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Originally Posted by Scott
I too am excited at the prospect of Portis, but does anybody have a number as far as average carries per game on this guy? I suspect Gibbs will be banging him 20-25 carries a game, is he durable?
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With 29 games played, Portis has 563 carries for 3099 yards, which comes out to an average of
19.4 carries per game, for an average of 5.5 yards per carry.
Keep in mind, however, that of those 29 games, Portis has started only 25 of them. The games he did not start were in the first four games of his rookie year, where he carried the ball 5, 4, 18 and 8 times, respectively. Toss out those games, and his average goes up to a slightly more rugged 21.1 carries per game.
Doesn't sound like much, you say? Well, surprisingly, despite the reputation of Gibbs runningbacks as 25-plus carries per game types, Portis' career average is actually significantly higher than those of most of Gibbs' primary ballcarriers.
- Earnest Byner averaged only 17.35 carries per game in his three years as the primary ballcarrier ('90-'92).
- Gerald Riggs averaged only 16.75 carries per game in his approximately 12 games ('89) as the primary back.
- George Rogers averaged only 17.8 carries per game in his two 1,000 yard seasons ('85 and '86).
- Only the venerable old "Diesel", John Riggins, averaged more than 20 carries per game as the primary back (excluding the '81 season, where he and Joe Washington essentially split carries), averaging 23.75 carries per game.
One interesting thing to note about Portis' astounding rushing averages is that his average yards per carry actually goes
up substantially when his team is ahead, to a devastating 6.0 yards per carry. That number was probably a big factor in Gibbs & Co's love affair with the young star.