Marlon Mack is entering a contract year, but the Colts may want to take care of that situation sooner rather than later. That was according to a recent media report, anyway, although Jim Irsay downplayed it over the weekend. Looks like the Colts should do something, as with him they look set at the position.
Mack has been a starter the last two years, and he's been one of the league's more productive runners in those seasons. He's averaged just under 79 rushing yards per game. Among runners who have started or played significant snaps (committee or 3rd downs) at least half the time those two seasons, only five have put up more yards per game.
| RUSHING YARDS PER GAME, 2018-2019 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | St | Att | Run | No | Rec | Total | TD |
| Ezekiel Elliott, Dall. | 31 | 19.5 | 90.0 | 4.2 | 31.8 | 121.9 | .74 |
| Nick Chubb, Cle. | 26 | 18.2 | 89.1 | 2.2 | 16.4 | 105.5 | .62 |
| Derrick Henry, Ten. | 31 | 16.7 | 83.8 | 1.1 | 9.8 | 93.7 | .97 |
| Chris Carson, Sea. | 29 | 18.1 | 82.1 | 2.0 | 14.8 | 96.9 | .62 |
| Saquon Barkley, NYG | 29 | 16.5 | 79.7 | 4.9 | 40.0 | 119.6 | .80 |
| Marlon Mack, Ind. | 25 | 17.3 | 78.6 | 1.2 | 7.3 | 85.9 | .76 |
| Christian McCaffrey, Car. | 32 | 15.8 | 77.7 | 7.0 | 58.5 | 136.2 | 1.03 |
| Joe Mixon, Cin. | 30 | 17.2 | 76.8 | 2.6 | 19.4 | 96.3 | .57 |
| Todd Gurley, LAR | 29 | 16.5 | 72.7 | 3.1 | 27.1 | 99.8 | 1.25 |
| Dalvin Cook, Min. | 25 | 15.3 | 70.0 | 3.7 | 33.0 | 103.0 | .68 |
| Leonard Fournette, Jac. | 23 | 17.3 | 69.2 | 4.3 | 30.7 | 99.9 | .39 |
| Phillip Lindsay, Den. | 25 | 14.2 | 68.1 | 2.2 | 13.0 | 81.0 | .60 |
| Aaron Jones, G.B. | 24 | 14.0 | 67.7 | 3.0 | 26.6 | 94.3 | 1.13 |
| Carlos Hyde, Hou. | 23 | 16.1 | 63.7 | .8 | 3.3 | 67.0 | .48 |
| Sony Michel, N.E. | 29 | 15.7 | 63.6 | .7 | 5.0 | 68.5 | .45 |
| Adrian Peterson, Was. | 31 | 14.9 | 62.6 | 1.2 | 11.3 | 73.9 | .42 |
| James Conner, Pitt. | 23 | 14.4 | 62.5 | 3.9 | 32.5 | 95.0 | .90 |
| Melvin Gordon, LAC | 24 | 14.0 | 62.4 | 3.8 | 32.8 | 95.1 | .99 |
| Mark Ingram, Balt. | 27 | 12.6 | 61.6 | 1.7 | 15.4 | 77.0 | .84 |
| Kerryon Johnson, Det. | 17 | 13.3 | 60.4 | 2.3 | 18.8 | 79.2 | .47 |
| Matt Breida (C), S.F. | 23 | 11.4 | 59.0 | 1.9 | 16.1 | 75.1 | .30 |
| Jordan Howard, Phil. | 25 | 14.8 | 58.4 | 1.2 | 8.6 | 67.0 | .64 |
| Alvin Kamara, N.O. | 29 | 12.6 | 57.9 | 5.6 | 42.8 | 100.8 | .86 |
| Frank Gore, Buff. | 20 | 11.9 | 55.8 | 1.1 | 9.4 | 65.2 | .15 |
| David Montgomery, Chi. | 16 | 15.1 | 55.6 | 1.6 | 11.6 | 67.1 | .44 |
| David Johnson, Ariz. | 24 | 14.2 | 51.8 | 3.4 | 32.0 | 83.8 | .64 |
| Miles Sanders, Phil. | 16 | 11.2 | 51.1 | 3.1 | 31.8 | 82.9 | .40 |
| Tevin Coleman (C), S.F. | 28 | 10.3 | 46.8 | 1.8 | 14.8 | 61.6 | .54 |
| Ronald Jones, T.B. | 16 | 10.8 | 45.3 | 1.9 | 19.3 | 64.6 | .38 |
| Peyton Barber, T.B. | 32 | 12.1 | 41.9 | 1.1 | 6.5 | 48.4 | .42 |
| Royce Freeman (C), Den. | 30 | 8.7 | 33.9 | 1.9 | 10.9 | 44.8 | .30 |
| Kenyan Drake (C), Mia. | 16 | 7.5 | 33.4 | 3.3 | 29.8 | 63.3 | .56 |
| Austin Ekeler (C), LAC | 23 | 6.2 | 33.1 | 4.1 | 45.7 | 78.8 | .52 |
| LeGarrette Blount (C), Det. | 16 | 9.6 | 26.1 | .6 | 4.2 | 30.3 | .31 |
| James White (3rd), N.E. | 31 | 5.2 | 22.2 | 5.1 | 45.0 | 67.2 | .59 |
| Dion Lewis (3rd), Ten. | 31 | 6.3 | 21.2 | 2.7 | 17.6 | 38.8 | .10 |
| Tarik Cohen (3rd), Chi. | 32 | 5.1 | 20.5 | 4.7 | 36.9 | 57.4 | .36 |
| Duke Johnson (3rd), Hou. | 32 | 3.8 | 19.1 | 2.8 | 26.2 | 45.3 | .27 |
| Nyheim Hines (3rd), Ind. | 32 | 4.3 | 16.0 | 3.3 | 23.3 | 39.3 | .25 |
| Chris Thompson (3rd), Was. | 20 | 4.0 | 15.8 | 4.2 | 32.3 | 48.1 | .05 |
| Jalen Richard (3rd), Oak. | 32 | 2.9 | 12.6 | 3.3 | 29.1 | 41.7 | .03 |
| Giovani Bernard (3rd), Cin. | 26 | 3.2 | 9.7 | 2.2 | 15.4 | 25.0 | .00 |
| Dare Ogunbowale (3rd), T.B. | 16 | .7 | 1.1 | 2.2 | 17.9 | 18.9 | .13 |
That's rushing production; the Colts use Nyheim Hines on third downs. Since Mack isn't a big part of the passing game, he comes in well short of some other backs in terms of total yards.
But strictly as a runner, not many players have been better than Mack the last two season. A few of the league's elite tailbacks; that's it.
Maybe that will be a problem in contract discussions. Indianapolis won't want to give Mack an Elliott-type contract, and he's not going to put the offense on his back like soon-to-be-wealthy Derrick Henry. But the Colts are going to have to give him a sizable contract to keep him around.
--Andy Richardson