I see there’s a feel-good puff piece coming out of Atlanta. Tevin Coleman says that the coaches have told him he’s going to play a bigger role this year. Specifically, they want to include him more in the passing game.
“They are just going to use me more ... lining up out wide and stuff,” said Coleman in an article posted on the team’s official website. “It’s going to be pretty fun.”
I don’t see any comment by Devonta Freeman. I presume we’ll see in the next few days explaining that the coaches have told him his role will be slashed? (Or maybe, if we’re trying to keep it positive – Freeman has been told the coaches want to make sure he’s fresh at the end of the year for the playoffs.)
I don’t give this ‘development’ much weight. They’ve got a one-two punch, and I expect it will be pretty similar until one of the games gets hurt at some point.
If we go back to last year, Coleman was a No. 2 back in 12 games – with Freeman starting and getting the bulk of the work. In those 12 games, Coleman averaged 34 rushing and 23 receiving yards, with 4 TDs. That kind of production was on par with lesser starters like Doug Martin, Jonathan Stewart, Ameer Abdullah and Joe Mixon.
If and when you draft Coleman, it’s not because you think he’s getting a few more carries off the bench. What you’re waiting for is a Freeman injury. Coleman got to be their main back in three games last year, and he averaged 74 rushing and 7 receiving yards in those, with 4 TDs. (Those three games include two proper starts and the Dallas game, where Freeman left after only 2 carries with a concussion.)
If Freeman misses any games, Coleman should be one of the top half-dozen backs in the league while filling in.
Coleman, by the way, is in a contract year. Would help his bargaining position for next spring if he gets to start and thrive for a month-plus of the season.
Here are some per-game numbers from last year. I’m showing running backs who started for half the season (plus I’m tossing in Coleman’s three fill-in starts, to show the kind of numbers he’s capable of).
| RUNNING BACKS, FANTASY POINTS PER GAME | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | St | Run | Rec | Tot | TD | FPG |
| Todd Gurley, LAR | 15 | 87 | 53 | 140 | 1.27 | 21.6 |
| Ezekiel Elliott, Dall. | 10 | 98 | 27 | 125 | .90 | 17.9 |
| LeVeon Bell, Pitt. | 15 | 86 | 44 | 130 | .73 | 17.4 |
| Alvin Kamara (C), N.O. | 13 | 52 | 58 | 109 | 1.00 | 17.1 |
| T.Coleman (starter), Atl. | 3 | 74 | 7 | 81 | 1.33 | 16.1 |
| Kareem Hunt, K.C. | 15 | 86 | 30 | 116 | .67 | 15.6 |
| Leonard Fournette, Jac. | 13 | 80 | 23 | 103 | .77 | 14.9 |
| Melvin Gordon, LAC | 16 | 69 | 30 | 99 | .75 | 14.4 |
| Mark Ingram, N.O. | 16 | 70 | 26 | 96 | .75 | 14.1 |
| Dion Lewis, N.E. | 11 | 72 | 16 | 88 | .82 | 13.7 |
| LeSean McCoy, Buff. | 16 | 71 | 28 | 99 | .50 | 12.9 |
| Devonta Freeman, Atl. | 14 | 62 | 23 | 84 | .57 | 11.9 |
| Chris Thompson (3rd), Was. | 10 | 29 | 51 | 80 | .60 | 11.6 |
| Latavius Murray, Minn. | 12 | 67 | 8 | 75 | .67 | 11.5 |
| Jordan Howard, Chi. | 16 | 70 | 8 | 78 | .56 | 11.2 |
| Carlos Hyde, S.F. | 16 | 59 | 22 | 81 | .50 | 11.1 |
| Alex Collins, Balt. | 13 | 65 | 14 | 80 | .46 | 10.7 |
| Jerick McKinnon (C), Minn. | 12 | 45 | 32 | 77 | .42 | 10.4 |
| Orleans Darkwa, NYG | 11 | 63 | 9 | 72 | .45 | 10.1 |
| Rex Burkhead (C), N.E. | 10 | 26 | 25 | 52 | .80 | 10.0 |
| Lamar Miller, Hou. | 16 | 56 | 20 | 76 | .38 | 9.8 |
| Marshawn Lynch, Oak. | 15 | 59 | 10 | 69 | .47 | 9.7 |
| Christian McCaffrey (C), Car. | 16 | 27 | 41 | 68 | .44 | 9.4 |
| C.J. Anderson, Den. | 16 | 63 | 14 | 77 | .25 | 9.3 |
| Duke Johnson (C), Clev. | 16 | 22 | 43 | 65 | .44 | 9.1 |
| Frank Gore, Ind. | 16 | 60 | 15 | 75 | .25 | 9.0 |
| DeMarco Murray, Tenn. | 15 | 44 | 18 | 62 | .47 | 9.0 |
| Bilal Powell, NYJ | 15 | 51 | 11 | 63 | .33 | 8.3 |
| Joe Mixon (C), Cin. | 14 | 45 | 21 | 65 | .29 | 8.2 |
| Ameer Abdullah, Det. | 11 | 46 | 12 | 58 | .36 | 8.0 |
| T.Coleman (backup), Atl. | 12 | 34 | 23 | 57 | .33 | 7.7 |
| Jonathan Stewart (C), Car. | 15 | 45 | 3 | 49 | .47 | 7.7 |
| Doug Martin, T.B. | 9 | 45 | 9 | 54 | .33 | 7.6 |
| Javorius Allen (C), Balt. | 16 | 37 | 16 | 53 | .38 | 7.5 |
| Isaiah Crowell (C), Clev. | 16 | 53 | 11 | 65 | .13 | 7.3 |
| Matt Forte (C), NYJ | 12 | 32 | 24 | 56 | .25 | 7.1 |
| Derrick Henry (C), Tenn. | 15 | 46 | 5 | 51 | .33 | 7.1 |
| Giovani Bernard (3rd), Cin. | 16 | 29 | 24 | 53 | .25 | 6.8 |
| Theo Riddick (3rd), Det. | 16 | 18 | 28 | 46 | .31 | 6.4 |
| LeGarrette Blount (C), Phil. | 16 | 48 | 3 | 51 | .19 | 6.4 |
| Tarik Cohen (C), Chi. | 16 | 23 | 22 | 46 | .25 | 6.3 |
| James White (3rd), N.E. | 14 | 12 | 31 | 43 | .21 | 5.6 |
| Matt Breida (C), S.F. | 16 | 29 | 11 | 40 | .19 | 5.2 |
| Corey Clement (C), Phil. | 16 | 20 | 8 | 28 | .38 | 5.2 |
—Ian Allan