Not satisfied with simply proclaiming himself the best running back in the NFL, Philadelphia’s LeSean McCoy is openly talking about the possibility of reaching the single-season yardage total that separates the merely good from the truly great: 2,000 yards.
Accepting the John Wanamaker Athletic Award from the Philadelphia Sports Congress, McCoy said, “I’m wondering if I get 2,000 yards, can I win it next year?”
A 2,000-yard season would be a tall order for McCoy, who led the NFL with 1,607 yards last year. If McCoy is going to reach 2,000 yards, he would almost certainly need to get more carries than he’s ever had before. McCoy’s total last year came on a career-high 314 carries. But no one has ever reached 2,000 yards on fewer than 332 carries, which was the number O.J. Simpson had when he ran for 2,003 yards in 14 games in 1972. And if anything, McCoy may get fewer carries this year thanks to the arrival of running back Darren Sproles, who may take some of the workload off McCoy’s shoulders.
Only seven players in NFL history have reached 2,000 yards in a season: Eric Dickerson, Adrian Peterson, Jamal Lewis, Barry Sanders, Terrell Davis, Chris Johnson and O.J. Simpson. McCoy isn’t likely to join that group, but through all of his comments this offseason he’s made clear that he has very high hopes for 2014.