Trent Richardson. Remember this guy….
Yeah..now he’s this guy….. 3.3 yards per carry guy.
Trent Richardson can’t be as bad as everyone says he is. Here are my thoughts.
1. Alabama has had a stable of running backs over the past seven years — Mark Ingram, Trent Richardson, Eddie Lacy, T.J. Yeldon and Derrick Henry with probably more to come. Ingram and Richardson were first round picks in 2011 and 2012, and Lacy was a second round pick in 2013. Between the three that have been drafted, everyone expected Richardson to be the best. They, including myself, have been wrong thus far. Richardson has been the worst of the Bama trio of backs in the NFL with Lacy actually being the big dog.
According to Pro Football Focus, Lacy was the 8th best back in 2014, Ingram was 13th and Richardson was 41st.
2. Richardson did lead the Colts in rushing this season with 519 yards, but Ahmad Bradshaw and Boom Herron performed better.
Ahmad Bradshaw
Boom Herron
The numbers don’t lie, Bradshaw and Herron were getting more yards per carry than Richardson, who had far more rushing attempts than either of his backups.
3. Trent was inactive this past weekend also. A first round draft pick and someone that the Colts traded for a year ago…inactive. The team did not play him and did not plan to play him going into the game. And Richardson was perfectly healthy. Colts head coach, Chuck Pagano explained Richardson’s benching,
“Michael Hill was a special teams player and Trent — it’s not any knock on Trent — but Trent’s never been asked to be a special teams player,” Pagano said Monday, via The Indianapolis Star. “He was doing everything for a period of time to try to get himself ready. But Michael was more ready to go out and be the third back and contribute on special teams.”
Chris Wesseling of NFL.com points this interesting fact out,
“That makes sense. But it doesn’t address Richardson losing the No. 2 job to Zurlon Tipton, a hybrid back with 10 career rushing attempts entering the postseason.”
4. The talk around sports talk radio is that the Colts have the worst offensive line in the league and that Andrew Luck is the savior of the NFL. So….bad offensive line means bad run game right? Well then how do you explain Bradshaw and Herron having better success running the ball than Richardson? Also, the Colts’ line isn’t that bad. According to Pro Football Focus, their line is ranked 15th in run blocking and 7th in pass protection.
5. What happened? Really? Richardson averaged 5.2, 6.2 and 5.9 yards per carry in his three seasons at Alabama. I guess it’s because college football is easier than the NFL and Bama probably had the best offensive line in college football while he was there.
6. Richardson has the talent and it’s obvious. Lacy has done well in the league, but Mark Ingram struggled his first few years in a pass heavy offense. Hell, Ingram didn’t break the four yards per carry mark until his third year in the league. Maybe Richardson is a slow learner, for his sake I hope so. Richardson could also have just gotten comfortable. Motivation and want to is the key to succeeding in the NFL as a running back when you have all the physical tools as Richardson does. For some, it’s hard to be motivated once you’re making millions of dollars, and the game finally becomes a real job. If Richardson’s not a slow learner, then he’s a bust and it’s more than likely his fault.