Tony Pollard was an exciting addition to the Dallas Cowboys’ offense in 2019. The Memphis running back showed an elite mix of speed and balance through contact, leading to several exciting runs throughout his rookie campaign as Ezekiel Elliott’s backup. While Elliott has certainly shown his propensity to carry the load for the Cowboys during his first four years, many see Pollard carving out a bigger share of offensive touches in 2020 to help maximize his extreme versatility.
Pollard was impressive in both volume and efficiency stats. He toted the rock 86 times for 455 yards and two scores on a 5.3 yards-per-carry average. He also caught 15 passes for another 107 yards and another score. What made it more impressive is that there were several weeks when Pollard was at or near the top of the entire league in expected points added, or EPA, a measure of how much the player contributed to scoring.
While Kellen Moore returns as offensive coordinator for the Cowboys, newly installed head coach Mike McCarthy is an offensive-minded head coach, and he will likely have an integral role in changes to the Cowboys offense this coming season. What will that mean for Pollard? Will his role increase as many hope, or will McCarthy lean heavily on Elliott? A look into McCarthy’s previous 19 seasons as a play caller is in order.
As head coach of the Green Bay Packers for 13 seasons, offensive coordinator of New Orleans for five years and San Francisco for another season, McCarthy has had several approaches to how he deploys his starting and backup running backs. For certain, talent and injuries play a role in how much time the backups spent on the field.
Running-Back-By-Committee Years
In three different seasons with the Packers and his one year as OC of the 49ers, McCarthy had to resort to a running back by committee approach.
2007: The most successful RBBC season had rookie Ryan Grant playing 15 games and starting seven of them. He rushed 188 times for 956 yards and scored eight TDs on the ground along with 30 receptions. Brandon Jackson and DeShawn Wynn combined for 125 carries, 470 yards and five more scores with Vernand Morency chipping in 30 receptions.
2012: The team simply lacked a bell cow running back. Alex Green, Cedric Benson, and James Starks all started multiple games and none rushed for more than 3.6 yards a carry. DuJuan Harris had the best stat line in his two starts with a 4.6 yards per carry average and two scores. None of the receivers topped Green’s 18 receptions for the year.
2016: In Eddie Lacy’s final year with the club he started just five games. Ty Montgomery converted from WR to RB and led the team with 77 rushes, 457 yards and 3 scores on the ground with 44 receptions and another 347 receiving yards. James Starks also started four contests and Christine Michael played in six contests. The team made it to the NFC Championship that year, though.
2017: Beginning of the end as team finished 7-9 with a committee of Montgomery, Jamaal Williams and Aaron Jones, though the three combined for 1,700+ yards and 14 touchdowns on ground and through air.
2005: The lone San Francisco year and under head coach Mike Nolan, the club went 4-12 with QB by committee that led to rookie Alex Smith at QB. Rookie Frank Gore led the group that rushed for just under 1,500 yards with 9 ground scores, but not much through the air.
These years will likely have no significance in what the Cowboys attempt to do with Elliott, provided he stays healthy for the seventh year in a row. What is more likely to happen is that the club follows the model of the bell cow back years under McCarthy.
Bell-Cow Seasons
As has been well documented, McCarthy’s time as Saints OC will likely be the precedent for how he deals with having a back of Elliott’s caliber. There are also two key seasons with the Packers that give insight into this and how Pollard may fit into the his picture.
2000: Chad Morton had 36 carries and 30 catches for 349 total yards as Ricky Williams backup, but 13 of his catches came in two games he started with Williams out.
2001: Deuce McAllister was a rookie backup to Williams big season of 1,245 yards on the ground and 60 receptions. The youngster touched the ball 31 times for 257 total yards and two scores.
2002: Someone named James Fenderson backed up McAllister’s huge season (1,388 rush yards, 47 receptions, 16 total TDs) and touched the ball a total of 19 times for just over 100 yards.
2003: KiJana Carter and Lamar Smith backed up McAllister and saw 32 touches while the lead back accrued over 2,100 total yards with eight touchdowns.
2004: As McAllister slowed down (1,049 rush yards in 14 games), Aaaron Stecker had 87 touches for 418 yards and two scores.
The New Orleans years don’t look very promising for the second back’s prospects of a big season. Certainly Pollard’s rookie season performance shows far higher of a ceiling than anyone above but McAllister, who was a first-round pick and intended future starter.
But in Green Bay, we may find the best comparison for Pollard in one James Starks. Pollard is actually a stockier version, as they were close to the same weight (210 pounds) coming out of school, but Starks stood 6-foot-2 compared to Pollard’s 6-foot. They ran similar 40-yard dash times (Pollard – 4.52, Starks 4.50) had similar verticals (Pollard – 35″, Starks 36″) and broad jumps (Pollard – 121″, Starks 119″).
Starks was drafted in 2010 and was part of a hodgepodge collection of backs that worked behind Brandon Jackson and Ryan Grant before the six-headed RBBC of 2012. Then Eddie Lacy came aboard and Starks was the primary handcuff for Lacy’s three-year reign.
2013: Starks and Johnathan Franklin combined for 108 carries and 14 receptions, totaling 719 yards from scrimmage with five scores.
2014: Starks had 85 carries and 18 receptions, an almost identical touch total to what Pollard saw in Dallas as a rookie.
In 2015, Lacy had begun to eat himself out of the league and though he started 12 of the 15 games he played, he only carried the ball 187 times for 758 yards and only had 20 receptions. Starks picked up the slack.
2015: Starks had 148 carries and 43 receptions for 601 and 392 yards respectively. He had five total touchdowns.
High Projection
There’s no guarantee Pollard follows any of these models, but they are interesting case studies, especially the Starks comparison. The 2014 season is the most similar to how Dallas functioned in 2019.
Pollard is too good to be treated as the New Orleans’ backups were behind Williams and McAllister.
The high-end projection model is likely the 2006 campaign, McCarthy’s first in Green Bay.
2006: Ahman Green played and started 14 contests and carried the ball 266 times for 1,059 yards. He also saw 63 targets, catching 46 of them for another 373 yards, scoring six total TDs.
In that season, the Packers backed Green up with Vernand Morency and Noah Herron, playing 29 total games with two starts. The two combined for 128 rush attempts and 45 catches, 173 touches total. They accrued 571 rush yards and 323 receiving yards; 894 yards from scrimmage, and checked in with five scores.
This is likely what the best-case scenario looks like for Pollard if the reigns are pulled back on Elliott.
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