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The Good and Bad News About Trent Richardson’s Comeback

By: Larry Burton

Alabama fans are pulling for Trent Richardson to use the AAF for a comeback to the NFL where he can clear up a damaged past there. But there is both good and bad news concerning his comeback and his effect in the new AAF league. Here they are:

Good News: – He’s leading the league in rushing touchdowns with seven.

Bad News: There’s not much competition for that lead in touchdowns by rushing. Only two other running backs have touchdowns and each just had one before this week’s games now two players have three and two have two. It’s not a very contested race.

Good News: He is considered a team leader

Bad News: He gets the lion’s share of opportunities and is just averaging 2. yards a carry. That is the lowest yard per carry average on the team for last place.

Good News: He’s been given credit for winning games.

Bad News: He still hasn’t had a breakout game and hasn’t rushed for a 100 yards in any game so far averaging just 36.25 yards a game.

Good News: No running back is getting more talk and headlines that Richardson in the AAF

Bad News: With just eight teams, he’s in thirteenth place in rushing yards in the league. That’s not headline worthy.

Now to put some story to some of these good news / bad news items. Yes, his 2.4 average is low, but a lot of his runs were one to three yard runs for touchdowns or first downs, so that tends to hurt your average. While it may be easy to blame the offensive line some, the other running backs they backs they block for are doing better in yards per carry. But, while his yard per carry average is low, his yard per catch average is respectable for a running back, 6.8 yards per catch. Also his catches puts him 21st in the league in receptions as of last week, so he has shown some good ability there. While he doesn’t have a touchdown catch, he has had some 2 point conversion catches.

Still, if he doesn’t soon up his 2.4 yard per carry average, NFL scouts will look elsewhere if they need a running back. Right now, even the iron is trying other running backs for the breakaway plays.

But as long as Richardson can be relied on to get those third and short conversions and bang out TD’s in the red zone, he’s doing what the coaches want, so worst case scenario, he’ll have a long life in AAF if the NFL doesn’t come calling.

Lastly, it does appear that Richardson is gaining momentum as the season goes on, except for a slight dip in this past week and he looks as good in the fourth quarter as he does in the first. His durability is not in question this season and he seems fit, in shape and healthy for the first time in a long period of his playing career. One big breakout game may be all that Richardson needs to get some looks for NFL teams and it’s hard to believe that this won’t happen if he stays healthy.

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Larry has been published in almost every media outlet for college sports and now primarily writes here for Touchdown Alabama. Follow Larry on Twitter for inside thoughts and game time comments at https://twitter.com/LBSportswriter