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Arizona Cardinals running back Andre Ellington was perhaps the most dynamic player on the offense. Whether it was running the ball or catching the ball, he made big plays happen. He even saw time lined up as a receiver -- not just motioned out wide. Quarterback Carson Palmer believes he is talented enough to be a number two on an NFL team. However, the numbers show that he was one of the least sure-handed running backs in the league when it came to catching the ball.
Pro Football Focus listed the best and worst pass catchers at running back, based on the ratio of their dropped passes to their opportunities to catch the ball. Ellington was one of the worst.
While Darren Sproles was the best with zero drops in 71 catchable attempts, Ellingon was fourth worst. He had six drops in 45 catchable targets -- a drop rate of 13.33 percent.
Who was worse? Le'Veon Bell at 13.46, Shane Vereen at 14.5, and the worst was Reggie Bush with a 15.63 percent drop rate.
What is notable is that four of those drops for Ellington came in consecutive weeks early in the season. PFF credited him with two drops each versus the Saints and the Buccaneers in Weeks 3 and 4. After that, he had only two the rest of the way.
Does this mean that Ellington has bad hands? I would doubt that, considering the catches we saw him make.
The early drops came at a time in which he was not used nearly as often and it was early in his rookie season. At the same time, when Reggie Bush, considered one of the more dynamic playmakers as a receiver out of the backfield, is a guy worse than Ellington at dropping passes, it doesn't mean that he is a scrub.
Many of the league's best receivers also end up with most drops, for whatever reason.
A hunch...Ellington won't be on this list a season from now.
What do you think?
