Giovani Bernard, Cin. | 5.62 | 3.48 | -2.14 |
| Chris Johnson, Ariz. | 4.79 | 2.51 | -2.29 |
—Ian Allan