- Washington Redskins head coach Jay Gruden said the team has to be “careful” with running back Chris Thompson, according to ESPN’s John Keim. With incumbent running back Rob Kelley battling a rib injury, Gruden said team will try to expand Thompson’s role “a little bit” but they “won’t get too crazy with him.”
- Thompson has arguably been the biggest threat out of the Redskins’ backfield this season. After two games, he has racked up 162 yards and three touchdowns on 13 total touches and he currently leads all Redskins running backs with a PFF overall grade of 60.3.
- However, Thompson’s primary role for the team is as a receiving back, a role in which he has flourished over the last few seasons. In 2015, Thompson’s average of 1.40 yards per route run ranked 27th out of 57 qualifying running backs, and in in 2016 his average of 1.13 ranked 30th out of 43.
- If the Redskins do decide to increase Thompson’s load in the run game, his 2016 performance proved that he’s up to the task. Among the 71 backs with at least 40 touches in 2016, Thompson ranked ninth with an average of 3.13 yards after contact per carry and seventh with an elusive rating (the PFF metric that measures a runner’s success beyond the point of being helped by his blockers) of 61.6.
© 2024 PFF - all rights reserved.