Colts won’t tinker with running back rotation
By Ryan Donoho
When the Colts traded for Trent Richardson, everyone thought that they made the move that would solidify their offense, and it seemed to be great on paper. As we often learn in sports, paper does not play the games on the field.
Richardson is averaging just 2.8 yards per carry, and he has not panned out like they thought he would. He can hardly bust through the initial defense, and he is giving them virtually nothing in terms of production. The Colts’ other running back, Donald Brown, is averaging near 6 yards per carry, and has been more effective for Indianapolis. So, one would assume that Donald Brown will start to get more of the carries, but offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton isn’t up for any changes.
"“We don’t plan on changing our rotation with our backs,” said Hamilton. “We’ve always been a running back by committee bunch, so we’re going to continue to do that.”"
The Colts are 14th in rushing yards per game this season, and for a team that likes to pound on offense, that isn’t ideal. Pep Hamilton takes the blame for that as well:
"“It starts with me,” said Hamilton. “I got to do a better job of putting our guys in positions to make plays on third downs and we know that our guys will go out and execute. We got to do a better job of just converting third downs early in games.”"
We will see if they can get their running game going against a good run defense in Arizona. They are only giving up 81.4 rushing yards per game, which is 2nd in the NFL.