Black and Teal
FanSided

T.J. Yeldon, Melvin Gordon, & Tevin Coleman leading rookie backs

By Luke Sims

facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 4
Next

Sep 14, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Falcons running back Tevin Coleman (26) stiff arms Philadelphia Eagles nose tackle Bennie Logan (96) in the first quarter at the Georgia Dome. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Tevin Coleman, running back, Atlanta Falcons

I like Tevin Coleman a lot and make no secret of it. I think he will do a great job in the NFL and think his “angry running” approach is admirable.

Coleman came away from Week 1 as the top rookie running back with 80 yards rushing on 20 carries (4.0 yards per carry). His 80 yards to start the season puts him at seventh in the league.

Ripping off a big 20-yarder helped Coleman out a lot, as did shaking off two defenders through the game.

Unfortunately for Coleman, he did not finish the game with a single catch and was only targeted once. Whether this is because the Falcons don’t quite trust him as a receiving threat or simply the way the game shook out isn’t really clear right now.

Still, Coleman is definitely making his case primarily as a runner.

When looking at the responses across the league, what is surprising is how poorly Pro Football Focus graded his efforts. Coleman was not just the lowest graded player on this list (-1.0), he was near the bottom of all running backs (43rd of 51 with at least 25% of snaps).

I think we’ll see Tevin Coleman continue to put up strong efforts, though.

Whether it’s another strong effort in Week 2 remains to be seen. The New York Giants managed to make the Dallas Cowboys look silly running the ball, limiting the vaunted rushing attack (mostly the offensive line) to just 80 yards. Coleman will definitely have his work cut out for him in this upcoming game.

Next: T.J. Yeldon is the answer for the Jaguars' offensive woes

More from Black and Teal

Home/Jacksonville Jaguars News