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 | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Player | Entering | Att | Yards | Avg | TD |
1996 | Kimble Anders | 58-398-6.9 | 54 | 201 | 3.7 | 2 |
1996 | Amp Lee | 69-371-5.4 | 51 | 161 | 3.2 | 0 |
1997 | Charlie Garner | 66-346-5.2 | 116 | 547 | 4.7 | 3 |
1997 | Joe Aska | 62-326-5.3 | 12 | 10 | .8 | 0 |
1998 | Kimble Anders | 79-397-5.0 | 58 | 230 | 4.0 | 1 |
1998 | Steve Broussard | 70-418-6.0 | 5 | 4 | .8 | 1 |
1998 | Byron Hanspard | 53-335-6.3 | 0 | 0 | .0 | 0 |
2000 | Michael Basnight | 62-308-5.0 | 0 | 0 | .0 | 0 |
2002 | Trung Canidate | 78-441-5.7 | 17 | 48 | 2.8 | 0 |
2002 | Skip Hicks | 56-341-6.1 | 0 | 0 | .0 | 0 |
2003 | Kevin Faulk | 52-271-5.2 | 178 | 638 | 3.6 | 0 |
2003 | Dorsey Levens | 75-411-5.5 | 68 | 197 | 2.9 | 3 |
2004 | Lee Suggs | 56-289-5.2 | 199 | 744 | 3.7 | 2 |
2004 | Najeh Davenport | 77-420-5.5 | 71 | 359 | 5.1 | 2 |
2005 | Tatum Bell | 75-396-5.3 | 173 | 921 | 5.3 | 8 |
2005 | Mewelde Moore | 65-379-5.8 | 155 | 662 | 4.3 | 1 |
2005 | Shawn Bryson | 50-264-5.3 | 64 | 306 | 4.8 | 1 |
2005 | Najeh Davenport | 71-359-5.1 | 30 | 105 | 3.5 | 2 |
2005 | Jesse Chatman | 65-392-6.0 | 0 | 0 | .0 | 0 |
2006 | Ron Dayne | 53-270-5.1 | 151 | 612 | 4.1 | 5 |
2006 | Michael Turner | 57-335-5.9 | 80 | 502 | 6.3 | 2 |
2006 | Michael Pittman | 70-436-6.2 | 50 | 245 | 4.9 | 1 |
2006 | Maurice Hicks | 59-308-5.2 | 29 | 82 | 2.8 | 0 |
2006 | Ryan Moats | 55-278-5.1 | 22 | 69 | 3.1 | 0 |
2006 | Adrian Peterson (Chi.) | 76-391-5.1 | 10 | 41 | 4.1 | 2 |
2008 | Fred Jackson | 58-300-5.2 | 130 | 571 | 4.4 | 3 |
2008 | Leon Washington | 71-353-5.0 | 76 | 448 | 5.9 | 6 |
2008 | Correll Buckhalter | 62-313-5.0 | 76 | 369 | 4.9 | 2 |
2008 | T.J. Duckett | 65-335-5.2 | 62 | 172 | 2.8 | 8 |
2009 | Jamaal Charles | 67-357-5.3 | 190 | 1,120 | 5.9 | 7 |
2009 | Ahmad Bradshaw | 67-355-5.3 | 163 | 778 | 4.8 | 7 |
2009 | Darren Sproles | 61-330-5.4 | 93 | 343 | 3.7 | 3 |
2009 | Leon Washington | 76-448-5.9 | 72 | 331 | 4.6 | 0 |
2009 | Peyton Hillis | 68-343-5.0 | 13 | 54 | 4.2 | 1 |
2009 | Selvin Young | 61-303-5.0 | 0 | 0 | .0 | 0 |
2010 | Tashard Choice | 64-349-5.5 | 66 | 243 | 3.7 | 3 |
2010 | Reggie Bush | 70-390-5.6 | 36 | 150 | 4.2 | 0 |
2010 | Kevin Faulk | 62-335-5.4 | 8 | 45 | 5.6 | 0 |
2011 | Darren Sproles | 50-267-5.3 | 87 | 603 | 6.9 | 2 |
2011 | Derrick Ward | 50-315-6.3 | 45 | 154 | 3.4 | 2 |
2012 | Evan Royster | 56-328-5.9 | 23 | 88 | 3.8 | 2 |
2013 | Andre Brown | 73-385-5.3 | 139 | 492 | 3.5 | 3 |
2013 | Kendall Hunter | 72-371-5.2 | 78 | 358 | 4.6 | 3 |
2013 | David Wilson | 71-358-5.0 | 44 | 146 | 3.3 | 1 |
2013 | Justin Forsett | 63-374-5.9 | 6 | 31 | 5.2 | 0 |
2015 | Darren Sproles | 57-329-5.8 | ? | ? | ? | ? |
2015 | Juwan Thompson | 54-272-5.0 | ? | ? | ? | ? |
2015 | Joseph Randle | 51-343-6.7 | ? | ? | ? | ? |
—Ian Allan