We can't keep doing this all year...

[*ochocincos*]

(09-29-2021, 05:56 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: We signed Larry Johnson off the street in 2009 and he got carries right away.

If these guys have been around this long and still haven't earned enough trust to get 5-6 carries, then we should look elsewhere. Now. This is kinda important, IMO.

Tbh, I think the Bengals operating this way for so long has convinced a lot of people that backup RBs should be afterthoughts. But if you look around the league, most teams feed their backups a little more than we typically do.


We're at 25 attempts/game, which is about what Baltimore averaged last year
. That said, I agree we'll need to open it up *some*. I personally hope we don't swing too far in the opposite direction.

We don't need to be throwing 40 times like last year. That's a proven formula for losing, especially in this division.

Right now, we're around a 55/45 split favoring passing. Even if we move to 60/40 or a pinch higher, I think we still need more out of our backups, or Mixon is going to end up hurt.

I think he's proven how important he (and just running in general) is to winning.

Baltimore was able to pass so little because their run game was so elite (as was the defense).
And the reason their run game was so elite was because they had an elite running QB.

BAL was last in passing attempts and passing yards last season, but still ended up 7th in Points For and 19th in Total Yards.
They averaged nearly 35 rushing attempts per game, but it was a definite committee with the following distribution:
- Jackson = 159 carries
- Edwards = 144 carries
- Dobbins = 134 carries
- Ingram = 72 carries

If the Bengals want to avoid running Mixon into the ground, they need to get Perine and Evans more touches, but also probably get a 4th RB on the roster since we don't want Burrow running a lot. Get rid of Morgan, Irwin, or even Thomas in favor of a 4th RB.
If the team didn't want to give Trayveon Williams a shot (personally I'd like to see him), there are plenty of vet RBs who could be brought in for cheap to help lighten the load on Mixon.
EDIT - Maybe Todd Gurley, who Taylor should be very familiar with? We know Gurley can also catch passes, but we also know between time at UGA and with the Rams, he has a lot of mileage. With that said, he's still only 27 years old and could contribute in a backup/shared role.