• March 29, 2024

How Does LeSean McCoy Stack Up Against The Other 2009 Running Back Picks?

With the Eagles hopes of making the playoffs diminishing week by week, let’s look at one of the only players on this team worth looking at. I’m talking about that running back the Eagles selected in the second round of 2009 draft, who is taking the league by storm with a breakout season.

Twenty running backs were selected in the 2009 NFL Draft, three of which are already out of the league. LeSean McCoy was the 53rd pick in 2009, making him the fourth running back taken. Knowshon Moreno of the Denver Broncos, Donald Brown of the Indianapolis Colts, and Chris “Beanie” Wells of the Arizona Cardinals were all selected before him.

Since joining the NFL, no running back has had near the production that McCoy has had since coming to the Eagles as a second round backup to Brian Westbrook. The Pitt-alum leads his running back peers in games started, rushing attempts, rushing yards, yards per carry average, touchdowns, receptions, and receiving yards since entering the league.

Having started in 29 games, four more than the next closest, McCoy has accumulated 4,028 total yards. He has totaled 1,437 more yards than Knowshon Moreno, 2,417 more yards than Donald Brown, and 1,486 more yards than Chris Wells, the three backs selected in the first round.

Of McCoy’s 4,028 yards, 2,851 have come on the ground. He is one of only three backs from the 2009 draft with over 2,000 yards and the only one with more than 2,200 yards.

His 4.9 yards per carry average is more than a half yard higher than any other running back from the draft with at least 200 carries.

Shady has reached the endzone on the ground 23 times, 12 of them coming this year. He is the only running back in that draft class with more than 20 touchdowns and only two others have more than 10; Moreno and Wells.

With 1,177 receiving yards in just about two full seasons as a starting running back, the second round pick has 55 yards more than the top two running backs drafted. His 160 receptions is more than double the amount any other running back has. On a broader scope, only three of the 2009 draft’s receivers have more receptions than McCoy; Jeremy Maclin, Percy Harvin, and Hakeem Nicks.

Only one other running back has reached the end zone more times through the air than McCoy. Moreno has six receiving touchdowns, one more than Shady’s five.

This season, McCoy is head and tails above his peers. In the hype of “Tebow-mania” Moreno has become obsolete in the run game and has only rushed for 179 yards the entire season without a touchdown. Beanie Wells has carried the ball a lot in Arizona but still trails McCoy by 218 yards. He has only averaged 4.6 yards per carry, .7 less than McCoy, and has reached the endzone three less times than Shady.

Just three-quarters of the way through the season, McCoy is the only running back out of the top four to improve his production each year.

After a strong rookie season, Beanie Wells dropped off and had a sophomore slump. His rookie season held almost 800 yards with a 4.5 yards per carry average. He reached the endzone seven times. In 2010, Wells failed to top 400 yards and rushed for a lowly 3.4 yards per carry while only reaching paydirt twice.

Moreno has dropped all three of his seasons in the league. The top drafted running back in 2009 was just a game short of 1,000 yards during his rookie season. He averaged just 3.8 yards per carry but took it all the way seven times. The following season, he rushed for just 779 yards and reached the endzone two less times. Unless his final four games have 600 yards in store, 2011 will mark the third straight season that Moreno has not lived up to his production from the season before.

Serving as primarily a backup for most of his rookie season, McCoy was still able to produce respectable numbers for a rookie. With over 600 yards and 4 rushing touchdowns, McCoy showed flashes of what the Eagles had in store for the future. His first full season as a starter, in 2010, marked his first 1,000 yard rushing season and added nine total touchdowns with an impressive 5.2 yards per carry.

McCoy gained praise on a national stage this season by storming out to be the league’s leading rusher for a stretch and having great performances in primetime games against the Falcons, Cowboys, and Bears. Against the Giants, McCoy passed his rushing yardage total from the season before. He topped his seven rushing touchdowns from last season during his 185 yard game against the Cowboys in just week 8.

The Eagles made the right choice by drafting their superstar back in the second round in 2009. At just 23 years of age, McCoy has a bright future ahead, along with Philadelphia fans. We could possibly be watching the greatest running back in Eagles history. Only time will tell.

Brenden Peddigree

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huitt3
huitt3
December 8, 2011 11:12 am

You are correct in your assessment that Morena will not run for 600 yards in the final four games considering he tore his ACL in November. Were there any running backs picked after Shady that were worth mentioning in your article?

paulman
paulman
December 8, 2011 12:29 pm

McCoy has had an excellent Season and start to his Eagle Career and it’s a damn shame that he isn’t/wasn’t relied up more to help this EAgles Offense out with all the issues at QB and EAgles WR’s this Season who have played poorly
5-8 more Touches a game and the Eagles could have been in the playoff hunt instead of where they are …

drummerwinslow
December 8, 2011 1:50 pm

Two of the backs taken ahead of McCoy have not enjoyed the overall production of McCoy, but their teams have kicked out butts, and those backs contributed to their respective team’s wins.