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Preseason rushing, part 2

Is Chris Warren a fantasy sleeper?

As a followup, Yaesha Newman wanted to see how preseason stars tended to perform in the regular season. That is, when a running back is piling up yards in the practice game, is that a sign said player will be a star? (Should we all be using last-round picks on Chris Warren?)

Or is the sign that a player is getting a bunch of carries in the preseason an indication that the team isn’t truly sold on him. The best running backs, however, tend to not even play in the preseason.

Over the last five years, 41 running backs have run for at least 150 yards in a preseason. Only 10 of those backs have then finished the regular season with top-40 numbers (standard scoring).

PRESEASON RUNNING BACKS WITH 150-PLUS YARDS
YearPlayerAttYardsAvgLgTDRnk
2014Lorenzo Taliaferro, BAL652433.7121---
2013Khiry Robinson, NO492284.7180---
2016Mack Brown, WAS392275.860t1---
2013Jordan Todman, JAC292237.763t2---
2016• Derrick Henry, TEN342166.426340th
2013Joseph Randle, DAL552153.9181---
2014• Rashad Jennings, NYG352126.173t130th
2014Joe Banyard, MIN362125.9560---
2013Christine Michael, SEA402015.043t1---
2016• Rob Kelley, WAS381985.218126th
2016Elijhaa Penny, ARI491954.0201---
2014Andre Williams, NYG381955.1382---
2017Corey Grant, JAX221918.779t1---
2014• Jeremy Hill, CIN411904.617010th
2015Zach Zenner, DET351835.2412---
2017Cameron Artis-Payne, CAR281806.4433---
2013David Wilson, NYG241797.584t1---
2014Fozzy Whittaker, CAR431794.2192---
2015Jarryd Hayne, SF251757.0530---
2016Jordan Howard, CHI361734.816t1---
2017Terrell Watson, PIT371734.715t1---
2014Branden Oliver, SD351614.6271---
2014Cyrus Gray, KC301615.4251---
2017David Fluellen, TEN331614.9531---
2015• Thomas Rawls, SEA301585.317126th
2017Alfred Morris, DAL301585.3250---
2017Elijhaa Penny, ARI491583.2130---
2013Phillip Tanner, DAL371584.3171---
2013Roy Helu, WAS271575.830t1---
2014Silas Redd, WAS341574.6201---
2014• Mark Ingram, NO221567.122t115th
2015• Ronnie Hillman, DEN211557.423020th
2013• Chris Johnson, TEN201557.858t19th
2014Bishop Sankey, TEN421553.7131---
2016Malcolm Brown, LAR271555.7390---
2015Zac Stacy, NYJ441543.5100---
2015• Jeremy Langford, CHI281535.546124th
2016• DeMarco Murray, TEN191538.171t25th
2014Bryce Brown, BUF341524.5190---
2016Tyler Gaffney, NE351524.344t1---
2017Jarveon Williams, CIN411503.7180---

To me, when a back runs for a bunch of yards – like Warren did for the Raiders against Detroit – that gets your attention. You then want to take a look at those runs, and take another look at the scouting reports.

In the case of Warren, his long run came when there was a defensive breakdown outside. Any running back would have gone for a bunch on that play. Warren is really big (6-2, 246) and has some ability to move the pile, but he’s pretty slow. He ran a 4.69 at the combine. So for now, I would say he looks like maybe another Isaac Redman – maybe good enough to win a roster spot, but unlikely to ever really move the needle at the NFL level.

—Ian Allan

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