David Johnson had 373 touches last year, and with a heavily used back like that, injuries are always a concern. Johnson ended up hurting his knee, recall, in their final game last year. But how big of an injury risk are these kind of players?

We can poke around with some of the numbers – running backs who’ve been in similar situations.

Ends up 373 actually isn’t quite as many touches as you might think. Barely gets him into the top 50 for touches by a running back in this century. And a lot of Johnson’s handles where in the passing game, rather than slamming between the tackles. But let’s take a look.

Since 2000, 85 running backs have handled the ball at least 360 times in a season. (Actually, 87, but Ricky Williams and Tiki Barber chose not to play the next year, so I’m leaving them out).

Of those 85, 29 (about a third) didn’t have 300 touches the next year. That’s a pretty big dropoff. Painting with a broad brush, these guys didn’t tend to justify where they were selected in fantasy leagues. I’ve got them tagged with black dots.

On the other hand, 38 of the players (just short of half) came back the next year and again had 350-plus touches. There were able to hold up pretty well physically. I’ve got them in bold.

The remaining 18 backs finished with 300-349 touches. Call them the purgatory backs – not as heavily used but not necessarily disappointments either.

Most recently, the trend has been for running backs to miss. Of the last 10 who’ve had 360-plus touches, 70 percent have had a big dropoff the next year. Only one came back the next year and again had a big workload (Matt Forte in 2014).

But looking back at the previous years, the track record for these kind of backs has been pretty solid.

If you don’t want David Johnson on your team, I’ll be happy to stick him on mine.

On the chart below, you’re looking not at the player’s big year, but how he did the following season. The age is as of September 1 in said season.

RUNNING BACKS WITH 360 TOUCHES (THE NEXT YEAR)
YearRunning backAgeRecRunTotalTD
2001Curtis Martin, NYJ283201,5131,83310
2001Stephen Davis, Wash.272051,4321,6375
2001Eddie George, Tenn.272799391,2185
2001• Jerome Bettis, Pitt.29481,0721,1204
2001• Edgerrin James, Ind.231936628553
2001• James Stewart, Det.292426859272
2002LaDainian Tomlinson, S.D.234891,6832,17215
2002Ricky Williams, Mia.253631,8532,21617
2002Priest Holmes, K.C.286721,6152,28724
2002Eddie George, Tenn.282551,1651,42014
2002Corey Dillon, Cin.272981,3111,6097
2002Shaun Alexander, Sea.254601,1751,63518
2002Ahman Green, G.B.253931,2401,6339
2002Curtis Martin, NYJ293621,0941,4567
2002• Stephen Davis, Wash.281428209628
2003Ricky Williams, Mia.263511,3721,72310
2003Deuce McAllister, N.O.245161,6412,1578
2003LaDainian Tomlinson, S.D.247251,6452,37017
2003Jamal Lewis, Balt.242052,0662,27114
2003Priest Holmes, K.C.296901,4202,11027
2003Shaun Alexander, Sea.262951,4351,73016
2003Travis Henry, Buff.231581,3561,51411
2003Tiki Barber, NYG284611,2161,6773
2003Eddie George, Tenn.291631,0311,1945
2003• Corey Dillon, Cin.28715416122
2004Curtis Martin, NYJ312451,6971,94214
2004LaDainian Tomlinson, S.D.254411,3351,77618
2004Edgerrin James, Ind.264831,5482,0319
2004Shaun Alexander, Sea.271701,6961,86620
2004Deuce McAllister, N.O.252281,0741,3029
2004• Ahman Green, G.B.272751,1631,4388
2004• Fred Taylor, Jac.283451,2241,5693
2004• Jamal Lewis, Balt.251161,0061,1227
2004• Priest Holmes, K.C.301878921,07915
2004• Travis Henry, Buff.24453263710
2005Tiki Barber, NYG305301,8602,39011
2005Edgerrin James, Ind.273371,5061,84314
2005LaDainian Tomlinson, S.D.263701,4621,83220
2005Shaun Alexander, Sea.28781,8801,95828
2005Clinton Portis, Wash.232161,5161,73211
2005Rudi Johnson, Cin.25901,4581,54812
2005• Domanick Davis, Hou.243379761,3136
2005• Curtis Martin, NYJ321187358535
2005• Corey Dillon, N.E.3018173391413
2006Larry Johnson, K.C.264101,7892,19919
2006LaDainian Tomlinson, S.D.275081,8152,32331
2006Tiki Barber, NYG314651,6622,1275
2006Edgerrin James, Ariz.282171,1591,3766
2006Rudi Johnson, Cin.261241,3091,43312
2006• Willis McGahee, Buff.241569901,1466
2006• Shaun Alexander, Sea.29488969447
2006• Clinton Portis, Wash.241705236937
2007LaDainian Tomlinson, S.D.284751,4741,94918
2007Edgerrin James, Ariz.292041,2221,4267
2007Willie Parker, Pitt.261641,3161,4802
2007Frank Gore, S.F.244361,1021,5386
2007• Steven Jackson, St.L.242711,0021,2736
2007• Larry Johnson, K.C.271865597454
2007• Rudi Johnson, Cin.271104976074
2008Clinton Portis, Wash.262181,4871,7059
2008LaDainian Tomlinson, S.D.294261,1101,53612
2008• Brian Westbrook, Phil.284029361,33814
2009Adrian Peterson, Minn.244361,3831,81918
2009Matt Forte, Chi.234719291,4004
2009• Michael Turner, Atl.273587190610
2009• Clinton Portis, Wash.27574945512
2010Steven Jackson, St.L.273831,2411,6246
2010Chris Johnson, Tenn.242451,3641,60912
2010Maurice Jones-Drew, Jac.253171,3241,6417
2010Adrian Peterson, Minn.253411,2981,63913
2011Ray Rice, Balt.247041,3642,06815
2011Arian Foster, Hou.256171,2241,84112
2011Chris Johnson, Tenn.254181,0471,4654
2011Steven Jackson, St.L.283331,1451,4786
2012Ray Rice, Balt.254781,1431,62110
2012• Maurice Jones-Drew, Jac.27864145002
2013Adrian Peterson, Minn.281711,2661,43711
2013• Arian Foster, Hou.271835427252
2013• Doug Martin, T.B.24664565221
2014Matt Forte, Chi.288081,0381,84610
2014LeSean McCoy, Phil.261551,3191,4745
2015• Matt Forte, Chi.293898981,2877
2015• DeMarco Murray, Phil.273227021,0247
2015• LeVeon Bell, Pitt.231365566923
2016• Adrian Peterson, Minn.31872800