During Jason Garrett's tenure as head coach with the Dallas Cowboys, he relied heavily on the running game and gave running backs all the carries they desired.
It was effective.
In 2011, Demarco Murray and Felix Jones complimented each other well, and coaches divided their carries (164 – Murray and 127 – Jones).
Murray carried the ball 609 times during his last two seasons before joining the team I refuse to mention.
2016 was the birth of ‘Feed Me,' Ezekiel Elliott averaged 292 carries over four seasons while only playing ten games in 2017. Those days are now over.
Elliott is in New England, and Tony Pollard now prepares to lead this dynamic backfield.
With Head Coach Mike McCarthy calling plays and Offensive Coordinator Brian Schottenheimer assisting with game planning, I suspect the running game will look different from years past.
Deuce's sure hands will come in handy this season
Last year, Elliott ended the year with more touches than Tony Pollard. He tilted the scale in carries and ended up winning by a hair.
Tony will receive most of the carries this season, but Deuce Vaughn and Hunter Luepke will get their chance.
In Mike McCarthy's Green Bay tenure, running backs in his West Coast system needed to be able to catch the ball. The screen game played a large part in the offense in addition to the quarterback throwing to the check releases.
In 2011, specifically, which was the year after Green Bay won the Super Bowl, they went 15 – 1 under McCarthy. They had a balanced attack conducive to what Aaron Rodgers wanted to do.
The running backs, led by Ryan Grant and James Starks, split carries almost evenly. More importantly, they knew how to run routes.
For Grant, he hauled in 19 receptions on 24 targets, and Starks 29 receptions on 37 targets.
That's an additional 48 touches in 16 games.
It doesn't sound like much in a vacuum; throwing in the extra 15 receptions on 18 targets for James Kuhn makes for a very accurate quarterback.
That's almost an 80% clip to running backs for good math. More than likely, those are safer throws that allow the offense to move the chains without putting the ball in harm's way.
Is that something that will help Dak Prescott? You bet it will.
We can argue that Dallas' running backs are much more pass friendly than 2011 Green Bay group
I'm not going to tell you anything you don't already know. Tony Pollard is the former receiver turned full-time running back.
This comparison could be a stretch, but Roger Craig is written all over him. He's agile, and most importantly, he can catch the rock.
According to Pro Football Focus, Pollard lined up 24 snaps in the slot and 36 out wide.
Ideally, if McCarthy and Schottenheimer use TP20 right, 15 – 18 carries and six targets would make for a healthy day.
That's shy of 25 total touches to stay involved in the offense. But what about the rookies Luepke and Vaughn?
While Deuce Vaughn started as a feel-good story, it was never about that. His quick and shifty feet and his sure hands make him a fit.
Not to mention, his 117 receptions in three seasons make him a suitable candidate for this offense.
In the final preseason game against the Las Vegas Raiders, Hunter Luepke showed us he has decent enough hands to be a two-way player.
I'm not ready to write home about him yet, but Big Mike is comping him to Kuhn, so one has to wonder.
The New York Giants linebackers will have their hands full this Sunday night game in the Meadowlands.
New York traded with the Arizona Cardinals for Isaiah Simmons.
They're preparing to play an offense where the running backs will be equally effective in catching the ball as they are running with it.
They'll need all the help they can get.
