It’s probably both safe and unfair to say LeSean McCoy was one of the biggest disappointments of the NFL season in 2014. It’s safe because the bottom line is McCoy did not live up to expectations, falling somewhere in the middle of the pack after being hyped as the runner expected to be the deadliest in the league. It’s unfair because those expectations were unrealistic to begin with.
McCoy got so much hype heading into 2014 for two reasons. First, he was a total stud in 2013, racking up over 2,000 all-purpose yards (1,607 on the ground) and 11 touchdowns (nine on the ground) while becoming one of the most feared backs in the league. Second, Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly was starting to look perfectly capable of translating his offensive success in college to the NFL level. The writing was on the wall for McCoy to absolutely explode in 2014.
Unfortunately, these things are never certain, and the result wound up being disappointment. As 2014 played out, Kelly’s vaunted offense seemed to focus more and more on the development of an elite passing attack, and backup running back/wide receiver option Darren Sproles continually leached bits of production from McCoy.
One year later and here we are: McCoy isn’t even in the conversation for which running back will have the most productive season in 2015. He’s fully removed from his exceptional 2013 campaign, as well as from the Eagles, and will attempt to rebuild his reputation as a feared runner in Buffalo for what many see as an offense with the potential to surprise people. But can Shady really get his mojo back in Buffalo?
A few factors are working against him:
1) Buffalo Bills first year head coach Rex Ryan isn’t exactly known for building offensive juggernauts, and while the Bills have some attractive tools, the offensive personnel is overall somewhat average.
2) Part of McCoy’s struggles in 2014 were due to injuries on the Eagles’ offensive line, which if healthy was dominant, but the Bills probably still don’t offer a better O-line than what McCoy played behind last year.
3) The quarterback situation is bad. Yes, a shaky passing attack means leaning more heavily on the runners, but E.J. Manuel and Matt Cassel could conceivably be bad enough to limit the entire offense.
But even given all that, I think LeSean McCoy has a good chance to be more productive this year. He may not reach the level he played at in 2013, when he led the league in rushing, but he could well have a legitimate bounce-back. Here’s why.
1) He should have an insane workload, and he’s young enough to handle it. I realize I just said the quarterback situation could mean that the whole offense suffers, but the likelier result of the poor situation in Buffalo behind center is simply that McCoy will drive the offense. Whether that’s enough to win games will remain to be seen, but McCoy personally should thrive.
2) Last year, the Bills split up 1,383 total rushing yards between four running backs (Fred Jackson, Boobie Dixon, C.J. Spiller, and Bryce Brown) who got decent run. That’s not a huge number, particularly for four guys, but they were basically doing it by committee, and they’re all backup-level players. I’m not sure how much bearing this has with a new coaching system in place in 2015, but it shows that even with four backups splitting rushing duties the Bills relied a decent bit on the run. Slot in McCoy and the number could have been a great deal bigger.
3) The Bills project as a pretty decent team overall, even with questions in the passing attack. They should have one of the best defenses in the league, which will help to keep giving the offense opportunities no matter how bad Manuel and Cassel may be. This, like the other points, translates to one point: McCoy will get the ball.
All in all, the outlook for 2015 is actually pretty straightforward for McCoy. The Bills might struggle on offense, but one way or another, he will get opportunities. And the one thing we’ve never doubted, even in 2014, was LeSean McCoy’s talent. Give him the ball on a consistent basis with a capable blocking unit in front of him, and he’ll get his numbers. That’s just what he’s going to do in 2015.
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