CASS101 said:
Holy Schneikes said:
CASS101 said:
FUN FACT:
In games where Reggie Bush has carried the ball 15 times or more he has averaged 4.2 ypc.
Do that same calculation for all of the other backs in the league. See what kind of numbers you get.
Now why would I need to do that?
Because you would likely find that when you cherry pick good games (like games where things were going well and a back got a lot of carries), MOST GUY's stats go up.It's very much like when every year somebody says "When Joe Blow back gets X carries, the team always wins." No, it's more likely that when the team is winning, they are much more likely to run the ball.
Look at DeShaun Foster, that stud. It's easier to look at the inverse (but gives the same insight), so I'll do that. In the 5 games he had less than 15 carries he was sitting at 2.68 YPC. What happens when we remove those games? POOF, he's a magically respectable runner!
Shaun Alexander, who had a terrible season was even worse when he got less than 15 carries (3.25). Take those away, PRESTO - slightly less over the hill!
Rudi Johnson in games where had less than 15 carries last year? 2.24 YPC. Ouch. If only the coaches could have eliminated those games from their memories, he may not have been canned this year!
Ahman Green, had 3.13 in low carry games and 4.0 in high carry games.
Those kind of results are fairly (not perfectly, but fairly) consistent. You take a bad runner (or a guy who had a bad season), you throw out all of the games that weren't going well, and he looks better. And it isn't even that hard to figure out. You take a ball carrier who is consistently putting his team in a hole in the first quarter, and bingo, he tends not to get a lot of carries in that game. Why? Well, the coaches don't like to start at 2nd and 10 for one thing (go figure), and eventually that team NEEDS to pass because they get behind (because the offense isn't moving).