The Raiders signed Isaiah Crowell yesterday, so he'll be playing for his third team in the last three years. There's nothing special about Crowell, but he's a capable runner who can also play in the passing game, so it's a bit strange that teams are seldom interested in keeping him around. Or it's just a statement about how the league views running backs.
I'm guilty of it myself, insulting Jordan Howard in another thread. When in fact, Howard, and Crowell, are among the more productive running backs over the last three seasons. Not that that production endears them much to their NFL teams.
Table shows total yards for running backs over the past three seasons, and both Howard and Crowell show up favorably. About half of the top 15, including those guys, have played for more than one team in those three seasons, or will be playing for another team in 2019.
RUNNING BACKS, TOTAL YARDS, 2016-2018 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Player | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | Total |
Ezekiel Elliott | 1994 | 1252 | 2001 | 5247 |
Todd Gurley | 1212 | 2093 | 1831 | 5136 |
Melvin Gordon | 1416 | 1581 | 1375 | 4372 |
LeSean McCoy | 1623 | 1586 | 752 | 3961 |
Jordan Howard | 1611 | 1247 | 1080 | 3938 |
LeVeon Bell | 1884 | 1946 | 3830 | |
Mark Ingram | 1362 | 1540 | 815 | 3717 |
Lamar Miller | 1261 | 1215 | 1136 | 3612 |
David Johnson | 2118 | 90 | 1386 | 3594 |
Frank Gore | 1302 | 1206 | 846 | 3354 |
Alvin Kamara | 1554 | 1592 | 3146 | |
Isaiah Crowell | 1271 | 1035 | 837 | 3143 |
Christian McCaffrey | 1086 | 1965 | 3051 | |
Carlos Hyde | 1151 | 1288 | 604 | 3043 |
Kareem Hunt | 1782 | 1202 | 2984 | |
Tevin Coleman | 941 | 927 | 1076 | 2944 |
Devonta Freeman | 1541 | 1182 | 91 | 2814 |
Latavius Murray | 1052 | 945 | 719 | 2716 |
Derrick Henry | 627 | 880 | 1158 | 2665 |
Jay Ajayi | 1423 | 1031 | 204 | 2658 |
DeMarco Murray | 1664 | 925 | 2589 | |
Duke Johnson | 872 | 1041 | 630 | 2543 |
Bilal Powell | 1110 | 942 | 453 | 2505 |
LeGarrette Blount | 1199 | 816 | 485 | 2500 |
James White | 717 | 600 | 1176 | 2493 |
Dion Lewis | 377 | 1110 | 917 | 2404 |
Joe Mixon | 913 | 1464 | 2377 | |
C.J. Anderson | 565 | 1231 | 444 | 2240 |
T.J. Yeldon | 777 | 477 | 901 | 2155 |
Kenyan Drake | 225 | 883 | 1012 | 2120 |
Jalen Richard | 685 | 531 | 866 | 2082 |
Saquon Barkley | 2028 | 2028 | ||
Theo Riddick | 728 | 730 | 555 | 2013 |
Back to Crowell. The Raiders have last year's preseason rushing leader Chris Warren on the roster, and just maybe they'll bring back Marshawn Lynch (although signing Crowell would seem to close the door to a Lynch return). They'll use Jalen Richard in passing situations.
But if we were drafting right now, Crowell would figure to be the main runner and probably lead the team in rushing touchdowns. Sounds like he's a candidate for another 800-900 yards, 6-8 TDs, and then wind up playing for another team in 2020.
--Andy Richardson