Everyone, except the people that matter on the Cardinals’ coaching staff, seems to think that Andre Ellington isn’t capable of being a lead back in the NFL. That may or may not be trust, but I’ll tell you this. Whether Ellington succeeds or fails as the lead dog will be about his talent and not because of his size, the commonly mentioned reason as to why Ellington will fail. Before getting to Ellington and his size, here are the top-5 running backs in NFL history based upon total rushing yards, and while yes, I know it was a different era for most of those fellas, isn’t it instructive to learn that they wasn’t a huge physique amongst the quintet.
| ALL-TIME Top-5 | ||
| Player | Height | Weight |
| Emmitt Smith | 5'9" | 220 |
| Walter Payton | 5'10" | 200 |
| Barry Sanders | 5'8" | 200 |
| Curtis Martin | 5'11" | 210 |
| LaDainian Tomlinson | 5'10" | 210 |
By the way, Andre Ellington is listed at 5’9”, 199 lbs. Is that appreciably different that any of the above runners, the top-5 in NFL history? Let me answer my own question. No it is not.
Think that’s just a random coincidence? Possibly. Let’s do something else. Let’s take a look at the size of the 13 men who ran for 1,000 yards in 2014.
| Player | Height | Weight |
| DeMarco Murray | 6'0" | 217 |
| Le'Veon Bell | 6'1" | 244 |
| LeSean McCoy | 5'11" | 208 |
| Marshawn Lynch | 5"11" | 215 |
| Justin Forsett | 5'8" | 195 |
| Arian Foster | 6'1" | 227 |
| Eddie Lacy | 5'11" | 230 |
| Jeremy Hill | 6'1" | 236 |
| Frank Gore | 5'9" | 217 |
| Lamar Miller | 5'10" | 224 |
| Aldfred Morris | 5'10" | 224 |
| Matt Forte | 6'2" | 218 |
| Jamaal Charles | 5'11" | 199 |
* Numbers taken from NFL.com.
Only five of 13 were six feet tall.
Two weighed the same or less than Ellington and McCoy is only nine lbs heavier.
Some others that are also a similar size.
| Player | Height | Weight |
| Mark Ingram | 5'9" | 215 |
| Tre Mason | 5'8" | 207 |
| C.J. Anderson | 5'8" | 224 |
| Giovani Bernard | 5'9" | 208 |
| Chris Johnson | 5'11" | 203 |
| Biship Sankey | 5'10" | 209 |
| Jerick McKinnon | 5'9" | 205 |
To reiterate, Andre Ellington is listed at 5’9”, 199 lbs.
His size isn’t an issue, is it? Is it for Jamaal Charles, LeSean McCoy, Justin Forsett or Giovani Bernard? I rarely, if ever, hear anyone worried about the performance of those runners because of their size.
‘But Ray, Ellington broke down last year cause his body wore out.’
That’s simply an erroneous comment, or at least one that needs to be qualified.
Ellington hurt his foot before the season even began. He was expected to miss 4-6 weeks and there were concerns that surgery might be needed. Turned out he was told that the peroneus longus muscle that helps to flex the ankle was the issue and that doctors recommended a couple of weeks rest. He went out and carried the ball 13 times and caught five passes in Week 1. He showed guts and guile.
Ellington wore a walking boot in Week 2. When it came time for the game he carried the ball 15 times and caught one pass.
His foot was still an issue in Week 3 and he went out and touched the ball 21 times (18 carries, three receptions).
In Week 7 he hurt his ribs. He carried the ball 23 times and caught three passes in Week 8 against the Eagles. He admitted after the game that his foot was still an issue.
Ellington hurt his hip in Week 13. Eventually he was placed on the injured reserve list with a sports hernia (surgery), in addition to the foot (no surgery indicated).
Per game he touched the ball 20.6 times a contest (201 carries, 46 receptions in 12 games).
The workload of others last season.
21.25 LeSean McCoy
19.8 Marshawn Lynch
18.0 Eddie Lacy
17.6 Alfred Morris
16.6 Frank Gore
16.4 Jamaal Charles
15.6 Jeremy Hill
Ellington touched the ball more than just about every running back in football. His head coach is suggesting that is the plan yet again.
From May 3rd: “I think Andre will continue his same role,” HC Bruce Arians said. “We’ll keep him healthy and let him continue to develop as a player, but the nice thing David Johnson can do is he can do everything Andre does, so you don’t have to change if there was an injury.”
From June 15th Darren Urban who covers the team for the NFL had this to say. “…make no mistake, Ellington remains the linchpin at the position. He’s healthy and feeling good.”
From August 2nd: Arians still envisions Andre Ellington getting 20 touches per game, receiving & rushing.
Maybe David Johnson takes over for Ellington.
Maybe Johnson plays more than most expect and he kills Ellington’s value.
Maybe Ellington gets hurt (after all, every play could the last for any player in the NFL).
Regardless, the argument that Ellington is too small to have success in the NFL doesn’t appear to be based on history, or on what his head coach thinks. That should be good enough for you to put out of your head the nonsense that Ellington’s body will breakdown merely because of his size. Is it?
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Ray Flowers can be heard Monday through Friday at 8 PM EDT on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 9 PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).