Aaron Rodgers’ Achilles damage coupled with the emergence of second-year working again Breece Corridor led to Dalvin Prepare dinner changing into expendable within the eyes of the New York Jets.
After 15 disappointing video games and simply 67 forgettable carries, the Jets launched Prepare dinner on Tuesday, liberating up the four-time Professional Bowler to signal with one other staff forward of the playoffs. Listed below are the 5 finest touchdown spots for Prepare dinner:
1. Baltimore Ravens
Regardless of shedding each J.Ok. Dobbins and Keaton Mitchell to season-ending accidents, the Ravens nonetheless lead the NFL in speeding, averaging 159.7 yards per sport. Though a superb chunk of that comes from quarterback Lamar Jackson, Baltimore has gotten stable manufacturing out of each Gus Edwards and Justice Hill. The success of the Ravens run sport, nonetheless, shouldn’t be predicated on one workhorse again, however fairly a RB-by-committee strategy with every participant bringing a distinct ability set to the desk.
Baltimore would most likely be simply advantageous within the playoffs with Edwards and Hill, however throwing Prepare dinner into that rotation makes an already-dangerous Ravens offense much more worrisome. Prepare dinner can run, catch and take any play to the home with sufficient area and time. Extra importantly, he offers the staff yet one more weapon to assist take a few of the stress off Jackson.
2. Dallas Cowboys
Tony Pollard is simply 65 yards away from 1,000 this season, however he’s not been as productive because the Cowboys hoped he’d be, they usually really want a greater No. 2 choice than Rico Dowdle, who’s totaled simply 315 yards on 80 carries. Dallas’ RB depth is severely missing. A lot of the staff’s speeding yards behind Pollard and Dowdle have come from QB Dak Prescott (242 yards) and a pair of receivers in CeeDee Lamb (106 yards) and KaVontae Turpin (105 yards).
Whereas Prepare dinner wasn’t overly productive in New York, that may be defined away by the extenuating circumstances of that scenario — dangerous QB play, Corridor’s breakout season, the staff throwing greater than working as a consequence of taking part in from behind, and so forth. The very fact of the matter is Prepare dinner is a four-time Professional Bowler and he had 4 straight seasons of 1,100 or extra speeding yards earlier than signing with the Jets. He is probably not precisely the identical participant he was throughout that four-year stretch, however he’s definitely a large improve over what Dallas has now.
3. Buffalo Payments
A lot of Dallas’ scenario additionally applies to Buffalo. Dalvin’s brother James is third within the league in speeding (1,086 yards), however he has nearly no assist behind him. QB Josh Allen is the Payments’ second-leading rusher (457 yards), and Latavius Murray has contributed 30 yards on 79 carries, however it could behoove the staff so as to add some insurance coverage for the postseason.
Dalvin provides worth out of the backfield as a receiver as properly, logging 236 receptions, 1,872 yards and 5 touchdowns throughout his profession, and he may assist preserve James’ workload just a little lighter, subsequently maintaining him brisker when the staff will want him most. Plus, including one other competent RB may reduce down on the variety of carries (and variety of hits) Allen takes within the playoffs.
4. Cleveland Browns
Since Nick Chubb’s season-ending knee damage, Jerome Ford and Kareem Hunt have mixed for precisely one 100-yard speeding sport. Ford is the one one to prime 15 or extra carries, which he’s completed simply 4 instances. Positive, they’ve 13 touchdowns between them, however Ford is averaging a shade over 50 yards speeding per sport and Hunt simply 29.
With the Browns now driving or dying with Joe Flacco at QB, he may use all the assistance he can get as soon as the postseason begins and he’s dealing with good groups just like the Jaguars, Texans or Chiefs as an alternative of the Bears and Jets. Including Prepare dinner would give Cleveland a three-headed monster out of the backfield and provides the staff one other dynamic playmaker able to scoring on any play.
5. San Francisco 49ers
If Prepare dinner goes all-in on getting a Tremendous Bowl ring this 12 months, San Francisco may be his finest guess. With Christian McCaffrey main the way in which, adopted by a robust rotation of Elijah Mitchell and Jordan Mason, the 49ers have among the finest RB depth charts within the league.
Nonetheless, McCaffrey did undergo a calf damage in final week’s win over the Washington Commanders, and it’s not identified precisely how critical it’s. Whereas McCaffrey could have three-plus weeks to relaxation and prepare for the NFC divisional spherical, including an alternative choice of Prepare dinner’s caliber who can run and catch is probably not the worst factor on the earth heading into the postseason.