Peter King inspired this post. Peter the Hutt did the whole "Reggie Bush is the Second Coming of Jesus" thing in his meandering ramblings. This is what killed me, he said:
I call bullshit. Let's look at the rookie class of Running Backs (1st rounders) and see who's really making the difference.
Joseph Addai:
Ground: 59 attempts, 269 yards, 4.6 ypc, 1 td, 16 first downs
Air: 13 receptions, 87 yes, 6.7 ypc, 1 td, 6 pass 1st downs
Addai is doing his part, he's not the starter, but he's showing that he can grind it out. The Colt's live and die based on their offense holding the ball for as long as possible, so his 17 first downs are probably his most important statistic.
Reggie Bush:
Ground:54 attempts, 170 yds, 3.1 ypc, 0td's, 7 first downs, 34 receptions
Air: 250 yards, 7.4 ypc, 12 1st downs
Special Teams 1 punt return TD, 12 returns, 132 ret yds, 11.0 average, 1 40+
Maybe it's the decoy factor, but his numbers just don't show what the pundits are telling us. Sure, that punt return was special, but he diddn't do a whole lot, it was the whole special teams blocking for him that made that work. He's not really much of a running back as of yet, but when he does he's not moving the ball terribly far. It's Deuce's show for the time being.
Maurice Jones Drew:
Ground: 33 attempts, 177 yds, 5.4 ypc, 2 td, 10 first downs
Air: 9 receptions, 91 yards, 10.1 ypc, 2 td's, 4 first downs
Special Teams: 10 Returns, 253 yds, 25.3 average, 2 40+
Yeah, he's the best of em all. Game changing speed, 4 touchdowns, biggest yards per carry of the bunch, most TD's, bigger return average than Reggie Bush (and without a huge 65 yard outlier to schew the data) For Jacksonville he's a game breaker. Fred can pound a bit, but MJD is on the field every third down and converts the tough yards. He's the rookie of the year, he blows Reggie Bush out of the water.
Laurence Maroney
Ground: 78 attempts, 332 yards, 4.3 avg, 3 td, 16 first downs
Air: 6 receptions, 76 yards, 12.7 ypc, 4 first downs
Special Teams: 10 returns, 235 yards, 23.5 avg
I don't follow the Pats too closely, but I like Maroney, I think he's gonna segue nicely into the post-Dillon era. I like his shiftiness. But he's no Jones-Drew in total team impact.
DeAngelo Williams:
Ground: 26 attempts, 139 yards, 5.3 ypc, 1 td, 7 first downs
Air: 7 receptions, 41 yards, 5.9 ypc, 1 first down
Special Teams: 14 returns, 302 yards, 12.6 avg
Not much of a factor here, he's still getting integrated into the Carolina offense.
Anyhow, my point is that Jones-Drew is a serious player, and he deserves the attention and accolades that Reggie Bush is getting. MJD is doing what everyone said Reggie would do, but hasn't. Not to say that Reggie's not talented, but if we're talking about production, it's the Jones-Drew all the way.