As we’re putting together the magazine, I like to spend one full day looking at each team. You carefully look at each player and how he fits into the offense, and put together the projections for each of those guys. Then, after the draft, you go back in and plug in the rookies, making the necessary adjustments.
I was just making said adjustments for the Bears, and it occurs to me that their fifth-round pick, Jordan Howard, could fit really nicely into that offense. On the one hand, he’s a fifth-round pick, and history tells us said players aren’t even sure to make the team. But he seems to fit that offense nicely.
He’s a downhill runner, and he weighs 230 pounds. So he’s different than the guys they have coming back. And both of them, by the way, were drafted in about the same spot – KaDeem Carey and Jeremy Langford in the fourth round the last two years. Those guys both weigh around 208 pounds, so they don’t have that same kind of ability to punish defenses.
With the way they’ve been building that offense, I think they’ll use two backs in every game. I think they want to pound it. And Howard could be a big part of that approach, used in combo with one (or both) of those veterans.
Chicago’s running backs, believe it or not, finished with a league-high 424 carries last year. That is, after you set aside the quarterbacks and wide receivers, they were running it 27 times per game last year.
I expect the Bears will get double-digit touches to two backs in the vast majority of their games. They may use three backs in some games, but with injuries and guys getting the hot hand, I think it will be two backs on most Sunday.
| RUSHING ATTEMPTS BY RUNNING BACKS | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Team | Att | Yards | Avg | TD |
| 1. | Chicago | 424 | 1,646 | 3.88 | 12 |
| 2. | Houston | 424 | 1,606 | 3.79 | 5 |
| 3. | Minnesota | 414 | 1,878 | 4.54 | 15 |
| 4. | Philadelphia | 411 | 1,682 | 4.09 | 15 |
| 5. | Arizona | 410 | 1,884 | 4.60 | 15 |
| 6. | Tampa Bay | 401 | 1,949 | 4.86 | 6 |
| 7. | Washington | 398 | 1,519 | 3.82 | 4 |
| 8. | NY Jets | 386 | 1,564 | 4.05 | 9 |
| 9. | Seattle | 383 | 1,698 | 4.43 | 9 |
| 10. | Atlanta | 382 | 1,543 | 4.04 | 13 |
| 11. | Cincinnati | 381 | 1,528 | 4.01 | 13 |
| 12. | NY Giants | 380 | 1,533 | 4.03 | 5 |
| 13. | Buffalo | 378 | 1,765 | 4.67 | 14 |
| 14. | Denver | 377 | 1,631 | 4.33 | 12 |
| 15. | Carolina | 374 | 1,536 | 4.11 | 9 |
| 16. | San Diego | 372 | 1,314 | 3.53 | 4 |
| 17. | Dallas | 367 | 1,659 | 4.52 | 8 |
| 18. | New Orleans | 364 | 1,459 | 4.01 | 15 |
| 19. | Green Bay | 357 | 1,427 | 4.00 | 7 |
| 20. | Baltimore | 351 | 1,390 | 3.96 | 4 |
| 21. | St. Louis | 347 | 1,473 | 4.24 | 11 |
| 22. | Pittsburgh | 339 | 1,534 | 4.53 | 15 |
| 23. | New England | 335 | 1,301 | 3.88 | 11 |
| 24. | Oakland | 333 | 1,325 | 3.98 | 7 |
| 25. | Kansas City | 333 | 1,474 | 4.43 | 16 |
| 26. | Indianapolis | 330 | 1,167 | 3.54 | 6 |
| 27. | Tennessee | 320 | 1,170 | 3.66 | 7 |
| 28. | San Francisco | 311 | 1,091 | 3.51 | 5 |
| 29. | Cleveland | 310 | 1,147 | 3.70 | 4 |
| 30. | Detroit | 301 | 1,104 | 3.67 | 6 |
| 31. | Jacksonville | 295 | 1,117 | 3.79 | 3 |
| 32. | Miami | 290 | 1,240 | 4.28 | 9 |
—Ian Allan