Many an NFL running back has fallen off the proverbial cliff at the end of his 20s. If LeSean McCoy’s age-28 season was any indication, the veteran Buffalo Bills running back still has plenty of room remaining before he finds his end.
At 28, the star running back enjoyed a fantastic season, logging 1,267 yards on 234 carries, good for 5.4 yards per rush. He also managed to find the end zone 13 times, his highest total since his league-leading 17 touchdown effort with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2011. McCoy also caught 50 passes on the season, the first time he had done that since 2013 with the Eagles.
Perhaps most impressive was McCoy’s elusiveness. Never known as a power back, Shady’s biggest asset has always been his ability to make defenders miss. According to Pro Football Focus, he do so last season with great frequency. Among running backs, only David Johnson of the Arizona Cardinals and Jay Ajayi of the Miami Dolphins forced more missed tackles. Johnson led the league with 71 missed tackles forced. Ajayi was second 63, and McCoy was just behind at 61.
Cardinals RB David Johnson wrecked havoc on defenses in 2016 - forcing the most missed tackles of any RB on runs and receptions combined. pic.twitter.com/xoXkLt2ZrS
— Pro Football Focus (@PFF) June 2, 2017
On a per-touch basis, that means that Johnson forced a missed tackle every 5.25 touches. McCoy actually forced more missed tackles on a per-touch basis than Johnson did, as his touch-per-missed-tackle-forced rate was 4.65. Ajayi narrowly outpaced McCoy in this department with a touch-per-missed-tackle-forced rate of 4.55.
Hopefully, McCoy can make Father Time miss him for at least one more season.