NFL.com: Arizona has 27th-best running back group in the league
Jun 18, 2015, 11:18 AM | Updated: 11:19 am
How intimidating do Andre Ellington, David Johnson, Stepfan Taylor, Kerwynn Williams and Marion Grice sound?
Not that intimidating, according to NFL.com’s Marc Sessler.
In Sessler’s list of the top running back groups in the NFL, he ranked the Arizona Cardinals as No. 27 out of the league’s 32 teams.
The mark is last in the NFC West, and second-worst in the NFC.
The Cardinals were one of the few teams he had no explanation for in the rankings, but the numbers speak for themselves.
Arizona ranked No. 31 out of 32 teams last season in rushing yards, coming in just ahead of Oakland Raiders, but finished dead last in the league with 3.3 yards per carry. The Cardinals had just six runs of 20 yards or more, with none of 40 yards or more.
Ellington led Arizona in rushing in 2014, rushing for 660 yards on 201 carries with three touchdowns in 12 games before sustaining a season-ending hip injury against the Atlanta Falcons.
Johnson is the Cardinals’ third-round selection in the 2015 NFL Draft out of Northern Iowa.
Stepfan Taylor ran for 208 yards on 63 carries in 2014, scoring just once in 14 games (four starts).
Kerwynn Williams was thrust into action by injuries in 2014, rushing for 246 yards on 53 carries in five games. He ran for 23 yards on 10 carries in Arizona’s playoff loss to the Carolina Panthers last season.
Marion Grice is an ASU alum who carried the ball just 15 times last season for 41 yards and a touchdown. He also scored Arizona’s second touchdown in their first-round loss to the Panthers.
Arizona is met with stiff competition in the NFC West from Seattle (No. 2), San Francisco (No. 17) and St. Louis (No. 19).
