LeSean McCoy rated with the best

[Wally The Barber]

Many an NFL running back has fallen off the proverbial cliff at the end of his 20s. If LeSean McCoy’s age-28 season was any indication, the veteran Buffalo Bills running back still has plenty of room remaining before he finds his end.

At 28, the star running back enjoyed a fantastic season, logging 1,267 yards on 234 carries, good for 5.4 yards per rush. He also managed to find the end zone 13 times, his highest total since his league-leading 17 touchdown effort with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2011. McCoy also caught 50 passes on the season, the first time he had done that since 2013 with the Eagles.
Perhaps most impressive was McCoy’s elusiveness. Never known as a power back, Shady’s biggest asset has always been his ability to make defenders miss. According to Pro Football Focus, he do so last season with great frequency. Among running backs, only David Johnson of the Arizona Cardinals and Jay Ajayi of the Miami Dolphins forced more missed tackles. Johnson led the league with 71 missed tackles forced. Ajayi was second 63, and McCoy was just behind at 61.

On a per-touch basis, that means that Johnson forced a missed tackle every 5.25 touches. McCoy actually forced more missed tackles on a per-touch basis than Johnson did, as his touch-per-missed-tackle-forced rate was 4.65. Ajayi narrowly outpaced McCoy in this department with a touch-per-missed-tackle-forced rate of 4.55.


Hopefully, McCoy can make Father Time miss him for at least one more season.






http://www.buffalorumblings.com/2017/6/2/15730286/lesean-mccoy-forced-missed-tackles-2016-pff-jay-ajayi-david-johnson

[kishoph]

Re: LeSean McCoy rated with the best

There's that proverbial wall of 30 for RB's, not many backs have had success after hitting 30 years old. There have been many RB's with great seasons in their late 20's but have had production drop considerably in 1-2 years time. I hope the Bills can get 2 or more good years out of McCoy, but if it doesn't happen, I'm not gonna be surprised.

[YardRat]

Re: LeSean McCoy rated with the best

Yeah, hopefully he stays healthy again this season.

Going to be interesting to see how he performs in Dennison's offense, Shady isn't exactly a 'stick-it-and-go' kind of runner.

[cookie G]

Re: LeSean McCoy rated with the best

Jay Ajayi of the Miami Dolphins forced more missed tackles. Johnson led the league with 71 missed tackles forced. Ajayi was second 63, and McCoy was just behind at 61.

Of course, Ajayi forced 90% of those missed tackles in 2 games, so the numbers are a bit skewed.