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Isaiah Crowell

Raiders add potential starter

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
Player201620172018Total
Ezekiel Elliott1994125220015247
Todd Gurley1212209318315136
Melvin Gordon1416158113754372
LeSean McCoy162315867523961
Jordan Howard1611124710803938
LeVeon Bell188419463830
Mark Ingram136215408153717
Lamar Miller1261121511363612
David Johnson21189013863594
Frank Gore130212068463354
Alvin Kamara155415923146
Isaiah Crowell127110358373143
Christian McCaffrey108619653051
Carlos Hyde115112886043043
Kareem Hunt178212022984
Tevin Coleman94192710762944
Devonta Freeman15411182912814
Latavius Murray10529457192716
Derrick Henry62788011582665
Jay Ajayi142310312042658
DeMarco Murray16649252589
Duke Johnson87210416302543
Bilal Powell11109424532505
LeGarrette Blount11998164852500
James White71760011762493
Dion Lewis37711109172404
Joe Mixon91314642377
C.J. Anderson56512314442240
T.J. Yeldon7774779012155
Kenyan Drake22588310122120
Jalen Richard6855318662082
Saquon Barkley20282028
Theo Riddick7287305552013

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

Fantasy Index