I’m not crazy about LeSean McCoy. I will put him in my second tier of running backs, but I don’t expect I’ll select him in any leagues. I tend to get nervous with older running backs.
Not that McCoy is over the hill. He’ll be 29 on opening day, and all indications are he can still bring it. But he’s played his best ball, and he’s also had a tendency to miss a few games each year with injuries. As he gets older, I get more worried about his ability to stay healthy.
Running back is a position that tends to favor the younger guys.
Look at the top 10 running backs for each of the last 20 years – a group of 200 players. Of those running backs, only 16 were players who entered the year with at least eight years of experience. This is the group McCoy is in now, and the numbers – 16 of 200 indicate only 8 percent of top-10 running backs from that demographic.
I’m not saying he’s up there with the fossils like Lynch, Peterson and Charles – guys who are clearly over the hill – but McCoy is also on the back side of his career.
I will take him if the draft flows as such – he’ll be top-7 running back on my board (maybe as high at 5th). He averaged 5.4 yards per carry last year, and maybe he gets more goal-line touches this year now that Mike Gillislee is gone. But I’m not entering any drafts hoping to select McCoy.
| TOP-10 RUNNING BACKS AFTER EIGHT SEASONS | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player (season) | Run | Rec | Total | TD | Points | Rk |
| 1997 | Barry Sanders, Det. (9) | 2,053 | 305 | 2,358 | 14 | 319.8 | 1 |
| 1998 | Emmitt Smith, Dall. (9) | 1,332 | 175 | 1,507 | 15 | 240.7 | 6 |
| 1998 | Barry Sanders, Det. (10) | 1,491 | 289 | 1,780 | 4 | 202.0 | 10 |
| 1999 | Ricky Watters, Sea. (9) | 1,210 | 387 | 1,597 | 7 | 201.7 | 9 |
| 1999 | Emmitt Smith, Dall. (10) | 1,397 | 119 | 1,516 | 13 | 229.6 | 5 |
| 2000 | Ricky Watters, Sea. (10) | 1,242 | 613 | 1,855 | 9 | 239.5 | 9 |
| 2002 | Charlie Garner, Oak. (9) | 962 | 941 | 1,903 | 11 | 256.3 | 9 |
| 2004 | Curtis Martin, NYJ (10) | 1,697 | 245 | 1,942 | 14 | 278.2 | 4 |
| 2005 | Tiki Barber, NYG (9) | 1,860 | 530 | 2,390 | 11 | 307.0 | 4 |
| 2006 | Tiki Barber, NYG (10) | 1,662 | 465 | 2,127 | 5 | 242.7 | 7 |
| 2007 | Edgerrin James, Ariz. (9) | 1,222 | 204 | 1,426 | 7 | 184.6 | 10 |
| 2008 | Thomas Jones, NYJ (9) | 1,312 | 207 | 1,519 | 15 | 241.9 | 5 |
| 2009 | Thomas Jones, Chi. (10) | 1,402 | 58 | 1,460 | 14 | 230.0 | 6 |
| 2009 | Ricky Williams, Mia. (11) | 1,121 | 264 | 1,385 | 13 | 218.5 | 7 |
| 2015 | Adrian Peterson, Minn. (9) | 1,485 | 222 | 1,707 | 11 | 236.7 | 2 |
| 2015 | DeAngelo Williams, Pitt. (10) | 907 | 367 | 1,274 | 11 | 195.4 | 4 |
On the chart, I’m using standard fantasy scoring – 6 for TDs, and 1 for every 10 yards.
—Ian Allan