Fourth-rounder Nyheim Hines was a mess in August. He averaged just 1.5 yards per carry and fumbled 3 times while barely playing. We mulled whether the team might try to stash him on injured reserve. Instead, he's been their most impressive running back thus far.
Mind you, he's still not running the ball effectively. He's averaging just 3.0 yards per carry, and will take a back seat as a runner to either Marlon Mack, if he ever gets healthy, or Jordan Wilkins.
But thanks to his involvement in the passing game, Hines has developed into a nifty PPR starter, the Colts version of James White. He's caught a team-high 29 passes for 164 yards and 2 TDs. Among running backs with at least 15 targets, only 3 have caught a higher percentage of the passes thrown their way.
RUNNING BACK RECEPTION %, 15-PLUS TARGETS | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Player | Tgt | Rec | Ctch% | Yds | TD |
Tarik Cohen, Chic. | 16 | 14 | 87.5% | 169 | 1 |
Kerryon Johnson, Det. | 15 | 13 | 86.7% | 68 | 0 |
Christian McCaffrey, Car. | 32 | 27 | 84.4% | 192 | 1 |
Nyheim Hines, Ind. | 35 | 29 | 82.9% | 164 | 2 |
Saquon Barkley, NYG | 39 | 31 | 79.5% | 274 | 2 |
James Conner, Pitt. | 28 | 22 | 78.6% | 239 | 0 |
Todd Gurley, LAR | 25 | 19 | 76.0% | 230 | 2 |
Ezekiel Elliott, Dall. | 29 | 22 | 75.9% | 155 | 1 |
Alvin Kamara, N.O. | 51 | 38 | 74.5% | 351 | 1 |
Melvin Gordon, LAC | 38 | 28 | 73.7% | 261 | 3 |
James White, N.E. | 44 | 32 | 72.7% | 270 | 4 |
Kyle Juszczyk, S.F. | 20 | 14 | 70.0% | 197 | 1 |
T.J. Yeldon, Jac. | 32 | 22 | 68.8% | 194 | 3 |
David Johnson, Ariz. | 22 | 15 | 68.2% | 120 | 1 |
Kenyan Drake, Mia. | 25 | 17 | 68.0% | 124 | 1 |
Giovani Bernard, Cin. | 21 | 14 | 66.7% | 78 | 0 |
Wendell Smallwood, Phil. | 15 | 10 | 66.7% | 96 | 1 |
LeSean McCoy, Buff. | 16 | 10 | 62.5% | 64 | 0 |
Bilal Powell, NYJ | 16 | 10 | 62.5% | 105 | 1 |
Duke Johnson, Clev. | 17 | 10 | 58.8% | 91 | 0 |
Mack might one day return from his hamstring injury, but looks likely it would be as part of a committee, and Hines' role in the passing game should remain intact.
--Andy Richardson