We’re halfway through the preseason. We’ve had the chance to see all of the teams twice, and it’s becoming more apparent which draft picks are going to boom and bust. A look today at the 30 running backs who were chosen back in April.
And actually I’ll throw in a couple of extras. Justin Davis is in the running to be the backup for the Rams. More notably, Corey Clement has exceeded expectations for the Eagles.
Here are the rushing stats for the rookie runners so far …
| ROOKIE RUNNING BACKS; PRESEASON RUSHING | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | (Rd-Pk) | Att | Yds | Avg | Lg | TD |
| Leonard Fournette, Jac. | (1-4) | 9 | 31 | 3.4 | 8 | 1 |
| Christian McCaffrey, Car. | (1-8) | 10 | 66 | 6.6 | 17t | 1 |
| • Dalvin Cook, Minn. | (2-41) | 12 | 53 | 4.4 | 15 | 0 |
| Joe Mixon, Cin. | (2-48) | 12 | 47 | 3.9 | 13 | 0 |
| • Alvin Kamara, N.O. | (3-67) | 9 | 96 | 10.7 | 50t | 1 |
| Kareem Hunt, K.C. | (3-86) | 9 | 40 | 4.4 | 25 | 0 |
| • D'Onta Foreman, Hou. | (3-89) | 16 | 93 | 5.8 | 41 | 1 |
| James Conner, Pitt. | (3-105) | 20 | 98 | 4.9 | 19 | 0 |
| Samaje Perine, Wash. | (4-114) | 14 | 60 | 4.3 | 14 | 0 |
| • Tarik Cohen, Chi. | (4-119) | 18 | 116 | 6.4 | 25 | 0 |
| • Joe Williams, S.F. | (4-121) | 8 | 61 | 7.6 | 17 | 0 |
| Donnel Pumphrey, Phil. | (4-132) | 7 | 2 | 0.3 | 5 | 0 |
| Jamaal Williams, G.B. | (4-134) | 11 | 26 | 2.4 | 5 | 0 |
| Wayne Gallman, NYG | (4-140) | 10 | 33 | 3.3 | 11 | 0 |
| • Marlon Mack, Ind. | (4-143) | 5 | 45 | 9 | 23 | 0 |
| Brian Hill, Atl. | (5-156) | 16 | 24 | 1.5 | 4 | 0 |
| Jeremy McNichols, T.B. | (5-162) | 13 | 44 | 3.4 | 11 | 0 |
| T.J. Logan, Ariz. | (5-179) | 4 | 24 | 6 | 16 | 0 |
| Aaron Jones, G.B. | (5-182) | 5 | 14 | 2.8 | 5 | 0 |
| • Elijah McGuire, NYJ | (6-188) | 11 | 23 | 2.1 | 7 | 0 |
| Alex Armah, Car. | (6-192) | 0 | 0 | -- | -- | 0 |
| • DeAngelo Henderson, Den. | (6-203) | 13 | 84 | 6.5 | 41t | 1 |
| Sam Rogers, LAR | (6-206) | 0 | 0 | -- | -- | 0 |
| Brandon Wilson, Cin. | (6-207) | 0 | 0 | -- | -- | 0 |
| Devante Mays, G.B. | (7-238) | 5 | 13 | 2.6 | 7 | 0 |
| Marquez Williams, Jac. | (7-240) | 0 | 0 | -- | -- | 0 |
| Khalfani Muhammad, Tenn. | (7-241) | 2 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Elijah Hood, Oak. | (7-242) | 5 | 12 | 2.4 | 9 | 0 |
| • Chris Carson, Sea. | (7-249) | 13 | 46 | 3.5 | 13 | 2 |
| Matt Dayes, Clev. | (7-252) | 8 | 24 | 3 | 10 | 1 |
| Justin Davis, LAR | undrafted | 14 | 78 | 5.6 | 32 | 0 |
| • Corey Clement, Phil. | undrafted | 15 | 47 | 3.1 | 24 | 1 |
The 10 that I have flagged with black dots are the ones that I think have exceeded expectations the most. They’re the ones that should have been selected a lot earlier back in April.
Quick thoughts on those guys:
Dalvin Cook: Looks like another LeSean McCoy. He’s explosive, and he’ll catch plenty of passes. Should not have been allowed to slip out of the first round. I think he’ll be the most productive of the rookie runners.
Alvin Kamara: It was odd when the Saints, already having Mark Ingram and Adrian Peterson, traded up to select Kamara in the third round, but he’s a talented guy. They’ll definitely work him in. He had a 22-yard run in his preseason debut and started the Chargers game with a 50-yard touchdown off left tackle.
D’Onta Foreman: Big man with football. Had a 41-yard run at Carolina, and went 63 yards with a pass against New England. Texans have two other capable backs (Lamar Miller, Alfred Blue) but they’ll want to get Foreman on the field.
Tarik Cohen: There were two undersized running backs selected in the fourth round. Both Cohen (who’s pictured) and Donnel Pumphrey weigh under 180 pounds, and both were very productive four-year players in college. At the NFL level, Cohen looks a lot better. He’s faster, and he’s 2 inches shorter – lower to the ground and harder to tackle. The Bears seem to want to use him as a change-of-pace behind Jordan Howard, potentially giving them a pretty cool thunder and lighting combo.
Joe Williams:Including one that was called back, he popped three runs of 17 yards in his first preseason game. He’s really fast. Hardly played in the Denver game, but I expect he’ll be the backup running back in San Francisco and might really fit well into that offense.
Marlon Mack: He carried the ball only 5 times at Dallas, but three of them went for 23, 13 and 10 yards. He also had a really nice catch in that game. He’s got a lot more sizzle than either Frank Gore or Robert Turbin. The Colts selected him in the fourth round; looks like he should have gone a couple runs earlier. I expect they’ll get him on the field quickly.
Elijah McGuire: He’s posted modest preseason numbers, but he had a couple of runs early in the Tennessee game that caught my eye. Looks like he might be as good as Matt Forte and Bilal Powell right now.
DeAngelo Henderson: A smaller back, but he’s built low to the ground and is tough to knock off his pegs. Scored the winning touchdown on a 41-yard run at Chicago. At San Francisco he caught a touchdown that was even more impressive, leaving two defenders grasping at air. (The play was nullified, but the talent was apparent.) The Broncos will put Jamaal Charles on the field this week, but I don’t expect he’ll make the team – this guy is way better. If NFL teams had do-overs, he wouldn’t make it out of the third round.
Chris Carson: He seems to have beaten out Alex Collins, and the Seahawks really like him. They’ve been talking about him all along. Could be another Thomas Rawls, who knocked Robert Turbin and Christine Michael off the roster a few years back. They had Carson splitting the first-team work with Eddie Lacy on Friday night. If Carson outplays Lacy this week, I wonder if they would consider making him their No. 2 back (behind Rawls).
Corey Clement: Wendell Smallwood has been hurt for most of camp. Donnel Pumphrey doesn’t look like he’s going to be a factor anytime soon. LeGarrette Blount is old and slow – to the point where some are wondering if he’ll even make the team. Clement wasn’t even drafted and is a pretty ordinary guy, but he’s impressed them in practices. Has played ahead of Pumphrey in both games.
—Ian Allan