I like the potential of C.J. Spiller and Justin Forsett this year. Not so much as runners, but as pass catchers. They might both catch 70-plus passes.
It’s not so much about the players as the coaches who will utilize them. The Saints have Sean Payton orchestrating that offense. The Ravens just hired Marc Trestman to be their offensive coordinator. And those guys know how to use running backs on dumpoff passes.
Of the top 20 pass-catching running backs of the last five years, seven of them played for one of these coaches. (That’s even more impressive when you factor in that Trestman has only been in the NFL for the last two years – he was coaching up in Canada.)
Spiller + Forsett = PPR goodness
OVER 500 RECEIVING YARDS | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Player | No | Yards | Avg | TD |
2014 | LeVeon Bell, Pitt. | 83 | 854 | 10.3 | 3 |
2014 | Matt Forte, Chi. | 102 | 808 | 7.9 | 4 |
2011 | Darren Sproles, N.O. | 86 | 710 | 8.3 | 7 |
2011 | Ray Rice, Balt. | 76 | 704 | 9.3 | 3 |
2013 | Jamaal Charles, K.C. | 70 | 693 | 9.9 | 7 |
2012 | Darren Sproles, N.O. | 75 | 667 | 8.9 | 7 |
2011 | Arian Foster, Hou. | 53 | 617 | 11.6 | 2 |
2013 | Danny Woodhead, N.E. | 76 | 605 | 8.0 | 6 |
2010 | Arian Foster, Hou. | 66 | 604 | 9.2 | 2 |
2013 | Darren Sproles, N.O. | 71 | 604 | 8.5 | 2 |
2013 | Matt Forte, Chi. | 74 | 594 | 8.0 | 3 |
2010 | LeSean McCoy, Phil. | 78 | 592 | 7.6 | 2 |
2010 | Ray Rice, Balt. | 63 | 556 | 8.8 | 1 |
2013 | Knowshon Moreno, Den. | 60 | 548 | 9.1 | 3 |
2010 | Matt Forte, Chi. | 51 | 547 | 10.7 | 3 |
2013 | Joique Bell, Det. | 53 | 547 | 10.3 | 0 |
2013 | LeSean McCoy, Phil. | 52 | 539 | 10.4 | 2 |
2010 | Darren Sproles, N.O. | 59 | 520 | 8.8 | 2 |
2013 | Giovani Bernard, Cin. | 56 | 514 | 9.2 | 3 |
2013 | Pierre Thomas, N.O. | 77 | 513 | 6.7 | 3 |
2013 | Reggie Bush, Det. | 54 | 506 | 9.4 | 3 |
2014 | Fred Jackson, Buff. | 66 | 501 | 7.6 | 1 |
—Ian Allan