Blount Is NFL’s Most Elusive RB — By A Mile
March 24th, 2011
Joe can’t recall how many times he had a temper tantrum last season when the Bucs didn’t give LeGarrette Blount the rock consistently.
The man single-handedly turned the then dreadful Bucs running game into arguably a top-5 unit in the NFL, helped make the offensive line look better than it was and, arguably, pushed Cadillac Williams into a role that likely saved his career. But for Joe’s taste, the Bucs got away from Blount far too often.
Now, the data obsessed number crunchers at ProFootballFocus.com have declared Blount the most elusive running back in the NFL — by a mile.
The Elusive Rating itself
But that’s enough of the raw numbers. On to the magic formula. The Elusive Rating formula begins by combining carries and receptions to give a ‘ball-handling opportunities’ figure. We then combine forced missed tackles in both the run and pass game to find a total number for forced missed tackles, which is then divided by the ball-handling opportunities. This number is then multiplied by a player’s yards per carry after first contact figure (x100) to get our final number. Confused yet?
The magic formula: (MTrush+MTrec)/(Rec+Att)*(YCo/Att*100)
Last season, Seattle’s Justin Forsett set the benchmark in our first Elusive Rating study. Forsett’s ER of 70.19 narrowly edged Jonathan Stewart for the best rating of that season. As you might have gathered from some of the numbers we have already discussed, this season’s competition wasn’t as close. Posting a fairly ridiculous ER of 89.8 was Tampa Bay’s LaGarrette Blount.
There are a few things that need to be said about that. Firstly, Blount was a rookie! Secondly, his ER was more than 30 points in front of the next best mark (Fred Jackson’s 58.5,) and thirdly, Blount went undrafted just months before.
Joe’s not a stats geek, but some of the stuff from ProFootballFocus.com is intriguing. Sure, Joe heard the voices of those who say Blount fumbles too much. Frankly, Joe doesn’t buy that, and Blount should improve in that area with experience regardless.
Just give the guy the damn ball until a team shows it can stop him.
March 24th, 2011 at 11:31 am
Kinda awesome when you’ve got the dual threat of either Freeman goin’ in the air or Blount bulldozin’ on the ground, eh?
March 24th, 2011 at 12:05 pm
I truly hope he doesn’t suffer a sophomore slump…He was as much (or more) fun to watch as any Buc back, ever.
March 24th, 2011 at 12:11 pm
What a move by Dom to grab this guy!
March 24th, 2011 at 12:27 pm
“Joe can’t recall how many times he had a temper tantrum last season…”
We know.
🙂
March 24th, 2011 at 12:30 pm
Blount Compilation 2010 (warning, the musis is NSW)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPLdu1il0KI&feature=related
(Joe, my apologies if I violated any rules by posting this link)
March 24th, 2011 at 12:34 pm
What I’m afraid is that the Bucs will rest on their OL laurels and not address the position this summer.
It seems pretty obvious to me that we could have a GREAT offensive if we could just improve the OL so that Blount isn’t constantly getting hit at or near the line of scrimmage.
March 24th, 2011 at 12:41 pm
But Joe, in regards to Blount, you were 100% right to be PO’d that they brough him along so slow.
In fact, if it weren’t for Blount’s ridiculous game breaking runs, then the coaching staff most likely wouldn’t have even noticed among all their gibbering rhetoric.
I miss the Dungy style of coaching that always, always focused on the nuts and bolts, meat and potatoes ie the fundamentals of the game. Dungy would fix problems during the week of practice ensuring that the players were properly executing their fundamental roles of tackling and defensive fits et al… Dungy ensured his teams were ready to play through practice not by relying on game day speeches that allegedly motivate the players through useless rhetoric. Rah seems too much like a rah rah guy to even realize that problems get fixed in practice, not through “motivational” speeches.
Look at Rah’s poor, poor game planning in the first half of every game last season. Somehow, by the grace of God, Freeman and Blount were able to pull it off in the second halves of those games… despite Rah’s unprepared defenses.
March 24th, 2011 at 1:41 pm
And thanks to Rah’s second half defensive adjustments 😉
March 24th, 2011 at 2:16 pm
Hilarious how idiots who know nothing about football can sit there and be keyboard gangsters critizing the coaching aptitude of ACTUAL NFL head coaches!
How the hell do you know Rah doesn’t understand the game and game planning? How do you know his adjustments in the 2nd half weren’t related to our lack of talent?
Simple logic tells you that if the man can adjust on the fly in a 10 minute halftime period he knows what he is doing. I suspect he creates a game plan on how things should go, but then is forced to react when players dont execute.
March 24th, 2011 at 3:04 pm
Pff is an awesome website. The article Joe links shows that Blount and Cadillac were both in the top 10 in the percentage of their yards gained after first contact. Doesn’t say good things about our run blocking.
March 24th, 2011 at 3:18 pm
Joe here,
@CharlieB – That specific stat to Joe doesn’t mean a lot when assessing the backs. Doesn’t take into account where the guy was hit on the field and why. As a whole, Joe liked the overall rating system.
March 24th, 2011 at 3:52 pm
Gary…..keyboard gangster….that’s pretty funny.
March 24th, 2011 at 4:24 pm
@WeNeedDefense
It’s a new league. What I mean by that is that the league is changing the rules to make flashy happen more often. Raheem and company did a great job last year.
But the true question is, “Can they do it again?”
If they do, it will prove they are the real thing.
March 24th, 2011 at 4:25 pm
Nobody knows game planning for an NFL game like a guy named WeNeedDefense. If only our owners and GM were smart enough to listen to you, we would be a SB contender every year.
March 24th, 2011 at 4:30 pm
@Gary
Very good point. Dungy was notorious for NOT adjusting in halftime. I remember those frustrations. Dungy went into games with a plan set in stone, and he would win or lose by it at the time.
March 24th, 2011 at 4:36 pm
further evidence we need 2 go OL next month
March 24th, 2011 at 5:05 pm
Joe,
Position of the first hit is strongly correlated to blocking scheme. While I agree that the stat isn’t the best indication of a running back, I think its telling that both of our running backs had to get 75% of their yardage after being contacted by a defender. I’m just glad we are getting away from zone blocking with ill suited personnel.
March 24th, 2011 at 5:30 pm
You think Blount was impressive last year? Wait until you see him this year now that he actually knows the offense. Plus I think many will be surprised to find out Blount is a threat catching passes out of the backfield too. We have our own Steven Jackson!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TClRXTk4Yio
March 24th, 2011 at 6:24 pm
@JDouble: Great video and I love the music. I’ve been listening to oldschool all day, can’t wait for the lunch tomorrow
March 24th, 2011 at 6:35 pm
He reminds me of Mike Alstott but better.
March 24th, 2011 at 6:52 pm
Blount is awesome! I’m so glad Dominick got him before the season started. If not for Blount, we would not have won more than 7 games probably. Don’t get me wrong, Freeman had a spectacular season as well, but for the first 4 or 5 games of the season he had no help from the running game. He and the receivers were on their own. When Blount came along, our offense was taken to another level.
March 24th, 2011 at 6:58 pm
“If not for Blount, we would not have won more than 7 games…”
QFT
And maybe even less.
March 24th, 2011 at 8:20 pm
i see no reason why blount shouldnt be a consistent 1300 yard rusher for the next 4 or 5 years. they need to find a way to get him some passes in the flats so he can get to the second level without having to break two tackles before he gets there.
March 24th, 2011 at 8:24 pm
We need to have a season first!!
March 24th, 2011 at 9:00 pm
At the pace LeGarrette Blount is going, one of these days he’s going to be famous enough that even the stat geeks will learn how to spell LeGarrette properly.
March 24th, 2011 at 9:00 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rhua3VhTzWc
March 24th, 2011 at 11:40 pm
Agree Joe, I’m in favor of Blount pounding the ball more( except meybe short yardage. Hope he spents this off season with Caddy, learning the pass Blocking and recieving schemes.
And no , those stats are are not a good reflection on our line. They were worse last year!! But our stats improved late in the season. I think we have some talented youngsters who will solidify the line.