7 Backup Running Backs Who Might Be Better Than the Starter

Lance Dunbar, Dallas Cowboys

Joseph Randle looks to be in a prime position in 2015 now that DeMarco Murray is out of town.

Last year, Randle secured a 5.44 Rushing NEP on 51 carries, good for 0.11 per rush. Among the 35 running backs to see between 25 and 75 carries, that per-carry mark ranked fifth. Lance Dunbar owned an abysmal -5.47 Rushing NEP on 28 carries. His per-carry mark of -0.20 ranked 29th in that group.

So what's the comparison? Well, the first thing that sticks out is that Randle's Success Rate of 35.29% ranked 27th in the group. (Murray's was 46.68% last year.) A low Success Rate coupled with a high Rushing NEP indicates that the NEP mark was likely skewed by big plays.

Randle accounted for just three carries longer than 20 yards, which tied ranked for 33rd with a slew of players -- including Jay Cutler. However, those three carries were for 38, 40, and 65 yards -- or 42% of his rushing yards from last year (343). His impressive yards per carry clip of 6.7 drops to 4.2 without those three plays.

Yes, Randle made those plays, but nothing indicates that they are able to be replicated, and his Success Rate suggests he might not be an every-down rusher, especially considering how much lower it was than Murray's even with the smaller workload.