Fantasy Reaction: Mike Goodson Signs With New York Jets

Mike Goodson signing with the Jets certainly isn’t the sexiest pick-up over the first week of NFL free agency. Goodson is a talented running back going to a team that lost their starting running back and recorded the sixth-most running attempts last year. Bilal Powell is not the replacement for Shonn Greene; it is Mike Goodson.

Before focusing on Goodson, let’s take a look at Powell. Even though Greene averaged only 3.9 yards per carry, he never lost his starting role due to Powell only averaging 4.0 yards per carry on 110 carries. His elusive rating, which measures the ability of a runner past the help of blockers, measured at 22.6, good for 87th among running backs. Powell racked up only 1.79 yards after contact, which placed him 127th overall.

Powell’s statistics don’t stop there. He had a missed tackle for every 7.94 touches (ranked 61st) and 36.67 carries per run of 15 yards or more (ranked 79th). He also tallied 0.25 fantasy points per snap and 0.78 fantasy points per touch, 88th and 47th among running backs, respectively.

Enter Mike Goodson. Even though Goodson only carried the ball 35 times and caught the ball 16 times, his numbers were nothing short of elite. He averaged 6.3 yards per carry and caught all 16 targets. His elusive rating was 124.5 (ranked fifth) and he had 4.89 yards after contact (ranked second). Goodson also posted 2.60 yards per pass route, which was second among running backs with at least 15 targets.

Unlike Powell, Goodson had a missed tackle for every 3.92 touches (ranked seventh) and a 15-yard run or more for every 11.67 carries (ranked eighth). Goodson also racked up 0.44 fantasy points per snap (ranked 14th) and 1.25 fantasy points per touch (ranked eighth).

For a better idea of Mike Goodson’s ability, go check out Carolina’s game against Baltimore in 2010. Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams were out with injuries. Brian St. Pierre was the starting quarterback after being signed that week. Goodson accounted for 77 percent of the offensive touches and still posted 22 carries for 120 yards in addition to five catches for 31 yards.

Despite posting Chris Ivory-type numbers, Goodson is still flying under most radar. He has the ability, and now in New York, has the opportunity to help many fantasy football rosters for a very cheap price.