What do we make of Joseph Randle? He’s got the opportunity to maybe be something special for the Cowboys. They’ve got an opening at running back, and he was very effective last year (albeit with limited carries).

Randle averaged 6.7 yards per carry last year, but he had only 51 attempts. Is he ready to step up for the Cowboys. He’s filled out some, and he had some nice runs for them last year. They’ve got the great offensive line.

But normally, when you try to latch onto a small sample set, it doesn’t end well.

In the last 20 years, 45 other running backs have averaged over 5 yards per carry while carrying the ball 50-80 times. Of that group, only four the following season ran for over 700 yards. Only two made it over 900 yards (Jamaal Charles, and my old favorite Tatum Bell).

LIGHTLY USED RUNNING BACKS AVERAGING OVER 5 YARDS PER CARRY
YearPlayerEnteringAttYardsAvgTD
1996Kimble Anders58-398-6.9542013.72
1996Amp Lee69-371-5.4511613.20
1997Charlie Garner66-346-5.21165474.73
1997Joe Aska62-326-5.31210.80
1998Kimble Anders79-397-5.0582304.01
1998Steve Broussard70-418-6.054.81
1998Byron Hanspard53-335-6.300.00
2000Michael Basnight62-308-5.000.00
2002Trung Canidate78-441-5.717482.80
2002Skip Hicks56-341-6.100.00
2003Kevin Faulk52-271-5.21786383.60
2003Dorsey Levens75-411-5.5681972.93
2004Lee Suggs56-289-5.21997443.72
2004Najeh Davenport77-420-5.5713595.12
2005Tatum Bell75-396-5.31739215.38
2005Mewelde Moore65-379-5.81556624.31
2005Shawn Bryson50-264-5.3643064.81
2005Najeh Davenport71-359-5.1301053.52
2005Jesse Chatman65-392-6.000.00
2006Ron Dayne53-270-5.11516124.15
2006Michael Turner57-335-5.9805026.32
2006Michael Pittman70-436-6.2502454.91
2006Maurice Hicks59-308-5.229822.80
2006Ryan Moats55-278-5.122693.10
2006Adrian Peterson (Chi.)76-391-5.110414.12
2008Fred Jackson58-300-5.21305714.43
2008Leon Washington71-353-5.0764485.96
2008Correll Buckhalter62-313-5.0763694.92
2008T.J. Duckett65-335-5.2621722.88
2009Jamaal Charles67-357-5.31901,1205.97
2009Ahmad Bradshaw67-355-5.31637784.87
2009Darren Sproles61-330-5.4933433.73
2009Leon Washington76-448-5.9723314.60
2009Peyton Hillis68-343-5.013544.21
2009Selvin Young61-303-5.000.00
2010Tashard Choice64-349-5.5662433.73
2010Reggie Bush70-390-5.6361504.20
2010Kevin Faulk62-335-5.48455.60
2011Darren Sproles50-267-5.3876036.92
2011Derrick Ward50-315-6.3451543.42
2012Evan Royster56-328-5.923883.82
2013Andre Brown73-385-5.31394923.53
2013Kendall Hunter72-371-5.2783584.63
2013David Wilson71-358-5.0441463.31
2013Justin Forsett63-374-5.96315.20
2015Darren Sproles57-329-5.8????
2015Juwan Thompson54-272-5.0????
2015Joseph Randle51-343-6.7????

—Ian Allan