I liked the way Gus Edwards played last year. He’s a big, decisive, downhill runner, and he proved to be an effective complement to Lamar Jackson late last year.
With Jackson having unusual running ability for a quarterback, defenses have to respect his ability to pop outside for long gainers. Edwards, meanwhile, is good at banging between the tackles. It’s hard for defenses to effectively stop both, making Baltimore’s running game really tough late last year.
Picking through the numbers, I see that Edwards only once last year was stopped in the backfield for a negative run. Among backs with at least 100 carries, that was by far the best rate of any running back in the league in the last 10 years – four times better than anyone else, in fact.
I expect Baltimore will again employ a committee of backs. Jackson will run for plenty of yards and touchdowns and an additional running back will be employed (probably Kenneth Dixon or Alex Collins). But Edwards should be their main runner between the tackles.
This is an impressive move up for a running back who wasn’t even drafted last year. Edwards hardly got on the field when he was at Miami. He transferred to Rutgers and led that team in rushing in 2017. He got scouts’ attention a year ago with good numbers at his pro day, including a 4.52 in the 40 and a 10-foot-3 broad jump. At 6-foot-1 and 240 pounds, he’s one of the league’s biggest tailbacks.
| NEGATIVE RUNS (last 10 years) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Att | Lost | Pct |
| 2018 | Gus Edwards, Balt. | 137 | 1 | 0.7% |
| 2013 | Danny Woodhead, S.D. | 106 | 3 | 2.8% |
| 2018 | T.J. Yeldon, Jac. | 104 | 3 | 2.9% |
| 2010 | Michael Bush, Oak. | 158 | 5 | 3.2% |
| 2014 | Russell Wilson, Sea. | 118 | 4 | 3.4% |
| 2011 | Pierre Thomas, N.O. | 110 | 4 | 3.6% |
| 2015 | Cam Newton, Car. | 132 | 5 | 3.8% |
| 2015 | Russell Wilson, Sea. | 103 | 4 | 3.9% |
| 2014 | Cam Newton, Car. | 103 | 4 | 3.9% |
| 2017 | Jamaal Williams, G.B. | 153 | 6 | 3.9% |
| 2011 | Cam Newton, Car. | 126 | 5 | 4.0% |
| 2013 | Rashad Jennings, Oak. | 163 | 7 | 4.3% |
| 2017 | Cam Newton, Car. | 139 | 6 | 4.3% |
| 2018 | Mark Ingram, N.O. | 138 | 6 | 4.3% |
| 2010 | Peyton Hillis, Clev. | 270 | 12 | 4.4% |
| 2016 | Paul Perkins, NYG | 112 | 5 | 4.5% |
| 2013 | Jamaal Charles, K.C. | 259 | 12 | 4.6% |
| 2012 | Ray Rice, Balt. | 257 | 12 | 4.7% |
| 2012 | Shonn Greene, NYJ | 276 | 13 | 4.7% |
| 2015 | Tyrod Taylor, Buff. | 104 | 5 | 4.8% |
| 2014 | Matt Asiata, Minn. | 164 | 8 | 4.9% |
| 2009 | Jason Snelling, Atl. | 142 | 7 | 4.9% |
| 2016 | LeVeon Bell, Pitt. | 261 | 13 | 5.0% |
| 2013 | Bilal Powell, NYJ | 176 | 9 | 5.1% |
| 2017 | Mark Ingram, N.O. | 230 | 12 | 5.2% |
| 2010 | BenJarvus Green-Ellis, N.E. | 229 | 12 | 5.2% |
| 2016 | Frank Gore, Ind. | 263 | 14 | 5.3% |
| 2013 | Fred Jackson, Buff. | 206 | 11 | 5.3% |
| 2017 | Chris Ivory, Jac. | 112 | 6 | 5.4% |
| 2012 | BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Cin. | 278 | 15 | 5.4% |
While we’ve got these numbers out, we can also look at the other end of the scale. Tevin Coleman, who’ll soon be on the market, lost yards more often than anyone (on almost 19 percent of his carries). Dion Lewis, Adrian Peterson and Alfred Morris were the only other backs over 16 percent.
These are just numbers, of course. You can then debate why they’re occurring. Is the offensive line no good? Is the player dancing around in the backfield too much, freelancing into negative plays? Is the scheme simply no good?
In the case of Peterson, I remember him scoring a 90-yard touchdown against the Eagles. For the rest of that game, he was consistently hit in the backfield, with Philadelphia dominating the line of scrimmage.
With Coleman, I don’t think the Falcons had a good offensive line, and I’ve never been a fan of offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian. In two years under Kyle Shanahan, Coleman lost yards on less than 11 percent of his carries. In two years under Sarkisian, that number climbed to 16 percent.
| NEGATIVE RUNS (last 10 years) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Att | Lost | Pct |
| 2010 | Chester Taylor, Chi | 112 | 24 | 21.4% |
| 2017 | LeSean McCoy, Buff. | 287 | 55 | 19.2% |
| 2012 | LaRod Stephens-Howling, Ariz. | 110 | 21 | 19.1% |
| 2018 | Tevin Coleman, Atl. | 167 | 31 | 18.6% |
| 2010 | Ryan Torain, Wash. | 164 | 30 | 18.3% |
| 2017 | Ameer Abdullah, Det. | 165 | 30 | 18.2% |
| 2018 | Dion Lewis, Ten. | 155 | 28 | 18.1% |
| 2010 | Jahvid Best, Det. | 171 | 30 | 17.5% |
| 2012 | Bryce Brown, Phil. | 115 | 20 | 17.4% |
| 2017 | Jay Ajayi, Mia.-Phil. | 208 | 36 | 17.3% |
| 2015 | Marshawn Lynch, Sea. | 111 | 19 | 17.1% |
| 2011 | Kendall Hunter, S.F. | 112 | 19 | 17.0% |
| 2018 | Adrian Peterson, Was. | 251 | 42 | 16.7% |
| 2015 | Matt Jones, Was. | 144 | 24 | 16.7% |
| 2012 | Vick Ballard, Ind. | 211 | 35 | 16.6% |
| 2011 | LeSean McCoy, Phil. | 273 | 45 | 16.5% |
| 2018 | Alfred Morris, S.F. | 111 | 18 | 16.2% |
| 2012 | DeAngelo Williams, Car. | 173 | 28 | 16.2% |
| 2010 | Justin Forsett, Sea. | 118 | 19 | 16.1% |
| 2009 | Steve Slaton, Hou. | 131 | 21 | 16.0% |
| 2016 | Doug Martin, T.B. | 144 | 23 | 16.0% |
| 2017 | Jordan Howard, Chi. | 276 | 44 | 15.9% |
| 2017 | Kenyan Drake, Mia. | 133 | 21 | 15.8% |
| 2017 | Joe Mixon, Cin. | 178 | 28 | 15.7% |
| 2018 | Lamar Jackson, Balt. | 147 | 23 | 15.6% |
| 2013 | Pierre Thomas, N.O. | 147 | 23 | 15.6% |
| 2018 | LeGarrette Blount, Det. | 154 | 24 | 15.6% |
| 2014 | Isaiah Crowell, Clev. | 148 | 23 | 15.5% |
| 2016 | LeSean McCoy, Buff. | 234 | 36 | 15.4% |
| 2017 | Jerick McKinnon, Minn. | 150 | 23 | 15.3% |
—Ian Allan