I see that the Raiders have released Roy Helu Jr. Not a surprise. He didn’t do much of anything for them last year, and they drafted a running back to replace him (DeAndre Washington). Helu goes down as a free agency mistake.
I’m not going to talk up Helu. I’m not sure that he’ll ever be on a 53-man roster in the regular season again. Competition for running back roster spots is fierce, with a big group of young legs coming in to compete for jobs every year. Those guys tend to have more value on special teams. And Helu under hip surgery in the offseason – he might be not quite the same guy physically.
But this probably will be the last time I mention Helu on the website, so I will point that he did have spurts of productivity during his career. Most notably, he was remarkably good as a third-down back two years ago. Washington passed to him 47 times in that season, and he caught all but 5 of those balls. And not just dumpoffs – he gained 477 receiving yards that year.
Doing the math, that’s over 10 yards per pass play. In the last 10 years, 280 other running backs have seen at least 40 targets in a season. Helu was at least a yard better than all of them. NFL is filled with great athletes, and in at least this one area, Helu was way better than all of those guys.
Helu is 27 years old. Makes sense, I think, for some team to bring him in for a look. Could surface as a decent third-down back somewhere (if he’s healthy).
And while we’re on this topic, I see that there were a lot of effective pass-catching running backs last year. Of the top 33 of the last 10 years, seven of them came from 2015 (I’ve got them in bold).
| MOST EFFECTIVE PASS-CATCHING RUNNING BACKS | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | No | Yards | Tgt | Pct | Avg |
| 2014 | • ROY HELU JR., WASH. | 42 | 477 | 47 | 89% | 10.1 |
| 2011 | Michael Bush, Oak. | 37 | 418 | 46 | 80% | 9.1 |
| 2011 | Fred Jackson, Buff. | 39 | 442 | 49 | 80% | 9.0 |
| 2009 | Darren Sproles, S.D. | 45 | 497 | 57 | 79% | 8.7 |
| 2010 | Felix Jones, Dall. | 48 | 450 | 52 | 92% | 8.7 |
| 2010 | Danny Woodhead, N.E. | 34 | 379 | 44 | 77% | 8.6 |
| 2011 | Arian Foster, Hou. | 53 | 617 | 72 | 74% | 8.6 |
| 2007 | Ronnie Brown, Mia. | 39 | 389 | 46 | 85% | 8.5 |
| 2013 | LeSean McCoy, Phil. | 52 | 539 | 64 | 81% | 8.4 |
| 2010 | Darren McFadden, Oak. | 47 | 507 | 61 | 77% | 8.3 |
| 2014 | LeVeon Bell, Pitt. | 83 | 854 | 105 | 79% | 8.1 |
| 2012 | Danny Woodhead, N.E. | 40 | 446 | 55 | 73% | 8.1 |
| 2012 | C.J. Spiller, Buff. | 43 | 459 | 57 | 75% | 8.1 |
| 2015 | David Johnson, Ariz. | 36 | 457 | 57 | 63% | 8.0 |
| 2015 | Charles Sims, T.B. | 51 | 561 | 70 | 73% | 8.0 |
| 2013 | Joique Bell, Det. | 53 | 547 | 69 | 77% | 7.9 |
| 2010 | Matt Forte, Chi | 51 | 547 | 70 | 73% | 7.8 |
| 2015 | DeAngelo Williams, Pitt. | 40 | 367 | 47 | 85% | 7.8 |
| 2014 | Eddie Lacy, G.B. | 42 | 427 | 55 | 76% | 7.8 |
| 2015 | Dion Lewis, N.E. | 36 | 388 | 50 | 72% | 7.8 |
| 2010 | Knowshon Moreno, Den. | 37 | 372 | 48 | 77% | 7.8 |
| 2010 | Marcel Reece, Oak. | 25 | 333 | 43 | 58% | 7.7 |
| 2011 | Ryan Mathews, S.D. | 50 | 455 | 59 | 85% | 7.7 |
| 2009 | Adrian Peterson, Min. | 43 | 436 | 57 | 75% | 7.6 |
| 2014 | Marshawn Lynch, Sea. | 37 | 367 | 48 | 77% | 7.6 |
| 2015 | James White, N.E. | 40 | 410 | 54 | 74% | 7.6 |
| 2009 | Steve Slaton, Hou. | 44 | 417 | 55 | 80% | 7.6 |
| 2008 | Maurice Jones-Drew, Jac. | 62 | 565 | 75 | 83% | 7.5 |
| 2006 | Mewelde Moore, Minn. | 46 | 468 | 63 | 73% | 7.4 |
| 2007 | Joseph Addai, Ind. | 41 | 364 | 49 | 84% | 7.4 |
| 2013 | Knowshon Moreno, Den. | 60 | 548 | 74 | 81% | 7.4 |
| 2007 | Maurice Jones-Drew, Jac. | 40 | 407 | 55 | 73% | 7.4 |
| 2015 | Rashad Jennings, NYG | 29 | 296 | 40 | 73% | 7.4 |
| 2015 | James Starks, G.B. | 43 | 392 | 53 | 81% | 7.4 |
—Ian Allan